DDT At “DESPE-INVITACIONAL” Results

“DESPE-INVITACIONAL SUPPORTED BY ROLLING CRADLE”, 10/06/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,506 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. The Buy In: Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano & Kyoko Inoue defeated Yuko Miyamoto, Isami Kodaka & DASH Chisako when Tanahashi pinned Kodaka with the High Fly Flow (9:57).
1. Dragon Kid & Starlight Kid defeated El Desperado & Mima Shimoda when Starlight submitted Shimoda with the Black Tiger Foot Kill (17:25).
2. Lucha Rules 4 Way Match: DOUKI, Eita and Daisuke Sasaki defeated Violento Jack when DOUKI, Eita and Sasaki all pinned Jack after the Super Power Bomb onto the Empty Can Board (11:36).
3. Jun Kasai & Hiromu Takahashi defeated Minoru Suzuki & Takayuki Ueki when Takahashi pinned Ueki with the Pearl Harbor Splash (19:53).
4. Hardcore 4 Way Match: Chris Brookes Vs MAO Vs El Phantasmo Vs Masashi Takeda ended in a Time Limit Draw (20:00).
5. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Hikaru Sato with the Orienteering with Napalm Death (10:55).
6. Gedo & Dick Togo defeated El “Exotico” Desperado & Danshoku Dieno when Gedo pinned Dieno with the Gedo Clutch (18:18).

I’m only going to write about the DDT and BASARA related matches but I wanted to include results for the entire card because just look at it! I’d say this is a show full of Fire Pro matches but that reference is a bit old hat nowadays. The influence here is more GCW Spring Break and PWG Mystery Vortex given how much of a modern day wrestling nerd El Desperado is. He has spent the last two months handing out invitations to wrestlers he would like to be in the ring with for a special mystery show he was producing in Korakuen Hall. He also narrated the introductions for each match, either explaining why he put them together or revealing another unexpected surprise he had in store for everyone.

There were hints as to who got invited to take part in the show. Videos were posted on the event’s Twitter page teasing fans with clips of unknown wrestlers being handed the invitations. But one in particular took place in public at a recent DDT show. Desperado straight up asked Danshoku Dieno to come along with a partner of his choice because Despy wanted to see Pheromones chase some Bullet Club wrestlers around the venue. Dieno couldn’t bring Pheromones back so he thought of a good replacement. If El Desperado wanted to experience Pheromones so bad then he will be Dieno’s tag partner! After all this match was the main event and Despy should be headlining his own show.

Desperado was given a spare Danshoku costume and as he went off to get changed the other team made their entrance. It was the two managers of the current New Japan heel factions: Gedo from Bullet Club War Dogs and Dick Togo from House Of Torture! Dieno then did his big Pheromones introduction for El “Exotico” Desperado! The match was as close to the Pheromones experience as they could get away with as both Desperado & Dieno stripped down to their O-backs by the end of it. However Gedo & Togo worked saved each other from taking the Danshoku Driver. Togo gave Dieno the Pedigree and Gedo pinned him with the Gedo Clutch.

There was more DDT involvement elsewhere on the show. Both Chris Brookes and MAO were put into a Hardcore 4 Way Match with El Phantasmo and Masashi Takeda also involved. Desperado admitted in the introduction that he expected one of them to turn down the match because it sounded too dangerous and was surprised no one did. Brookes and MAO smashed each other with plastic boxes. Takeda threatened everyone with his large pair of scissors and eventually got to cut open Brookes’s forehead with it. MAO, ELP and Takeda all ended up underneath the ring and Brookes flushed them out by spraying a fire extinguisher beneath the apron. ELP then took out a literal clothesline with clothes pegs included. He pinched them to Takeda’s ears and Brookes’s nipples. MAO then wrapped the other end of the line around his foot and Super Kicked ELP, pulling the pinched pegs off of the other two! The match lasted the full twenty minute time limit without a winner and had to end in a four way draw.

Afterwards Brookes remained in the ring and got on the microphone. First, he said he would have won if the match lasted longer and complained that a 20 minute time limit is too short. He then told Desperado to get into the ring because he wanted to tell him something. They have known each other for a while but have never been in the ring at the same time until now. Brookes is tired of waiting so he is challenging Desperado to a match at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024” in Sumo Hall on 21st July! Despy agreed and shook Brookes’s hand. He then tried to pin him with a School Boy in an attempt to win the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title but Brookes kicked out and escaped.

Daisuke Sasaki got to be part of the show in the other 4 Way Match of the night. Despy wanted it to be a match filled with wrestlers who have lucha libre skills so Sasaki was in there with DOUKI, Eita and most unexpected of all Violento Jack! Lucha moves were used but Jack also brought out a board with sharp halves of plastic cans attached to them. None of the other three wanted to get slammed onto it so they all teamed up together and Super Power Bombed Jack onto it instead. They then piled on top of Jack to pin him for the three count. The referee determined all three pinned Jack at the same time so DOUKI, Eita and Sasaki were each declared winners.

