“NEW YEAR’S EVE PRO WRESTLING 2023 ~TOSHIWASURE! SHUFFLE 6-MAN TAG TOURNAMENT~” Results

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

1. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino defeated Takeshi Masada, Akira & Koji Iwamoto when HARASHIMA pinned Masada with the Somato (7:06).
2. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kazusada Higuchi, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kohei Kinoshita defeated Soma Takao, Kazumasa Yoshida & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi when Kinoshita pinned Hiroshi with the Blockbuster Hold (6:51).
3. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki Vs Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
3a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki defeated Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka when Suzuki submitted Dieno with the Sleeper Hold (4:45).
4. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1: Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe defeated Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishikawa & Brahman Shu (w/ Brahman Kei) when Abe submitted Shu with the Manjigatame (6:03).
5. Daimonji So, Ender Kara, Leyton Buzzard & Tempesta defeated Kazumi Kikuta, Kazuki Hashimoto, Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya when Buzzard pinned Rukiya with the Firebird Splash (8:37).
6. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kohei Kinoshita when Sekifuda pinned Kinoshita with the Ironman (5:48).
7. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki Vs Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
7a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe defeated Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Minoru Suzuki when Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with a Lariat (1:20).
8. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Takuya Nomura, Abdullah Kobayashi & Kankuro Hoshino defeated Yuki Ueno, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda when Kobayashi pinned Honda with a Modified School Boy (13:32).
9. Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final: Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sekimoto & Fuminori Abe defeated HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino when Endo pinned Sekifuda with the Burning Star Press (13:33).

On the final day of 2023 DDT, Big Japan and a scoop of the indies all joined together at Korakuen Hall to take part in the annual New Year’s Eve Shuffle Tag Team Tournament. This year was the third year in a row the tournament consisted of 6-Man Tag matches. Every team taking part consisted of a DDT wrestler, a BJW wrestler and a wild card independent wrestler. But before any of the matches began, Samurai TV presented the Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards for 2023. The full results for those can be found at the bottom of this report.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1

Smile Lizard King Kong Vs Lonely Hot College Students

The opening round began with HARASHIMA, Kota Sekifuda & Yuji Hino all joining forces to fight a team that no longer had an accurate team name. Yuya Aoki pulled out sick and had to be replaced with Akira who is not single like Takeshi Masada & Koji Iwamoto are. Although you could still argue he might have been feeling lonely anyway without being near his new friends anyway. They isolated HARASHIMA but Masada could not get the job done. Instead the tables were turned on him and HARASHIMA scored the pin with the Somato.

Team Katagi Returns Vs The Kind People

Style was the name of the game here. Team Katagi Returns all showed up wrestling in sunglasses and flashy shirts looking to boss around their opponents. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi tried to settle them down with some karaoke, buying Soma Takao & Kazumasa Yoshida some time to regroup. Hiroshi tried it again to distract Kohei Kinoshita but ended up getting pinned with the Blockbuster Hold for his troubles.

Big Bombers Kai Vs Anal Destruction Hidaka

The big draw for this year’s tournament made his appearance in the third match. Minoru Suzuki showed up with no concern that Danshoku Dieno, Daichi Hashimoto & Ikuto Hidaka were all plotting to defeat him one way or another. It didn’t matter because whatever they threw at Suzuki, he just countered it and twisted them into submission holds. The match ended in a time limit draw so it went to 1 Count sudden death rules. Hidaka was convinced to settle himself on the top turnbuckle with his tights pulled down so Dieno & Hashimoto could throw their opponents face first into his rear end. The plan worked until it was Suzuki’s turn. He simply stopped in front of Hidaka and spanked him! Hashimoto then force fed Dieno the wasabi paste but the Lip Lock aimed for Suzuki was sent to Hashimoto instead! Suzuki used the Sleeper Hold on Dieno to squeeze the wasabi out of him until he gave up.

Go For It! The Three Inokori Brothers Vs Bati Bati F’N In The Sky

You can always count on The Brahman Brothers to come into this tournament with their partners already brainwashed into acting like them. It happened here with Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishikawa. Together their obscene fighting styles left the opponents doubled over in pain due to where the attacks were targeted. However Fuminori Abe was able to trap Brahman Shu in the Manjigatame so his team could escape to the next round with enough of their collective dignity still intact.

Non-Tournament 8-Man Tag Match

There were two matches outside of the tournament. The first of which focused on PROJECT: HAVOC, the unit of wrestlers currently invading Big Japan led by Daimonji So. Facing them were the collective team of mostly young DDT and BJW wrestlers. Despite the best efforts of the combined home team, HAVOC overwhelmed them and won out in the end.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Smile Lizard King Kong Vs Team Katagi Returns

Over to the semi finals now where Smile Lizard King Kong continued to show their combined strength. The normally powerful Kazusada Higuchi & Yasufumi Nakanoue were instead powerless to save Kinoshita from getting flattened with Flying Body Press after Flying Body Press from their opponents, ending with Sekifuda folding him over with the Ironman pin for the 3 count.

Big Bombers Kai Vs Bati Bati F’N In The Sky

The other semi finals treated fans to a couple of important matchups. First was a preview of Tetsuya Endo against Yukio Naya in the D-Oh Grand Prix final happening on 3rd January. The other was Suzuki and Daisuke Sekimoto getting the rare chance to fight each other! Their battle ended in a stalemate because the time ran out. When sudden death began the match scrambled into Hideyoshi Kamitani trying to pin Sekimoto only to get defeated instead with Sekimoto’s Lariat. Endo and Naya had a staredown in the middle of the ring after the match.

Non-Tournament Special 6-Man Tag Match

The second non-tournament match was a straightforward DDT Vs Big Japan 6-Man Tag. Well I say straightforward but the match involved Antonio Honda and Abdullah Kobayashi both getting rope burn between their legs, the DDT team all dancing to “What Does The Fox Say”, then the Big Japan team dancing to “Tokyo GO!” until Takuya Nomura stopped them. But that was only because he wanted to lead the dance and use that power to overpower his opponents. Kobayashi ended up using Honda’s Gongitsune against him and rolled him up with a School Boy to get Big Japan the victory.

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final

Smile Lizard King Kong Vs Bati Bati F’N In The Sky

Sadly the show has not yet returned to running long enough that it reaches up to the clock striking midnight to bring in the new year. But the finalists were still able to take each other on without having to worry about a time limit. Sekimoto and Hino got into a big chop battle while HARASHIMA took out Abe with the Somato. Sekifuda almost pinned Endo with the Ironman but was then flipped upside down with the Tetsuya In the Sky. It was all there for Endo to take it and he finished Sekifuda off with the Burning Star Press, making Bati Bati F’N In The Sky the winners of this year’s tournament!

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2023

MVP

1. Kazuki Hirata (DDT)
2. Fujita “Jr.” Hayato (Michinoku Pro)
3. Fuminori Abe (Freelance)
4. Chris Brookes (DDT)
5. HARUKAZE (Ganbare☆Pro)

Best Bout

1. Fujita “Jr.” Hayato Vs Hiromu Takahashi (Michinoku Pro, 15th October)
2. Fuminori Abe Vs Takuya Nomura (Kakuto Tanteidan, 12th October)
3. Yuji Okabayashi Vs Yuya Aoki (Big Japan, 4th May)
4. Hiromu Takahashi Vs Kazuki Hirata (DDT, 12th November)
5. Chris Brookes Vs Yuki Ueno (DDT, 12th November)

Best Unit

1. Astronauts (Freelance/Big Japan)
2. Pheromones (DDT)
3. Lethal Weapon (Ganbare☆Pro)
4. Eruption (DDT)
5. The 37KAMIINA (DDT)

Best Show

1. DDT @ Ryogoku Kokugikan, 12th November
2. Kakuto Tanteidan @ Shinjuku FACE, 12th October
3. Big Japan @ Yokohama Budokan, 4th May
4. Michinoku Pro @ Yahaba Townsmen Gymnasium, 15th October
5. 666 @ Korakuen Hall, 2nd, August

Best Newcomer

1. Munetatsu Nakamura (Ganbare☆Pro)
2. Kazumasa Yoshida (Big Japan)
3. Takeshi Masada (DDT)
4. Yusaki Ito (Dove Pro)
5. Yuki Kanzaki (TTT)

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

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

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

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

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1

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

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

Team 2023 Vs Super J Cups

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

Zero Hyaku Vs BraNoue In The Sky With Diamonds

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

Emi Chichichi (Wara Chichichi) Vs Team Kansai

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

Non-Tournament 8-Man Tag Match

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

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final

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

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

Zero Hyaku Vs Emi Chichichi (Wara Chichichi)

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

Special 8-Man Tag Match

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

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final

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

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

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

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2022

MVP

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

Best Bout

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

Best Unit

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

Best Box Office

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

Best Newcomer

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

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

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

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

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

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Round 1

I’ll Do It!! Vs Three Brothers Kawaii

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

Ikemen’s Vs LEFTOVERS

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

Deadlifters Vs I Dream Of Twins, Lizards And Naomi

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

Ugo Association Vs Team Saiyuki

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

Non-Tournament 8-Man Tag Match

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

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Three Brothers Kawaii Vs LEFTOVERS

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

Deadlifters Vs Ugo Association

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

3 Way Tag Match

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

Shuffle 6-Man Tag Tournament – Final

LEFTOVERS Vs Deadlifters

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

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

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2021

MVP

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

Best Bout

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

Best Unit

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

Best Box Office

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

Best Newcomer

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

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2020 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT” Results

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2020 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2020
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
520 Fans

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Yuya Aoki & Yukio Naya when Okabayashi submitted Naya with the Argentine Backbreaker (8:53).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Akira Hyodo & Makoto Oishi Vs Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
2a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Akira Hyodo & Makoto Oishi when Nomura pinned Hyodo with a Rollover Inverted Cross Armbreaker (2:32).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno defeated Drew Parker & Danshoku Dieno when Ueno pinned Dieno with a School Boy (7:35).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo defeated Hideyoshi Kamitani & Chris Brookes when Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with the German Suplex (7:04).
5. Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match: Ryuji Ito defeated Shunma Katsumata with the Dragon Splash (11:01).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA Vs Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
6a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Takuya Nomura & Konosuke Takeshita when HARASHIMA pinned Takeshita with a Jackknife Pin (0:26).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo when Nakanoue pinned Sekimoto with the Lariat (8:10).
8. New Year’s Wrestling 2020 Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Kazuki Hashimoto, Daichi Hashimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Takuho Kato, Yuki Ishikawa, Keigo Nakamura & Hideki Okatani when Hashimoto pinned Okatani with the Falcon Arrow (13:35).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Yuji Okabayashi & HARASHIMA defeated Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Ueno when Okabayashi pinned Nakanoue with the Golem Splash (17:50).

