DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2025” Results

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2025”, 03/11/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
??? Fans – Unannounced

1. Sanshiro Takagi Return Match – Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi defeated Hinata Kasai with the Texas Cloverleaf (7:07).
2. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura defeated Soma Takao, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Rukiya when HARASHIMA pinned Rukiya with the Somato (10:05).
3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul, Demus & Ilusion defeated Daichi Sato, Yuki Ishida, Kazuma Sumi & Kumadori when Ilusion pinned Sumi with the Swanton Bomb (11:03).
4. DDT Extreme Title – 5 Way Blindfold Death Match: To-y (c) defeated Akito, Super Sasadango Machine, Kazuki Hirata and Antonio Honda when To-y pinned Hirata with a Crucifix Pin (14:13).
*V4 for To-y.
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Yuya Koroku defeated Tetsuya Endo, HAYATA & Junta Miyawaki when Akiyama pinned Miyawaki with the Exploder Suplex (14:53).
6. Special Single Match: AMAKUSA defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Kaikoku (16:23).
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Survival 3 Way Match: MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) defeated Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) and Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu (17:48).
7a. Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) eliminated Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu when Iino pinned Yuu with the Spear (11:14).
7b. MAO & KANON eliminated Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) when MAO pinned Naya with the Cannonball 450 (17:48).
*The Apex fails in V6. Strange Love Connection become the 88th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
8. Dramatic Dream Match: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Chris Brookes with the European Clutch (26:03).
9. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Kaisei Takechi defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada when TAKESHITA pinned Masada with the Raging Fire (24:14).
10. KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (K/c) defeated Minoru Suzuki (U/c) with the Frog Splash (34:30).
*V2 for Yuki Ueno. Minoru Suzuki fails at V6. Yuki Ueno becomes the 19th DDT Universal Champion!

Everyone in DDT can now breath a sigh of relief. Yuki Ueno was able to clean up the mess he caused in the first place as promised and for that he now stands on top of the company as both the KO-D Openweight Champion and now the DDT Universal Champion! That now makes him the first person to hold both of those belts at the same time. Minoru Suzuki made him fight for it and nearly took his leg off in the process. He targeted Ueno’s left leg throughout the match including attacking it with a chair and using an extended chain of submissions to try and make him kick. Ueno brought out moves like the Blizzard Suplex and the Bastard Driver but couldn’t go for the pin after using the WR. Suzuki wanted to take advantage of it but Ueno planted Dropkick right to his face before slamming him down with another WR. Suzuki kicked out but Ueno then jumped off the top rope with the Frog Splash and that was the end of it.

As Suzuki was leaving the ring in defeat, Ueno got on the microphone and thanked him because despite being different from each other, Suzuki still always treated Ueno like a pro wrestler. Suzuki will be welcomed back into DDT so they can fight again whenever he wants. Ueno is also looking forward with new goals in mind. First he wants to inspire everyone with his wrestling because watching wrestling will always make your day better. The other goal is he wants to bring DDT to the Tokyo Dome with all of his friends and colleagues from the company involved! Until that day comes DDT will always have their monthly Korakuen Hall shows and yearly visits to Sumo Hall where everyone will continue working hard and having fun.

Ueno then asked if there was anyone out there who wants to be next to challenge him? Suddenly Super Sasadango Machine appeared with an unexpected PowerPoint Presentation to show everyone. He admitted it was a good thing Ueno won his match because if he didn’t then Sasadango wasted his time making it. During the presentation Sasadango talked about Ueno being a respectable public figure in both wrestling and the entertainment industry but it is all a lie! His proof is when Sasadango fought Ueno nearly one year ago, Sasadango used thumbtacks that ended up leaving an L-shaped scar on Ueno’s stomach. Ueno won the match and promised that if he ever became KO-D Champion again he would nominate Sasadango as his challenger and get revenge for the scar. Well now the L stands for Lie because Ueno became KO-D Champion twice in 2025 and he never once gave Sasadango the title shot he promised him! Ueno understood his complaint and accepted his challenge for a KO-D Title match. He also offered to put the Universal Title on the line because Sasadango’s other gimmick Muscle Sakai originally retired after wrestling Minoru Suzuki. Sasadango said he is ready to win both championships except he doesn’t have the energy right now so they can do the match at Korakuen on 30th November.

The show finished with the big ending where Ueno reunited with The 37KAMIINA at the entrance and then passed by many wrestlers in the hallway. Suzuki was among them and he told Ueno this isn’t the end between them. He then entered the dressing room but it was empty. Konosuke Takeshita followed him inside and the two talked about maybe doing a champion versus champion match with each other some day. The rest of the DDT roster started filling in, including Danshoku Dieno and they all ended the show with a big group farewell to the camera.

