DDT Around The World – February 2026

Phew! Finally made it through the month with a lot more clearer pictures to look at. Konosuke Takeshita has moved on from the Kazuchika Okada feud to become a focal point in the rivalry between The Don Callis Family and the Death Riders. Takeshita against Jon Moxley is the destination while bringing in a variety of wrestlers for some good trios bouts in the process. I’ve been happy watching this feud so far because the matches have been constantly good and highlighting some of the AEW wrestlers I really like. However Okada is still making moves in the background because he might have just stolen Takeshita’s tag partner! He only just formed ProtOkada with Kyle Fletcher this past week which should eventually add another layer to Takeshita’s story with The Family.

Next up we go to Tokyo Joshi Pro and their ever increasing international schedule. After a lot of hullabaloo that had driven me crazy, the return to Las Vegas was finally confirmed to be real. That can be added to the Texas tour, the Vancouver tour and also a show in Italy all coming up in the next couple of months (and maybe more). With that being said, the ticket sales for the Texas tour so far look dismal from what people can find online and the savvy marketing work done by Tokyo Story USA is almost nowhere to be seen this time around. We may be due some harsh lessons this time around, like how maybe last year’s success really did just come from holding the shows next to a big destination wrestling event.

Elsewhere this month some of the TJPW wrestlers have lost their championships. Shoko Nakajima and K!SS// went on their travels and came back home missing their titles. Things fared better for the DDT wrestlers when it comes to gaining or keeping their gold. Now heading into March we have Miyu Yamashita embarking on another excursion, WrestleMania Week all of a sudden getting stuffed with TJPW appearances to look forward to and Daisuke Sasaki is off to North America for a while.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 04/02/2026
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Jon Moxley, PAC & Daniel Garcia (w/ Marina Shafir) Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander & El Clon

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 11/02/2026
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander & Mark Davis Vs Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & PAC (w/ Marina Shafir)

AEW “GRAND SLAM AUSTRALIA”, 14/02/2026
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

1. AEW Continental Title: Jon Moxley (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

SETUP “REAL GLOBAL IMPACT”, 21/02/2026
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami (c) Vs Monomoth & Matcha

2. IWA Japan SETUP World Title: Shivam (c) Vs Chris Brookes

AEW “COLLISION”, 21/02/2026
Frontwave Arena, Oceanside, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Mark Davis & El Clon Vs Jon Moxley, PAC & Wheeler Yuta (w/ Marina Shafir)

NJPW “THE NEW BEGINNING”, 27/02/2026
CURE Insurance Arena, Trenton, New Jersey, USA
2,605 Fans

1. NJPW World TV Title: El Phantasmo (c) Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA

Jon Moxley and Konosuke Takeshita can’t wait until AEW Revolution! | AEW Collision, 2/28/26

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Results

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 04/02/2026
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander & El Clon defeated Jon Moxley, PAC & Daniel Garcia (w/ Marina Shafir) when Takeshita pinned Garcia with the Raging Fire (13:18).

The current storyline Takeshita is in is a stable war going on between The Don Callis Family and the Death Riders that’s become the backbone of AEW’s mid-card on TV. He and Moxley had plenty of battles against each other this month in 6-Man Tags. Takeshita scored first blood when he teamed with Josh Alexander & El Clon (the evil doppelganger of Hologram) to beat Moxley, PAC & Daniel Garcia. Things could have gone the other way when Garcia put Takeshita in the Dragon Tamer (Sharpshooter) submission hold and Moxley then Curb Stomped him. But Alexander broke the pin and Takeshita got his wind back to slam Garcia. Tandem trios moves from The Family couldn’t keep Garcia down until Takeshita dropped him with the Raging Fire.

MLW “LUCHA APOCALYPTO”, 07/02/2026
Cicero Stadium, Cicero, Illinois, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shotzi Blackheart defeated Shoko Nakajima (c) (?:??).
*Shoko Nakajima fails in V7. Shotzi Blackheart becomes the 6th MLW Women’s World Featherweight Champion!

By the time this is posted, all I know about this MLW taping is Shoko Nakajima lost the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title to Shotzi Blackheart. Since then there hasn’t been a word about when the match will air. MLW are really taking their time putting their next batch of episodes together.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 11/02/2026
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & PAC (w/ Marina Shafir) defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander & Mark Davis when Moxley pinned Alexander with the Death Rider (15:05).

The next trios match had Claudio Castagnoli replacing Garcia and Mark Davis switching in for El Clon. This time Moxley was in danger of losing the match to the teamwork of The Family until PAC came to the rescue. Castagnoli cut off Takeshita with a European Uppercut, giving Moxley the opening to catch Alexander in a Read Naked Choke, wearing him down enough to give him the Death Rider for the victory.

AEW “GRAND SLAM AUSTRALIA”, 14/02/2026
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

1. AEW Continental Title: Jon Moxley (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (20:00).
*V1 for Jon Moxley.

When it was finally time for Moxley and Takeshita to settle their differences one on one in Australia, time wound up running out for them. With the AEW Continental Title on the line, rules were strictly in place to make sure no interference would be allowed. It ended up going to a stalemate. Moxley giving Takeshita a Curb Stomp onto the apron didn’t keep him out of the ring long enough to get counted out. Neither the Powerdrive Knee or the Wrist-Clutch Exploder Suplex was enough to pin Moxley for a three count. Takeshita kicked out of the Death Rider and the two continued throwing bombs at each other until the bell rang. Takeshita was seconds away from performing the Raging Fire so he went ahead and did it anyway after the match was over.

AEW “HOUSE RULES AUSTRALIA”, 15/02/2026
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall, Queensland, Australia

1. Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Dalton Castle with the Powerdrive Knee (10:47).

Brisbane had extra action for Takeshita during his stay there. AEW ran a rare house show the next day and Takeshita was on it wrestling Dalton Castle for the first time ever. Before the match began Don Callis had Castle’s buddies The Outrunners sent away from ringside because they did not have a manager’s license recognized by the state of Australia. Callis got some cheap shots in on Castle at ringside while the crowds chanted bald jokes at him. Castle fought his way back to give Takeshita the Bangarang for a nearfall but a well timed Elbow Strike gave Takeshita the momentum needed to eventually win the match.

SETUP “REAL GLOBAL IMPACT”, 21/02/2026
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Monomoth & Matcha defeated Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami (c) when Matcha pinned Toribami with the Saito Suplex (12:41).
*K!SS// fails in V2. Monomoth & Matcha become the 6th IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Champions!
2. IWA Japan SETUP World Title: Shivam (c) Vs Chris Brookes ended in a Time Limit Draw (20:00).
*V2 for Shivam.

There were two big title matches to follow over in Thailand for SETUP this month. Chris Brookes challenged Shivam for the IWA Japan SETUP World Title despite both men belonging to the same group, Real Global Threat. In a result that became something of a trend for a lot of title matches I’m writing about in this article, the match latest the full twenty minute time limit and went to a draw. Brookes demanded a restart and called Pumi Boonyatud into the ring to make it happen. But it was all a trap so Brookes could knock out Pumi with a slap! Shivam then got on the microphone to praise Brookes for caring about pro wrestlers like him before attacking Pumi some more until Monomoth ran them out of the ring.

Meanwhile Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami’s reign as IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Champions has come to an end. K!SS// went to Thailand for a big title defence against SETUP’s other two singles champions Monomoth & Matcha. Both teams fought their hardest over the titles until it came down to Toribami against Matcha in the ring. Yamashita dealt with Monomoth by Skull Kicking him off the ring apron but Toribami’s attempt at the Sento Choryu was blocked by Matcha’s knees. Matcha then fought to give Toribami the Saito Suplex, pinning her while a dazed Monomoth held onto Yamashita long enough to prevent her from breaking the count. K!SS// accepted defeat and shook hands with the new champions after the match.

AEW “COLLISION”, 21/02/2026
Frontwave Arena, Oceanside, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Mark Davis & El Clon defeated Jon Moxley, PAC & Wheeler Yuta (w/ Marina Shafir) when Takeshita pinned Yuta with the Raging Fire (14:33).

Since nothing was solved in Australia, the feud between The Family and the Death Riders continued with more 6-Man Tag Matches. Wheeler Yuta was now brought into the fold wrestling in a beanie hat because he recently lost his hair in a wager match. Also Marina Shafir was now getting into the thick of things. She’s been at ringside for most of the matches in this feud and got physically involved this time to stop Davis from using a chair. Yuta was enthusiastic to try and get the win on Takeshita until he was hit with a Pump Kick followed by the Elbow Strike. El Clon wiped out the rest of the Death Riders, allowing Takeshita to pin Yuta with the Raging Fire. Moxley confronted him after the match and thanks to others trying to get in the way, he caught Takeshita off guard and gave him the Paradigm Shift.

PPW/BZW “FRIDAY NIGHT BANGER”, 27/02/2026
PPW Training Facility, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) defeated Liam Slater & HMD (?:??).
*V7 for MAO & Yoshihiko.

It’s been so long since I last heard about the BZW Tag Team Titles that I wasn’t sure if MAO & Yoshihiko were still the champions. Turns out they are and they travelled all the way to England for their latest defence. MAO was over there to take part in training seminars and brought Yoshihiko over so they could wrestle on a show co-promoted by BZW and Pursuit Pro Wrestling. They defeated Liam Slater & HMD to retain the gold.

NJPW “THE NEW BEGINNING”, 27/02/2026
CURE Insurance Arena, Trenton, New Jersey, USA
2,605 Fans

1. NJPW World TV Title: El Phantasmo (c) Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (w/ Rocky Romero) ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
1a. Overtime: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated El Phantasmo (c) with the Raging Fire (2:43).
*El Phantasmo fails in V7. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA becomes the 10th NJPW World TV Champion!

Another title match and another time limit draw for Takeshita. Although this time he got a chance to make up for it. New Japan returned to America with a fresh attempt at running a big show in the country. Having El Phantasmo and Takeshita go at it with the NJPW World TV Title again was one of the big bouts of the show. They pretty much played the hits until ELP gave Takeshita a taste of his own medicine by using the Raging Fire on him! However the bell rang right afterwards to announce the match ended in a tie. ELP got on the microphone and talked about how much time limit draws suck and demanded the match to restart for another five minutes. Takeshita considered walking out with Rocky Romero next to him but turned around and got the match going again. This time Takeshita gave ELP the CR II, using the champion’s own finisher against him. ELP kicked out and snuck in a Crucifix Pin for a nearfall but Takeshita hit back and won the match with the Raging Fire. Now a champion in NJPW again, Takeshita thinks the company wants him to raise the value of the NJPW World TV Title.

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Upcoming Appearances

EVE “WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY #IWD2026”, 06/03/2026
Big Penny Social, London, England

1. Jamie Hayter Vs Miyu Yamashita

We’re at the time of year where Yamashita goes travelling everywhere. Europe is the next up for her with EVE as an important destination. Her first of two EVE bookings for March has her facing Jamie Hayter in a much anticipated singles match.

RCW SPAIN “HELL GIRLS DELUXE”, 07/03/2026
Casinet de Hostafrancs, Barcelona, Spain

1. Nightshade Vs Miyu Yamashita

Yamashita then goes over to Spain the next day for a return to RCW Spain. Her opponent Nightshade has done tours with TJPW in the past but this will be the first time these two will be in a match together.

EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM VIII”, 08/03/2026
Indigo At The O2, London, England

1. Sudden Death Sixteen: Alexxis Falcon Vs DASH Chisako Vs Jamie Hayter Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Amale Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X Vs X

Then the day after that Yamashita goes back to London for EVE’s most important show they’ve probably ever put on. She is entering a Sudden Death Sixteen match which seems to be the next step in promoters trying to make their own Royal Rumble. It’s the Casino Gauntlet match where the first fall crowns the winner outright but you can still be eliminated before then by going over the top rope to the floor. The winner gets to challenge for any of EVE’s championships.

PPW “HARDCORE FRIDAY THE 13TH”, 13/03/2026
TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi

1. Chris Brookes Vs Gabriel Queen

Given all of the international work Brookes has been involved with lately, he is seeing the world like a wrestling buffet. Coming up soon on the menu is Gabriel Queen.

AEW “REVOLUTION”, 15/03/2026
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. AEW Continental Title – No Time Limit: Jon Moxley (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Not long to wait until Moxley and Takeshita go at it again. This time there will be no time limit in place so a winner should be guaranteed… unless we get a double countout or double knockout…

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW TEXAS STAMPEDE – AUSTIN DAY 1”, 17/03/2026
Palmer Events Center, Austin, Texas, USA

The wrestlers announced to appear on this tour are Miu Watanabe, Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara, Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao, Raku, Yuki Aino, Suzume, Pom Harajuku, Arisu Endo, Yuki Arai, Kaya Toribami, Shino Suzuki, Mifu Ashida and Uta Takami.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW TEXAS STAMPEDE – AUSTIN DAY 2”, 18/03/2026
Palmer Events Center, Austin, Texas, USA

The American and any other international talent for the tour have not been announced yet.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW TEXAS STAMPEDE – DALLAS”, 21/03/2026
College Park Center, Arlington, Texas, USA

They better start announcing stuff soon because the ticket seat map for this show is currently looking grim.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW TEXAS STAMPEDE – HOUSTON”, 22/03/2026
POST Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

It took a while but Tokyo Story USA confirmed the date and location of the Houston show. TJPW will be back at the POST Houston on 22nd March.

ROH/MLP “GLOBAL WARS”, 27/03/2026
St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

1. Daisuke Sasaki Vs X

There is a good chance Daisuke Sasaki will be bringing the DDT Universal Title with him to North America. We have to wait and see if he can defend it at DDT’s Anniversary show first before we find out what plans he has for this trip.

MLP “UPRISING”, 28/03/2026
St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

1. Daisuke Sasaki Vs X

I haven’t really thought about what Maple Leaf Pro going to do with Sasaki for the ROH weekend.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “VANCOUVER PREMIERE – DAY 1”, 11/04/2026
Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The wrestlers announced to appear on the Canada tour are Miu Watanabe, Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara, Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Arai, Suzume, Raku, Pom Harajuku, Kaya Toribami, HIMAWARI, Toga, Shino Suzuki and Uta Takami.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “VANCOUVER PREMIERE – DAY 2”, 12/04/2026
Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Like with the Texas tour above, they best start announcing matches soon because tickets haven’t been flying off the shelves for either tour. I hope Sayuri Namba isn’t betting the house on this.

PODER~! “PODERMANIA~!”, 15/04/2026
Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. International Tag Team Match: Amira & Lil Marz Vs Toga & Jazzy Yang

The big clue this month that TJPW was going to Vegas came from Toga unexpectedly got booked for the eighth annual “PODER~!” show that is put together by Edward Loredo, aka “Ed In San Antonio” of F4W Board infamy. Toga is going to team with Jazzy Yang, the daughter of Jimmy Wang Yang. Together they will take on Amira from America and Lil Marz from Australia for an international tag showcase.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS 2026”, 16/04/2026
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Ta-da! It was happening all along! TJPW adds even more to their growing international schedule by going back to Las Vegas for Mania Weekend. This time instead of working with The Collective, they have joined a new collection of shows called Slam Fest that is being put together by the Paragon Talent Agency. The move keeps the show at Palms Casino and now has TJPW siding with Stardom, CMLL, House Of Glory and MLP for the week. I doubt we’re going to see any significant crossovers but you never know when it comes to events like this.

The Japanese talent coming to Vegas are Miu Watanabe, Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara, Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Mizuki, Hyper Misao, Raku, Yuki Aino, Suzume, Pom Harajuku, Yuki Arai, Kaya Toribami, Shino Suzuki, HIMAWARI, Toga and Uta Takami.

“DEATH VEGAS INVITACIONAL”, 16/04/2026
Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Daisuke Sasaki Vs X

This is the show I’m personally most looking forward to at Mania Week. El Desperado is hosting another “Invitacional” show, continuing the death match theme of the previous one and also bringing it to America for the first time. The first couple of wrestlers announced are from Japan, the latest of whom being Daisuke Sasaki! There’s also been a hint from Mizuki Watase that he might be on the card too because he recently said he will be travelling to USA in April to wrestle in a death match.

GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XV”, 17/04/2026
Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

So far Yamashita is the only woman announced for Bloodsport and I’m not expecting an intergender fight to happen.

PRIDESTYLE “OUT OF THIS WORLD”, 17/04/2026
Bizarre Bar, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Special Single Match: Taniya Vs Miu Watanabe

The week gives Miu Watanabe another chance to spread her wings a little and wrestle on an American indie show. This time she’s popping over to PrideStyle where she faces Taniya, the current holder of the PrideStyle New Wave World Title. So far it hasn’t been said if the championship will be on the line.

SAJ “SAJ X TJPW”, 26/04/2026
Centro Sport Cesate, Milan, Italy

More details have emerged for TJPW’s trip to Italy to join up with friends from SAJ Wrestling. The Japanese contingent will include Miyu Yamashita, Hyper Misao, Shoko Nakajima and Yuki Aino. There will be wrestlers not just from Italy but also across Europe taking part too.

DDT Around The World – January 2026

New year, new expansion plans. Let’s cut straight to the chase. Tokyo Joshi Pro is putting together quite an international schedule for this Spring. They already have the Texas tour set up, they just announced a weekend doubleheader in Vancouver and right on the buzzer last night it was announced there is an interpromotional show happening in Italy soon too with rumours that another show of that type could be happening elsewhere in Europe around that time period (my money’s on EVE). If that’s not enough there is a “will they, won’t they” story about Las Vegas this year that I’m trying to pinpoint just what exactly is going on. Miyu Yamashita going on her yearly overseas excursion will help things move along nicely.

What else is there? Konosuke Takeshita is still in The Don Callis Family story loop with Kazuchika Okada trolling him at every opportunity. Daisuke Sasaki will be heading over to North America for a month this April. Despite being unmasked and revealed as Tokio last month, Keigo Nakamura is staying in Mexico until he decides the time is right for him to go home. Shoko Nakajima will be back in MLW soon now that Shotzi Blackheart is looking for a title shot. WrestleMania Week is sounding like a more quiet one for DDT coverage this year but I’m certain I’ll find something about it to write about come April. But yeah the story to follow right now is TJPW pushing further into international expansion for 2026.

Oh, and since Maki Itoh is now signed full time to Stardom I decided that’s the end of me writing about her international bookings going forward. I know she and Sayaka Unagi are building up a match together for one of Unagi’s self-produced shows so maybe I’ll write about that given that it’s two ex-TJPW wrestlers facing each other after finding greener pastures. Hang on that match was today?