The annual New Year’s Eve show was a much smaller affair in 2020. Safety precautions meant the show took place earlier in the day and would not roll over into the end of year countdown. The Shuffle Tag Tournament between DDT and Big Japan was also reduced to 8 teams instead of the usual 16.

Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1

Smile Pissari Vs HOT Real JAPAN

Two super heavyweights collided when Yuji Okabayashi and Yukio Naya stood face to face from each other. HARASHIMA kept Yuya Aoki away so Naya spent most of the match in the ring. He got some good shots in with Knee Strikes but Okabayashi cut him off with a Lariat and made him submit to the Argentine Backbreaker. Naya said he wants to fight Okabayashi again. Aoki was apologetic for not getting to help his tag partner more.

170cm Vs Nomutake

It only took until the second match for overtime sudden death rules to kick in. Konosuke Takeshita and Makoto Oishi were scrambling over each other in the dying seconds of the match. When time expired, One Count Fall rules came into play for the restart. Takuya Nomura put Akira Hyodo in a Cross Armbreaker and rolled him onto his shoulders to get the pin. At least Hyodo thought he and Oishi worked well as a team given their age difference.

Nakanoueno Vs Sodomy & Scars

Things got cheeky in Match #3. Danshoku Dieno accidentally put Drew Parker in the Lip Lock. Parker later accidentally pulled down Dieno’s tights to reveal he was wearing a diaper underneath because he still has not recovered from the CO2 attack to his rear end last week. Still he went into the Hell Gate position but Yuki Ueno Dropkicked him in the butt. Yasufumi Nakanoue rushed over to give Parker the Lip Lock while Ueno pinned Dieno with a School Boy. Dieno said afterward there are two kinds of butts in the world. Those that are for entertainment and those that are not.

Daisuke In The Sky Vs LINE Tomodachi

Round 1 ended with Daisuke Sekimoto & Tetsuya Endo defeating Hideyoshi Kamitani & Chris Brookes. It went back and forth until Endo gave Brookes the Tetsuya In The Sky and Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with the German Suplex. Brookes threatened to remove Kamitani from their LINE group backstage but Kamitani convinced him to give him one more chance.

Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match

The first of two non-tournament matches was the long awaited lighttube death match between Ryuji Ito and Shunma Katsumata. Lighttubes, thumbtacks, Lego, a barbed wire bat and even sauna stones were used as weapons. Ito came out on top in the end but he praised Katsumata for keeping up with death matches, especially this week’s schedule. He doesn’t likes saunas though because they are too hot. Katsumata tells him everyone says that at first but they always end up liking it.

Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final

Smile Pissari Vs Nomutake

The semi finals began and one of them went into extra time. Okabayashi came out wearing a similar entrance robe as HARASHIMA. Nomura wanted to get into a kick battle with HARASHIMA so that is what he got. In the final minutes, Okabayashi and Takeshita both went down from a Lariat but only Okabayashi got to tag out. HARASHIMA went for the Somato and Takeshita avoided it before the bell rang for a time limit draw. At the restart, HARASHIMA kicked Takeshita’s injured arm, followed with a Thrust Kick to the face and pinned him for the one count with a Jackknife. Nomura would like to team with Takeshita again but he doesn’t know if his regular tag partner Fuminori Abe would approve of it. Takeshita then suggested he could fight against Nomura & Abe.

Nakanoueno Vs Daisuke In The Sky

The tag synergy continued with Sekimoto & Endo wearing each other’s entrance robes. After a Double Torture Rack spot, Endo encouraged Sekimoto to German Suplex him and Ueno together. Ueno slipped out and landed on his feet while Endo took the full brunt of the move. Ueno hit Sekimoto with a Frog Splash and Nakanoue won with a big Lariat. Sekimoto apologised to Endo over and over backstage. He admits his wife tells him he is too careless all the time. Endo promised to improve his fingertip strength so his clutch will get stronger.

New Year’s Wrestling 2020 Special 8-Man Tag Match

The young boys were fed to the grizzly old veterans but they didn’t go down without a fight. Yuki Ishikawa stepped in as a last minute replacement for Kosuke Sato because of injury. Takuho Kato set Keigo Nakamura up to do the Exquisite Moonsault on Kazuki Hashimoto. A nearfall then came when Hideki Okatani gave Kazuki the Northern Lights Suplex. Eruption cut them off and Daichi Hashimoto took over. He resisted Okatani’s chops and pinned him with the Falcon Arrow.

Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final

Smile Pissari Vs Nakanoueno

The final turned out to be a preview of Big Japan’s 2nd January main event with Okabayashi and Nakanoue squaring off. The match started off with them and ended with them. Ueno wiped out HARASHIMA with a Tornillo leading to the Big Japan pair to take it home. Nakanoue hit the Diving Elbow but HARASHIMA broke the pin and hit a Somato into the corner. Okabayashi got a nearfall with a Power Bomb. He then had to use the Golem Splash to get the three count and win the tournament with HARASHIMA! He thanked HARASHIMA for teaming with him and also for the entrance robe. HARASHIMA hopes to keep up with Okabayashi in 2021. Nakanoue & Ueno were happy with their performances considering they never teamed together before today. Maybe they have Osaka Power of love and friendship.

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards 2020

MVP
1. Minoru Fujita
2. Tetsuya Endo
3. Toru Sugiura
4. Fuminori Abe
5. Daichi Hashimoto

Best Bout
1. Tetsuya Endo Vs Daisuke Sasaki (DDT, 3rd November)
2. Ryuji Ito Vs Minoru Fujita (Big Japan, 29th August)
3. Yuji Okabayashi Vs Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan, 23rd November)
4. Onryo Vs Yuko Miyamoto (666, 27th June)
5. Masashi Takeda Vs Daisuke Masaoka (FREEDOMS, 10th November)

Best Unit
1. Astronauts
2. Eruption
3. unchain
4. DAMNATION
5. Wataridori Rengo

Best Box Office
1. Big Japan at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium, 29th August
2. Hiragana Muscle at Tokyo Korakuen Hall, 9th November
3. DDT at Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium, 3rd November
4. Big Japan at Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium, 30th August
5. Hiragan Muscle at Tokyo Shinagawa The Grand Hall, 21st September

Best Newcomer
1. Rina Yamashita
2. Shunma Katsumata
3. Jun Akiyama
4. Yuki Ishikawa
5. Hideki Okatani

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2019 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT” Results

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2019 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,232 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani defeated Daichi Hashimoto & Akito when Kamitani pinned Akito with the Loyly Diving Elbow Drop (9:36).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hashimoto when Nakanoue pinned Hashimoto with a Lariat (6:27).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki defeated El Lindaman & Yukio Naya when Aoki pinned Lindaman with a Tiger Suplex (9:08).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes defeated Yuji Okabayashi & Antonio Honda when Brookes submitted Honda with the Octopus Stretch (8:48).
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk Vs Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
5a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall Rules: Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk defeated Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda when T-Hawk pinned Sekifuda with the Cerberus (1:02).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Brahman Kei & Naomi Yoshimura when Endo pinned Kei with the Puma Toke de Espaldas (7:07).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki defeated Yuki Ueno & Takuho Kato when Sasaki submitted Ueno with the Cross Facelock (7:07).
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1 – Lighttube Death Match: Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino defeated Toshiyuki Sakuda & Shunma Katsumata when Tsukamoto pinned Katsumata with the Suffocation Zudon (7:45).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani when Iino pinned Kamitani with the Spear (8:31).
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes defeated HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki when Sekimoto pinned Aoki with a Lariat (9:03).
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk when Nomura pinned Kawakami with a Cross Legged Cradle (7:44).
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki defeated Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino when Sasaki submitted Hoshino with the Cross Facelock (6:33).
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino when Endo pinned Iino with the Shooting Star Press (8:01).
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes defeated Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki when Sekimoto pinned Sasaki with the German Suplex (6:45).
15. New Year’s Eve! Defeat Hunger! Very Funny! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Abdullah Kobayashi, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine defeated Tatsuhiko Yoshino, Drew Parker & Mizuki Watase when Kobayashi pinned Watase with the Bakachinga Elbow Drop (8:50).
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes when Nomura pinned Sekimoto with the Dragon Suplex (17:19).

A flu pandemic didn’t stop Big Japan from joining up with DDT for the annual New Year’s Eve Wrestling party. In the runup to the show six wrestlers fell ill and had to pull out of the show. While it was a shame that they couldn’t be here it did open up slots for some different faces to take their place.

Round 1

The opening match turned out to be an unusual tribute to Shinjiro Otani. The pairing of Daichi Hashimoto & Akito named themselves Team Shinjiro Otani due to his influence over them. Their opponents Konosuke Takeshita & Hideyoshi Kamitani responded by paying tribute to Masato Tanaka. They both did Tanaka’s pose together while Hashimoto & Akito did Otani’s Fire Sword pose. The Otani team both did the Facewash spot and all looked to be over when Akito punt Takeshita in a Figure 4 Leglock. That was until Kamitani climbed the top rope and hit a Diving Elbow Drop on Akito to get the pin. The losers decided they could no longer call themselves Team Shinjiro Otani so they renamed themselves The Shinjiro Otani Victims Association. They hope Otani will be a member some day.