Takeshita made his big return to DDT as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion fresh off of defending the belt on a New Japan show. Here he was teaming up with DDT’s next big superstar hope Kaisei Takechi facing a team of wrestlers they consider their respective rivals. Takeshita wanted to wrestle Kazusada Higuchi again while Takechi wanted to measure up with Takeshi Masada. While those two pairings were the focus of the match, there was a crossover of opponents that took place too. Takechi cut off a charge from Higuchi with the Swan Dive Forearm while Masada got a nearfall on Takeshita with the Masada No Chikara KOBU Mukimuki. Masada tried to weaken further with Middle Kicks but Takeshita blew him back with an Elbow Strike and stunned him with the Wagamama. Takechi was then able to keep Higuchi away while Takeshita pinned Masada with the Raging Fire.

Both sides showed respect to each other after the match but when Takeshita offered to shake hands with his own partner, Takechi slapped away his hand instead and the two had a stare down in the ring. Takeshita then walked off by himself. Backstage he said he felt how much his opponents have grown and he wanted this match to send a message to Higuchi that he still has a lot more to offer. He’s been keeping an eye on Takechi since he debut and thinks his behavior after the match was his way of saying he wants to fight him. Takechi pretty much confirmed it and said he will work hard everyday so they can stand in the same ring together again. Higuchi said the other team are getting a lot of attention but fans should not overlook Harimao or SCHADENFREUDE International too for that matter. Masada admitted to feeling jealous of Takechi but he will take this loss as a positive one for his wrestling career. He’ll look forward to the day he can get revenge.

There is no bond in wrestling closer than the one shared between Chris Brookes and Zack Sabre Jr… Ok, yeah that’s a lie. The two are pretty close friends and today was their first singles match against each other in eight years but something felt a little off. Yukinori Matsui was ever so slightly acting lenient towards Brookes while being ever so slightly harsh towards Sabre. It then turned scandalous when Sabre had Brookes pinned for certain victory yet Matsui suffered a crisis of conscience during the pinfall and couldn’t count to three. The lights dimmed and Matsui’s heart revealed tender moments spent with Brookes up on the arena screen. Things went south after a ref bump and Brookes summoned Munetatsu Nakamura to come in and attack Sabre. Antonio Honda followed with a chair but he too hesitated to take action. More scandal broke out when Honda’s heart revealed tender moments he has shared with Sabre on the screen! Honda then tried to attack Brookes with Gongitsune but missed and hit Sabre instead. The match continued and Brookes tried to use the Praying Mantis Bomb. Sabre flipped out of it and tangled his opponent into the European Clutch to get the three count. Afterwards the two of them kissed, made up and walked off back up the ramp hand in hand. They said they should do this again in another eight years time. Sabre questioned Brookes over the ethics of a wrestler romancing the referee while Brookes called Sabre being with Honda a forbidden love between NJPW and DDT. They suggested maybe the two couples fight each other in a tag match next time.

The last team standing in the Survival 3 Way would be going home with the KO-D Tag Team Titles. No tags were needed so the match was chaos when all three teams were involved. The Apex grabbed KIMIHIRO and threw him out of the ring onto the rest of Strange Love Connection. They were then targeted by Team 200kg particularly so Yuki Iino and Chihiro Hashimoto could fight each other again. Iino was able to knock down both Team 200kg wrestlers and went on to pin Yuu with the Spear for the first elimination. SLC had to find the power needed to beat The Apex and MAO found it in order to give Yukio Naya the Michinoku Driver II. Naya was also accidentally drilled with the Spear from Iino and KANON cause more damage by giving him the LONELY DEZIRES. MAO followed up with the Cannonball 450 for the win, earning SLC the KO-D Tag Titles for the first time in the team’s existence. KANON said he wants the team to become historic champions so the DDT fans will always remember them. MAO brought up being tag champions with Mike Bailey and VENY in the past. He wants KANON to keep climbing so he can stand shoulder to shoulder with those two. He also wants the team to cause a big stir so they can make more money! Yuu felt regret over not being able to win a DDT championship for Team 200kg’s only appearance on a DDT Ryogoku show. Hashimoto enjoyed the experience but noticed Iino became quiet whenever they were in the ring together. She might continue showing up in DDT just so she can beat him again.

Daisuke Sasaki’s important match of the show went from one end of the spectrum all the way to the other because of Dasnhoku Dieno’s health problems. With Dieno unable to wrestle, Sasaki instead face AMAKUSA, the current persona of his SUPER CREW classmate from 20 years ago Yuki Sato. However AMAKUSA was all in on his current gimmick and had no memory of who Sasaki was. Sasaki tried cheating to win but when that wasn’t getting him the results he wanted, he then took a page out of Dieno’s book and gave AMAKUSA the Lip Lock! He then teased a set up of the Danshoku Driver but instead used his old NOW OR NEVER finisher for a nearfall. AMAKUSA survived taking La Mistica Crossface Lock and used an Elevated Magistral Driver followed by the Pedigree. That was all to put Sasaki in position for AMAKUSA’s Spiral Tap style finisher, the Kaikoku for the victory.