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “COLLISION”, 24/01/2026
Addition Financial Arena, Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Billy Gunn & Austin Gunn

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Results

AEW “COLLISION”, 21/01/2026 (Aired 24/01/2026)
Addition Financial Arena, Orlando, Florida, USA

1. Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Billy Gunn & Austin Gunn when Takeshita pinned Austin with the Raging Fire (10:20).

I think this is the only January match I have to talk about for this month’s article. Weather problems led to AEW changing around their schedule and an episode of Collision had to be taped on the same night as Dynamite. That also caused some unexpected matches to happen like ProtoShita taking on Austin Gunn and his dad, the 201st best wrestler in the world Billy Gunn. Takeshita knocked Billy out of the ring with an Elbow Strike that sounded like a gunshot and Kyle Fletcher gave his own lethal strike to Austin before throwing him over to Takeshita for the Raging Fire. After the match Okada walked out to steal everyone’s attention while Fletcher and Don Callis had to calm Takeshita down inside the ring.

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Upcoming Appearances

SETUP “REAL GLOBAL IMPACT”, 21/02/2026
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Chris Brookes Vs X
2. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami (c) Vs Monomoth & Matcha

This month Miyu Yamashita and Kaya Toribami further established their tag team by naming themselves K!SS// (Kick Slash). Next on their list is to defend the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles again. They’re going back to Thailand to do it and SETUP are throwing their other two champions at them to try and get the belts back! Monomoth is the current SETUP Thailand Openweight Champion and Matcha is the current SETUP All Asia Women’s Champion. Together they will face the might of K!SS// in the main event!

SETUP also have to deal with Chris Brookes coming back to cause more trouble. He is part of the REAL GLOBAL THREAT stable over there.

NJPW “THE NEW BEGINNING”, 27/02/2026
CURE Insurance Arena, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

1. NJPW World TV Title: El Phantasmo (c) Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA

Now that the IWGP Heavyweight Title can be seen in the rear view mirror, Takeshita is back in familiar ground for New Japan’s next show in America. He will face El Phantasmo once more with the NJPW World TV Title on the line again. They last fought over the championship in May and that match ended in a time limit draw. Since then they went 1-1 in other singles matches, Takeshita retaining the NEVER Openweight Title over ELP and then ELP beating Takeshita in the G1 Climax.

EVE “WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY #IWD2026”, 06/03/2026
Big Penny Social, London, England

1. Jamie Hayter Vs Miyu Yamashita

Well this an unexpected little switch around. The match Jamie Hayter wants with Miyu Yamashita was originally made for “WRESTLE QUEENDOM VIII” but Yamashita claims to have something else planned for the show. So EVE are doing the Hayter Vs Yamashita match a few days earlier at their monthly London event instead.

RCW SPAIN “HELL GIRLS DELUXE”, 07/03/2026
Casinet de Hostafrancs, Barcelona, Spain

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

In between the EVE shows in England, Yamashita has found the time to visit Barcelona again for another appearance in RCW Spain.

EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM VIII”, 08/03/2026
Indigo At The O2, London, England

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

As already mentioned above, Yamashita apparently has a match already planned for this show. What will it be?

PPW “HARDCORE FRIDAY THE 13TH”, 13/03/2026
TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi

1. Chris Brookes Vs Gabriel Queen

Polish pro wrestling in Japan? Sure, why not.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW TEXAS STAMPEDE – AUSTIN DAY 1”, 17/03/2026
Palmer Events Center, Austin, Texas, USA

TJPW are sending over Miu Watanabe, Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara, Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao, Raku, Yuki Aino, Suzume, Pom Harajuku, Arisu Endo, Yuki Arai, Kaya Toribami, Shino Suzuki, Mifu Ashida and Uta Takami for the Texas tour.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW TEXAS STAMPEDE – AUSTIN DAY 2”, 18/03/2026
Palmer Events Center, Austin, Texas, USA

The list of non-Japanese wrestlers taking part in the tour will be revealed soon.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW TEXAS STAMPEDE – DALLAS”, 21/03/2026
College Park Center, Arlington, Texas, USA

The Dallas show was advertised at AEW’s Collision taping last night.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW TEXAS STAMPEDE – HOUSTON”, ??/03/2026
Houston, Texas, USA

Just have to wait for the date and location for the Houston show to be announced. I wonder what the hold up is there.

ROH/MLP “GLOBAL WARS”, 27/03/2026
St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

1. Daisuke Sasaki Vs X

Okay the booking makes a slight bit more sense now that Daisuke Sasaki has won the DDT Universal Title but it was still unexpected news to see him listed for Ring Of Honor and Maple Leaf shows happening in Canada next month.

MLP “UPRISING”, 28/03/2026
St. Clair College, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

1. Daisuke Sasaki Vs X

This will be part of a month long overseas excursion for Sasaki. He usually ends up in Mexico the majority of the time when he does these things but I’ve been told he is or at least was available for Las Vegas in April.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “VANCOUVER PREMIERE – DAY 1”, 11/04/2026
Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino, Vancouver, BC, Canada

You can thank Sayuri Namba for this. Once the Texas tour is out of the way, TJPW will be expanding into Canada for a double shot in Vancouver! Details are still to come before the tickets go on sale this week but there is some info to keep an eye on. Day 1 is happening on the same date and in the same venue as a Mystery Wrestling show put together by Evil Uno. Yamashita has wrestled there once before and you never know who else will show up. Will the mystery 4 Way match have everyone in druid clothing disrobe to reveal it’s an Up Up Girls concert instead?

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “VANCOUVER PREMIERE – DAY 2”, 12/04/2026
Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino, Vancouver, BC, Canada

One thing I know for certain is Yuki Aino will not be part of the Canada shows. She is already scheduled to appear at the Gaisen Sakura Pro Wrestling show in Okayama that weekend instead.

GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XV”, 17/04/2026
Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

What is Yamashita’s record in Bloodsport so far? 0-2? I get that her previous opponents were Shayna Baszler and Nattie Neidhart but she really needs to bring it and get at least one win at these shows. Oh and to avoid hitting the corner post head first this time but that was such a badly done finish that part didn’t even register with almost everybody.

SAJ “SAJ X TJPW”, 26/04/2026
Centro Sport Cesate, Milan, Italy

Announced right at the end during the final hours of the month, SAJ Wrestling in Italy announced on their show that they will be holding a event with TJPW in April. And that might not be the only trip TJPW is doing during that period. What a busy month they are going to have.

DDT Around The World – Takeshita’s C2 Adventure

The final month of the year now includes a new tradition from AEW. It’s the Continental Classic tournament! Their take on the round robin format that Japan’s wrestling scene has down to a science still has a lot of bugs in it. Mainly there’s none of the pageantry you’d expect from collecting together a dozen great wrestlers for a month long tournament and the lack of matches scheduled in advance takes the fun out of predicting how the booking is going to go. That latter part does mean AEW can keep fans on their toes and throw a few curveballs with doing the more anticipated matches at unexpected times. The shorter, more packed schedule this year helped things out more because these tournaments work when you don’t have to wait many days for the next show to advance further through the group stage.

The hope was for Konosuke Takeshita to take part in the C2 this year after not being selected for the inaugural event. With a G1 Climax victory from earlier this year under his belt it would have been insane to leave him out again. Thankfully he made it into the field and was put into a group with no other members of The Don Callis Family involved. There were still plenty of familiar opponents for him to fight with and as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, losing to anyone right before he goes to defend the belt in the Tokyo Dome would take another hit to how he’s currently being perceived. Well, at least he made it through the block undefeated…

Blue League

1. Konosuke Takeshita (13)
2. Jon Moxley (9)
3. Claudio Castagnoli (7)
4. Orange Cassidy (6)
-. Mascara Dorada (6)
6. Roderick Strong (3)

AEW “COLLISION – THANKSGIVING”, 26/11/2025 (Aired 27/11/2025)
The Pinnacle, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

1. Continental Classic – Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita (3) defeated Roderick Strong (0) with the Raging Fire (13:15).

Takeshita got off to a good start… or did he…? Uh… yes, it turns out he did even though a fake spoiler rattled up a lot of fans in the day between when the match was taped and when it aired on TV. Neither Takeshita nor Roderick Strong were concerned if they broke each other in half. Outside the ring Takeshita gave Strong the Blue Thunder Bomb on top of a guardrail while back in the ring Strong dropped Takeshita from the top rope over the turnbuckles Backbreaker style. With so many bombs being thrown, Strong broke down first and he was finished off with the Powerdrive Knee followed by the Raging Fire. After the match Strong is feeling like he is in a slump because he is entering the tournament as a replacement for Kyle O’Reilly. This result is a wake up call for him to compete in the rest of the C2 for himself instead of anyone else.

AEW “COLLISION”, 06/12/2025
Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA

1. Continental Classic – Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita (6) defeated Jon Moxley (3) with the Raging Fire (17:29).

Takeshita has fought Jon Moxley in AEW singles matches three previous times and lost all of them. For his fourth attempt he finally got the better of him for the first time. An apparent leg injury hampered Moxley during the match but he kept on fighting, drilling Takeshita onto the ring apron with the Curb Stomp. He also countered the Blue Thunder Bomb with a Headlock Takeover, transitioning it into an Ankle Lock. That harmed Takeshita’s leg to even the playing field but he dropped a big Blue Thunder Bomb onto the remains of the commentary table (that had flimsily fallen apart when Takeshita grabbed the AEW Continental Title that was placed there). Moxley recovered to hit the Paradigm Shift but Takeshita saved himself with a rope break to stop the pin. Moxely hit him more with some strikes until his own knee gave way, allowing Takeshita to strike with the Powerdrive Knee for a nearfall. Takeshita pulled down his kneepad to hit a raw Powerdrive Knee and was able to pull off the Raging Fire to finally get his first win over Moxley.

AEW “COLLISION – WINTER IS COMING”, 13/12/2025
Utilita Arena Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales, UK

1. Continental Classic – Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita (7) Vs Claudio Castagnoli (7) ended in a Time Limit Draw (20:00).

There should be a bit of magic in the air whenever you have a world champion from one company take on a world champion from another. Just last month Claudio Castagnoli went to Mexico and won the CMLL World Heavyweight Title, a championship that’s in an odd position because people who don’t follow lucha libre think it’s a much bigger prize than it actually is. Still, Castagnoli is making sure the belt is nothing to sneeze at while he is holding it and he became the first bump in the road to slow down Takeshita. The two ended up fighting all the way to the time limit, making it the first match in this year’s C2 to end in a draw. The two kept on fighting anyway! Backstage Takeshita said he didn’t care about proving which world champion was better, he instead wanted to show Castagnoli just who is The Alpha! Castagnoli said the last time he wrestled Takeshita was three years ago. He is confident he won’t have to wait that long to fight him again.

AEW “DYNAMITE – HOLIDAY BASH”, 17/12/2025
Co-op Live, Manchester, England, UK

1. $1,000,000 (£750,000) Winner Takes All Trios Match: Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson defeated Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero when Omega pinned Hechicero with the Indy Taker One-Winged Angel (22:31)

A side story popped up in the middle of the tournament focusing on The Don Callis Family at large. They had to go fight Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks who had all gotten over their problems with each other and revived The Elite. Loads of money was put on the line in a trios match between the two sides but that kind of motivation wasn’t enough to keep Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada on the same page. An opening for Takeshita to go in for the Powerdrive Knee was interrupted by Okada stepping in wanting to do the Rainmaker instead. Hechicero could only watch on in despair as his partners argued with each other. The Elite took advantage to clear house and triple team Hechicero into oblivion. Okada & Takeshita attacked The Elite afterwards and hit their finishers on The Young Bucks. However they still couldn’t help but get into a shoving contest with each other after that.

AEW “DYNAMITE ON 34TH STREET”, 20/12/2025 (Aired 24/12/2025)
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Continental Classic – Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita (10) defeated Orange Cassidy (6) with the Raging Fire (15:26).

The final matches in the Blue League happened in a rush over the Christmas period but Takeshita had nothing to worry about. His win over Orange Cassidy booked his ticket to the semi final round, even with a mini-scare where Cassidy countered the Raging Fire into a Small Package. However it turned out Takeshita was still in control and he powered out of the nearfall to lift his opponent right into the Raging Fire for the win.

AEW “CHRISTMAS COLLISION”, 21/12/2025 (Aired 25/12/2025)
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Continental Classic – Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita (13) defeated Mascara Dorada (6) with the Raging Fire (11:40).

At this point a win for Takeshita was just to cement his position on top of the Blue League while also killing off any chances Mascara Dorada had left of qualifying for the semi-final. Just like with Cassidy, Takeshita’s power had to fight off the speed and agility of his opponent, although Dorada took things to another level with his acrobatics off of the ropes. It looked like Dorada’s closest moment to victory was countering the Last Ride into a Canadian Destroyer but Takeshita popped back up and knocked him away with a Lariat instead. Another big Lariat came when both were standing on the top rope together. From there Takeshita just needed to do the Powerdrive Knee and then the Raging Fire to finish on top of his group.

AEW “WORLDS END”, 27/12/2025
NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

1. Continental Classic – Semi Final: Kazuchika Okada defeated Konosuke Takeshita with a Screwdriver Attack (17:17).

Fate played its hand when the two league standings resulted in Takeshita and Okada meeting each other in the semi final. After so much wait for the match to happen, a screwdriver took it in another direction. Late in the match Okada reached into one of the turnbuckle sleeves and pulled a screwdriver out of it. Then a missed Rainmaker spot knocked the referee out of position so he couldn’t see anything. Okada then struck Takeshita over the head with the screwdriver and got away with it scot free. Don Callis on commentary claimed not to have seen anything and he walked off with the winner.

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Videos

AEW “COLLISION – THANKSGIVING”, 26/11/2025 (Aired 27/11/2025)
The Pinnacle, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

1. Continental Classic – Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita (0) Vs Roderick Strong (0)

AEW “COLLISION”, 06/12/2025
Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA

1. Continental Classic – Blue League: Jon Moxley (3) Vs Konosuke Takeshita (3)

AEW “COLLISION – WINTER IS COMING”, 13/12/2025
Utilita Arena Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales, UK

1. Continental Classic – Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita (6) Vs Claudio Castagnoli (6)

AEW “DYNAMITE – HOLIDAY BASH”, 17/12/2025
Co-op Live, Manchester, England, UK

1. $1,000,000 (£750,000) Winner Takes All Trios Match: Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson Vs Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero

AEW “DYNAMITE ON 34TH STREET”, 24/12/2025
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Continental Classic – Blue League: Orange Cassidy (6) Vs Konosuke Takeshita (7)

AEW “CHRISTMAS COLLISION”, 25/12/2025
Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Continental Classic – Blue League: Konosuke Takeshita (10) Vs Mascara Dorada (6)

AEW “WORLDS END”, 27/12/2025
NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

1. Continental Classic – Semi Final: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Kazuchika Okada

DDT Around The World – September 2025

The post-summer rest is over and done with. There are two separate stories that Konosuke Takeshita is now travelling through. One in New Japan might see him become the next IWGP World Heavyweight Champion with a reign that can bring him right into the Tokyo Dome. The other is a path leading him towards Kazuchika Okada in AEW that could end with him holding the AEW Unified Title when all is said and done. At least that’s how little old optimistic me is seeing things at the moment. He spent September getting built up for a title shot with Okada and came out of it empty handed.

While that was going on, Tokyo Joshi Pro were making moves towards complete global saturation! They’ve already taken over the women’s division in MLW and have more talent coming over to America in the next couple of weeks. Then after that they move on to take over Malaysia and Thailand with some first time shows taking place in those countries later in the year.

We’re also not done with Maki Itoh yet. She broke her silence after leaving TJPW last month by declaring herself the most cutest unemployed wrestler in the world. She has another tour of America coming up so the next step is to see if she will do anything new with GCW now that she can dedicate herself more over there or if she is just going to continue playing the hits.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “COLLISION”, 06/09/2025
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Mark Briscoe Vs Konosuke Takeshita

AEW “COLLISION”, 13/09/2025
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. AEW Unified Title Eliminator Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Anthony Bowens

Video starts at 31:10 for the match
MLW “FIGHTLAND”, 13/09/2025
NYTEX Sports Centre, Dallas, Texas, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 24/09/2025
Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Mark Briscoe, Hologram & Orange Cassidy Vs Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero

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Results

AEW “COLLISION”, 06/09/2025
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mark Briscoe with the Raging Fire (17:54).

First up this month was Takeshita taking on Mark Briscoe in the venue most remembered for being the ECW Arena. What came off as a no nonsense singles match ended up being spoiled when MJF unexpectedly ran in to push Briscoe off of the top rope. The appearance was unexpected because MJF was supposedly on his honeymoon at the time. Takeshita appeared not to mind because it gave him the opening to hit Briscoe with the Powerdrive Knee and then pin him with the Raging Fire. However after the match he gave MJF a shove because he actually was annoyed over his interference. Don Callis stepped in before things could heat up and got Takeshita out of the ring before another fight broke out between Briscoe and MJF.

ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 11/09/2025 (Aired 18/09/2025)
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Pure Rules Match: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Janai Kai with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (4:42).

We got a Yuka Sakazaki match this month but not the one I thought it was going to be. Her appearance in the ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament hasn’t taken place yet. Instead she fought Janai Kai in a warm up match using Pure Rules so she can get the hang of them. Although outside of two rope breaks there was nothing different to a normal match. Also Sakazaki walked out to what sounded like a new remix of her entrance song.

AEW “COLLISION”, 11/09/2025 (Aired 13/09/2025)
2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. AEW Unified Title Eliminator Match: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Anthony Bowens with the Raging Fire (9:14).

Next up for Takeshita was his participation in a quick tournament that was put together for the AEW Unified Title match at the next AEW PPV. He fought Anthony Bowens with the winner advancing to a 3 Way title match at “ALL OUT”. Bowens badly needed a result to get himself out of a funk he is currently going through. He at a Reverse Hurricanrana from Takeshita and popped back up to give him a Leaping Famouser from behind. But he ultimately fell to the triple combo of Blue Thunder Bomb, Powerdrive Knee and Raging Fire. Takeshita would then reappear later in the episode to point at Okada and send the message that he is after his stablemate’s championship!

MLW “FIGHTLAND”, 13/09/2025
NYTEX Sports Centre, Dallas, Texas, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) defeated Yuki Kamifuku with the Locomotion Northern Lights Suplex (9:46).
*V3 for Shoko Nakajima.