The next match was all about brute strength against kicking power. Yuki Iino was about to do the Haka Elbow on Yukio Sakaguchi when Kazuki Hashimoto kicked him away. The kickers gave Yasufumi Nakanoue a PK Sandwich but Iino hit both of them with a Double Spear afterwards. Nakanoue & Iino then used their combined strength to Choke Slam Hashimoto. A Lariat from Nakanoue ended the match.

At first it looked like El Lindaman & Yukio Naya were going to get along great. Then they figured out the harsh truth that they are not the same size. They tried doing double team moves together but the 40cm height difference between them made it difficult. Meanwhile HARASHIMA & Yuya Aoki had no such trouble working together. The Lindaman & Naya team fell apart when Naya accidentally hit Lindaman with a Diving Shoulder Block. Lindaman snapped and said some unpleasant things to his partner. An angry Naya Choke Slammed Lindaman and left him to get pinned by Aoki’s Tiger Suplex.

The next match had wrestlers wearing matching gear in their teams. Yuji Okabayashi came out dressed like Antonio Honda while Chris Brookes wore Daisuke Sekimoto’s entrance robe. Honda unleashed Gongitsune after a hot tag. He got Sekimoto in the eyes but Brookes then grabbed both Gon hands and made Honda pinch Okabayashi’s nipples. Brookes locked Honda in an Octopus Stretch for the win. Honda hopes everyone will at least remember Okabayashi’s strawberry costume.

The only match on the show to last the full time limit was Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk Vs Soma Takao & Kota Sekifuda. A lot of the match featured a cuddly toy cobra that Takao brought down to the ring. Unfortunately the cobra ripped in half when Takao & Sekifuda used it to Clothesline on T-Hawk. The time ran out while Sekifuda and T-Hawk had a tug of war over the cobra. Overtime began and Soma swung the cobra at T-Hawk. He ducked and Sekifuda took the hit as the cobra’s remans exploded. T-Hawk gave Sekifuda the Nightride and then the Cerberus knee strike for the one count victory.

We got a rare sighting of a single Brahman Brother wrestling. Brahman Shu was out sing so Brahman Kei was by himself. Good thing Naomi Yoshimura got in the Brahman spirit of things and joined in with Shu’s antics. So did Tetsuya Endo & Takuya Nomura. They stole the buckets of water and threw them at their opponents. Shu placed a suitcase against Endo & Nomura for Yoshimura to throw a bowling ball at. Kei threw the briefcase but Endo ducked and Yoshimura got hit. Nomura blinded Kei with the black India Ink and Endo pinned him with the Puma Toke de Espaldas. Kei blamed the loss on the flu.

The team bonding continued with Daisuke Sasaki wearing similar yankee gear as Yuko Miyamoto. The team of Yuki Ueno & Takuho Kato gelled well together too. Kato held Ueno up on seated on his shoulders and threw him on top of Sasaki for a nearfall. Miyamoto hit Yeno with a Handspring Kneel Kick and then dropped him with the Fire Thunder. The match ended when Sasaki submitted Ueno with the Cross Facelock.

The 1st Round ended with a Lighttube Death Match. Shunma Katsumata has been wanting to do more violent matches so this was his chance. He brought along his own lighttube with Lego attached to it. Takumi Tsukamoto & Kankuro Hoshino gave Katsumata a death match baptism by smashing lighttubes over him. They had control early until Katsumata did some violent spots of his own with the help of Toshiyuki Sakuda. He broke a bundle of lighttubes taped together and revealed there were even more Lego blocks hidden inside it! He gave Hoshino the ¡Hasta la vista! onto the pile but Tsukamoto broke it up. Tsukamoto placed a plastic bag over Katsumata to suffocate him then hit the Zudon for the win. They shook hands after the match and Katsumata smashed the last remaining lighttube over his own head.

Round 2

Round 2 began with a bit of an upset. Nakanoue & Iino defeated Takeshita & Kamitani, ending Takeshita’s streak of reaching the final! The Double Choke Slam was the difference maker again, this time with Iino hitting the Spear on Kamitani to in the match.

As the tournament progressed, the team bonds were getting stronger. Aoki came out wearing matching HARASHIMA gear. Meanwhile Sekimoto joined Brookes in given Aoki a wet willy while he was in a Camel Clutch. HARASHIMA went for the Somato but Brookes dodged it and caught him in the Octopus Stretch. With HARASHIMA held in place, nobody could stop Sekimoto from pinning Aoki with a Lariat.

There was no nonsense in the Endo & Nomura versus Kawakami & T-Hawk match. Nomura was double teamed on while Endo was cut off from rescuing him. But Nomura escaped from the Nightraide and put Kawakami in a Cross Armbreaker. Kawakami tried to roll out but Nomura clasped his legs into a Cradle to pin him for the flash three count.

The last match in the 2n Round turned weird. Miyamoto came out dressed like Shinobu Kandori. Then Hoshino came out looking like Kenshiro from Fist Of The North Star. He used many of Kenshiro’s attacks but when he told Sasaki “You are already dead” Miyamoto hit him in the back with a chair. Sasaki then made Hoshino quickly tap to the Cross Facelock.

Semi Finals

The tournament was now down to four teams. Nakanoue & Iino threw Endo off the top rope then set Nomura up for the Haka Elbow. Iino went for the Spear but Nomura blocked it with a High Kick. Endo came in to hit a Handspring Overhead Kick before pinning Iino with the Shooting Star Press.

Miyamoto decided to return the favour to Sasaki by wearing a leather jacket and carrying around the DAMNATION signboard. Their run came to an end here when Brookes caught Sasaki by surprise with a Cutter and Sekimoto capitalised with the German Suplex.

Special 6-Man Tag Match

Before the final took place there was a non-tournament 6-Man Tag to get through. At this point in the show it was almost midnight. The countdown appeared on the screen while Danshoku Dieno was up to his usual behavior in the ring. As the final seconds counted down, the locker room emptied out and everybody celebrated the new year. When they left we discovered that the wrestlers in the match were all trampled during the celebration. They recovered and slowly wrestled the rest of the match while the song “SEVEN DAYS WAR” by TM Network played over the speakers.

Final

The first complete pro wrestling match of the new decade saw Endo & Nomura defeated Sekimoto & Brookes. Sekimoto tried to German Suplex Nomura but Endo cut him off with the Springboard Overhead Kick. Nomura then tried to German Suplex Sekimoto but Brookes cut him off with a Diving Foot Stomp. Endo had to wipe out Brookes with the Sasuke Special so Nomura could hit the Dragon Suplex on Sekimoto to win the tournment!

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards

MVP
1. Isami Kodaka
2. Konosuke Takeshita
3. Daisuke Sekimoto
4. HARASHIMA
5. Minoru Fujita

Best Bout
1. Daisuke Sekimoto Vs Michael Elgin (Big Japan, 24th August)
2. Konosuke Takeshita Vs HARASHIMA (DDT, 3rd November)
3. Isami Kodaka Vs Yuko Miyamoto (Big Japan, 4th November)
4. Daisuke Sekimoto & Walter Vs Yuji Okabayashi & Yuji Hino (Big Japan, 4th November)
5. Jun Kasai Vs Toru Sugiura (FREEDOMS, 1st October)

Best Unit
1. #STRONGHEARTS
2. Kobayashi-gun
3. DAMNATION
4. Yuji Okabayashi & Shigehiro Irie
5. Sento Minzoku

Best Box Office
Tied 1. DDT at Sumo Hall, 3rd November & Big Japan at Sumo Hall, 4th November
3. Muscle at Sumo Hall, 16th February
4. Shin Nemuro Pro Wrestling at Shin-Kiba 1st RING, 13th October
5. Michinoku Pro at Shinjuku FACE, 27th November

Best Newcomer
1. Keigo Nakamura
2. Toshiyuki Sakuda
3. Maku Donaruto
4. Chris Brookes
5. Asuka

New Year’s Eve Teams Picked

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2019 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2019
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: X & X Vs X & X
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: X & X Vs X & X
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: X & X Vs X & X
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: X & X Vs X & X
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: X & X Vs X & X
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: X & X Vs X & X
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: X & X Vs X & X
15. New Year’s Eve! Defeat Hunger! Very Funny! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Abdullah Kobayashi, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine Vs Tatsuhiko Yoshino, Drew Parker & Mizuki Watase
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: X & X Vs X & X

The teams have been drawn. They are:

Yuki Ishikawa & Isami Kodaka
Ryota Hama & Yuki Ueno
Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki
Takuya Nomura & Tetsuya Endo
Ryuichi Kawakami & T-Hawk
El Lindaman & Yukio Naya
Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino
Kota Sekifuda & Soma Takao
Daichi Hashimoto & Akito
Yuji Okabayashi & Antonio Honda
Yuya Aoki & HARASHIMA
Ryuji Ito & Shunma Katsumata
Kazuki Hashimoto & Yukio Sakaguchi
Daisuke Sekimoto & Chris Brookes
Orca Uto & Konosuke Takeshita
Brahman Brothers & Naomi Yoshimura

Yuki Ishikawa & Isami Kodaka want to do death matches for the entire tournament. They are calling their team Death Match 4.6 because they represent the 4th and 6th generation of Japanese death match wrestlers. Kodaka promises to bring along a barbed wire board while Ishikawa will bring what he can from the Big Japan dojo.

Yuki Ueno is happy to team with an over 200kg super heavyweight in the form of Ryota Hama.

Yuko Miyamoto & Daisuke Sasaki have taken the team name LaLaToo. The name comes from a well known theatre in Sapporo that hosts transsexual stage shows.

Takuya Nomura wanted to call his team Nomura Army so he chose it without Tetsuya Endo’s permission. Endo accepts the name and will let Nomura make all of the decisions.

Ryuichi Kawakami has been told that his face is similar to T-Hawk’s so it must be good luck that they were drawn together. Their team name is W-Hawk.