After the match AMAKUSA got on the microphone to remind everyone he has no past but the match he just had rekindled a memory of fighting Sasaki in a small venue twenty years ago. It was both their first match and now twenty years later they got to have a match together in Ryogoku! AMAKUSA has never felt more grateful for pro wrestling than he does today. The two shook hands and hugged while Sasaki told “Sato” not to cry. He said it doesn’t matter if the person in front of him is Yuki Sato or AMAKUSA but his kiss definitely tasted like Sato. AMAKUSA said he doesn’t remember that part of the match. What he does hope to remember though is meeting Sasaki again 25 years from now. Sasaki brought up all the different times they wrestled anniversary matches with each other, the previous being six years ago. He admits the things AMAKUSA has done in NOAH since then means AMAKUSA has surpassed him but he will always have battles with Yuki Sato.

After spending the last 10 months in NOAH, Tetsuya Endo returned to DDT for a day for the other DDT Vs NOAH match of the show. He teamed up with NOAH wrestlers HAYATA & Junta Miyawaki to take on his former allies from BURNING along with Shinya Aoki. There was a little extra BURNING energy on display when Yuya Koroku use Yusuke Okada’s Intercept DDT on Endo. Aoki then did a dive out of the ring to wipe out Endo & HAYATA. Miyawaki tried to tough it out against Jun Akiyama but he eventually fell to the Knee Lift and Exploder Suplex. Endo said the buds he is nurturing in NOAH this year haven’t blossomed yet. He is going to spend a little more time in NOAH so he can bring back the best gift possible for DDT, the GHC Heavyweight Title! However Koroku felt disappointed that Endo wouldn’t even look at him during the match because at last year’s “ULTIMATE PARTY” they were challenging for the KO-D Tag Titles. He wants to get better so Endo will set his sights on him the next time they are in the ring together.

Swerve! We all thought the Blindfold Death Match meant all five wrestlers involved would fight each other while blindfolded. However none of them actually wanted to go through with the stipulation so it was decided that the referee would be blindfolded instead! Yukinori Matsui had no vision whatsoever so he missed out of different finishes as well as weapon usage and other blatant cheating. To-y fought off his four challengers and even had Kazuki Hirata beat when suddenly two masked men that turned out to be Hirata’s hired goons interfered. Matsui tripped over Hirata which then caused Antonio Honda to trip over him. Matsui later walked right into a bear trap which caused Daisuke Kiso to come down as the replacement. He too was blindfolded and had to be led down to the ring by HARASHIMA. Sasadango hit him over the back with a giant mace to stop him counting Akito’s pin on To-y. Honda unmasked Sasadango so he could poke him in the eyes with Gongitsune. He then missed the Diving Fist Drop, landing fist first into the bear trap. Hirata knocked down To-y with a Mecha Fist and pinned him in a relaxed manner. To-y rolled him back in a Crucifix Pin mid-count and Matsui continued counting to three. To-y guided him into raising his hand as the winner so he was officially declared the winner and still the DDT Extreme Champion.

After the match To-y told everyone the Extreme Title belt must love him because it won’t leave his side. He then said anyone can challenge him whenever they want. Then during his celebration, Sanshiro Takagi walked up to him and gave him the Stunner. Takagi told To-y he is the one who created the Extreme Title in the first place so he is going to be the next challenger! To-y promised that as champion he will do something so chaotic it will make Takagi go crazy. It was later decided that their title match will happen on 30th November.

“ULTIMATE PARTY” is where Kumadori made his pro wrestling debut last year so he was back for this year’s event alongside the rest of O-MENZ for a big ring entrance. DAMNATION T.A ruined the vibe by attacking the other team from the get go. Demus tortured Kazuma Sumi while Hideki Okatani paired off with Yuki Ishida. That left the two big boys MJ Paul and Daichi Sato fighting each other to a stalemate. Ilusion got one over on Kumadori once more by giving him a Low Blow. He also set up some teamwork with Demus to put Sumi away for the finish.

Three former members of DISASTER BOX teamed up for Match #2. While HARASHIMA was happy to shake hands with his opponents, Naomi Yoshimura had a faceoff with Rukiya before the match even started. Toru Owashi and Soma Takao started off instead and when Rukiya tagged in, he quickly targeted Yoshimura and went to fight him instead. Shinichiro Kawamatsu got Yoshimura with the Shitamachi Rocket and hit HARASHIMA with the Somato. But HARASHIMA turned things around on Rukiya and pinned him with the Somato despite a spirited effort from the rookie.