There was even a pre-show match because Despy wanted to see Toru Yano wrestle in Match #0 of the card. He was accompanied by Hiroshi Tanahashi and both were dressed in yankii uniforms. Yano gave out a hint for who their other partner was going to be. He asked what was the name of the heroine played by Miho Nakayama in the movie Be-Bop High School? Tanahashi’s answer was Kyoko. Their partner is Kyoko Inoue and she entered the ring wearing a schoolgirl uniform! Their opponents were also a bunch of Yankees in the forms of Yuko Miyamoto, Isami Kodaka & DASH Chisako! Unfortunately for BASARA fans Kodaka took the fall when he was pinned with Tanahashi’s High Fly Flow. After the match Tanahashi & Yano both gave Inoue a kiss on the cheek at the same time.

CyberFight Announces New Organisational Structure

A press conference was held today by CyberFight to announce an upcoming change in company structure along with other news regarding their wrestling promotions. The big announcement is the appointment of Yasuo Okamoto as CyberFight’s new president from 1st June onwards. Okamoto began working for CyberAgent in 2000 and is currently an Executive Vice President, a role he’s had since 2020. Sanshiro Takagi will be moving down to EVP under his real name Tadashi Takagi (he is also slightly changing the spelling of his wrestling name from 高木三四郎 to 髙木三四郎) Takagi said he will be taking a break as a pro wrestler in July in order to focus on management as well as to take care of his own health. He will continue to be in charge of DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro under this direction. On the NOAH side Naomichi Marufuji and Akihiro Takeda remain in their roles as EVP and Director respectively. Akito Nishigaki (aka Akito) will also now serve as a director. Takagi assures fans that the in-ring products for each company is not going to change.

Okamoto joked that when he received the offer for this role he was happy because he now gets to call pro wrestling his job. He already watches the different CyberFight promotions on ABEMA and Wrestle Universe. He also thanked Takagi for all of his hard work in running all three companies up to now. His goal is for everyone to work together in order to make CyberFight the number one wrestling organisation in the industry. His first target is to strengthen the relationship between NOAH and WWE. At the moment WWE shows air in Japan on ABEMA along with NOAH. There is nothing official to announce yet but they are working on having one in the near future. CyberFight is also currently finalizing deals for new corporate sponsors and would like to increase the number of sponsors from time to time. ABEMA streams NOAH programming and there is hope for DDT and TJPW to return to the service with broadcasts of their own big events.

NOAH have signed Ulka Sasaki and EITA to the company. Sasaki is a former MMA fighter who began wrestling for NOAH this past January. His goal is to become the GHC Heavyweight Champion. Takeda made a phone call to EITA at the press conference to announce the news of his signing. EITA told fans through the phone that he will continue to stir up NOAH as the ace of their Jr. Heavyweight division. NOAH also announced they have hired Keiji Muto as their new scouting advisor. Until now he was working as a Pro Wrestling Ambassador for ABEMA. Muto said every company right now is out there looking for new talented people and if any young people are interested they should get in contact with NOAH. Salaries are increasing and Muto heard stories about how Kazuchika Okada could be earning up to 2 billion yen over the next three years. He told Okamoto he would like to see him create a budget for the company that will look three to five years into the future. Muto also mentioned an idea to recruit new trainees from other countries, not just Japan.

Later this month DDT will be holding auditions for male teenagers aged 15 to 19 years old looking to become wrestling trainees. DDT is also setting up a new community project with Masahiro Chono called Safety Task Force (STF, get it?). Together they will hold small scale wrestling events to raise awareness for health disaster prevention and other lifesaving countermeasures. Chono sent in a video message telling DDT he does not want this project to be done half-heartedly.

Tokyo Joshi Pro will be increasing their international schedule over the next year in a bid to go global. On 24th August they will be in England holding an inter-promotional event with EVE. That is happening the same weekend as AEW’s return to Wembley in London. Then in November TJPW is planning to have a show in Seattle, USA. Finally, TJPW confirmed they will be in Las Vegas next April for their annual appearance at WrestleMania Week.

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The WWE part of that news sent a chill down the spine, didn’t it? There is already a little connection between them and NOAH through ABEMA. Looks like it’s about to grow. That has me concerned over just how far that direction can go and if it causes any side effects elsewhere. Takagi moving down a management tier isn’t getting me hopeful either but some of that is just time doing its thing. He’s spoken before about it being time for him to start looking for potential successors and getting them ready for the job. Is that going to be Akito because I think he has just been demoted from EVP to director, unless I missed that happening somewhere already a while ago. I don’t have any feelings towards Okamoto being the new president. Not thrilled with the WWE idea but I’m not going to immediately bash the guy over it.

Muto was never really gone from NOAH so his reappearance in the company is no surprise. He’s the one you have to watch out for when it comes to serving personal goals over company goals. The DDT news I’m indifferent too. They’re happy with how they get rookies and will continue down that path. The international TJPW shows are all good news. I’ll be in London for AEW so will go to the EVE x TJPW show the night before (unless Revolution Pro put out an unbelievable lineup). I’m also going to Vegas for Mania next year just to experience what the strip will look like swarmed by 60,000+ wrestling fans so you’ll be sure to see me at the TJPW show too. It’s a little odd they did not announce anything for DDT at the same time but I think it’s just because they wanted to include a TJPW announcement here and this schedule was all they had.

So yeah let’s hope the WWE stuff becomes minimal. If not then please look forward to “Main Event” Jey Uso fighting Yoshitatsu in Match #4 on a Shinjuku FACE card while The Up Up Girls get the Def Rebel remix treatment. Yeet.