Yukio Naya thought he was teaming with T-Hawk but he gets El Lindaman instead. Naya says he will do his best with Lindaman.

Yasufumi Nakanoue & Yuki Iino don’t know each other so they will go to Starbucks together and once they become good friends they can figure out what to call their team.

Kota Sekifuda brought along a stuffed toy lizard and had it perched on his shoulder. Since Soma Takao is from DAMNATION and Sekifuda likes lizards, Takao decided their team will be called HachuNATION.

Daichi Hashimoto & Akito have nothing in common. So after some brain storming they figured that Hashimoto debuted in ZERO1 and Akito’s first match was against Shinjiro Otani. So they are calling themselves Team Shinjiro Otani, or Otani-ism for short.

Yuji Okabayashi & Antonio Honda are called Los Angeles because it is also the Japanese title for “Death Wish 2”. Both of them are fans of the actor Charles Bronson. They told the rest of the teams to learn the synopsis of the movie in preparation for a match against them.

Yuya Aoki & HARASHIMA sees the BJW Jr. Heavyweight Champion and the KO-D Openweight Champion teaming together.

Ryuji Ito & Shunma Katsumata debuted on 29th April, 20 years apart. Obviously that means their team name should be named Team 4.29. Katsumata is nervous to team with Ito but he hopes to absorb as much death match knowledge as he can from him.

Kazuki Hashimoto & Yukio Sakaguchi previously teamed together at the 2015 New Year’s Eve show. They were eliminated in the first round. Hashimoto does not want that to happen again. If it does he will be hiding from Sakaguchi in the locker room.

If Daisuke Sekimoto is teaming with Chris Brookes does that mean he can join Schadenfreude?

Orca Uto & Konosuke Takeshita likes saunas and Orca Uto is a “heat wave master” so they are Team Are You All Set.

Last but not least, Naomi Yoshimura is stuck with The Brahman Brothers. He thinks it is ridiculous that he has to team with them but he may as well go along with their antics. His wrestling style is straightforward so maybe adopting their chaotic style will be beneficial to him.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2018 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT” Results

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2018 ~TOSHIWASHURE! SHUFFLE TAG TOURNAMENT”, 31/12/2018
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,242 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuki Iino defeated Ryota Hama & Antonio Honda (w/ Jaki Numazawa) when Sekimoto submitted Honda with a Scorpion Lock (6:26).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuji Okabayashi & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Takuya Nomura & Kazuki Hirata when Okabayashi submitted Hirata with the Argentine Backbreaker (6:57).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuko Miyamoto & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Brahman Kei & Masahiro Takanashi (w/ Brahman Shu) when Miyamoto submitted Takanashi with a Cross Armbreaker (5:53).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Takayuki Ueki & Mike Bailey defeated Great Kojika & Sammy Guevara when Ueki pinned Kojika with a School Boy (6:44).
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuya Aoki & MAO defeated Tatsuhiko Yoshino & Tetsuya Endo when Aoki pinned Yoshino with a Modified Backslide Pin (7:37).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daichi Hashimoto & Daisuke Sasaki defeated Yoshihisa Uto & Sanshiro Takagi (w/ Hideki Suzuki) when Hashimoto pinned Takagi with the Shining Wizard (1:22).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Minoru Fujita & Soma Takao when Higuchi pinned Takao with a Cradle (5:38).
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Masashi Takeda & HARASHIMA defeated Ryuji Ito & Yuki Ueno when Takeda pinned Ueno with a One Man Conchairto (6:50).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yuji Okabayashi & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuki Iino when Sakaguchi pinned Iino with the God’s Right Knee (9:50).
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yuko Miyamoto & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Takayuki Ueki & Mike Bailey when Miyamoto submitted Ueki with a Heel Hold (9:21).
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Daichi Hashimoto & Daisuke Sasaki defeated Yuya Aoki & MAO when Sasaki submitted Aoki with the Cross Facelock (9:14).
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kazusada Higuchi Vs Masashi Takeda & HARASHIMA ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
12a. Sudden Death – 1 Count Fall: Masashi Takeda & HARASHIMA defeated Yasufumi Nakanoue & Kazusada Higuchi when HARASHIMA pinned Higuchi with a Jackknife Pin (0:41).
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yuji Okabayashi & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated Daichi Hashimoto & Daisuke Sasaki when Okabayashi pinned Hashimoto with the Golem Splash (10:07).
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Yuko Miyamoto & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Masashi Takeda & HARASHIMA ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
14a. Sudden Death – 1 Count Fall: Yuko Miyamoto & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Masashi Takeda & HARASHIMA when Takeshita pinned HARASHIMA with a Rolling Leg Clutch (1:54).
15. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Yuko Miyamoto & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Yuji Okabayashi & Yukio Sakaguchi when Takeshita pinned Sakaguchi with the Fable (13:10).

The annual New Year’s tradition of a massive inter-promotional tournament in Korakuen Hall is back again. The teams all contained one Big Japan wrestler and one DDT wrestler although a few had an extra wrestler aiding them from ringside one way or another. Let’s get through this marathon.

Round 1

Muscle Wolf Vs Hama Ton
Antonio Honda was able to poke Daisuke Sekimoto in the eyes with Gongitsune but Yuki Iino was one step ahead and countered Honda with a nipple pinch when the attack was aimed at him. This is the point where Ryota Hama thinks his team lost the match. From there Sekimoto gave Honda an Atomic Drop and then submitted him with a Scorpion Deathlock. Jaki Numazawa was in Hama & Honda’s corner for the match. He blames himself for the team losing.

Bald & Blonde Vs ☆Team Nomura☆
Takuya Nomura came out dressed like Kazuki Hirata. The two were about to dance for their entrance when Yukio Sakaguchi immediately attacked Hirata. Nomura stood up to his opponents with his kicks but his momentum was purposely stopped by Hirata so he could tag in. Hirata’s knock out chop worked against Yuji Okabayashi although it took a few moments for it to take effect. Nomura & Hirata got to do their dance but unbeknownst to them, Okabayashi & Sakaguchi got up behind them also wearing Hirata Go glasses! The bald and blonde wrestlers beat up their opponents along to the music until Okabayashi submitted Hirata with the Argentine Backbreaker. Nomura said he doesn’t remember anything after he put on the glasses. He also never learned Hirata’s dance and blames that for the loss. On the bright side, Hirata thinks there are infinite possibilities for them together as a team. He hopes they work together again so he can harness that power to beat Sakaguchi!

Nishinari Elite Yankee Konosuke And Joshi Pro Wrestling’s Strongest Man Vs Toryumon Refugees
This year Yuko Miyamoto has been promoting himself as the strongest Joshi wrestler in Japan. In the opening round he was going to prove it by transforming himself into Shinobu Kandori! He entered to Kandori’s song “GET IT BACK” and wore an identical costume to hers. Maybe she would have found it funny but she was too busy losing her shit at a Brazilian She Hulk over at the RIZIN show during this time. Masahiro Takanashi and the Brahman Brothers also paid a tribute of their own to their mentor Ultimo Dragon by entering to his music. Brahman Shu was also wearing an Ultimo Dragon mask. The usual Brahmans plunder came out like their suitcase and bowling ball. Konosuke Takeshita threw the briefcase at Takanashi then handled the Brahmans while Miyamoto scrambled with Takanashi. Miyamoto rolled Takanashi into a Cross Armbreaker for the submission victory. He and Takanashi then gave the Brahmans a taste of their own medicine by doing the bowling ball spot on them. Backstage Takanashi & Brahman Kei begged Shu/Dragon for forgiveness. Kei/Dragon demanded they become Toryumon trainees againt and pay the tuition fees along with it.

Japan-US 4 Dimensional Combination Vs Team Let’s Go
Takayuki Ueki & Mike Bailey got along great, screaming “Let’s Go!” at everyone and each other for the entire match. Bailey was also wearing his own Ueki’s style shirt with his name on it. Sammy Guevara gave both of them the middle finger and The Great Kojika did the same later. Kojika got into a strike exchange with Bailey until Ueki snuck in a School Boy to pin him. Kojika enjoyed teaming with Guevara and wants to do it again next year. Guevara asked Kojika how old he was. Kojika said he was 60…

2nd Generation Party Boys Vs Cherry Boys On The Run
Tetsuya Endo wasn’t eager to team with Tatsuhiko Yoshino. He had to be encouraged down to the ring by Yoshino and Kota Sekifuda. During the match MAO put Endo in a Crab Hold and Endo couldn’t move. Sekifuda got into the ring and along with the audience taught Endo how to reach the ropes. Endo tried to follow the instructions but MAO dragged him back into the centre and Yoshino had to break up the hold. When Yoshino got tagged in the match became more cheeky when he pulled down the back of Yuya Aoki & MAO’s tights, exposing their backsides. Endo & Yoshino would end up having the back of their tights pulled back too. Aoki put an end to the match by backsliding Yoshino into a pin and bridging over on top of him for the pin. Endo told Yoshino he would be muting him on Twitter because of what happened.

Super Fighting Three Musketeers Vs Black Tri-Stars
This was weird. Daichi Hashimoto & Daisuke Sasaki came out doing a mashup act of The Three Musketeers: Daichi’s father Shinya Hashimoto, Masahiro Chono and Keiji Muto. They were supposed to fight Yoshihisa Uto & Sanshiro Takagi with Hideki Suzuki in their corner but they were nowhere to be found. Instead the Black Tri-Star Gundams appeared! They circled around Korakuen Hall until they finally attacked. Sasaki grabbed their cannon and struck them with it. Hashimoto then channeled Muto and his chronic knee pain to hit the Shining Wizard and win the match. The Black Tri-Stars fled but not before attacking Mita Sayoko at the commentary table along the way.

Team Katagi Vs MudNATION
Yasufumi Nakanoue carried a wooden sword to the ring and acted like Kazusada Higuchi’s mentor for the match. Nakanoue tried to strike Soma Takao with the sword but he moved and Higuchi took the blow. Minoru Fujita grabbed the sword and tried to attack Higuchi. Higuchi also moved out of the ring and Takao got hit. That allowed Higuchi to cradle Takao for the three count. Both Fujita & Takao said they couldn’t hear each other during the match and would have needed subtitles to communicate better.