The working relationship between TJPW and MLW continues to look strong as the joshi side seems to be increasingly filling out the entire women’s division in MLW. It led to a little bit of an ambitious booking to help advance the Kyoraku Kyomei Vs Ober Eats storyline in TJPW. While Shoko Nakajima and Yuki Kamifuku were busy fighting each other over the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title in America, their partners Hyper Misao and Wakana Uehara were meant to have a singles match together back in Japan on the same day. Sadly an accidental injury to Uehara caused by Misao cancelled plans for the latter from happening. Back in MLW, Kamifuku couldn’t put Nakajima away with her usual signature moves so she went up to the second rope to do the Diving Famouser. Nakajima dodged it and pulled out two successive Northern Lights Suplexes to get the win and retain her championship.

AEW “ALL OUT TORONTO”, 20/09/2025
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

1. AEW Unified Title: Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita and Mascara Dorada when Okada pinned Dorada with the Rainmaker (20:55).
*V3 for Kazuchika Okada.

Hey this was a treat! Okada and Takeshita trying to wrestle each other but you throw the new Mascara Dorada from CMLL in there as a wild card to constantly get in the way and you got yourself a heck of a match there. If anything Dorada had something of a breakout performance that stole the spotlight away from the other two. Okada ended up getting away with it in the free for all. Takeshita gave Dorada the Raging Fire but then got hit by Okada’s trademark Dropkick. That sent Takeshita tumbling out of the ring leaving Okada to pick up the pieces and used the Rainmaker on Dorada for the victory.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 24/09/2025
Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Mark Briscoe, Hologram & Orange Cassidy defeated Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero when Hologram pinned Hechicero with the Portal Bomb (10:36).

More cracks were surfacing within The Don Callis Family thanks to the uneasy alliance between Okada and Takeshita. Callis tried to blow it over by revealing his latest work of art to everyone but that was hijacked by the return of Orange Cassidy! Some teamwork from Cassidy & Hologram on Hechicero led to their team getting the win while we end our time this month wondering what is next for this story going on between Okada and Takeshita.

ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 24/09/2025 (Aired 02/10/2025)
Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Pure Rules Match: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Zoey Lynn with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (4:23).

This one slipped past me. Sakazaki got in another Pure Rules match at the end of the month, this time beating Zoey Lynn. Sakazaki had her back worked over and it still looks like like Pure Rules style doesn’t make a difference in how her matches are laid out. But Sakazaki Super Kicked Lynn’s head off and pinned her with the Magical Merry-Go-Round.

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Upcoming Appearances

ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, ??/10/2025
???, USA

1. ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament – Round 1: Serena Deeb Vs Yuka Sakazaki

We had to wait a month for this match to happen? What’s the freaking holdup? Now that I notice it, Sakazaki wrestled this month but Serena Deeb didn’t.

MLW “SLAUGHTERHOUSE”, 04/10/2025
Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs HIMAWARI

TJPW’s takeover of the MLW women’s division moves even further with Nakajima’s next defence. HIMAWARI is coming back for another MLW appearance and is immediately given a title shot. I think the endgame for Nakajima is to face Shotzi Blackheart but MLW are in no rush to get there.

VIP “SETTING THE BAR 11”, 10/10/2025
The Haltom Theater, Haltom City, Texas, USA

1. VIP Women’s Title – 3 Way Match: Maya World (c) Vs Vert Vixen Vs Kaya Toribami

The Texas tour has left a big mark in TJPW’s future plans for America. They see it as a good hub to hunker down in for a potential overseas expansion. They even see the benefit of creating Texas Joshi Pro Wrestling just because they could still call it TJPW. But this is looking way out into the future so for now they’re just going to plant a seed here and there to test things out. First up is Kaya Toribami heading over to compete on a VIP Wrestling show. She gets to be part of a 3 Way Match with Maya World and Vert Vixen with the VIP Women’s Title on the line.

VGM “FIGHT VGM FIGHT WRESTLING STARS MEET AND GREET & PRO WRESTLING MATCH”, 18/10/2025
Full House, Liangxi, Wuxi, China

1. Rika Tatsumi Vs HIMAWARI

China gets another taste of TJPW when Rika Tatsumi and HIMAWARI face off at the Fight VGM Fight show.

CMLL “VIERNES ESPECTACULAR”, 24/10/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Grand Prix de Amazonas: Persephone, La Catalina, Olympia, Skadi, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, India Sioux, Lluvia & La Jarochita Vs Kanji, Diamante, Shoko Nakajima, Hazuki, Koguma, Mina Shirakawa, Skye Blue, Julia Hart & Thekla

Back in 2019 Nakajima got to go on a tour of Mexico with CMLL with stops at Arena Mexico, Arena Coliseo and Arena Puebla. There was even a rare DVD of her lucha matches that TJPW and LADY’S RING put out that is in my collection somewhere. Now six years later she gets to go again but as a representative of MLW rather than TJPW. CMLL are holding the fifth annual Grand Prix de Amazonas torneo cibernetico for their women’s division that pits Mexico against the world. The international team has plenty of Japanese talent on it this year. Nakajima will be joined by Mina Shirakawa plus the FWC pair of Hazuki & Koguma. It would be goofy if politics between Stardom and TJPW somehow came into play here. In reality I think it’s just a coincidence that Nakajima is labelled an MLW wrestler instead of a TJPW one because she has been MLW’s long term champion for this year.

GCW “YOU WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND”, 07/11/2025
The Webster, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

The Cutest Unemployed Tour begins! Itoh’s first new booking announcements since leaving TJPW are all gathered around GCW in the month of November.

GCW “MASSACRE IN MAINE”, 08/11/2025
Yarmouth Amvets, Yarmouth, Maine USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

She’s going to Connecticut and Maine and Vermont to put them all on the map!

GCW “GREEN MOUNTAINS AND ME”, 09/11/2025
Barre Elks Lodge, Barre, Vermont, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Got confused for a moment and thought this was the Elks Lodge in New York that ECW used to book.

SETUP/IWA THAILAND “A NEW DAWN”, 14/11/2025
TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi

1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – 3 Way Bangkok Death Match: Matcha (c) Vs Ram Kaichow Vs Pom Harajuku
2. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Andruew Tang & Jake De Leon (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami Vs Kappa Kozo & Kappa Jr.
3. Double Main Event I – Ace Vs Ace: Shivam Vs HARASHIMA

Big plans are going ahead for SETUP’s first ever show in Japan. They have a double main event planned and HARASHIMA’s in one of them. He is facing Shivam, the leader of Real Global Threat who feels he has ran through all of his competition in Southeast Asia. So now he wants to face the best that Japan has to offer, which is where HARASHIMA steps in.

RGT currently hold the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles and will defend them against two very different tag teams. The monster team of Kappa Kozo & Kappa Jr. are returning to their IWA Japan roots while TJPW is sending Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami over to claim some gold as part of their upcoming visit to Thailand.

TJPW is also betting on Pom Harajuku to win back the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title. She’s beaten Matcha for that belt before in a No DQ Match, a result that Matcha would love to correct. Matcha also got her title back from beating Raku which made Raku’s “husband” Ram Kaichow feeling pretty mad when she found out about it. SETUP decided to let these three collide and to make things even more dangerous it is going to be a Bangkok Death Match!

DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “LOVE & PEACE”, 15/11/2025
JioSpace, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Both DDT and TJPW are putting together a show in Malaysia alongside the local idol group KLP48. So far the DDT talent announced are Sanshiro Takagi, Chris Brookes and Shinichiro Kawamatsu. Also Shota is there as a freelancer. The TJPW side are sending over Miu Watanabe, Raku, Shino Suzuki and Yuki Kamifuku.

HOG “SUPERCLASH”, 15/11/2025
Suffolk Credit Union Arena, Brentwood, New York, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

GCW isn’t the only place you’ll see Itoh in November. She makes her House Of Glory debut as well.

WXW “25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR”, 21/11/2025
Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany

1. Dani Luna Vs Miyu Yamashita

Looks like Germany is definitely the first stop for Yamashita’s European tour.

WXW “25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR”, 22/11/2025
Gruenspan, Hamburg, Germany

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

I haven’t paid much attention to wXw lately so your guess is as good as mine in regards to who Yamashita can wrestle over there.

GCW “DREAM ON”, 22/11/2025
American Dream, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Zayda Steel

What looks to be Itoh’s last GCW appearance for the month has her going toe to toe against Zayda Steel.

WPE/QPW “EPISODE 2”, 28/11/2025
Salle Albert Marquet, La Frette-sur-Seine, France

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Nothing new announced for Yamashita’s match in France.

SAJ “FINAL BOUT 4”, 29/11/2025
Magnete, Via Adriando, Milan, Italy

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Maki Itoh Vs X

Could a brief 121000000 reunion be on the cards or are Yamashita and Itoh staying separated from each other?

PROGRESS “VENDETTA 3”, 30/11/2025
Electric Ballroom, Camden, London, England

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

A new place in England for Yamashita to wrestle in. She makes her Progress debut at the end of November.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN BANGKOK”, 13/12/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

It’s been long enough, after so many guest appearances over the last few years, now is the time for TJPW to bring the whole thing over to Thailand! They’re working with SETUP to bring a dozen wrestlers over to work alongside several women’s wrestlers from across the Southeast Asian scene.

The twelve TJPW members going over are Miu Watanabe, Yuki Kamifuku, Arisu Endo, Shoko Nakajima, Miyu Yamashita, Raku, Pom Harajuku, Suzume, Yuki Arai, Kaya Toribami, Shino Suzuki and Uta Takami. Also part of the show will be Alexis Lee and Matcha from the SEA side.

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Other Appearances

ASW “MUCHA LUCHA”, 06/09/2025
Stephen’s Cocktail Corner Bar, Langley, British Columbia, Canada

ASW “THE COBRA STRIKES BACK”, 13/09/2025
Evergreen Hall, Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada

ASW “SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT”, 20/09/2025
Maritime Labour Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

So it looks like Sayuri Namba has found a place to do some ring announcing while she is living in Canada. She worked at least three shows for All Star Wrestling in British Columbia from what I could find online.

DDT Around The World – June 2025

Okay where do we start when it comes to July? Do we go with Konosuke Takeshita’s adventures in Mexico, Miyu Yamashita falling foul to the Missouri athletic commission or Maki Itoh voicing a character in Punch Punch Forever? Or how about Tokyo Joshi Pro being used to prop up Major League Wrestling’s shrinking women’s division? Yuka Sakazaki is starting to get more than one booking a month so more of that would be appreciated. Also is Takeshita’s team with Kyle Fletcher only called Protoshita because it makes everyone smirk when they say it out loud?

Oh, and we’re finally starting to find out what sort of deal Yamashita is on over in America. On the surface she’s going around the country like a freelancer and some media back in Japan highlights that is what makes her US work different from the joshi who work full time with WWE or AEW. Except we’re now seeing Yamashita pop up in Ring Of Honor again and her being pulled from one of TJPW’s Texas shows just so happens to line up with the ROH PPV taking place that same day.

Speaking of the Texas tour, that will be the big story for next month. TJPW’s decisions when it comes to the American market are going to pay off well by the sounds of it. Two of the Texas shows have sold out and according to the promoters the third will become the promotion’s highest selling USA show in their history. If the Wrestle Universe live streams go off without a hitch then even more American tours will be planned for the future so TJPW can make some dollars while the fans back in Japan still get to watch it on a reliable service. Given how much the scene suddenly exploded with joshi influenced companies over the last few years, nothing beats the real thing in the end.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

MLW “WAR CHAMBER”, 07/06/2025
Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Delmi Exo

AEW “COLLISION – SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER”, 11/06/2025
Theater Of The Clouds At Moda Center, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Daniel Garcia Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Hechicero

Video starts at 1:20:06 for the match
JCW “REC.SPORTS.PRO.WRESTLING”, 12/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Jordan Blade

LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 1”, 13/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Stormi Renee

CMLL “MARTES POPULARES – CMLL Vs AEW Y ROH”, 17/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Averno & Euforia Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Rocky Romero & Hechicero

AEW “DYNAMITE – GRAND SLAM MEXICO”, 18/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Bandido, Templario, Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Adam Cole, Brody King & Daniel Garcia Vs Volador Jr., Hechicero, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Dax Harwood

AEW “COLLISION”, 21/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Daniel Garcia & Bandido Vs Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 25/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. 4 Way For The #1 Spot In The Casino Gauntlet At All In Texas: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Mark Briscoe Vs Roderick Strong Vs Bandido

Video starts at 28:22 for the match
MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 26/06/2025
Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Wakana Uehara Vs Yuki Kamifuku

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Results

NEW TEXAS PRO “BAT CITY”, 01/06/2025
Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA

1. VertVixen & Yuka Sakazaki defeated Charity King & AQA when Sakazaki pinned King with the Magical Girl Splash (16:55).

It’s been around four months since Sakazaki last wrestled and even then it was on a cruise ship. It wasn’t until this month she was back wrestling on land. She showed up to New Texas Pro wearing an all new black outfit to to team up with VertVixen. She needed to shake off the ring rust fast because she started the match fighting against the much larger Charity King. But King quickly learned that Sakazaki is no weakling. AQA, who was returning to wrestling after a three and a half year absence helped King wear down Vixen until Sakazaki hot tagged herself in to even the odds. AQA stopped her momentum in a sort of unintentional way when she jumped up for a Hurricanrana and Sakazaki collapsed beneath her. The match broke down to where Vixen gave AQA the Blue Thunder Bomb and Sakazaki went on to pin King with the Magical Girl Splash.

AEW “COLLISION – FYTER FEST 2025”, 04/06/2025
Mission Ballroom, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero defeated Bandido, Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd when Fletcher pinned Magnum with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (14:16).

The lucha flavour was strong in AEW this month even before they made it over to Mexico. Don Callis has had it up to here with both Bandido and The Outrunners so he challenged them to fight The Don Callis Family but with a twist. Protoshita would be involved but so too would the Family’s newest member, the CMLL luchador Hechicero! Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd tried to play mind games by coming out wearing their own pink luchador masks and being introduced as Los Outrunners. The plan didn’t work and Protoshita dealt them the killing blows to win the match.

KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025
Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Zara Zakher with the Skull Kick (10:39).
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy defeated Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase when Envy pinned Manased with a Rolling Koppo Kick (18:07).

If Yuna Manase was expecting a warm welcome back to Kitsune by everybody there she was in for a rude surprise. Vipress & Hudson Envy have gold in their sights and saw Manase as a target to get into the promotion’s title picture. Also it turned out Nagisa Nozaki wasn’t exactly on Manase’s side either because she attack her with a chair during the main event! However she also attacked Vipress with the same chair and seemingly only wanted to join forces with Envy. Dark Sheik ran in to chase after Nozaki while Tae Honma wanted to help Manase out. However her Missile Dropkick missed Envy and hit Manase instead. Envy then hit Manase with the Rolling Koppo Kick to get the win for her team. Honma checked on Manase afterwards and handed her over the Kitsune World Title. There’s still trust between the two but they have a title match coming up the next day.

Yamashita was also involved for both of Kitsune’s shows that weekend. Zara Zakher wanted to out-strike her late in their match but Yamashita shrugged off her chops and knocked her down with an Elbow Strike. Zakher got a second wind using a German Suplex and a Clothesline. She even backflipped out of the way from the Skull Kick to give her a Stunner for the nearfall. Yamashita got her back with a Knee Strike to the back of the head and put her down for the count with the Skull Kick. Yamashita pulled back her handshake to Zakher after the match, telling her instead she wants another singles match with her.

KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025
South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Kidd Bandit with the Skull Kick (16:31).
2. Kitsune World Title – Triple Threat Match: Yuna Manase (c) defeated Tae Honma and Hudson Envy when Manase pinned Honma with the Suzuki Dynamic (17:07).
*V1 for Yuna Manase.

The next night’s main event was thrown for a loop when Envy added herself into the Manase Vs Honma match midway through it! Earlier in the show Envy won a Nine Tails Rumble which granted her a Kitsune Title shot whenever she wanted. So she pulled out the ref while he was counting Manase pinning Honma and cashed in to try and steal the title for herself. However Honma kicked out of her pin to keep the now Triple Threat going. Manase survived to the end and used the Suzuki Dynamic to pin Honma for a successful title defence. She purposely used that move to win as her way of contributing to Honma’s retirement from pro wrestling happening later this year.

Yamashita ended her Kitsune weekend going two for two. She seemed to enjoy picking Kidd Bandit apart but didn’t expect to be hit with a Leaf Hurricane Kick. Just like with Zakher the day before, Bandit wanted to get into a striking duel with Yamashita but it led to her doom when she missed a second Leaf Hurricane and was blown away with the Skull Kick.

ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 11/06/2025 (Aired 19/06/2025)
Adrian Phillips Theater At Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Brooke Havoc with the Skull Kick (3:33).

Now it’s starting to become clearer. Yamashita made an unexpected return to ROH for a quick victory over Brooke Havoc. Her opponent got cocky with a Dropkick and wasn’t aware that Yamashita stood back up behind her to deliver some kicks. Havoc got some chances back with a Superman Elbow Strike as well as a Sunset Flip counter to the Attitude Adjustment. But Yamashita caught her handstand, kicked her down and pinned her with the Skull Kick.

AEW “COLLISION – SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER”, 11/06/2025
Theater Of The Clouds At Moda Center, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Hechicero defeated Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Daniel Garcia when Alexander pinned Strong with a German Suplex (11:56).

Bloody hell it’s like The Don Callis Family is gaining new members every week! They had an 8-Man Tag Match against Paragon & Daniel Garcia but RPG Vice were hanging around at ringside to make it more like 6 Vs 4. Things broke down as they tend to do with Paragon & Garcia all locking in submission holds. Lance Archer powered out of Kyle O’Reilly’s Guillotine Choke by charging him into Garcia’s Sharpshooter on Josh Alexander and then stomping on Adam Cole to break Takeshita free from a Figure 4 Leg Lock. Takeshita also got a cheap shot in by hitting Roderick Strong with an Elbow Strike, allowing Alexander to pin him with a German Suplex.

JCW “REC.SPORTS.PRO.WRESTLING”, 12/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Jordan Blade with the Skull Kick (11:13).

A fired up Jordan Blade offered Yamashita something different from her previous opponents this month. Blade is a grappler with a focused ground game that put Yamashita on defence a lot more than usual. She also had some impact with using a Saito Suplex and also countering a Front Neck Lock into a Fisherman Suplex. But the temptation to get into a strike battle got into Blade’s head and led to Yamashita turning the tables on her. Blade got her head straight and went back to using grounded submissions. By this point it became a fight of endurance with both wrestlers getting groggy and throwing sloppy strikes. Blade tried to hit a Spinning Back Fist but she got hit back with the Skull Kick for the finish.

LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 1”, 13/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Abadon defeated Maki Itoh (11:00).
2. Miyu Yamashita defeated Stormi Renee with the Crash Rabbit Heat (?:??).

Oh hey we got a match finish that wasn’t the Skull Kick. Yamashita instead used the Crash Rabbit Heat to put away Stormi Renee.

Fans at Lucha Libre & Laughs got some bonus TJPW representation when Maki Itoh showed up unannounced for the weekend! She lost to Abadon on the first night but things went better on Night 2.

LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 2”, 14/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Maki Itoh defeated Mo Magee with the Itoh Deluxe (?:??).
2. Dark Sheik defeated Miyu Yamashita (?:??).

The next night Dark Sheik powered herself up by fighting Yamashita while dressed as Vertigo from the X-Men. Turns out that wasn’t a bad plan because she got to beat Yamashita. Itoh meanwhile made sure she would leave Denver as a winner when she beat Mo Magee.

CMLL “MARTES POPULARES – CMLL Vs AEW Y ROH”, 17/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Averno & Euforia defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Rocky Romero & Hechicero when Gran pinned Romero with an Avalanche Landslide (17:11).

AEW’s stay in Arena Mexico started a day early when Takeshita was among the AEW wrestlers booked for CMLL’s Tuesday show at the venue. You know maybe this was all meant to be. Even though this was Takeshita’s CMLL debut, he had a very thin attachment to the company already because he had held the KO-D Tag Team Titles multiple times back when it was also a certified CMLL championship. Does that actually mean anything? No but it’s nice to find even the slightest of reasons to connect things. The Don Callis Family fitted in nicely as the rudos for the match while Team CMLL the tecnicos by default even though Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Averno & Euforia usually all tend to be on the rudo side. The match was also only set for one fall instead of CMLL’s traditional Best 2 Out Of 3 rules. So there were a lot more pinfall breakups than you would expect in a CMLL match, although everyone still figured out how to pace it like the latter. Takeshita landed face first from Ultimo Guerrero’s Super Gourdbuster and Gran Guerrero used his own top rope move to pin Rocky Romero.

AEW “DYNAMITE – GRAND SLAM MEXICO”, 18/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Bandido, Templario, Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Adam Cole, Brody King & Daniel Garcia defeated Volador Jr., Hechicero, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Dax Harwood (w/ Stokely) when Atlantis pinned Harwood with an Inside Cradle (15:47).

Things got even crazier the next night when AEW hosted “DYNAMITE” in Arena Mexico. A planned 12-Man Tag Match was changed into a 14-Man Tag Match mixing CMLL and AEW wrestlers all together. Plus the world got to learn just how much the hardcore CMLL fans do not like Atlantis Jr., which gets his father Atlantis caught in the crossfire too. Takeshita was taken out by a Templario dive late in the match, Bandido did the same to wipe out Volador Jr. and Brody King saved the biggest dive of them all for the end which Takeshita took alongside Hechicero. The match then came down to Atlantis fighting Dax Harwood and taking the victory with an Inside Cradle, much to the annoyance of the hardcores in attendance.

GCW “BANGIN’ IN LITTLE ROCK”, 20/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Blake Christian with the Skull Kick (15:04).

I wonder if this was another sign that Yamashita has an AEW/ROH deal under wraps. Blake Christian is a regular over in that circle and while he’s not protected over there, he is placed on a high pedestal over in GCW. Plus Yamashita likes to do new things over in that company. Like pull out a door from under the ring and have Christian dive into it, crushing her beneath it! Christian then threw everything he had at her including a Springboard 450 and also a Handspring Ace Crusher. However Yamashita stumbled back up and took a lucky swing, knocking her opponent out with the Skull Kick. Christian crumbled to the mat and Yamashita rolled on top of him for the pin. Yamashita offered a handshake afterwards but Christian gave her the middle finger and walked out. However he reconsidered and went back into the ring to shake her hand after all.

AEW “COLLISION”, 21/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Stokely) defeated Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Daniel Garcia & Bandido when Harwood pinned Strong after the Shatter Machine (11:52).

The aftermath of Arena Mexico brought Protoshita back in the sights of Paragon, Garcia & Bandido. At least this time they had both members of FTR fighting alongside them. FTR scored the win for the team and everyone decided to beat down the faces afterwards until The Outrunners arrived to chase them off.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 25/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. 4 Way For The #1 Spot In The Casino Gauntlet At All In Texas: Mark Briscoe defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Roderick Strong and Bandido when Briscoe pinned Strong with the Froggy Bow (11:05).

Now that the road towards “ALL IN TEXAS” is getting clearer, Takeshita starting making his plans to enter the much lauded Casino Gauntlet Match. Mark Briscoe was now added to the mix as four men battled to become the No. 1 entrant in the match. The Casino Gauntlet is an Aztec Warfare/Thunderbastard style match that only lasts for one fall so entering early gives you the advantage to win rather than entering late because you get the chance to win before many of the other participants show up. The danger of having a one fall match was shown here when Bandido threw away Takeshita with the 21 Plex, Strong gave Bandido the End Of Heartache and Briscoe surprised Strong from the top rope with the Froggy Bow to get the win.

MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 26/06/2025
Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Wakana Uehara with an Inverted Famouser (7:24).

TJPW’s working relationship with MLW grew with the American group hosting “The Battle Of The Idols” between Yuki Kamifuku and Wakana Uehara. The two Ober Eats partners had a standard match with each other. The only unusual thing was Kamifuku winning the match with an Inverted version of the Famouser instead of the regular one, possibly because Uehara couldn’t get herself in the right position. Kamifuku’s win was enough to get the attention of Shotzi Blackheart who walked to the ring after the match for her first appearance in the promotion. The two women even threw out the idea of them having a match together somewhere down the road.

REAPER “REAPER RISING – A KING’S CORONATION”, 27/06/2025
The Pit, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

1. Janai Kai defeated Miyu Yamashita by Pinfall (?:??).

How’s this for a match finish over at Reaper Wrestling. Yamashita and Janai Kai keep kicking the hell out of each other, Kai hits the Hurricane Kick, Yamashita hits back with the Skull Kick and Kai falls on top of her to get the pin.

METALMANIA “2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY”, 28/06/2025
Stage 722, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Janai Kai

Yamashita and Kai faced each other again the next night at METALMANIA. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find the result of the match. The only thing I could see online is a clip of the two kicking each other. They didn’t just do the same match from the day before again, did they?

SPARK “IGNITE TEXAS”, 29/06/2025
Baytown Community Center, Houston, Texas, USA

1. Yuka Sakazaki & Raychell Rose defeated SAKI & Kaia McKenna when Sakazaki pinned McKenna with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (11:25).
2. SPARK Joshi Pacific Title – 3 Way Match: Airica Demia defeated VertVixen (c) and Miyu Yamashita when Demia pinned Vixen after the Skull Kick from Yamashita (13:37)
*VertVixen fails in V1. Airica Demina becomes the 3rd SPARK Joshi Pacific Champion!

We finally get to the end of the month with SPARK Joshi holding its latest show in Texas. I haven’t seen the show yet so I don’t have much info on the matches other than how they finished. Yamashita came close to winning the SPARK Joshi Pacific Title when she used the Skull Kick on the champion Vert Vixen. However the third person in the match Airica Demina took Yamashita out of the way to steal the pin and win the championship instead.

Elsewhere on the card Sakazaki had her second match of the month by teaming with Raychell Rose to beat SAKI & Kaia McKenna. Sakazaki even scored the pin on McKenna by doing the Magical Merry-Go-Round on her.

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Upcoming Appearances

BZW “LES JEUX SONT FAITS”, 05/07/2025
Casino Barrière de Lille, Lille, France

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Danny Black & Joe Lando

Texas will be the main point of interest next month but first we have something going on in France to pay attention to. MAO & Yoshihiko are heading back to Banger Zone Wrestling to defence the BZW Tag Team Titles. The CPF team of Danny Black & Joe Lando are their latest challengers.

GCW “THE TOP PLAY”, 05/07/2025
The Webster Theatre, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

1. Alec Price, Jordan Oliver & Marcus Mathers Vs Miyu Yamashita, Megan Bayne & Billie Starkz

The GCW Tag Team Titles match didn’t go ahead this month for reasons I will cover at the end of this article. However Yamashita & Billie Starkz will get their hands on YDNP next month for an intergender trios match. Megan Bayne adds firepower to their team while Marcus Mathers comes to the aid of the champions.

This weekend looks to be the end of Yamashita’s latest tour. Her tweet schedule also mentions a booked in New Jersey on 6th July. JCW will be holding a show there on that date but they haven’t promoted Yamashita for it yet and I don’t see where she can fit on such a packed card that’s currently being advertised. I also haven’t been able to find any other shows taking place in the area that day so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

1. 3 Way Match: Yuki Kamifuku Vs Raku Vs Vert Vixen
2. Yuki Arai Vs Kaylia Capri
3. Miu Watanabe Vs Wakana Uehara
4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki
5. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
6. Mizuki & Pom Harajuku Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao

The word coming from TJPW and their American promotors is this Texas tour will be a big success.

ROH “SUPERCARD OF HONOR”, 11/07/2025
Esports Stadium Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA

1. ROH World Title: Bandido (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

I have high hopes this will be one of the matches of the weekend. Don’t even have to call it a sleeper. The last month of matches where Bandido went to battle with The Don Callis Family has all led to Takeshita challenging him for the ROH World Title! Can Takeshita become the second Japanese wrestler after Takeshi Morishima to hold the belt?

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

1. Wakana Uehara Vs Shino Suzuki
2. Arisu Endo Vs Kaylia Capri
3. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Pom Harajuku
4. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Miu Watanabe & Vert Vixen
5. Maki Itoh Vs Raku
6. Mizuki & Suzume Vs Yuki Arai & Moka Miyamoto

The first two shows in Houston have both sold out.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS PRESENTED BY NEXTSHARK & QUERI”, 13/07/2025
The OC, Forney, Texas, USA

1. Hyper Misao & Shino Suzuki Vs Raku & Pom Harajuku
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Alejandra Quintanilla
3. Yuki Arai Vs Maya World
4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
5. Shoko Nakajima Vs Miu Watanabe
6. Yuka Sakazaki & Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita & Vert Vixen
7. Special Single Match: Mizuki Vs Maki Itoh

And the “Dallas” show is apparently going to end up becoming TJPW’s biggest drawing show in America ever!

SETUP “UNDER PRESSURE”, 26/07/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Chris Brookes Vs X

Some late summer travelling for Chris Brookes. First he’ll be going back to Thailand for a SETUP show. Ram Kaichow will be there too.

BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. MNL”, 22/08/2025
The Social House, Makati, Philippines

1. Takeshi Masada Vs X
2. Chris Brookes Vs X

Then a month later Brookes is going over to the Philippines and he’s bringing Takeshi Masada with him. Dexcon will be holding a weekend tripleshot of shows, the first of which will be Baka Gaijin + Friends!

DXCN “???”, 23/08/2025
Philippines

1. Takeshi Masada Vs X
2. Chris Brookes Vs X

I can’t find any info on what the second Dexcon show of the weekend will be other than Brookes and Masada should both be on it.

GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 1”, 23/08/2025
Showboat Hotel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh returns to GCW in August for a doubleshot weekend.

DXCN “PEKSMAN”, 24/08/2025
Brawl Pit Bulusan, Quezon City, Philippines

1. Takeshi Masada Vs X
2. Chris Brookes Vs X

The third Dexcon show will be built around local wrestlers taking on the international guests.

GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 2”, 24/08/2025
Showboat Hotel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

There will likely be a lot more GCW bookings coming for Itoh as usual.

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Cancelled Appearances

WAFFLE HOUSE “GOOD FOOD FAST”, 15/06/2025
Waffle House, Colorado, USA

While Itoh was in Colorado for Lucha Libre & Laughs, she went to a Waffle House fully expecting the place to live up to its online reputation. Unfortunately for her no fights or other bad doings took place while she was there. Instead she got to experience the kind of Waffle House that the late Anthony Bourdain once waxed lyrically about.

GCW “TAKE A PICTURE”, 22/06/2025
The Truman, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

1. GCW Tag Team Titles: Jordan Oliver & Alec Price (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita & Billie Starkz

Yamashita found herself in the centre of controversy during the month when GCW were running a show in Missouri. The state’s athletic commission refused to give Yamashita a license to wrestle on the show because she has no social security number. GCW argued that she has all of the required documents as well as a valid working visa needed to qualify for a license. They also pointed out that Yamashita has wrestled in Missouri several times previously without any trouble. I can back up that claim because this very series of articles has records of her wrestling in St. Louis, Missouri twice in 2023: once for ROH in March and then for Glory Pro in May. Unfortunately this couldn’t change the commission’s mind and Yamashita wasn’t allowed to wrestle that evening.

DDT Around The World – May 2025

Can’t say this month has been a quiet one. Konosuke Takeshita had a lot of TV time with AEW and we even got the lovely announcement that he’s married to Yuka Sakazaki. All of Takeshita’s work this month revolves around The Don Callis Family, yes even the American New Japan appearance. The group in its current form is nailing it at the moment with good tag matches week to week and the presence of Don Callis himself is not as overwhelming as it was before. I bet over the coming months Takeshita’s schedule will gradually switch from AEW over to New Japan as we walk through the Forbidden Door and approach the G1 season.

May saw Maki Itoh finish up her remaining dates in America before she travelled back home to rejoin Tokyo Joshi Pro. She has another tour lined up during the Tokyo Princess Cup so the Americans won’t be missing her for long. Miyu Yamashita is entering the second half of her excursion and her schedule is definitely keeping her busy. She’s bouncing back and forth from America to Canada and even found time to visit Italy. Her matches in the Upcoming Appearances section below are not all of the bookings she has left. She included a few unlabeled dates in her schedule on Twitter and it’s pretty easy to find online that they are for GCW’s sister promotion JCW. However JCW themselves haven’t announced her for anything yet so I left them off this post. As you’ll see at the very end, there is always a possible booking cancellation that could happen at any time.

TJPW’s grip on the Southeast Asian scene took something of a hit because Yuki Kamifuku and Raku both lost all of the SEA championships this month. It’s likely not the end of TJPW working with companies from Thailand and Singapore but for now the focus looks to be moving towards the new relationship with Major League Wrestling in America. MLW is currently going through a roster shuffle too with a good amount of contracts not being renewed and some new talent coming in to fill those emptying spots. TJPW may just be used as a temporary solution to fill in the gap but they’ll benefit from it for as long as it lasts.

The thing to watch for in the next month or two is how often Sakazaki will get to wrestle, whether it’s on the indies or if she can get booked in AEW/ROH again. I hear rumours every now and then that there’s an injury clearance issue going on with her. But it wouldn’t make sense if AEW uses that as a reason to keep her on the shelf only to let her go wrestle somewhere else. They haven’t like it in the past when their wrestlers got injured on another promotion’s show.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “COLLISION”, 08/05/2025
Masonic Temple Theatre, Detroit, Michigan, USA

1. Evil Uno & Alex Reynolds Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander (w/ Don Callis)

HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025
Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. HOG Women’s Title: Indi Hartwell Vs Miyu Yamashita

AEW “DYNAMITE – BEACH BREAK”, 14/05/2025
NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

1. Will Ospreay & Hangman Page Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander

AEW “COLLISION”, 22/05/2025
Rio Rancho Events Center, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero (w/ Lance Archer) Vs Bandido, Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd

AEW “COLLISION”, 31/05/2025
El Paso County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero Vs Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii

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Results

TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025
Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Ava Lawless (?:??).

We start off over in Canada where Yamashita headlined a Top Talent Wrestling show against Ava Lawless. The Canadian knew it was going to be a big test for her and she embraced it but Yamashita came out on top.

HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. GLAMpionship: MacDaddy MYLO (c) (w/KEiTA) defeated Maki Itoh with a School Boy (?:??).
*V6 for MacDaddy MYLO.

On the same night one country away, Itoh was main eventing a show of her own with her return to Hoodslam. She was getting a shot at the GLAMpionship, a title that was originally created for the promotion’s sub-brand GLAM but made its way over to the regular shows. MacDaddy MYLO attacked her before she could finish her entrance but made the mistake of slamming her head into the turnbuckles which had no effect. Itoh’s momentum was cut off when MYLO pulled the ref into her way and then jumped in to do a Cutter. Itoh made another comeback only for KEiTA to interfere on the champion’s behalf. Itoh fought them both off and put MYLO in the Itoh Deluxe but KEiTA distracted the ref so she wouldn’t see MYLO tap out. Itoh got rid of KEiTA again but MYLO rolled her up in a School Boy to steal the win.

GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025
Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Maki Itoh with the Skull Kick (13:23).

The day after that Yamashita and Itoh’s paths crossed over in GCW. The two of them were heading into a big weekend where they both had title matches to prepare for. But before any of that could happen the two would meet in the ring against each other! Did anyone on GCW commentary know about their history together as 121000000 beyond just them being tag champions a few times? Fucking of course not! At least the fans were super into it. The was the first time Yamashita would face Itoh in a place where Itoh has the home field advantage and while she didn’t go into MDK mode, she was able to put up her biggest fight against Yamashita yet. Even Yamashita seemed to be aware of it because when he knocked down Itoh with the Skull Kick, she ordered the ref to check her for a knockout. The ref dropped Itoh’s arm three times but on the third Itoh kept her hand up and raised a middle finger to the air! She got a second wind and almost scored the victory she waited so long for by countering the Attitude Adjustment into a Small Package. But Yamashita kicked out and nailed another Skull Kick to increase her singles match record with Itoh to 10-0. There was no hard feelings over the result and 121000000 shook hands afterwards.

GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025
Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. JCW World Title: Masha Slamovich (c) defeated Miyu Yamashita with the White Knight Driver (10:13).
*V36 for Masha Slamovich.
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) defeated Maki Itoh with a Spinning Tombstone Piledriver (12:08).
*V16 for Effy.

Well if plan of having iron sharpen iron was to result in championship wins it didn’t work out here. Itoh finished up her latest excursion by getting a shot at the GCW World Title held by Effy before she went home. Effy lightened the mood by singing “Mandy” on the microphone but changed the lyrics to be about Maki. She didn’t like it and told him to stop but that made Effy start to cry. It was all a trap to for Effy to get the one up on Itoh but she quickly escaped and turned the tables. She did a Diving Cross Body from the top rope to Effy outside the ring. Effy brought in chairs and ended up getting Choke Slammed onto one by Itoh! She also kicked out of a Spear at one and sliced Effy’s forehead open with her pizza cutter. Despite all that Effy countered the I.S.D by catching her in mid-air. He then spun it around into a Tombstone Piledriver to get the win.