Team A Line Vs Crazy Smile
Yuki Ueno got in the death match mood by dressing up like Ryuji Ito and asking for the match to be held under Hardcore rules. On the other side, Masashi Takeda wore one of HARASHIMA’s ring jackets for his entrance and wanted to wrestle a normal match. Chairs were brought into the ring anyway and were used a lot. Ueno didn’t hesitate to hit his DISASTER BOX leader HARASHIMA with a chair but that meant HARASHIMA also would not hold back when the roles were reversed. Takeda wasn’t able to hit the Reverse U-Crash, Ueno countered it into a Cradle for a nearfall. Takeda instead placed a chair on top of Ueno’s face then hit it with another chair to keep Ueno down for the pin count. Ito & Ueno admitted they did not communicate with each other much before the show. They only shared 4 or 5 direct messages with each other. If they team up again they promise to message each other more.

Round 2

Muscle Wolf Vs Bald & Blonde
Big lads collided a bunch to kick off the second round. In the dying seconds of the match Sakaguchi hit Iino with the God’s Right Knee to get the win. Iino thinks he pulled a muscle in his leg after doing the Spear. However he says he learned a lot teaming with Sekimoto and will use it to win the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles in DDT on 3rd January. Iino and Sekimoto also promised to keep in touch through DMs.

Nishinari Elite Yankee Konosuke And Joshi Pro Wrestling’s Strongest Man Vs Team Let’s Go
Ueki came up with the perfect plan to counter Miyamoto’s Shinobu Kandori tribute. He came out dressed as Aja Kong! Bailey also joined in by having his face painted like Kong’s. The Kandori Vs Kong match up was historically accurate until Ueki lost his temper and pulled out his gun. Ueki then crotched himself on the top rope and Miyamoto submitted him with a Heel Hold. Ueki admitted that Miyamoto really is the world’s strongest male Joshi wrestler.

Cherry Boys On The Run Vs Super Fighting Three Musketeers
Hashimoto continued the Muto tribute by putting Aoki in the Figure 4 Leg Lock. Sasaki was put in danger after MAO dove onto him. However Sasaki avoided Aoki’s Tiger Suplex and trapped him in the Cross Facelock. Aoki fought to reach the ropes but Sasaki rolled him back into the centre and made him tap out. MAO felt regretful because their elimination from the tournament means the Cherry Boys’ youth has come to an end and they now have to become adults. Maybe it’s not all bad though. MAO heard that a 23 year old’s sex drive is bigger than an 18 year old’s. So maybe he can still work hard when he reaches the ripe old age of 23…

Team Katagi Vs Crazy Smile
The first time limit draw of the show happened here. This time HARASHIMA got into Takeda’s state of mind by wearing Takeda’s entrance gear to the ring. He held Higuchi in place for Takeda to stick a bundle of bamboo skewers into his head. Higuchi then got revenge by sticking skewers in HARASHIMA’s head. They scrambled for a pin but the 10 minute time limit was reached. The match restarted with One Count Pinfall rules to determine the winners. Higuchi went for the Doctor Bomb but HARASHIMA countered it into a Jackknife for the one count victory. Backstage Higuchi took responsibility for the “scandal” of his team losing. He is blessed to have a “big brother” like Nakanoue looking over him. Nakanoue then told him the team was disbanded and he walked out of the room, leaving Higuchi all alone.

Semi Finals

Bald & Blonde Vs Super Fighting Three Musketeers
The semi final lottery paired Okabayashi & Sakaguchi against Hashimoto & Sasaki. Things kicked off literally with Sakaguchi and Hashimoto laying into each other with kicks. Okabayashi blasted Sasaki with a Lariat then added another Lariat with the God’s Right Knee to combo Hashimoto. Sakaguchi kicked Sasaki away while Okabayashi pinned Hashimoto with the Golem Splash. Sasaki blamed Hashimoto for drawing a Muto Kitty on his shirt instead of the Muto Bear. He then came up with an idea to go drink at Seiji Sakaguchi’s house. Hashimoto tried to follow him but he still had Muto’s knee pain to deal with.

Nishinari Elite Yankee Konosuke And Joshi Pro Wrestling’s Strongest Man Vs Crazy Smile
Miyamoto ditched the Shinobu Kandori jokes and wrestled as his normal self for the rest of the show. Takeshita also wore custom made Yankee gear to match with his tag partner. Another time limit draw happened this time with 15 minutes not being enough to get a result. Sudden death did not immediately begin because the draw happened minutes before 2018 ended and 2019 would begin. The locker room emptied out for the countdown and everyone celebrate the New Year! Overtime then began and HARASHIMA went for the Somato on Takeshita. Takeshita moved and HARASHIMA crashed into the corner. Miyamoto then hit a Somato to HARASHIMA from behind and Takeshita used a Rolling Leg Clutch to pin HARASHIMA for the one count! Takeda & HARASHIMA both had fun teaming together. Takeda was praised for the big success he is currently achieving. HARASHIMA hopes to reach a similar level in 2019. Takeda also talked about Abdullah Kobayashi who was originally supposed to team with HARASHIMA on this show before suffering a shoulder injury.

Sumo Hall Announcements

The first big news of 2019 is DDT and Big Japan announcing a Sumo Hall double header happening this November. DDT runs Sumo Hall on 3rd November and Big Japan has their show on the 4th. Both Sanshiro Takagi and Eiji Kosaka acted like they didn’t expect the other to make their announcement. Yukinori Matsui went ahead with setting up the ticket sales for both shows anyway. Both companies see the situation as friendly competition. They would like to make hundreds of millions of yen this year but may need something like a donation from Floyd Mayweather to make that happen.

Final

Bald & Blonde Vs Nishinari Elite Yankee Konosuke And Joshi Pro Wrestling’s Strongest Man
Is this definitely the first pro wrestling match of 2019 around the world? Let’s go with that until somebody says otherwise. With no time limit, a winner must be decided definitively. Takeshita got rid of Okabayashi with a German Suplex followed by a Somato from Miyamoto. Sakaguchi aimed the God’s Right Knee at Takeshita but it was blocked and turned into a Reverse Implant Driver. Takeshita ended the night by hitting the Fable on Sakaguchi to win the tournament! Takeshita thanked Miyamoto for helping him reach the final for the 4th year in a row. Miyamoto promised to get his own custom Takeshita gear to return the favour for Takeshita’s costume. Takeshita ended the show by saying both DDT and Big Japan will do their best not to lose against the larger pro wrestling companies this year. The Sumo Hall double header in November will show that.

Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards

There was a break after the 2nd Round for the Japan Indie Grand Prix Awards ceremony to be held. Masashi Takeda dominated the contest by winning the MVP award and being featured FOUR times in the Best Match category! He hopes to become a triple champion in 2019. Isami Kodaka wants to win Best Bout again in 2019 but this time as the match winner. El Lindaman accepted the Best Unit Award on behalf of #STRONGHEARTS. He said 2019 will be an important year not just for the unit but also OWE. He personally also wants to win another championship so he can be a double champion. Best Newcomer Syuuou Fujiwara couldn’t be at the show but he was able to send in a video message. In the message Fujiwara said he is upset that Mita Sayoko is being physically given the award instead of him. He threatened to come down to Samurai! TV studio to take it back. When Eiji Kosaka accepted the Best Show Award for BJW’s Sumo Hall show, he promised to protect Mita from Fujiwara because she is his favourite Mita.

MVP
1. Masashi Takeda
2. Hideki Suzuki
3. Syuuou Fujiwara
4. Masahiro Takanashi
5. Minoru Fujita

Best Bout
1. Masashi Takeda Vs Isami Kodaka (Big Japan, 20th June)
2. Hideki Suzuki Vs Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan, 11th November)
3. Masashi Takeda Vs Violent Jack (FREEDOMS, 2nd May)
4. Masashi Takeda Vs Jun Kasai (Jun Kasai Produce, 28th August)
5. Masashi Takeda Vs Masaya Takahashi (Big Japan, 11th November)

Best Unit
1. #STRONGHEARTS
2. Kobayashi-gun
3. Arrival
4. DAMNATION
5. 3rd Generation Bloody Brothers

Best Box Office
1. Big Japan at Sumo Hall, 11th November
2. DDT at Sumo Hall, 21st October
3. Jun Kasai Produce at Korakuen Hall, 28th August
4. Masahiro Takanashi Produce at Ryogoku KFC Hall, 8th July
5. Guts World at Shinjuku FACE, 15th April

Best Newcomer
1. Syuuou Fujiwara
2. Yuya Aoki
3. Koju Takeda
4. Yoshihisa Uto
5. Ayame Sasamura

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2017” Results

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2017”, 31/12/2017
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,411 Fans

1. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Ryota Hama & Soma Takao when Sekimoto pinned Takao after a missed Okido Press from Hama (6:06).
2. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito defeated Kota Sekifuda & Ryota Nakatsu when Akito submitted Nakatsu with the Perfect Figure 4 Leg Lock (4:32).
3. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Brahman Kei & Daisuke Sasaki (w/ Brahman Shu) defeated Antonio Honda & Takuya Nomura (w/ Jaki Numazawa) when Sasaki pinned Honda after the Syachihoko Clutch (7:21).
4. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto defeated Keisuke Ishii & Takayuki Ueki when Dino pinned Ueki with the Danshoku Screwdriver (9:53).
5. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuya Aoki when Miyamoto pinned Aoki with the Fire Thunder (3:28).
6. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Isami Kodaka & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Masahiro Takanashi & Tatsuhiko Yoshino when Uto pinned Yoshino with the Axis Fall (6:34).
7. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Abdullah Kobayashi & Colt Cabana defeated Minoru Fujita & Shunma Katsumata when Kobayashi submitted Katsumata with a Crab Hold (4:21).
8. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Great Kojika & Tetsuya Koda Vs Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
8a. Sudden Death – 1 Count Fall: Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Great Kojika & Tetsuya Koda when Takeshita pinned Kojika with a Rope Assisted School Boy (1:38).
9. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito when Higuchi pinned Akito with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch (1:52).
10. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Brahman Shu & Daisuke Sasaki (w/ Brahman Kei) defeated Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto when Shu pinned Dino with a School Boy (8:09).
11. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Isami Kodaka & Yoshihisa Uto when HARASHIMA pinned Uto with the Somato (9:57).
12. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Hideki The Brody & Jimmy Takeshita Vs Stan Kobayashi & Colt “Boom Boom” Butcher ended in a No Contest after a Referee Assault (2:17).
12a. Sudden Death – 1 Count Fall: Hideki The Brodie & Jimmy Takeshita defeated Stan Kobayashi & Colt “Boom Boom” Butcher by Countout (2:50).
13. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto when Sekimoto pinned Miyamoto with the Roll Through German Suplex (9:47).
14. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Hideki The Brody & Jimmy Takeshita defeated Brahman Kei & Daisuke Sasaki (w/ Brahman Shu) when Takeshita pinned Kei with the Superfly Splash (7:02).
15. TAKA Michinoku 25th Anniversary Match: Kotaro Yoshino, Dinosaur Takuma, Kazumi Kikuta & MAO defeated TAKA Michinoku, Dick Togo, Ryuji Ito & Sanshiro Takagi when MAO pinned Michinoku with a School Boy (13:16).
16. Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi when Suzuki pinned Higuchi with the Double Arm Suplex (12:44).

DDT and Big Japan ended 2017 and begun 2018 with what they usually do at this time every year, a big pro wrestling get together at Korakuen Hall! This year’s tag team tournament was themed around one wrestler from each company joining forces. Every pairing also had their own custom team name too.

Round 1

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Hamamatsu. The show kicked off with Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi entering the ring both wearing sunglasses and carrying samurai swords. They won over Ryota Hama & Soma Takao in a match where Hama made the most impact. First he squashed Higuchi with a Hip Attack in the corner. But then he squashed Takao by accident when he missed the Okido Press. Sekimoto pinned a lifeless Takao to win. Hama tried to apologise to Takao afterwards but Takao was too afraid to approach him.

Team Hitomishiri Vs Team 14. Pretty simple first round win for Kazuki Hashimoto & Akito. Although Kota Sekifuda dove onto Hashimoto, he was nowhere to be found when Akito locked Ryota Nakatsu into the Perfect Figure 4 Leg Lock. Sekifuda & Nakatsu didn’t get much time in the ring together but they would like to team up again someday, maybe in next year’s tournament.

Charming Dolls Vs Charisma Brahman. Throughout the night the Brahman Brothers switched back and forth to team with Daisuke Sasaki in their matches. For the first match, Brahman Kei was the legal participant. Sasaki gleefully joined in with their act of throwing water at the audience during their entrance. Meanwhile Takuya Nomura wore identical wrestling gear to Antonio Honda and they were accompanied by Jaki Numzawa in their corner. The match broke down into a 6 Way at one point when Brahman Shu and Numazawa got involved in the fighting. Kei accidentally blinded Sasaki with the black ink. Nomura grabbed the Brahmans’ bucket of water and threw it at them in the corner. But Sasaki & Kei rallied to pin Honda with the Crucifix And Jackknife pinning combination. As the Brahmans walked off they had an idea. For the next match they should become Charisma like Sasaki!

Hakai Kyodai Vs With Love And Enthrallment And Reassurance. Keisuke Ishii & Takayuki Ueki came out dressed as Ryu and Zangief from Street Fighter. At first they acted like the characters but Ueki then got so frustrated by Danshoku Dino & Daichi Hashimoto that he pulled out his gun. Ueki held Dino hostage and demanded that they switch tights so he could possess Dino’s Danshoku skills. Unfortunately Ueki slipped off the top rope and crotched himself. Dino, now wearing the Zangief tights, gave Ueki a Zangief style Spinning Piledriver to advance his team to the next round.

Smile Yankee Vs Team Yokohama. The match begun quickly when Yukio Sakaguchi & Yuya Aoki attacked HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto. But once Smile Yankee isolated Aoki it didn’t take long for them to put him down. Sakaguchi apologised to Aoki for coming up with the reckless plan but Aoki apologised too for being weak.

Yoshino-ka Vs Jikujion. Masahiro Takanashi joined in with Tatsuhiko Yoshino’s local boy gimmick. Yoshihisa Uto carried Isami Kodaka on his shoulders for their entrance but accidentally whacked Kodaka’s head off of the stage. This would happen for all of their matches tonight. Kodaka trusted Uto to carry both him and his victim of a Superplex but Uto struggled to pull it off. He finally succeeded but Kodaka was hurt in the process as if he was given a German Suplex. The move worked well enough to pin Yoshino though.

Shunma To Minoru Vs KobaCabana. Minoru Fujita wanted to sing along with Shunma Katsumata during their entrance but his microphone was switched off for a lot of it. He also wore a strand of barbwire disguised as a headband around his forehead. Sadly their idol behaviour didn’t work and they both submitted to Abdullah Kobayashi & Colt Cabana.

Great To Mago Vs Most Strongest Combi. In a rare occurrence for this tournament, only one match in the entire show went to a time limit draw. The combined skills of Hideki Suzuki & Konosuke Takeshita were not enough to figure out The Great Kojika in under 10 minutes. Tetsuya Endo tried his best to beat Takeshita for the second time in two days but the time ran out during their skirmish. 1 Count Pinfalls were activated for overtime and Kojika surprisingly came close to pinning Takeshita with the Iron Claw. Shockingly, Suzuki pulled the referee away to stop him from counting. Takeshita then used the distraction to School Boy Kojika and Suzuki held down his feet onto the ropes for leverage. Yes, it took that much cheating to pin The Great Kojika for one second!

Round 2

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Team Hitomishiri. The first bout of Round 2 ended in quick fashion when Higuchi of all people pinned Akito with a Rolling Leg Clutch. Akito & Hashimoto tried to tap out their opponents with Scorpion Locks and Ankle Locks but it wasn’t enough. Akito promised to keep in touch with Hashumoto through LINE.

Charisma Brahman Vs Hakai Kyodai. This time Brahman Shu was teaming with Sasaki. Also this time the Brahmans dressed like Sasaki and were also armed with plates filled with…well…some sort of foul substance I don’t want to think about. Sasaki accidentally got a face full of it. At one point Dino suddenly started grabbing around his partner and pulled out Ueki’s gun from his pants! Sasaki and the Brahmans stopped him with a traffic sign attack then made him sit onto a chair with the plate of dirt placed on it. Sasaki took out toilet roll to wipe the substance off of Dino’s backside and then rub it into his face. Shu then pinned Dino with a School Boy to end the madness. The Brahmans praised Sasaki for his technique in using the plate.

Smile Yankee Vs Jikujion. Uto again carried Kodaka head first into the entrance stage. Their double team Suplex attempt off the top rope failed when Miyamoto held onto HARASHIMA to keep him on the corner. Uto ended up just giving Kodaka a German Suplex instead. Miyamoto dropped Uto with a Fire Thunder then narrowly rolled out of the way of HARASHIMA’s Somato. That was it for Uto & Kodaka’s run in the tournament.

KobaCabana? Vs Most Strongest Combi?. Due to earlier injuries dealt to everyone involved in this match, both teams had to be replaced. Luckily a bunch of “legends” happened to be in the building and stepped in to fill the gap. Suzuki & Takeshita were replaced by Hideki The Brody & Jimmy Takeshita while Kobayashi & Cabana were replaced by Stan Kobayashi & Colt “Boom Boom” Butcher. The two teams brawled with each other around the ring and then all threatened to attack Yukinori Matsui with their weapons. The match ended in a Double DQ because of the threats and had to be restarted. The four then brawled up towards the crowd and Brodie wrapped his chain around both Kobayashi & Cabana. He held them back while Takeshita crawled back to the ring to win the match by countout. When the match was over they all re-entered the ring and attacked a ringside assistant with their finishing moves.

Japan Indie Grand Prize Awards

Samurai TV and Occupation Of The Indies held their annual Japan Indie Grand Prize awards after Round 2. The MVP Award went to Hideki Suzuki. The Best Bout Award went to the Big Japan match between Masashi Takeda Vs Masaya Takahashi from 17th December. Best Unit went to DAMNATION. Best Show went to Big Japan for their 17th November outdoor event in Ueno Park. Best Newcomer went to Andre The Giant Panda. The Special Achievement Award was given to the late Mr. Pogo.

Semi Finals

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Smile Yankee. A random drawing put together the semi final matchups. Lariats from Sekimoto & Higuchi were the difference maker. Miyamoto also wasn’t prepared for Sekimoto to roll him into the German Suplex from the ropes.

Charisma Brahman Vs Most Strongest Combi. Remember when I said the madness was over? It came back. Suzuki & Takeshita were still in their legend gimmicks and this time they had Kobayashi & Cabana on their side to combat Sasaki & The Brahmans’ tricks. Kei was isolated from his teammates and was put through the Western Lariat, the King Kong Knee Drop, the Poisoned Elbow Drop and finally the Superfly Splash to lose the match. Sasaki and The Brahmans still threw water at the audience afterwards.

TAKA Michinoku 25th Anniversary Match

The final pro wrestling match of 2017 in Japan was TAKA Michinoku’s 25th Anniversary match. He led a veteran team of K-DOJO, Big Japan and DDT wrestlers to face some of the new generation coming from those companies. MAO became a butt of a joke by being the victim of a never ending Corner Train Attack featuring everyone else in the match, loads of wrestlers who weren’t in the match and even one of the Samurai TV cameramen! Cabana was involved too but he just wanted to take a selfie with MAO. This went on for so long that the countdown to the new year began. In the final seconds Michinoku charged in but MAO rolled him over with a School Boy to pin him right as the clock struck zero! Happy new year!