Also on the show Yamashita challenged Masha Slamovich for the JCW Title in a continuation of their international rivalry. It was an even matchup but just like in Las Vegas last month, Slamovich got Yamashita in the White Knight Driver for the three count. Yamashita slapped away the champion’s hand after the match but immediately offered a handshake of her own, which Slamovich accepted.

AEW “COLLISION”, 08/05/2025
Masonic Temple Theatre, Detroit, Michigan, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander (w/ Don Callis) defeated Evil Uno & Alex Reynolds when Alexander pinned Reynolds with the C4 Spike (2:30).

Even though Takeshita was already eliminated from the Owen Hart Cup last month, this month he was still in orbit of the tournament. His new tag team with Josh Alexander in The Don Callis Family were set up for a match against the two wrestlers who reached the final. So for a warm up match they went and destroyed two members of The Dark Order in quick fashion on Collision. Alexander picked up Evil Uno and with Takeshita did a Doomsday Jumping Knee to the masked man. Then they smashed Alex Reynolds with a Double Elbow Strike to the head before Alexander pinned him with the C4 Spike.

HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025
Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. HOG Women’s Title: Indi Hartwell defeated Miyu Yamashita with a Full Nelson Facebuster (12:13).
*Indi Hartwell becomes the 8th HOG Women’s Champion!

The stakes were raised for Yamashita’s return to House Of Glory. Right before her match with Indi Hartwell began the HOG commissioner Jason Solomon walked out and announced that the HOG Women’s Title held by Megan Bayne had been vacated. He then announced that this match would determine the new champ! Yamashita had the end of the match under control until Hartwell ducked the Skull Kick and planted her with a Full Nelson Facebuster to win the match out of nowhere and become champion.

NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. NEVER Openweight Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) (w/ Rocky Romero) defeated El Phantasmo with the Raging Fire (17:48).
*V6 for KONOSUKE TAKESHITA.

Rocky Romero’s involvement with Takeshita in the NJPW USA shows have become a little more clearer now that Romero is part of The Don Callis Family. He accompanied Takeshita for his NEVER Openweight Title defence against El Phantasmo. It couldn’t reach the heights of last year’s G1 match but ELP still did a massive Thunderkiss ’86 dive to Takeshita into the front row, landed a Cutthroat Driver for a nearfall and also gave Takeshita a Piledriver on the ring apron. ELP had the win in his grasp when Romero pulled the referee out of the ring during a pinfall. ELP got some measure of revenge on Romero by Power Bombing him through a table but that gave Takeshita time to recover and pin ELP with the Raging Fire. There is growing respect between the two because they shook hands after the match.

MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025
Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada

1. Serena Deeb defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Detox (12:55).

Yamashita travelled back up to Canada for another appearance in Maple Leaf Pro. There she faced Serena Deeb who was making her third appearance in a row for the promotion. Yamashita hit the Skull Kick but Deeb made sure to topple out of the ring to avoid getting pinned. When she was put back in the ring, Deeb pushed Yamashita into the ref and then hit her from behind with a Chop Block. She then pinned her with the Detox, which is Deeb’s arm trapped Styles Clash kind of finisher.

MLW “AZTECA LUCHA”, 10/05/2025
Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) defeated Delmi Exo (?:??).
*V1 for Shoko Nakajima.

Right, here’s the funny thing about MLW. Their shows nowadays are one half live iPPV and the other half TV tapings for the upcoming month. That’s not unusual for wrestling but barely anyone who goes to MLW shows cares about spoiling the tapings part. Shoko Nakajima’s appearance on the live PPV was just to be seen sitting in the front row to hype up her next MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title defence. That match is a rematch with Delmi Exo that will air on MLW’s TV show in June. I couldn’t find any result or talk of the rematch online anywhere and the only reason we know Nakajima is still the champion is because she brought the belt back to Japan with her. Once the match airs I’ll come back and write this with any necessary corrections included. Like I don’t know, maybe they went to a 60 minute draw. I can’t prove they did but you can’t prove they didn’t either.

AEW “DYNAMITE – BEACH BREAK”, 14/05/2025
NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA

1. Will Ospreay & Hangman Page defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Josh Alexander (w/ Don Callis) when Page pinned Alexander after the Buckshot Hidden Blade (18:34).

The two Owen Hart Cup finalists Will Ospreay & Hangman Page had to team up before their big PPV match. They needed to be on the same page because Takeshita & Alexander were coming after them like a well oiled machine. There was some communication between them to set things up but it still led to moments where Page almost hit Ospreay with the Buckshot Lariat and Ospreay almost hit Page with the Hidden Blade. But something eventually clicked between the two and they combined their finishers Kinnikuman style on Alexander to get the victory.

GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025
RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Marcus Mathers with the Crash Rabbit Heat (21:02).

Plans changed for Yamashita’s next match in GCW. She was supposed to face Tony Deppen but instead her opponent was Marcus Mathers. The match featured quite a bit of mat work with Mathers looking for spots to take Yamashita into an Ankle Lock. Yamashita also found herself getting thrown around more often than she would back in TJPW. Mathers press dropped her onto the ring apron and tried to do a Power Bomb but it was countered into a Sunset Flip. When Mathers went more high risk he paid for it by springboarding into a glancing Skull Kick for a nearfall. By that point Yamashita knew she had Mathers where she wanted him and wore him down with kicks before pinning him with the Crash Rabbit Heat.

GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025
Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA

1. Billie Starkz defeated Miyu Yamashita with a Victory Roll Reversal (10:34).

Yamashita’s final GCW appearance for the month (probably because it was also the last GCW show of the month) was also the fourth singles meeting with Billie Starkz. It turns out Starkz has become a very slippery opponent for Yamashita to beat nowadays because this match was her third defeat in a row to her. Yamashita got a nearfall with an Avalanche Attitude Adjustment and continued the pressure after that but Starkz ended up reversing a Victory Roll to get the three count out of nowhere.

AEW “COLLISION”, 21/05/2025 (Aired 22/05/2025)
Rio Rancho Events Center, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero (w/ Lance Archer) defeated Bandido, Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd when Takeshita pinned Floyd with the Bastard Driver (9:35).

More shuffling going around within The Don Callis Family yet things look so similar. Trent Beretta is back from injury and has reunited with Rocky Romero. Their Roppongi Vice team in New Japan is now conveniently renamed RPG Vice in AEW. They and Takeshita were put together for a trios match against the wild combination of Bandido and The Outrunners. During the madness Takeshita used a well timed Jumping Knee Strike to make Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd clash into each other. Then at ringside Lance Archer wiped out Bandido so the rest of The Family had the coast clear to finish things off.

MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025
Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China

1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin defeated Alexis Lee & Big Sam when Kamifuku pinned Lee with the Diving Famouser (?:??).

Now let’s head over to Asia to see what some of the other TJPW wrestlers have been up to. Middle Kingdom Wrestling in China brought in Yuki Kamifuku for a mixed tag match with Alexis Lee on the other team, making it a preview for their big title match happening in Singapore one week later. Kamifuku was teaming up with Chinese wrestler Chen Wenbin while Lee had a big British brute named Big Sam as her tag partner. Sam was too strong to a fault because he ended up missing Wenbin and Clotheslining Lee off the ring apron by mistake. Kamifuku by herself couldn’t hurt Big Sam but Wenbin was there to help her out when needed. Things also went wrong for Sam when his manager messed up a pin break and stomped on him, allowing the other team to charge in and Double Big Boot Sam out of the ring. Lee tried to get her hands on Kamifuku afterwards but Kamifuku got the better of her, winning the match with the Diving Famouser.

SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025
Via Dante 72, Sporting Cesate, Milan, Italy

1. 3 Way Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Irene and Session Moth Martina (?:??).

Yamashita can now scratch Italy off her growing list of countries she’s wrestled in. SAJ Wrestling brought her in for a 3 Way Match against Italy’s own Irene and the Irish wrestler Session Moth Martina. The latter was really looking forward to this because she was meant to face Yamashita at EVE earlier in the year but she had to cancel it due to illness. Yamashita also tweeted that her first time in Italy was an incredible experience.

AEW “DOUBLE OR NOTHING”, 25/05/2025
Desert Diamond Arena, Glendale, Arizona, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher & Josh Alexander defeated Adam Cole, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly when Fletcher pinned O’Reilly with (12:48).

Takeshita and co. were put in the unenviable position of following the annual Anarchy In The Arena match. They all did alright given the circumstances. Takeshita has crossed paths with Adam Cole, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly before but not when all three have been together as Paragon. In fact the previous times Takeshita has been in the ring with Strong was as tag partners. The Don Callis Family ended up isolating O’Reilly and left it to Kyle Fletcher to finish him off. The Family continued the attack after the match until an unlikely trio of wrestlers came to the rescue. Hiroshi Tanahashi made a suprise appearance leading Tomohiro Ishii & Brody King to the ring to chase off The Family. It’s all to set up the next “FORBIDDEN DOOR” that will be held in England this year. It’s since been confirmed that the show will feature Tanahashi’s final wrestling match in the UK before he retires. Could Takeshita become a part of it just like he was for Tanahashi’s last USA match?

AEW “COLLISION”, 28/05/2025 (Aired 31/05/2025)
El Paso County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero defeated Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii when Takeshita pinned Ishii with the Raging Fire (10:18).

Chaos broke out from the get go when The Don Callis Family attacked their opponents from behind only for Paragon & Ishii to bring the fight to them outside the ring. Don Callis also briefly got away from the commentary table to deliver a cheap shot. Takeshita and Ishii threw bombs at each other until Takeshita pushed Ishii into the ref. That allowed Romero to Low Blow Ishii from behind so Takeshita could pin him with the Raging Fire.

SPW “MAYHEM”, 30/05/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Alexis Lee defeated Yuki Kamifuku (c) (?:??).
*Yuki Kamifuku fails in V7. Alexis Lee becomes the 6th Queen Of Asia Champion!

The Queen Of Asia has been defeated. Long live the new Queen Of Asian Champion! Lee wanted one more shot at Kamifuku’s title in SPW and was willing to put up the biggest gamble of her life to do it. She promised to put her career on the line and retire from wrestling if she couldn’t take the title from Kamifuku! The bet paid off because Lee was able to get the win and become a two time Queen Of Asia Champion. Thing along with Kamifuku losing the VPW Women’s Title in TJPW earlier in the month brings her Southeast Asian dominance to an end, maybe just for the time being.

SETUP “THE FALLEN KINGDOM”, 31/05/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title: Matcha defeated Raku (c) with the Stunner (?:??).
*Raku fails in V2. Matcha becomes the 4th SETUP All Asia Women’s Champion!

The good folks at SETUP have kept me up to date on Raku’s return to Thailand this month which I appreciate greatly. Matcha wanted a chance to win back the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title she lost to TJPW and would get it with Raku coming over to defend it. But Raku had a devious plan put in place to give her the advantage. When Matcha was in Japan for a TJPW tour, Raku purposely sang “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to her her backstage to send her to sleep. Raku then sent a recording of the song over to the SETUP dojo, making everyone over there who played it fall asleep on the spot. SETUP staff also told me that Raku played the same prank on a delivery driver on Matcha’s birthday so her birthday cake would never arrive! So Matcha tried to fight fire with fire by bringing along a certain kind of pillow and mat used in Thailand for Raku to lie on. Raku almost fell asleep but had the awareness to roll up Matcha when she tried to pin her. The two proceeded to wrestle the match using the mat as a weapon on each other, mostly by one bundling up the other in the mat to try and immobilize them. When it came down to the final moments of the match, Matcha countered Raku’s Doctor Yellow into the Last Rights. After that she hit the Stunner to win and regain her championship! Raku was upset to lose the title but Matcha made it up to her after the match by giving her the pillow to bring home as a keepsake. Raku may have also got to sing Zack Sabre Jr. to sleep at the merch table as the main photo at the top of the article suggests.

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Upcoming Appearances

NEW TEXAS PRO “BAT CITY”, 01/06/2025
Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA

1. Charity King & AQA Vs VertVixen & Yuka Sakazaki

There was only one previous time when VertVixen & Yuka Sakazaki were in the ring together and it was for an AEW Dark match. They meet again for Sakazaki’s return to the American indies, this time teaming together over at New Texas Pro. Someone in this match who is also getting attention is AQA. She was seen as an exciting prospect on the indies a few years ago and even signed a deal with AEW (she got the graphic and everything) but unexpectedly quit the business only a few months later. All of a sudden New Texas Pro announced her return and this is going to be her first match back in three years. Charity King will be there to lend her a helping hand for the comeback.

KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025
Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Zara Zakher
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase

Not long to go now until Yuna Manase returns for the next weekend of Kitsune shows. Yamashita will be there too.

KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025
South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase (c) Vs Tae Honma

Manase has a Kitsune World Title defence against Tae Honma lined up while Yamashita won’t know who she faces until the day of the show.

LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 1”, 13/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Yamashita’s first opponent for her weekend at Lucha Libre & Laughs has not been announced yet.

LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 2”, 14/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Dark Sheik Vs Miyu Yamashita

But her opponent on the second night is already known. It’s Dark Sheik!

GCW “BANGIN’ IN LITTLE ROCK”, 20/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

It won’t be until them middle of the month when Yamashita jumps back into GCW. There will be a couple of both new and familiar faces showing up by then, giving Yamashita a few potentially fresh opponents.

GCW “TAKE A PICTURE”, 22/06/2025
The Truman, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

1. GCW Tag Team Titles: Jordan Oliver & Alec Price (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita & Billie Starkz

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! Yamashita and Starkz are teaming up for a crack at the GCW Tag Team Titles currently held by Jordan Oliver & Alec Price. This could be Yamashita’s last chance on this tour to win some gold.

MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 26/06/2025
Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Wakana Uehara Vs Yuki Kamifuku

The relationship between TJPW and Major League Wrestling will continue with more TJPW wrestlers crossing over to the world that never stops! While Nakajima is defending MLW’s Women’s Title in Japan, TJPW will be sending over Yuki Kamifuku and Wakana Uehara to compete against each other in the MLW ring. Cesar Duran says this is part of a new era for MLW’s women’s division being helmed by Salina de la Renta.

REAPER “REAPER RISING – A KING’S CORONATION”, 27/06/2025
The Pit, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Janai Kai

This is one of those times when the wrestling promotion in question is so far out of my reach I half consider if it’s someone’s eFed because the info is so sparse. However I can confirm Reaper Wrestling is a real company in Canada. Yamashita will get to face Janai Kai again and she sent a video warning Kai that nothing has changed since the last time they fought each other.

METALMANIA “2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY”, 28/06/2025
Stage 722, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

And the award for the most unlikely place to book Yamashita during her excursion goes to METALMANIA! It’s where you go in Portland to see lucha mix with death metal music. Never would have thought Yamashita to be a headbanger.

SPARK “IGNITE TEXAS”, 29/06/2025
Baytown Community Center, Houston, Texas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Yuka Sakazaki Vs X

When was the last time Yamashita and Sakazaki were on the same show together? It wasn’t when Sakazaki graduated from TJPW a year and a half ago, was it? As you can see in the pic above, there’s also some Stardom talent appearing on the show. If SPARK has the pull to put together the tag match I’m thinking of then good job to them.

BZW “LES JEUX SONT FAITS”, 05/07/2025
Casino Barrière de Lille, Lille, France

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Danny Black & Joe Lando

It’s back to France for a quick summer break. Or maybe not because MAO & Yoshihiko have some business to attend to for their return to Banger Zone Wrestling. British wrestlers Danny Black & Joe Lando have challenged them for the BZW Tag Team Titles. The pair from the CPF (Close Personal Friends) stable held the titles before and are getting this match at the same venue where they lost them.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

The current lineup “confirmed” for the Texas tour is Maki Itoh, Miyu Yamashita, Miu Watanabe, Suzume, Yuki Arai, Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima, Pom Harajuku, Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo, Raku, Shino Suzuki and Yuki Kamifuku.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

The only one not “confirmed” yet but still included in the promotional material is Hyper Misao. That might depend on if she recovers from her elbow injury in time.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025
The OC, Forney, Texas, USA

The only other thing known about the show lineups right now is each night will have different matches.

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Cancelled Appearances

MPX “METROPLEX WRESTLING”, 31/05/2025
Harwood Road, Bedford, Texas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Maya World

A cancelled flight prevented Yamashita from travelling to Texas for her first appearance at Metroplex Wrestling. She was meant to fight Maya World at the show and called in a favour to Athena to be her replacement.

PRESTIGE “UNIT3D”, 01/06/2025
Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Not much to say about this other than I’m including it just for the sake of record. When Yamashita first posted her list of USA bookings she included one for Prestige on 1st June. She later had an update saying the booking was cancelled and she was available for other dates on the weekend. Nothing was said on Prestige’s end but that’s also because they hadn’t at any point promoted she would appear on the show.

DDT Around The World – Late April 2025

What a month. Felt like the moment WrestleMania Week ended the wrestling world just kept going. Konosuke Takeshita was involved with the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament in AEW and when that came to an end he very quickly established a new tag team with Josh Alexander. Then in Japan some DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers took part in Deadlock Pro’s weekend in the country’s capital. There was also some lucha libre action happening in Tokyo a few days later. Back in America Maki Itoh got her face painted again in a very nice and very evil manner. Then the very busy month came to an end with Miyu Yamashita stepping foot back inside AEW after a two or three year absence.

Yamashita is going to have a packed schedule in May. Itoh has a few things coming up but she will be back in TJPW in the middle of the month. Yamashita though has plenty on her plate and the AEW appearance came about at a good time to replenish some interest in her. What’s included below is not the complete schedule she posted on her Twitter account. There are plenty more dates coming up over the next few months but some haven’t been announced by the promotions yet so I left them out just to save some space. Our old pal Yuka Sakazaki got her first booking on the indies in quite a while too. Another thing to keep an eye on is just where will Keigo Nakamura land for his indefinite overseas excursion. Apparently wherever he’s going he is has gone travelling over there already. If he is indeed still going to wrestle I’ll do my best to keep track of it in these articles.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay Vs Konosuke Takeshita

AEW “COLLISION – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 17/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 23/04/2025
Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

1. Will Ospreay & Brody King Vs Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 30/04/2025
Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

1. AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Match: Toni Storm (w/ Luther) Vs Miyu Yamashita

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Results

AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay defeated Konosuke Takeshita with the Stormbreaker (21:43).

A highly anticipated rematch in the Owen Hart Cup saw Takeshita clash with Will Ospreay once again. Ospreay looked to have had Takeshita’s number until Takeshita purposely collapsed to avoid taking the Hidden Blade. Takeshita even caught Ospreay in mid-air with an Elbow Strike only for Ospreay to kick out at one and hit the Hidden Blade from out of nowhere. Takeshita kicked out at one as well leading to a role reversal where Ospreay used the Bastard Driver into the German Suplex and Takeshita responded with a Hidden Blade of his own. More counters came with Ospreay turning the Raging Fire into a Hurricanrana that then switched into the Styles Clash. Takeshita countered another Hidden Blade with a Backslide into a Powerdrive Knee but Ospreay flipped over a Lariat and lifted Takeshita into the Stormbreaker, winning a hard fought match that booked his spot in the final.

AEW “COLLISION – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 17/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii when Alexander pinned Ishii with a Power Bomb (10:18).

There wasn’t much time for Takeshita to lick his wounds but The Don Callis Family are already regrouping with a new addition to the unit. AEW’s newest signing Josh Alexander has taken on Don Callis’s management services and made to team with Takeshita. They won their first match as a tag team but one of the reasons it happened was because Rocky Romero ended up abandoning Tomohiro Ishii and left him to the wolves. Alexander & Takeshita rocked Ishii with a Double Roaring Elbow then Alexander finished him off with a Power Bomb. There was then more drama when Trent Beretta made his return after the match and attacked Ishii with Romero. Callis gave a wrench to Beretta and he used it to knock Ishii out.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 23/04/2025
Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Will Ospreay & Brody King when Alexander pinned King after the Assisted C4 Spike (13:08).

Winning ways continued for The Don Callis Family when they took on Takeshita’s two opponents from the Owen Hart Cup. It was a heck of a task getting there though. Brody King ran through them like a tank while Ospreay and Takeshita had unfinished business from their match last week. The Family needed Lance Archer to distract the ref in order to turn the tables. Even then it took a lot fo Alexander & Takeshita to put King away. It eventually took Takeshita helping Alexander lift King up for the C4 Spike to finally put the big boy away.

DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 1”, 24/04/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA Vs LaBron Kozone & Calvin Tankman ended in a Draw (?:??).
2. DPW Women’s World Title: Dani Luna (c) defeated Rika Tatsumi (?:??).
*V3 for Dani Luna.

I couldn’t get any proper results from DPW’s two shows in Japan since they’re usually pretty good at keeping things under wraps until the matches get uploaded to their streaming service. But some scraping through Twitter I was able to piece together some things. Rika Tatsumi failed in her bid to win the DPW Women’s Title from Dani Luna. Also the DPW Vs DDT match went to a draw, I assume of the time limit kind. One of the big spots was HARASHIMA going to do the Somato on LaBron Kozone only to get ran over in midair with the Pounce from Calvin Tankman.

DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 2”, 25/04/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Calvin Tankman & Kazuma Sumi defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida (?:??).
2. Emi Sakura, Chris Brookes, Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki defeated Miyuki Takase, Kevin Ku, Dominic Garrini & Ryo Mizunami (?:??).

On Night 2 Chris Brookes was part of a ChocoPro team against a USA/Japan alliance representing DPW. Meanwhile Tankman got thrown in with some DDT wrestlers for a tag match between two pairs of big man and little man. Tankman is remaining in Japan for a ZERO1 tour but who knows, maybe DDT will come calling while he’s there.

HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025
NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA

1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita ended in a No Contest when Charles Mason interfered (15:57).
*V14 for Mike Santana.

Well that kind of felt like a waste of time. The HOG Heavyweight Title was on the line and neither Mike Santana nor Takeshita were in a position to take a loss. So Charles Mason came out and ruined the whole thing. Santana had Takeshita pinned with the Spin The Block Roaring Lariat but Santana pulled the ref out of the ring mid-count and attacked Santana to stop the match. Takeshita tried to come to the rescue but Mason fled the ring unharmed. Santana and Takeshita raised each other’s hands to everyone afterward.

BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025
The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Leyla Hirsch with the Skull Kick (?:??).
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh defeated Davey Bang & August Matthews when Danhausen pinned Matthews and Itoh pinned Bang with the Double Kokeshi (?:??).

The latest American tours for Itoh & Yamashita kicked off over in Black Label Pro. Itoh joined forces with Danhausen once again to reunite Very Cute, Very Evil Makihausen. Itoh had the face fully painted to match her tag partner and be battle ready to go against Bang And Matthews. Itoh was in grave danger when Davey Bang & August Matthews combined to hit the Spears Tower on her but Danhausen broke the pin. When they tried the same move on Danhausen he paused them with a Curse that resulted in Itoh tripping them over. The two then filled their opponents’ mouths with jars of teeth before kicking them in their faces. Itoh & Danhausen then finished them off with Stereo Kokeshi Headbutts.

This month saw Leyla Hirsch return to action, now as a freelancer. Yamashita got to be one her of first opponents back and didn’t show much ring rust with her performance. She tried wearing down Yamashita with an Ankle Lock but Yamashita fired back with strikes that took a lot out of her opponent. Hirsch then missed a Moonsault and charged right into the Skull Kick for the finish.

MEXICO KANKO “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
2,714 Fans

1. Mexican Tourist Belt – The Road To Studying In Mexico 6 Way Match: Yuki Mashiro defeated Honoka, YuuRI, SONYA, CoCo and Yoshiko Hasegawa when Mashiro pinned Hasegawa with a Modified Suplex Hold (?:??).
Order Of Elimination: SONYA, CoCo, Honoka, YuuRI, Yoshiko Hasegawa.
2. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr. ended in a Draw when El Hijo del Octagon and Pantera Jr. pinned each other from a Romero Special (?:??).

The warm vibes of lucha libre were in the air surrounding Sumo Hall for a sponsored show put together by the Mexico Kanko tourism company. Daisuke Sasaki was thrown in with some luchadors for a tag match. Naturally Sasaki was on the rudo side teaming with Pantera Jr. to take on the supposedly family pair of Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon. Sasaki stepped in to stop Octagon from doing dive from the top turnbuckle. But the match ended up going to a draw when Pantera put El Hijo del Octagon in the Romero Special. The move leaned both luchadors back onto their shoulders resulting in a double pinfall. After some arguing over the finish, all four wrestlers raised each others hands in the ring.

A sixth woman was added to the Mexican Tourist Belt match. Yoshiko Hasegawa may be retiring from wrestling soon but she didn’t want to miss a chance to win a holiday to Mexico! She came close to winning too, eliminating YuuRI and making it to the final two with Yuki Mashiro. She tried to win using the Fisherman Buster but Mashiro got the better of her and won the match with a Modified Suplex.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 30/04/2025
Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

1. AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Match: Toni Storm (w/ Luther) Vs Miyu Yamashita

Right at the end of the month Yamashita wound up in a familiar place. She came back to AEW for the first time since 2022 (or maybe 2023 if you want to count ROH). She was here to repeat what she did back then and that was to fight the AEW Women’s World Champion and beat her to get a title shot. We’re far past the days of Thunder Rosa though. It’s Toni Storm’s time now, which also happens to rewind the clock back one century thanks to her Timeless gimmick. Yamashita got into the swing of things by literally kicking Storm’s ass around the ring as well as kicking away the loyal butler Luther. She also hit the Skull Kick but was too fatigued to make the pin in time. I couldn’t tell if she broke the pin herself or if Storm kicked out of it because both looked like they happened at the same time. Storm made a comeback and avoided the Crash Rabbit Heat to throw Yamashita over to the corner with a German Suplex. She then landed the Running Hip Attack and pinned Yamashita with the Storm Zero. The booking sounds like it was a one time thing for Yamashita during this latest stay in the States. But she promised if she ever comes back to AEW she will kick someone else’s head in!

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Upcoming Appearances

TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025
Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Ava Lawless

May starts off with Yamashita and Itoh going in separate directions for a while. Yamashita will be in Canada to face Ava Lawless in her Top Talent Wrestling debut.

HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Meanwhile Itoh returns to a Hoodslam that is currently in chaos. But when is it ever quiet over there?

GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025
Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita

The next day 121000000 are back together but this time as opponents. Can Itoh finally beat Yamashita one on one for the first time ever?

GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025
Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. JCW World Title: Masha Slamovich (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh

Then soon after that the two of them have the chance to both become champions in the GCW sphere on the same night. While Itoh faces Effy for the GCW World Title, Yamashita gets in the ring again with Masha Slamovich in a bid to take away her JCW World Title. Slamovich just recently pinned Yamashita at the “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW” show which seems to be what set this title match up. At the moment this looks to be Itoh’s last booking before she goes back to Japan. Her TJPW return will be on 11th May.

HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025
Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Indi Hartwell Vs Miyu Yamashita

Yamashita gets another match with someone who knows what it’s like to wrestle in WWE. This time it is the Indi Hartwell, the former NXT Women’s Champion (bet some of you forgot she held that title for a month) turned TNA’s latest signing.

NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. NEVER Openweight Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) Vs El Phantasmo

It’s now been confirmed that Takeshita will defend the NEVER Openweight Title against El Phantasmo at New Japan’s next USA show. This is also happening a week after they face each other in Japan with the NJPW World TV Title on the line. Does Rocky Romero get involved after the ambush he committed on ELP last month?

MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025
Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Serena Deeb

Yamashita is just bouncing back and forth between Canada and America during this trip. Serena Deeb will want to be the road block that stops her.

MLW “AZTECA LUCHA”, 10/05/2025
Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois USA

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs X

After winning the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title earlier this month, Shoko Nakajima is set to return to MLW for their next “AZTECA LUCHA” taping. Nothing has been announced yet for what her match is going to be. Could it be a title defence against a luchadora from CMLL?

GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025
RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen

Itoh will be long gone home by this time so GCW could become Yamashita’s for the taking in her absence. Beating the promotion’s gatekeeper Tony Deppen would send her in the right direction.

GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025
Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA

1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita

What kind of momentum will be following Yamashita by the time she fights Billie Starkz again?

MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025
Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China

1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam

Could this be the penultimate chapter of the rivalry between Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee?

SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025
Via Dante 72, Sporting Cesate, Milan, Italy

1. Irene Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Session Moth Martina

A change of venue for Yamashita’s debut in Italy due to an electrical problem in the original building. She is also finally going to face Session Moth Martina after their scheduled match in EVE back in March got cancelled. One week later Martina got to team with Italian wrestler Irene at the most recent SAJ Wrestling show. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if anything happened as a reason to make them opponents here or if this is just three wrestlers who want to have some fun in the ring.

SPW “MAYHEM”, 30/05/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

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

If all goes wrong for Kamifuku in May she could end up losing both the VPW Women’s Title and the Queen Of Asia Title!

NEW TEXAS PRO “BAT CITY”, 01/06/2025
Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA

1. Yuka Sakazaki Vs X

Finally Sakazaki gets to wrestle somewhere again! I don’t know if her lack of ring time lately is AEW/ROH not wanting to book her or if there’s an undisclosed injury of some sort holding her back but she’s making a reappearance on the American indies with New Texas Pro as her first stop.

KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025
Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Zara Zakher
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase

The first singles meeting between Yamashita and Zara Zakher. They fought each other once before in a Princess Tag Team Titles match back in January. Yamashita pinned Zakher in that match. Will she do it again?

KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025
South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase (c) Vs Tae Honma

This October Tae Honma is going to retire from pro wrestling. One of her last big singles matches will be in America when Yuna Manase defends the Kitsune World Title against her.

LLL “BUT THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE NIGHT 2”, 14/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Dark Sheik Vs Miyu Yamashita

Yamashita returns to Lucha, Libre & Laughs for two nights but only one of them has a match announced so far. She faces Dark Sheik on Night 2. Nothing yet on what match she will get on Night 1.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

Four wrestlers are currently confirmed for TJPW’s big tripleshot in Texas.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

Yamashita and Itoh will be there as will Miu Watanabe and Suzume. So far that’s all of the official announcements.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025
The OC, Forney, Texas, USA

Psst… the English website promoting the show also lists Yuki Arai, Mizuki, Hyper Misao, Shoko Nakajima, Pom Harajuku, Moka Miyamoto, Shino Suzuki, Raku and Arisu Endo as all “awaiting confirmation” to be on the show. I guess they could go and confirm them all but as we saw with Harajuku this month they might be making sure everything is absolutely ready for them all to travel first.

DDT Around The World – Early April 2025

What a month it’s been already and we’re not even halfway through yet. It’s the busiest time of the year for American wrestling with WrestleMania coming up next weekend and the carnival of shows that exist around it. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro will be deep in the mix with shows held under The Collective banner along with some outside bookings scattered around the Paradise of Las Vegas. Then there is no rest for the wicked afterwards because the months leading into summertime will be very busy for the likes of Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh. The international exchange will even be seen in Japan with Deadlock Pro running a tour over there and YuuRI getting involved in a big lucha libre show. Plus one of the big rivalries happening in Southeast Asia may finally come to an end if Yuki Kamifuku defeats Alexis Lee one more time.

But I’m burying the lede here. Shoko Nakajima won a championship in MLW! She has become the latest TJPW wrestler to win a title belonging to a foreign company and we may possibly add another person to that somehow growing list at the end of the month. Meanwhile Konosuke Takeshita is already turning April 2025 into a memorable period. He squashed an age old beef with one of Japan’s modern legends and has started a tournament run that will at least produce a few great matches if he doesn’t make it all the way.

Now let’s all go to Vegas.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “COLLISION”, 05/04/2025
Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois, USA

1. Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii (w/ Rocky Romero) Vs Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita

Video starts at 22:53 for Match #1. Go to 1:12:00 for Match #2.
MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025
Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA

1. HIMAWARI Vs Janai Kai
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

8th match Backstage 4/11/25 | Windy City Riot 2025

AEW “COLLISION”, 12/04/2025
MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Quarter Final: Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

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Results

AEW “COLLISION”, 02/04/2025 (Aired 05/04/2025)
Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois, USA

1. Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii (w/ Rocky Romero) when Fletcher pinned Ishii with the Sheer Drop Brainbuster (13:47).

Takeshita had to miss the “DYNASTY” PPV because he had other priorities with New Japan that weekend but he was able to fit in an AEW tag match right before he left. He and Kyle Fletcher are really catching on as a tag team lately and they were really put through the grinder against Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii. They tried to give Ishii a Super Bomb from the corner but Ishii countered it into a Frankensteiner on Fletcher. Takeshita came to help Fletcher give Ishii a Sheer Drop Brainbuster for a nearfall and then clashed with Hobbs. Ishii’s face was bloody at this point but he was still fired up to fight. Fletcher didn’t care though and he used a Tombstone Piledriver followed by another Brainbuster for the victory.

MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025
Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA

1. Janai Kai defeated HIMAWARI with the Tornado Kick (7:28).
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima defeated Delmi Exo (c) with the Diving Senton (9:17).
*Delmi Exofails in V2. Shoko Nakajima becomes the 5th MLW Women’s World Featherweight Champion!

Well would you look at that, MLW went all the way with Nakajima and made her their women’s champion! The 619, Double Arm DDT and Diving Senton put Delmo Exo away and now Nakajima can add the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title to her collection.

Also HIMAWARI did not in fact get abducted or murdered by CONTRA Unit. She made it back to Japan in one piece. Janai Kai still beat her pretty handily but I’d still call it a successful MLW excursion.

NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA
4,674 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi with the Raging Fire (20:37).

It was an emotional battle that’s been over a decade in the making. Takeshita was not only fighting Hiroshi Tanahashi in a rematch from their DDT bout from 2014 but he was defending DDT’s honour over the disrespect Tanahashi gave to them in 2015. Due to the added importance that this will be Tanahashi’s final wrestling match in America before he retires it was made the main event of the show ahead of the IWGP World Heavyweight Title bout. The two had counters for each other’s finishers but Takeshita surprised everyone by doing his own High Fly Flow. Everyone was then in even more shock when Tanahashi kicked out at one! Takeshita nailed Tanahashi with several Wagamama knee strikes before giving a big shout to HARASHIMA by hitting the Somato. After that he used the Raging Fire to get the win.

Backstage Takeshita said he was all anger before this match but now that it is over, his revenge on Tanahashi has ended and he now for the first time respects him. There is one thing that Takeshita couldn’t do to Tanahashi and that was take away the last of his light. He wishes to see Tanahashi keep that light shining until his retirement. He was then interrupted by El Phantasmo who complained about Takeshita not showing respect until now. He still remembers their match at last year’s G1 Climax and he wants to challenge him to a rematch, this time with the NEVER Openweight Title on the line. Suddenly Phantasmo was then attacked from behind by Rocky Romero. Whatever it is that’s going on between them has nothing to do with Takeshita. At least for now.

AEW “COLLISION”, 12/04/2025
MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Quarter Final: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) with the Powerdrive Knee (12:18).

The 4th annual Owen Hart Cup is packed this year on both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Count Takeshita among them on the men’s side. His opening round match was against Brody King from The Hounds Of Hell. Even a guy like Takeshita gets a bit worried when he hears King barking nearby. It took several Powerdrive Knee strikes to break down King and the final two needed Takeshita to pull his kneepad down for extra damage to finally put his opponent down for the count.

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WrestleMania Week Appearances

PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025
Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Masha Slamovich Vs MAO
2. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe

Let’s get crazy. The first piece of involvement in Wrestlemania Week from DDT and TJPW both take place at the same show. Miu Watanabe makes a rare outside appearance from TJPW to take on Maya World while one of her later upcoming opponents Masha Slamovich takes a trip on MAO’s wild ride. Or maybe it’s MAO going on Slamovich’s wild ride.

WRESTLECON “MARK HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL SUPERSHOW”, 17/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Mickie James Vs Maki Itoh

Who knows what else WrestleCon has in store for their big event of the week and if it applies here. They have a mystery 10-Man Tag Match on the card which was used to promote TJPW in a previous year. Itoh might meet her match in more ways than one when she faces off against Mickie James. But the worst thing James could do is go in their and underestimate Itoh.

WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025
Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell

It will be the second match of the day for both MAO and Jiah Jewell.

GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Charlie Dempsey Vs Shinya Aoki
2. Nattie Neidhart Vs Miyu Yamashita

This year’s Bloodsport went through a slight overbooking problem with some fighters but it hasn’t affected the two matches here that I care about. Bless GCW and Josh Barnett for having conflicting stories over who is actually booking the show when it was time to explain why previously announced talent were being left off the final card. Friendship aside, Nattie Neidhart doesn’t want to be used as a stepping stone by Yamashita but Yamashita doesn’t want Neidhart to take her lightly either. Are we going to get MMA Shinya Aoki or DDT Shinya Aoki when he fights Charlie Dempsey?

BZW “VIVA LAS VEGAS”, 17/04/2025
Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Marcus Mathers & Alec Price

Alec Price has found a replacement partner to challenge MAO & Yoshihiko for the BZW Tag Team Titles. With Cole Radrick out of action, Marcus Mathers is going to take his place.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Rika Tatsumi, Shino Suzuki & Vert Vixen Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Viva Van
2. Yuki Arai Vs Arisu Endo
3. Maki Itoh & Zara Zakher Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
4. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Miu Watanabe
5. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
7. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita

I’ll aim to have my guide for the TJPW Las Vegas show posted either late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning Las Vegas time.

DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi Vs Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman
2. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
3. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
4. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
5. wXw Unified World Wrestling Title: 1 Called Manders (c) Vs Yukio Naya
6. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko

Same with my guide for the DDT Las Vegas show. You’ll pretty much know I arrived safe and sound when the articles get posted.

WRESTLECORE “FEAR & WRESTLECORE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. ELP Vs Maki Itoh

Well so much for El Phantasmo and Maki Itoh joining forces as The Cutest Tag Team In The World. They’re not getting along so they’re going to fight each other instead.

PRIDESTYLE “OUT OF THIS WORLD”, 18/04/2025
Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

0. Yoshihiko’s Super Special Open Challenge: Yoshihiko Vs X
1. G-Sharpe Vs MAO

A new booking for MAO over at PrideStyle. If his opponent G-Sharpe looks a little familiar it may be because you might recognize him when he wrestles under a mask as Hyperstreak. There is a group called The Cartel de Los Villanos who have been feuding with G-Sharpe over in PrideStyle and they are the ones who hired MAO to fight him.

A bonus attraction will be happening before the show officially starts. That’s right, Yoshihiko is throwing out an open challenge! Who will dare step foot against “The Grave Digger Doll From Hell”?

GRAPHOUSE “FOR VEGAS, BY VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Fergusons Downtown, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Lazarus Vs MAO

MAO’s Friday night comes to a close with a brawl against Lazarus near Fremont Street. Someone convince MAO to Moonsault off of the Vegas Vic neon sign.

DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Rika Tatsumi & Antonio Honda Vs Kidd Bandit & Shota
2. 3 Way Match: MAO & Yoshihiko Vs Jimmy Lloyd & Alec Price Vs Jack Cartwheel & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Tag Match: Mance Warner & Shunma Katsumata Vs John Wayne Murdoch & Matt Tremont
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Ilusion & Dark Sheik Vs Super Crazy, Marcus Mathers & Shoko Nakajima
5. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita

What the hell kind of Fire Pro random card is this?

GCW “CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Clusterfuck Match: Yoshihiko Vs X

Yoshihiko is among the many, many competitors announced for the Clusterfuck so far but nobody else from DDT or TJPW has declared they will be in it. It’s likely a bunch of the talent will already be flying home by the time this show takes place.

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Upcoming Appearances After WrestleMania Week

AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Ok this is during WrestleMania Week but isn’t actually part of it so let’s stick it here. It’s now on to the semi finals for Takeshita where is next opponent is quite a doozy. It’s the rematch against Will Ospreay!

DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 1”, 24/04/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA Vs LaBron Kozone & Calvin Tankman
2. DPW Women’s World Title: Dani Luna (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi

The hype train’s not stopping once WrestleMania is done. The schedule is going to get even more packed heading into the summer! DPW is heading back to Japan and has some familiar wrestlers taking part on their shows. Rika Tatsumi is getting a shot at the DPW Women’s World Title on the first night. The champion Dani Luna is coming out of a violent feud with Hyan over the belt which included title defences in Street Fights and Dog Collar matches. Sounds like she’ll be ready to handle Tatsumi’s madness. Meanwhile Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA are teaming up to take on two of DPW’s mainstays. LaBron Kozone is currently the DPW National Champion which just so happens to be the first DPW championship that his teammate Calvin Tankman won in the company.

DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 2”, 25/04/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Calvin Tankman & Kazuma Sumi
2. Emi Sakura, Chris Brookes, Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki Vs Miyuki Takase, Kevin Ku, Dominic Garrini & Ryo Mizunami

Then on the second night Brookes joins team ChocoPro to fight a mix of joshi and Violence Is Forever… Joshi Is Forever? Violence Is Joshi? Miyuki Takase & Ryo Mizunami Plus Two?

Tankman finds himself in the ring surrounded by DDT wrestlers. It will be a match of big man and little man teams when Tankman teams with Kazuma Sumi to fight the Harimao pair of Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida.

HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025
NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA

1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Will Takeshita bring an end to Mike Santana’s 16 month reign as House Of Glory’s champion?

BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025
The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Leyla Hirsch
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews

You know, this is one of those shows that feels like it just takes forever to get to.

MEXICO KANKO/CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Mexican Tourist Belt – The Road To Studying In Mexico 5 Way Match: Yuki Mashiro Vs Honoka Vs YuuRI Vs SONYA Vs CoCo
2. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.

I heard this show has a Street Fighter 6 product placement match. Makoto and Hikaru Shida are cosplaying as R. Mika & Yamato Nadeshiko to fight a pair of masked Zangief wrestlers. It would be funny if The Gief #1 and The Gief #2 were other members of DAMNATION T.A.

I missed that YuuRI was booked for this show a month ago. She’s taking part in a 5 Way match where the winner will be crowned the second Mexican Tourist Belt Champion. Whoever holds possession of the belt is given the right to go study in Mexico thanks to the show sponsors. YuuRI’s opposition in the match are the freelancer Yuki Mashiro, Honoka from WAVE, SONYA from the Costa Rica Wrestling Embassy (CWE) and CoCo from MY WAY.

TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025
Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Yamashita is going to be visiting Canada a few more times during this excursion. Top Talent Wrestling is the latest promotion over there to book her.

HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh is getting her ass back to Hoodslam!

GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025
Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita

Itoh believes she cannot lose to Yamashita in GCW. Anywhere but over there!

GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025
Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh

One day later she gets her chance to win the GCW World Title from Effy. Only one person missing from making it a full Maki Death Bussy reunion.

HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025
Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Just have to wait and see who House Of Glory wants to put Yamashita against. It didn’t work out so well for her there last time.

NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X

It hasn’t been made official at the time of writing but it’s looking like Takeshita will defend the NEVER Openweight Title against El Phantasmo at this show. Unless Romero does something else to ELP and changes the situation.

MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025
Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Sereena Deeb

North American promoters really have a type of opponent in mind for Yamashita this time around, eh? She’ll have to deal with the wrestling expertise of Serena Deeb for her return to Maple Leaf Pro.

GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025
RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen

Yamashita’s journey through GCW continues.

GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025
Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA

1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita

Once again, they meet at last.

MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025
Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China

1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam

The end of May will be a dramatic period for Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee. This match in Middle Kingdom Wrestling has now become the warmup for what happens in Singapore Pro Wrestling one week later.

SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025
Magnete, Milan, Italy

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Italy awaits for Yamashita in May.

SPW “MAYHEM”, 30/05/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

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

The stakes have been risen to the extreme. Lee is wagering her pro wrestling career to get one last chance at winning back the Queen Of Asia Title from Kamifuku. If she loses this time then she is done for!

KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025
Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase

Hey since Darkness Revolution are now down a member in Marigold maybe Nagisa Nozaki will consider replacing Bozilla with Yuna Manase.

KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025
South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Yuna Manase Vs X

Yamashita’s match on this show will be a singles match with an opponent yet to be determined.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

Does the T in TJPW now stand for Texas? On the weekend when AEW runs “ALL IN TEXAS” TJPW will be holding three shows in the Lone Star State.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

Two of the shows are going to be in Houston.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025
The OC, Forney, Texas, USA

The third show is happening… not in Dallas but they’re calling it Dallas anyway. Is this like years ago when WWE would be in New York State and only mention on air that they’re somewhere near New York City?

DDT Around The World – March 2025

Buckle up, folks. There is a lot to talk about this month, next month and probably even going into the summer. Konosuke Takeshita is no longer the AEW International Champion. That was to be expected but I am pleasantly surprised he has remained on AEW TV since then and is still winning matches for The Don Callis Family. He remains being protected in the booking so it looks like AEW has something in mind for him down the line even if it’s just building him up to put someone else over. Also in news that is kind of AEW related Yuka Sakazaki is now on the lookout for more wrestling bookings. Sumie Sakai is helping her out on that end but it sounds like Sakazaki will still need AEW’s permission to go ahead with whatever offers come her way.

Next let’s talk about Maki Itoh and Miyu Yamashita. Once the Las Vegas shows are done Itoh will be staying in America until 11th May while Yamashita won’t be coming back to Japan until 21st July for “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25”. I was taken aback by the negative response to the news that both of them will be taking another extended hiatus from Tokyo Joshi Pro to wrestle overseas again. I get the frustration in a way. People think both of them are looking for contracts from WWE or AEW. Itoh has brought up stuff like that in past English interviews but I’m not entirely sure Yamashita has the same goal in mind. There was a public talk event sometime ago where Yamashita revealed she spent a lot of money to go follow one of her favorite K-Pop bands on a US tour and she seems to enjoy when she’s not being relied upon by TJPW to be a company ace. Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think the two of them keep taking these options in the search for deals that may never come their way. Of course I may also just be blind to what could possibly be some tryout matches coming up next month.

That brings us up to next month’s chaos that is Wrestlemania Week. I can’t wait for this! Too many wrestling shows going on non-stop in Las Vegas for a solid week. Now that’s my kind of holiday! DDT and TJPW don’t have full cards out for their shows yet and I have the feeling one or two more promotions will be booking the likes of MAO and Itoh before we get there. So many shows are going on during the week that I can’t help but wonder if it will just take one badly made political decision somewhere to throw half the shows into chaos.

And if that’s not enough it turns out there will be even more wrestling shows going on through the year after Wrestlemania is finished. Yeah that took me by surprise too. Anyway next month expect me to write up three separate Around The World articles. One for everything that happens before WM Week, one for the week itself and one for the rest of April after that. If the next month doesn’t burn me out something fierce than nothing will.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

SPW “UNCHAINED”, 07/03/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Yuki Kamifuku & The Statement Vs Alexis Lee & Da Butcherman

RCW “MARCH MADNESS”, 08/03/2024
Casinet de Hostafrancs, Barcelona, Spain

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Amale

Kenny Omega looks at history with AEW International Champ Konosuke Takeshita! | 3/8/25 AEW Collision

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 12/03/2025
Save Mart Center At Fresno State, Fresno, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs Max Caster

AEW “COLLISION – SLAM DUNK SATURDAY”, 22/03/2025
Liberty First Credit Union Arena, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

1. Mark Briscoe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Rocky Romero Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage & Lance Archer

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 26/03/2025
Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

1. Mark Briscoe Vs Konosuke Takeshita

ACE vs ALPHA: The story of Konosuke Takeshita vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

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Results

SPW “UNCHAINED”, 07/03/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Yuki Kamifuku & The Statement defeated Alexis Lee & Da Butcherman when Statement pinned Butcherman with an Uppercut (?:??).

The latest chapter in the Southeast Asian rivalry between Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee was a little different this time around. Recently in Singapore Pro Wrestling Lee was stabbed in the back by Andruew Tang, or as he prefers to be called now, The Statement. Lee wanted payback and joined forces with one of Statement’s rivals Da Butcherman to get it. Statement called in Kamifuku to back him up so they can become the royal pair who will rule over SPW together with iron fists. An intense tag match resulted in the referee getting knocked out and Statement being saved by a tag team called The Midnight Bastards. The team attacked Butcherman with chairs and held him in place for Statement to knock him out with an Uppercut. Statement & Kamifuku both stood tall over their rivals holding their championships before leaving. Lee swore revenge and promised to take back the Queen Of Asia Title from Kamifuku!

EVE “WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY”, 07/03/2024
The Big Penny Social, London, England

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Lucia Lee with the Skull Kick (12:48).

Plans in EVE changed for Yamashita when her original opponent Session Moth Martina pulled out of the show due to illness. Instead Yamashita was given Lucia Lee as her new opponent. For Lee it was a chance on short notice to step up against Yamashita and prove she can go toe to toe against her. Despite the good effort, Yamashita knocked her over with the Skull Kick anyway.

RCW “MARCH MADNESS”, 08/03/2024
Casinet de Hostafrancs, Barcelona, Spain

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Amale with the Skull Kick (15:16).

The next day Yamashita was in Spain to wrestle on an RCW show for the first time since October 2022. Her opponent was “The French Hope” Amale, formerly from NXT UK. She sent Yamashita crashing through the front row of chairs with a Topé Suicida and the two soon found themselves brawling around ringside. Back in the ring Amale kicked out of an Avalanche Attitude Adjustment and almost scored the win with a Small Package. But when Yamashita kicked out she quickly had her opponent in her sights and hit the Skull Kick for the victory.

WXW “16 CARAT GOLD – NIGHT 3”, 09/03/2025
Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Anita Vaughan with the Crash Rabbit Heat (13:32).

Yamashita’s busy European weekend ended in Germany where she showed up during wXw’s final day of the annual 16 Carat Gold tournament. She didn’t take part in the 16 Carat tournament itself, instead she fought Anita Vaughan who was already eliminated from the competition by that point. Yamashita made it three wins for three but she needed to use the Crash Rabbit Heat this time to end the weekend with a clean sweep.

AEW “REVOLUTION”, 09/03/2025
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. AEW International Title: Kenny Omega defeated Konosuke Takeshita (c) with a Cradle (28:30).
*Konosuke Takeshita fails in V9. Kenny Omega becomes the 11th AEW International Champion!

That’s the end of Takeshita’s first championship reign in AEW. With thoughts of Hajime no Ippo on their mind and also their gear, Takeshita and Kenny Omega went hell for leather in their rematch from September 2023. Omega’s ribs were violently targeted due to his recent bout with diverticulitis and Takeshita got a little help from Don Callis here and there too. But Omega overcame the odds and kept kicked out of the Powerdrive Knee. Takeshita avoided the One-Winged Angel yet when he went for the Raging Fire, Omega countered it into an Inside Cradle. Only getting a nearfall, Omega then switched to more types of cradle pins until he kept Takeshita’s shoulders down long enough for the three count.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 12/03/2025
Save Mart Center At Fresno State, Fresno, California, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Max Caster with the Raging Fire (1:30).

Takeshita wasted no time in getting back to work after his title loss. Max Caster held the latest in his open challenges and tried to talk Takeshita out of it when he walked down to the ring with a purpose. Caster asked if Takeshita was actually here to invite him into The Don Callis Family? When he suggested he could use that position to beat Omega, Takeshita attacked him and quickly won with the Raging Fire.

BZW “WAR AT THE CAPITAL”, 16/03/2025
Claridge, Brussels, Belgium

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) defeated Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II when Yoshihiko submitted Lykos & Lykos II with a Double Half Crab Hold (?:??).
*V3 for MAO & Yoshihiko.

I missed when this was announced last month. MAO & Yoshihiko travelled back to Banger Zone Wrestling this month, this time to defend the BZW Tag Team Titles in Belgium. The challengers were the two troublemakers from Lykos Gym in England: Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II. They weren’t prepared for Yoshihiko to do a balcony dive onto them nor did they expect the dark spirit that sometimes follows Yoshihiko around to show up and Moonsault onto them either. Lykos II made the big mistake of yelling insults towards Yoshihiko. When he tried to Headbutt it only he felt the impact. Yoshihiko was then able to trap both members of Lykos Gym in a Double Half Crab Hold and made both of them tap out at the same time!

AEW “COLLISION – SLAM DUNK SATURDAY”, 19/03/2025 (Aired 22/03/2025)
Liberty First Credit Union Arena, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage & Lance Archer defeated Mark Briscoe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Rocky Romero when Takeshita pinned Romero with the Raging Fire (11:22).

Takeshita continued to rebuild his momentum by teaming with more members of The Don Callis Family. He, Brian Cage & Lance Archer all worked over Rocky Romero until Mark Briscoe got the hot tag. Briscoe had the numbers game against him but he held his own until it was time for Powerhouse Hobbs to get the big tag. But The Don Callis Family withstood the comeback. Cage & Archer took out Romero with a Choke Slam/Power Bomb combo and held his partners at bay so Takeshita could pin Romero with the Raging Fire.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 26/03/2025
Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mark Briscoe with the Raging Fire (11:39).

There was unfinished business between Takeshita and Briscoe from Collision so they met in a singles match the following week on Dynamite. The episode was sponsored by The Minecraft Movie so the venue they were in ended up kind of looking like a Create-An-Arena you would download from the WWE 2K games. Briscoe took a high risk by running across the barricade outside the ring to jump onto Takeshita with a Diving Elbow Drop. Takeshita hit Briscoe with the Powerdrive Knee back in the ring but it got him a nearfall. Briscoe pulled out the Jay Driller that had Takeshita beat but a rope break stopped him from getting pinned for the three count. Takeshita stunned Briscoe with a Rolling Elbow before using the Raging Fire to win by the skin of his teeth.

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Upcoming Appearances

MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025
Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA

1. HIMAWARI Vs Janai Kai
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

There was a report from Fightful’s Patreon account during the month saying MLW has “big plans” in mind for Shoko Nakajima and HIMAWARI and the promotion hopes to get TJPW more involved with their women’s division. I’m a bit skeptical towards what that could be because the way wrestling media reports on MLW often comes across as Court Bauer trying to get his material over and everybody just taking him for his word. Big plans could mean anything from Nakajima beating Delmi Exo for the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title or Janai Kai literally murdering HIMAWARI on behalf of CONTRA Unit and right afterward MLW announces a working relationship with Stardom (go see how CIMA was written out of the company right before MLW aired a Dragongate trailer). Or the big plans might just be TJPW talent being used to put over the regulars MLW wants to push. Which at this moment in time is Exo, Kai and maybe Tara Zep. But hey, who knows. It looks like MLW’s working relationship with CMLL is legit. I’ll be happy to be proven wrong.

NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA

I recommend watching the Ace Vs Alpha video New Japan put on their Youtube channel (I included it in the video section above) because it shows Takeshita and Hiroshi Tanahashi talking about their previous match together as well as why Takeshita holds a grudge over how Tanahashi treated DDT in the past. It’s not the complete story of what happened back then because that is more HARASHIMA’s story to tell but it is suffice to build up their match happening next month.

PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025
Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Masha Slamovich Vs MAO
2. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe

Now we hit the busiest wrestling week of the year. Damn it really is a week long this time around with WWE going full throttle with their own schedule in Las Vegas from Tuesday to Tuesday. But enough about them, among the early shows kicking off the week is Pandemonium Pro where Miu Watanabe has a match against Maya World and now MAO will be there too for what is sure to be a crazy battle against Masha Slamovich! The two of them have packed schedules of their own so they better pace themselves.

WRESTLECON “MARK HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL SUPERSHOW”, 17/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Mickie James Vs Maki Itoh

It’s a match for the ages between two fierce opponents. One is a wrestling idol with grand ambitions of becoming a popstar who has in the past been unceremoniously fired in a humiliating fashion. The other is Maki Itoh. I know people who still have nightmares from the Revolution Pro show in London two years ago where a group of fans spent literally the entire match chanting “Hardcore Country” non-stop for Mickie James. I hope for my sake those same fans won’t be at this show.

WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025
Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell

MAO’s second show on the Thursday is against Jiah Jewell at West Coast Pro. Because when you think of local rivalries, you think of Miyagi Vs Louisiana.

GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Charlie Dempsey Vs Shinya Aoki
2. Nattie Neidhart Vs Miyu Yamashita

Whenever Yamashita travels to America, Natalya invites her over to her private training facility in Florida to help teach her what she knows. They’ve apparantly become close friends over time but when Josh Barnett started putting the card together for Bloodsport, Natalya (under her non-WWE moniker Nattie Neidhart) publicly asked for Yamashita to be her opponent. Yamashita jumped at the idea and Barnett was happy to make it happen. This will be the second time Yamashita faces a WWE wrestler at Bloodsport, she lost to Shayna Baszler last July. Here she has the martial arts background advantage and Neidhart’s previous attempt at doing this kind of match with NXT Underground ended in a loss. Usually comparing the legitimate fighting pedigree of two fighters would tip off who wins these things but a main roster WWE wrestler losing on a non-WWE show would be an unusual turn of events. Eh, I’ll still bet a dollar on it.

Shinya Aoki’s announced opponent for the show is NXT wrestler Charlie Dempsey. I’d joke about Bloodsport turning into a WWE psy-op but to be fair Dempsey is a regular competitor on these shows and this will be his fourth fight in the series. Plus I don’t want to just write that he is William Regal’s son. From what I’ve seen he fits into this style of wrestling pretty well. Aoki should have fun tangling with him.

BZW “VIVA LAS VEGAS”, 17/04/2025
Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Cole Radrick & Alec Price

MAO ends his busy day with BZW hosting his third match. At least I think it’s his third show. It’s possible he’ll have a fourth somewhere but I haven’t seen anything yet. The match here is going to be changed too because of injury. MAO & Yoshihiko are supposed to defend the BZW Tag Titles against The Gahbage Daddies but unfortunately word came out a few days ago that Cole Radrick is out of action with a torn MCL and meniscus. No word yet on if Alec Price will still be in the match with a replacement tag partner or if a new team will get the title shot instead.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Miu Watanabe
2. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita

Only a few weeks to go but the major matches have all been set up. Mizuki Vs Yamashita is the biggest match TJPW can do for the Princess Of Princess Title but it’s been done already in Japan so I can see why it would look fresher in America. Kyoraku Kyomei have their first defence of the Princess Tag Team Titles against Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara’s new tag team OberEats. There is a rematch of the International Princess Title when Suzume clashes with Jada Stone again, this time with Stone having the home field advantage. Plus Watanabe continues getting big opponents away from the title scene when she gets in the ring with Slamovich.

DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
4. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko

The lineup so far is a little more creative than what we got last year and I prefer it this way. Minoru Suzuki Vs Yoshihiko sounds like something GCW would book for “JOEY JANELA’S SPRING BREAK” but DDT needs something like that to stand out for themselves.

WRESTLECORE “FEAR & WRESTLECORE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Another outside booking for Itoh during Mania Week. No opponent has been confirmed by WrestleCore yet but El Phantasmo is trying to convince Itoh to team up with him so they can be The Cutest Tag Team Ever. He just so happens to be on this show too.

GRAPHOUSE “FOR VEGAS, BY VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Fergusons Downtown, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Lazarus Vs MAO

I think this is MAO’s last non-DDT related booking of the week. Unless…

DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita

As far as DDT and TJPW are concerned this will be the finale of their weekend. One match announced so far and it’s pretty cool looking. Takeshita & Slamovich teaming up against Aoki & Yamashita. It would be a shame if the show runs long and people start leaving during this match to head over to Wrestlemania.

GCW “CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Clusterfuck Match: X Vs X

I’m adding this to the lineup because odds are good someone DDT or TJPW related ends up in the annual Clusterfuck. Yoshihiko was part of it last year and made it to the final three. In fact there’s already an ex-TJPW wrestler announced to be entering the match. Sayaka Unagi is taking part and I can only imagine what kind of eye opening crazy thing she would do in Las Vegas.

HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025
NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA

1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Hey good on Mike Santana for taking a gamble on himself. The stuff he’s been doing on TNA and House Of Glory has been nothing to sneeze at so far. He now has a month to prepare for Takeshita because the two of them are set to fight with the HOG Heavyweight Title on the line.

BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025
The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Leyla Hirsch
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews

Yamashita’s opponent Leyla Hirsch is fresh out of AEW and wants to show everyone how good she is in the ring.

CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.

Daisuke Sasaki will be missing the DDT show happening in Sapporo on the same day for this match.

GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025
Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita

The 121000000 split up match is happening but not in TJPW. It’s in GCW! In the nine previous times they’ve done this match, Yamashita has won eight of them and the odd result out was a time limit draw. Itoh has never beaten Yamashita in a singles match but this 10th attempt might be her best chance yet because she’ll have the GCW fans behind her. She’ll need a good result because the next day she has a match that will be just as important.

GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025
Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh

Itoh was originally supposed to get a GCW World Title match against Mance Warner during GCW’s Japan tour last August but a hand injury prevented it from happening. Now nine months later she finally gets her title shot but the champion now is someone completely different. Effy’s first reign as GCW Champ has seen him defend the belt against the weird and the wonderful. Can Itoh beat him to reach her ultimate form as the Queen of the Outlaws?

NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X

Just have to wait and see what Takeshita does next after the Tanahashi match.

GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025
RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen

Can Yamashita get a better match out of Tony Deppen than YAMATO could?

GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025
Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA

1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita

According to GCW this will be the first time ever Yamashita wrestles Billie Starkz. As long as you ignore the EVE match… and the St. Louis Anarchy match… and the SPARK match.

MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025
Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China

1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam

The Kamifuku Vs Lee rivalry now moves over to China for Middle Kingdom Wrestling’s 10th Anniversary show. Chinese wrestler Chen Wenbin and England’s Big Sam get mixed up in the action too.

SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025
Magnete, Milan, Italy

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Italy will soon become the latest country Yamashita has wrestling in. Squash A Jobber Wrestling is the name of the promotion bringing her in which might be the least Italian name I’ve ever heard for a wrestling company.

KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025
Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase

We’re reaching into the summer for the end of this month’s article. Kitsune have a doubleshot going on with both Yuna Manase and Miyu Yamashita scheduled to be there. Manase is teaming with Nagisa Nozaki in Night 1 to take on Vipress & Hudson Envy. Yamashita’s match has not been announced yet.

KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025
South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Yuna Manase Vs X

Manase is still currently the Kitsune World Champion so it would make sense for her to have a title defence on the second show of the doubleshot.

DDT Around The World – February 2025

Are you sure that everybody wans Mina Shirakawa? Because this month it sure looked like everybody wanted Konosuke Takeshita! He had a big month in AEW, he has big matches coming up in New Japan soon, he wrestled a bunch of times on a cruise and right when it looked like he would have a break, CMLL came calling out for him. If you’re the type who keeps track of any Wrestler Of The Year contenders, Takeshita’s work in February should put him up near the top as an early frontrunner.

He’ll have more to do over the coming months but March will see the Tokyo Joshi Pro side of things take more of the spotlight. Miyu Yamashita has a packed weekend in Europe coming up and Yuki Kamifuku will continue to gift with Southeast Asia her presence. Then in April it’s the big one. Wrestlemania Week! I’ll need to find the time to write a big piece about what DDT and TJPW will be doing during that period.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 05/02/2025
Gateway Center Arena, College Park, Georgia, USA

1. International All-Star Tag Match: Brody King & Buddy Matthews Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher

AEW “GRAND SLAM AUSTRALIA”, 15/02/2025
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia

1. Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 26/02/2025
Frontwave Arena, Oceanside, California, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Orange Cassidy

CMLL “VIERNES ESPECTACULAR”, 28/02/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. NEVER Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Ángel de Oro

“Quiero enfrentar a Blue Panther/Ángel de Oro fue un gran rival”

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Results

JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 2”, 01/02/2025
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship

1. Will Ospreay & Komander defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Lance Archer (?:??).

I don’t have much to write about for Takeshita’s remaining matches that happened during the Jericho Cruise. But hey some of these sound really good on paper, right? At least this match here gave attendees a taste of what Will Ospreay and Takeshita’s tag match in Australia happening later in the month would be like. Lance Archer probably bounced Komander around like a basketball too.

JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 3”, 02/02/2025
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage & Lance Archer defeated Daniel Garcia, Mark Briscoe & Jay Lethal (?:??).

Like this one for example. It would be great if footage of this shows up somewhere. Takeshita, Archer & Brian Cage all teaming up together against Daniel Garcia, Mark Briscoe & Jay Lethal is the kind of match on paper that would have carried Night 3 of a packed indies weekend we used to get a decade ago.

JERICHO CRUISE “CHRIS JERICHO’S ROCK ‘N’ WRESTLING RAGER – SIX ON THE BEACH – NIGHT 4”, 03/02/2025
Norwegian Pearl Cruise Ship

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage & Lance Archer defeated Bandido, Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd (?:??).

The last day of the Jericho Cruise had The Don Callis Family still together against the weird mix of Bandido & The Outrunners. I don’t know how much Takeshita would be into the retro 80s American vibe that The Outrunners bring with them. That’s more up Antonio Honda’s alley.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 05/02/2025
Gateway Center Arena, College Park, Georgia, USA

1. International All-Star Tag Match: Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher defeated Brody King & Buddy Matthews when Fletcher pinned King after an Assisted Brainbuster (14:15).

There was one last warmup match for Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher before they headed off to Australia. Here they took on the newly renamed Hounds Of Hell. They are the former House Of Black now without Malakai Black involved because he finally made his exit from the company. The challenge in this match was how much it took to put away the immovable force that is Brody King. Takeshita & Fletcher were able to get rid of Buddy Matthews no problem but when it came to King they had to throw everything at him but he wouldn’t stay down. Takeshita had to assist Fletcher with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster to keep the big guy down for the pinfall.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “AEX32 SANTIAGO 2025”, 09/02/2025
Estación Mapocho Cultural Center, Santiago, Chile
??? Fans

1. Casey defeated Moka Miyamoto with a Loaded Backpack Attack (7:43).
2. Aja Kong defeated Roma with the Uraken (8:55).
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) defeated Sara Phoenix & Pandora when Yamashita pinned Phoenix with the Skull Kick (18:19).
*V4 for 121000000.

A report for the show can be found here.

AEW “GRAND SLAM AUSTRALIA”, 15/02/2025
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia

1. Will Ospreay & Kenny Omega defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher when Omega pinned Takeshita after the Hidden Blade/One-Winged Angel Combination (21:20).

Talk about a match that delivered! The big tag match in Australia went ahead and ended with something we haven’t seen in a while: Takeshita taking a pinfall loss. It took a combination of the Hidden Blade and One-Winged Angel being mashed together like a Doomsday Device for it to happen which should wind up becoming one of the most memorable match finishes of the year. The aftermath confirmed there is more to come. Ospreay and Fletcher have their own feud moving ahead while Kenny Omega announced his intentions to go after Takeshita’s AEW International Title.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 26/02/2025
Frontwave Arena, Oceanside, California, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Orange Cassidy with the Raging Fire (12:30).
*V8 for Konosuke Takeshita.

But first AEW had to go the long route to set up the match. Before Takeshita goes to a big title match with Omega he first had to beat Orange Cassidy in a with the belt on the line. Takeshita took a table bump when Cassidy dropped him on top of the announce desk with the Beach Break. He was still in danger after getting hit with the Orange Punch and also a Flying DDT outside the ring. But Cassidy made the big mistake of climbing the top turnbuckle. And whenever Takeshita’s opponent jumps off the top turnbuckle there is an Elbow Strike waiting right for them upon landing. There were still some very close calls to come but Takeshita caught the Orange Punch and countered it into the Raging Fire for the win. Don Callis then rubbed salt on the wound by putting Cassidy’s sunglasses onto Takeshita after the match.

CMLL “VIERNES ESPECTACULAR”, 28/02/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. NEVER Openweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Ángel de Oro with the Raging Fire (?:??).
*V4 for Konosuke Takeshita.

The month ended with Takeshita’s first time in the hallowed grounds of lucha libre known as Arena Mexico. CMLL made it a big deal that he was coming over to wrestle on their famed Friday night show on short notice and offered up Ángel de Oro as a challenger for the NEVER Openweight Title. So this was put together more through CMLL’s relationship with NJPW rather than AEW. Or maybe it’s both at this point because Rocky Romero is the connection point and his backstage connections run pretty deep nowadays. The match itself unintentionally ended up becoming bloody after de Oro suffered a hand injury of some sort. With only one fall needed to win rather than the traditional two, Takeshita came out on top after the two went back and forth with big moves until the Raging Fire brought things to an end.

Backstage Takeshita was asked by reporters who else in CMLL he would like to wrestle? He told a story about the first wrestling show he ever attended when he was a child. It was an Osaka Pro show and the merchandise he bought at the show was a Blue Panther mask. That is his first ever wrestling memory in general so perhaps one day he will cross paths with Blue Panther or a member of his family in the ring.

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Upcoming Appearances

SPW “UNCHAINED”, 07/03/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Yuki Kamifuku & The Statement Vs Alexis Lee & Da Butcherman

An alliance seems to have formed between Yuki Kamifuku and The Statement over in Singapore Pro Wrestling. Maybe the two champions believe it is in their best interests to be on the same side when some familiar rivals are marching forth towards them again. The Statment and Da Butcherman have fought each other plenty of times before. So too have Kamifuku and Alexis Lee. So now the next step is to throw them all in the ring at the same time.

EVE “WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY”, 07/03/2024
The Big Penny Social, London, England

1. Session Moth Martina Vs Miyu Yamashita

A busy weekend in Europe sees Miyu Yamashita wrestling in three countries. First up she is heading back to EVE in England where she will present herself as a big challenge for Session Moth Martina to overcome.

RCW “MARCH MADNESS”, 08/03/2024
Casinet de Hostafrancs, Barcelona, Spain

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Amale

Then on the Saturday Yamashita returns to Spain for her first appearance in RCW since October 2022. Her opponent will be French wrestler and former NXT UK performer Amale.

WXW “16 CARAT GOLD – NIGHT 3”, 09/03/2025
Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Yamashita finishes off the weekend with an appearance at wXw on the last day of the 16 Carat Gold tournament. Unless wXw announces her match beforehand it is a complete roll of the dice who she gets to face at the show.

AEW “REVOLUTION”, 09/03/2025
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Kenny Omega

It took 18 months to get here but we’re finally back on track to having another Takeshita Vs Omega match. I’m not going to sugar coat it. I think the title reign ends here and Takeshita’s priorities are about to switch over to New Japan for the spring and summer months.

MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025
The Commerce, California, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

I think we know what to expect here. MLW brings in a Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestler, in this case Shoko Nakajima, and they lose to their women’s champion, in this case Delmi Exo. Although that was done a lot when Janai Kai was the champ so who knows? Maybe Nakajima takes the title from Exo and ends her second reign before it can properly take off.

NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA

I know Hiroshi Tanahashi is getting an IWGP World Heavyweight Title shot at New Japan’s anniversary show in March. And NJPW have announced there will be IWGP Title matches taking place in their next two shows in America. Hmmm…. Alright, alright, that’s just wishful thinking on my part. Although I can see the NEVER Title being on the line when Tanahashi and Takeshita clash in Chicago.

PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025
Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe

At the moment it doesn’t seem like there will be any other DDT or TJPW talent appearing on the show. So it’s just going to be Miu Watanabe having a match here by the looks of it.

WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025
Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell

Later in the afternoon MAO will be at the West Coast Pro show and the promotion are promising the opponent is just as crazy as he is! Jiah Jewell has made it his goal to “Gator Roll The World” and that sounds like the fucked up wrestling MAO likes to fight for.

GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Shinya Aoki Vs X

No surprise to see Shinya Aoki getting added to the show. The funny thing is the match he’s having on the DDT show would have made much more sense to happen on the Bloodsport show!

Yamashita also returns to Bloodsport for a second go around.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs X
2. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs X & X
3. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs X

The card will begin to take shape right after “GRAND PRINCESS ’25” is over and done with. What we do know for now is there will be championship matches for the Princess Of Princess Title, the Princess Tag Team Titles and the International Princess Title.

DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher

Like I said above, doesn’t Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher sound more like a Bloodsport match than a DDT match? Now Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson, that’s a match you’re absolutely not going to see anywhere else.

DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

I really don’t know what the vibe and turnout for this show will be when it happens right slap bang in between the big NXT show and the first night of WrestleMania.

BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025
The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews

Very cute, very evil and back teaming up again. Danhausen & Maki Itoh reunite as Makihausen for a tag match against Bang And Matthews over at Black Label Pro.

CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.

So this is happening in Japan but since it is a one off lucha libre show that is disconnected from everything else going on I decided to include it in this series. This is the Sumo Hall show that made headlines for announcing the debut of a new Hayabusa. One of the lucha matches originally booked for the show was a 3 Way Match between Octagon, El Hijo del Octagon and Pantera Jr. However Daisuke Sasaki crashed one of the press conferences demanding to be part of the show because of his lucha skills. The promoters decided to let him in so he gets to team with Pantera Jr. against the two (kayfabe?) generations of Octagon.

NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X

Probably another New Japan title defence for Takeshita when he goes to California in May. Hopefully it’s with the IWGP Ti-okay, okay, I’ll give it a break.