Final

Sekiguchi-gumi Vs Most Strongest Combi. The tournament final is the first wrestling match in Japan of 2018. Suzuki & Takeshita were now back to normal. Both teams threw all that they had left at each other. It all came down to Higuchi and Suzuki fighting each other. Higuchi hit the Doctor Bomb but it wasn’t enough. Takeshita gave Higuchi a Dragon Suplex and Suzuki followed it up with a Dragon Suplex of his own. Higuchi kicked out! Suzuki then used the Double Arm Suplex and that wasn enough to beat Higuchi. The Most Strongest Combi are the Shuffle Tag Tournament winners! When they were given the rewards Takeshita joked that they only wrestled twice in the tournament this year and still won. Suzuki said he was honoured to fight Sekimoto & Higuchi. He also bragged that he wasn’t feeling tired at all. Sekimoto grabbed the microphone and swore into it.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2016” Results

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING 2016”, 31/12/2016
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,510 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto defeated Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei when Hashimoto pinned Kei with the Shining Wizard (8:03).
2. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kengo Mashimo & Shigehiro Irie defeated Naoya Nomura & Kouki Iwasaki when Irie pinned Iwasaki with the Beast Bomber (8:30).
3. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Great Kojika & Joey Ryan when Miyamoto pinned Ryan (7:12).
4. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio defeated Ayato Yoshida & Takuya Nomura when Okabayashi submitted Nomura with the Argentine Backbreaker (8:42)
5. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & HARASHIMA Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
5a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Daisuke Sekimoto & HARASHIMA when Uto pinned Sekimoto with a Lateral Cradle (1:30).
6. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Manabu Soya & Takayuki Ueki defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Abdullah Kobayashi when Soya pinned Takagi with a Horizontal Cradle (4:11).
7. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sasaki & Yuki Sato Vs Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
7a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall: Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto defeated Daisuke Sasaki & Yuki Sato when Aoki submitted Sato with the Cross Armbreaker (0:32).
8. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kaz Hayashi & Danshoku Dino when Takeshita pinned Dino with the German Suplex (9:38).
9. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto defeated Kengo Mashimo & Shigehiro Irie when Sakaguchi pinned Irie with the Right Knee Of God (6:16).
10. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
10a. Overtime – 1 Count Fall: Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio when Kodaka pinned Kuroshio with a European Clutch (0:51).
11. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Manabu Soya & Takayuki Ueki when Higuchi pinned Ueki with the Doctor Bomb (5:13).
12. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto when Kamitani pinned Hashimoto with the Back Drop (8:48).
13. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi-Final: Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto when Kamitani pinned Hashimoto with the Back Drop (8:47).
14. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi-Final: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto when Uto pinned Kodaka with the Lariat (10:15).
15. Toshiwasure! 5 Group Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto defeated Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita when Higuchi pinned Takeshita with the Goten (20:37).

Korakuen Hall spent its final hours of 2016 hosting the annual New Year’s Supershow co-hosted by Big Japan, DDT, K-DOJO, WRESTLE-1 and All Japan. The entire show was built around a Shuffle Tag Team Tournament, mixing most of the wrestlers together into odd pairings. Some teams got along with each other, some didn’t but hey it’s the holidays so let’s just have fun.

The opening match saw Yukio Sakaguchi & Daichi Hashimoto barely working together to beat the Brahman Brothers. Even the evil twins suggested that their opponents would have a better chance of winning if they got along. That came back to haunt them when a stop sign attack backfired and Brahman Shu hit Brahman Kei by accident. Hashimoto then drank the Brahman’s black ink and spat it in Kei’s face, leading to the Shining Wizard to finish him off.

Kengo Mashimo & Shigehiro Irie beat Naoya Nomura & Kouki Iwasaki. The latter worked well together but they weren’t able to outlast their more experienced opponents. Irie isolated Iwasaki while Mashimo threw Nomura out of the ring. Iwasaki said he felt tense having to wrestle on the final night of the year.

The 3rd match ended in a sleazy manner thanks to Joey Ryan and Laura James. Ryan kept trying to make Yuko Miyamoto touch his groin. Referee Frank Atsushi was slammed into the turnbuckles so James ran in to interfere. This somehow led to a situation where Great Kojika was knocked onto his back, James fell down on top of him sitting on his face, Atsushi stood over her holding his groin in pain and Ryan was knocked down head first onto Kojika’s crotch. If that wasn’t enough, a dazed Miyamoto was holding a Samurai! TV camera standing over them like he was filming a porn scene. Miyamoto eventually fell on top of them for the winning pin.

The next odd couple team to come along was Yuji Okabayashi & Jiro Kuroshio. Okabayashi had not time for Kuroshio’s antics and just wanted to wrestle. Kuroshio however wanted to know if Okabayashi had a fancy jacket to match his own. He found one and offered it to Okabayashi after they beat Ayato Yoshida & Takuya Nomura but it was refused.

Daisuke Sekimoto & HARASHIMA Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto was the first match of the night to end in a Time Limit Draw. From there the match went into sudden death 1 count fall rules. HARASHIMA and Higuchi sprinted to pin each other for just one second but neither could. It took Uto to get the upset pin on Sekimoto to win the match and knock out one-half of last year’s tournament winners in the first round.

The pairing of Sanshiro Takagi & Abdullah Kobayashi were going by the team name GET MILD. They both came out dressed in Takayuki Ueki’s old wrestling costumes with a guiding stick poking out of Takagi’s crotch. Everybody including Manabu Soya pulled out a gun during the match and dared each other to a Western showdown. But it was all a trick, Soya & Ueki both rolled over GET MILD when they turned their backs and got the three count.

Daisuke Sasaki & Yuki Sato Vs Atsushi Aoki & Kazuki Hashimoto was the next match to go into overtime. It was part of Sasaki & Sato’s plan to waste time by bringing out selfie sticks and playing around with them. Aoki jammed the stick into Sasaki’s groin then tapped out Sato with the Cross Armbreaker.

The final first round match featured Danshoku Dino trying to woo his Kaz Hayashi into being his partner in more ways than one. Hayashi eventually reciprocated and revealed he was wearing Danshoku tights under his own. Unfortunately the power of love wasn’t enough to beat Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita.

Round 2 began with Sakaguchi & Hashimoto on better terms. They needed to be if they wanted to beat Mashimo & Irie. They hit a Penalty Kick/Shining Wizard combo to Irie then Sakaguchi hit the Right Knee Of God for the three count. A handshake at the end cemented that they were now on the right page together.

The other disgruntled pairing of the tournament also finally got along. Kuroshio convinced Okabayashi to wear his fancy jacket along with a sun visor with a wig attached to it. He got into the spirit of things and did some Ikemen poses while wrestling. Their match with Yankee Two Kenju went into overtime and sadly the Ikemen dream ended badly. Isami Kodaka caught Kuroshio in a European Clutch for the one count.

Ueki had a crazy plan to beat Higuchi & Uto. It involved drinking out of a 1.5 litre bottle of Coca-Cola then tightrope walking across the top rope. What he was supposed to achieve I don’t know but he wound up slipping and crotching himself on the rope. Higuchi then pinned him with the Doctor Bomb.

Kamitani & Takeshita were the last team to qualify for the semi-final with a win over Aoki & Hashimoto. Aoki took out Takeshita with a Topé but in the ring Hashimoto was pinned by Kamitani’s Back Drop.

With the 2nd Round completed it was time for the 2016 Occupation Of The Indies Awards. Best Newcomer was given to Takuya Nomura from Big Japan. Nomura said he debuted in April and will do his best to meet everyone’s expectations. Best Show went to Ganbare☆Wrestling for “BAD COMMUNICATION 2016” held on 2nd October. Ken Ohka was there to accept the award but had to leave early to participate at “SHOTA AID” in Shin-Kiba later that night. Ohka said he eventually wants to book a show at the Tokyo Dome. Best Unit went to DAMNATION from DDT. Shuji Ishikawa celebrated by singing “Only One Flower In The World” by SMAP. He then got angry at the rest of DAMNATION for not joining in. Best Bout went to the Scaffold G Shock Death Match between Ryuji Ito Vs Kokuro Hoshino from Big Japan’s “RYOGOKUTAN” show on 24th July. Ito wasn’t happy that he lost the match but would take the award as commiseration. Finally the MVP Award went to Shuji Ishikawa. At 41 years old he would like to fight new wrestlers and win new championships.

A lottery was held to determine the semi-final match ups. First up was Kamitani & Takeshita Vs Sakaguchi & Hashimoto. Once again Kamitani’s Back Drop was the difference maker. Sakaguchi admitted he misunderstood Hashimoto at first but got to know him throughout the night in their matches. He thinks they will meet again some day.

2016 ended and 2017 begun during the Higuchi & Uto Vs Yankee Two Kenju match. Kodaka & Miyamoto both celebrated by diving out of the ring onto their opponents at the stroke of midnight. Uto claimed the first victory of the new year but giving Kodaka a Double Arm Facebuster followed by a Lariat. Miyamoto coped with defeat by grabbing the Samurai! TV camera again.

So the final was Kamitani & Takeshita Vs Higuchi & Uto in a Big Japan/DDT Vs DNA/Big Japan final. With no time limit a winner would be determined under normal circumstances. Late in the match Higuchi hit Takeshita with a Lariat but only got a one count. Kamitani blocked Higuchi from doing the Doctor Bomb but Uto got rid of him. That allowed Higuchi to give Takeshita the Goten to pin last year’s co-champion and win the tournament! Higuchi & Uto praised their opponents but they were the strongest tonight. Takeshita said he is the one who will lead DDT and he then stood up to Higuchi. In reply Higuchi said he will not lose. Kamitani said he he will lead the entire pro wrestling landscape. Uto calmed everyone down and encouraged everyone to lead pro wrestling in Japan together. The four congratulated one another and posed for the show ending photographs.

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING – YEAR END DRINKING PARTY!” Results

“NEW YEAR’S EVE WRESTLING – YEAR END DRINKING PARTY!”, 31/12/2015
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,424 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Sanshiro Takagi & Takayuki Ueki (w/ Bed Inn) defeated Great Kojika & Tetsuya Endo when Takagi pinned Endo with La Magistral Cradle (8:57).
2. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei defeated Kaji Tomato & Kazuki Hirata when Shu pinned Hirata and Kei pinned Tomato with Double School Boys (8:57).
3. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto when HARASHIMA pinned Uto with the Somato (8:31).
4. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Jaki Numazawa & Antonio Honda Vs Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
4a. Overtime – One Count Fall: Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi defeated Jaki Numazawa & Antonio Honda when Oishi pinned Honda after the Cactus Flower (1:56).
5. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Yuji Okabayashi & Danshoku Dino defeated Tank Nagai & Abdullah Kobayashi when Dino pinned Kobayashi after a Horizontal Chop from Okabayashi (7:40).
6. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sekimoto & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Shigehiro Irie & Hideyoshi Kamitani ended in a Time Limit Draw (10:00).
6a. Overtime – One Count Fall: Daisuke Sekimoto & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Shigehiro Irie & Hideyoshi Kamitani when Sekimoto pinned Kamitani with the German Suplex (1:59).
7. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Ryuji Ito & Ryuichi Sekine defeated TAKA Michinoku & Kazumi Kikuta when Sekine pinned Kikuta with the Ryusetsu (4:06).
8. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 1: Kengo Mashimo & Isami Kodaka defeated Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hashimoto when Mashimo pinned Hashimoto with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (9:13).
9. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Takayuki Ueki (w/ Bed Inn) when Shu pinned Ueki with the Zombie King (6:40).
10. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi when Miyamoto pinned Oishi after the Somato from HARASHIMA (2:35).
11. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Daisuke Sekimoto & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Yuji Okabayashi & Danshoku Dino when Takeshita pinned Dino with the German Suplex (10:35).
12. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Round 2: Kengo Mashimo & Isami Kodaka defeated Ryuji Ito & Ryuichi Sekine when Kodaka pinned Sekine with a European Clutch (6:55).
13. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto defeated Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei when Miyamoto pinned Kei after the Somato from HARASHIMA (9:20).
14. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Semi Final: Daisuke Sekimoto & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kengo Mashimo & Isami Kodaka when Takeshita pinned Kodaka with the German Suplex (13:39).
*Happy New Year!
15. Three Organisation Shuffle Tag Tournament – Final: Daisuke Sekimoto & Konosuke Takeshita defeated HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto when Sekimoto pinned Miyamoto with the German Suplex (17:48).

The indie wrestling scene in Japan got together on New Year’s Eve as they always do to celebrate the end of 2015 with a big tag team tournament. While there were a few regular teams involved most were mixed between wrestlers from different organisations.

The opening match was all about the Bed Inn Girls. They were brought in by Sanshiro Takagi & Takayuki Ueki to support them throughout the tournament and also provide some sleazy entertainment in the process. The Great Kojika wasn’t impressed and he called them old hags. Tetsuya Endo however became excited when they stripped down to their swimsuits. The distraction cost him the match when he missed the Sky Twister Press and Takagi then pinned him with La Magistral Cradle. When asked about the Bed Inn Girls, Kojika said there were more attractive women in the audience. Endo admitted he now learned what his weakness is.

The Brahman Brothers did what they could to stop Kazuki Hirata & Kaji Tomato from dancing because they hate their dance music. They broke the Hirata GO! glasses but replacements were quickly found. Karate Brahman interfered in the match wearing panties and fishnet stockings but he wound up dancing with Hirata & Tomato. The Brahmans then soaked their opponents with water and went on to win the match.

The DDT site called Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto the Rookie Steroid Duo. HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto were called Yankee Smile. Higuchi was strong enough to handle himself but Uto was overwhelmed and pinned after the Swivel Fire Thunder followed by the Somato. The rookies said they were frustrated by the loss. They would both like to face each other at some point in 2016.

Jaki Numazawa fainted after Match #4 ended in a Time Limit Draw forcing Antonio Honda to start overtime on his own. Numazawa returned as Robocop but could not make a difference. Honda fell to the Cactus Flower and they were eliminated. Honda explained the Robocop plan. Who would win a fight between Robocop and a pro wrestler? Robocop of course! Works in theory but not in practice.

Danshoku Dino introduced himself & Yuji Okabayashi as a team of homos. Okabayashi kept denying the claims. When Dino gave Abdullah Kobayashi the Lip Lock it awakened Kobayashi’s Danshoku powers. They both applied the Lip Lock on Tank Nagai then encouraged Okabayashi to do the same. Okabayashi refused and knocked out both of them. Dino fell on top of Kobayashi so it counted as a pin. Nagai’s new wife Mio Shirai wasn’t happy to learn that his face was shoved up Dino’s backside. She’s not going to kiss him after that!

Hideyoshi Kamitani showed some fire by stepping up to Konosuke Takeshita and the two were scrambling for the pin in the dying seconds of the match. When overtime took place Kamitani kicked out of a Brianbuster from Takeshita but fell to the same move from Daisuke Sekimoto. The Deadlift German Suplex sealed the deal. Shigehiro Irie was left to rue being eliminated from the first round for the second year in a row.

Match #7 was a sprint that lasted just over 4 minutes. It was the quickest match in Round 1. Kazumi Kikuta almost scored the victory with a Fisherman Suplex on Ryuichi Sekine while TAKA Michinoku had Ryuji Ito in the Just Face Lock. However the tables turned and Ito held TAKA back while Sekine put Kikuta away with the Ryusetsu.

The final match of Round 1 saw Isami Kodaka and Kengo Mashimo struggling to gel as a team. From the moment they entered the ring they were uneasy about teaming together. Some attempts at team work were blown when Kodaka accidentaly kicked Mashimo in the head. The only reason they were able to beat Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hashimoto was their intense desire to one-up each other and not be the person who took the loss. Sakaguchi took out Kodaka with a Right Knee but Mashimo got the fall on Hashimoto with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster. Mashimo & Kodaka scuffled with each other as they left ringside after the match.

Round 2 began with a messy match between Takagi & Ueki against the Brahman Brothers. The Bed Inn Girls teased Karate Brahman with feathers, a strap and a banana. In his excitement he squeezed a bottle until mysterious liquid squirted out. The Brahmans put a stop to the lewd exhibition by spitting black ink in the faces of the Bed Inn Girls. Ueki became angry and pulled out his gun but he was then crotched onto the top rope and pinned with the Zombie King.

HARASHIMA wore similar Yankee gear as Miyamoto for their second round match. Makoto Oishi had Miyamoto pinned with the Cactus Flower but HARASHIMA cut him off with the Somato. Miyamoto got the three count afterwards. After the match Oishi said he never saw HARASHIMA coming.

Okabayashi was announced as “Not a homo” when he and Dino entered the ring to face Sekimoto & Takeshita. Dino kept encouraging Okabayashi to awaken his Danshoku side. Okabayashi got so angry he abandoned Dino and left the match. Later when Dino was overwhelmed by the 2-on-1 disadvantage “Thrill” suddenly played over the speakers. Out came Danshoku Okabayashi! He and Dino double teamed Sekimoto & Takeshita with stereo Danshoku Nightmares. Okabayashi then tried to give Sekimoto the Lip Lock but it was blocked. Sekimoto then gave Dino an Atomic Drop and Takeshita hit a Lariat followed by his own Deadlift German Suplex to advance to the next round. Okabayashi finally got Sekimoto with the Lip Lock after the match and chased him away from ringside.

The dodgy teamwork continued for Kodaka & Mashimo. Kodaka once again accidentaly kicked Mashimo in the head during a blown double team spot. Kodaka was able to save their tournament hopes by pinning Sekine with the European Clutch but after the match Mashimo gave his partner a German Suplex.

When Round 2 was completed Samurai! TV and Indie No Oshigoto presented the Japan Indie Awards 2015. The Newcomer Award went to Kazusada Higuchi from DDT, the Best Box Office Award went to Big Japan for their 20th July Sumo Hall show, Best Unit went to #OhkaEmpire and Best Bout was given to Sekimoto Vs Okabayashi from BJW 7/20. Finally the MVP Award was given to Okabayashi.

For the semi finals HARASHIMA & Miyamoto had another costume change. This time Miyamoto was dressed to look more like HARASHIMA. The Brahmans fought clean at the start but soon brought out their usual collection of foreign objects. However Yankee Smile were prepared and used some of the Brahmans’ own spots against them. They blinded the Brahmans with their own black ink and hit their finishers to advance to the final.

The clock struck midnight during the second semi-final. Kodaka celebrated by immediately hitting a Tope Suicida. He and Mashimo were finally able to team together with few problems but it wasn’t enough to beat Sekimoto & Takeshita. In a big statement Takeshita pinned Kodaka just days away from their KO-D Openweight Title match. Mashimo was quick to part ways with Kodaka afterwards, only giving a “No comment” in their post-match interview.

So the final in the early hours of the morning was HARASHIMA & Yuko Miyamoto Vs Daisuke Sekimoto & Konosuke Takeshita. HARASHIMA wished everyone a “Happy New Year” before hitting a Diving Kung Fu Kick. Takeshita showed his own strength by doing Sekimoto’s Double German Suplex on Sekimoto and HARASHIMA. Miyamoto almost snuck by with the win when he countered Sekimoto’s Deadlift German into a Cradle for a nearfall. But Sekimoto hit the German Suplex on the second attempt while Takeshita wiped out HARASHIMA with the Touchdown onto the apron to end the match. Sekimoto thanked the fans for staying with them throughout the night. Takeshita said it was a special feeling getting to team with Sekimoto. Miyamoto joined in when HARASHIMA did his “Because We Practice!” catchphrase. The show ended with everyone in the tournament getting together inside the ring for the group photo.