Sanshiro Takagi officially returned to the ring after taking a year and four months off for company management and also health reasons. He chose the rookie Hinata Kasai to be his first opponent because there is something about him that draws him in for reasons other than being Jun Kasai’s son. Takagi was happy to be back while Kasai couldn’t help but show his excitement whenever it looked like he was about to get his first win. Takagi broke him down using the Spicolli Driver followed by the McEnroe Lariat to the leg. He then applied the Texas Cloverleaf to make Kasai give up. After the match Kasai refused to shake Takagi’s hand but backstage he took back all of the times he made fun of his boss for gassing out so easily. Kasai has been watching wrestling since he was a kid though so he knows how this thing works. The wrestling ring isn’t the only place where DDT holds matches so he will one day get a win over Takagi no matter where it literally takes place! Takagi talked about how this match was actually his proper 30th anniversary match but nobody hyped it up that way. He knows how much Kasai loves DDT and that is what he chose him to be in the match. Takagi still has issues over his own conditioning and even mentally wanted to give up halfway through the match. But a pro wrestler keeps going as long as they have the will to. He doesn’t know how often he will be wrestling from this point forward but he is going to treat it with an independent wrestler’s mindset and find his place in life from now on.

Both Shunma Katsumata and Kazuma Sumi kicked off the show with an NωA Jr. performance.

Akito gave reporters an overview of the show at the very end of the evening. He praised AMAKUSA for stepping in on short notice to be Dieno’s replacement for Sasaki. He is grateful to everyone in NOAH for being so accommodating about it. In regards to Ueno’s comments about bringing DDT to the Tokyo Dome, Akito said the great thing about DDT is they allow wrestlers to make their dreams come true. They could only book Sumo Hall once this year because of venue renovations giving them limited scheduling options but next year DDT wants to book the arena twice to build up to the company’s 20th anniversary in 2027. Akito doesn’t know if the Tokyo Dome will ever become part of those place but DDT will do its best to make dreams come true for its fans.

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2025” Preview

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2025”, 03/11/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Sanshiro Takagi Return Match – Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hinata Kasai
2. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Soma Takao, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Rukiya
3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul, Demus & Ilusion Vs Daichi Sato, Yuki Ishida, Kazuma Sumi & Kumadori
4. DDT Extreme Title – 5 Way Blindfold Death Match: To-y (c) Vs Akito Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, HAYATA & Junta Miyawaki Vs Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Yuya Koroku
6. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs AMAKUSA
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Survival 3 Way Match: Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) Vs MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu
8. Dramatic Dream Match: Zack Sabre Jr. Vs Chris Brookes
9. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Kaisei Takechi Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada
10. KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (K/c) Vs Minoru Suzuki (U/c)

I waited way too long to get this done in time. So long that I’m too tired to write up a proper introduction. It’s DDT back at Sumo Hall. There you go, I’m off to bed.

1. Sanshiro Takagi Return Match – Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hinata Kasai

Welcome back, boss. Things just haven’t been the same without you. This year has felt like Sanshiro Takagi’s influence around DDT as a whole wasn’t entirely there, and for good reason. He had taken a leave of absence as a wrestler July 2024 to focus on his behind the scenes role with CyberFight while also taking better care of his health. He kept it quiet until announcing his return but the health problem he had was angina. He still found ways to stay busy in the public eye because 2025 is his 30th year in wrestling. He celebrated it by launching more DDT spin off brands, the first being MatchMake & Agent which was then turned into Super Japan, an alternate look of the company if it went by that name instead of DDT. These shows captured the island of misfit toys vibe from DDT’s past that just doesn’t exist today while also giving Takagi some sneaky ways to get physical again on his journey back to the ring.

For his return match, Takagi has put himself in the opening bout of the show. His logic is the first match on the card is the second most important match after the main event because it sets the stage for the rest of the show. He needed the right opponent, someone he has never fought before yet still have some sort of connection with so fans will care. Luckily he has just the rookie to fit that bill. Earlier this year one of DDT’s new rookies drew some attention by revealing his name is Hinata Kasai, the son of Jun Kasai! He made the decision to follow in his father’s footsteps and was guided towards joining DDT to become a pro wrestler. So far his skills in the ring aren’t anything to write home about but he got the crowd on his side from the get go and is able to draw sympathy from getting beaten down. He’s looking forward to his Sumo Hall debut and thinks he will make easy work of Takagi. He shouldn’t be underestimating him like that. After all, Takagi was the man who once flushed Hinata’s father fully down the toilet during a Falls Count Anywhere match inside this very building!

2. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Soma Takao, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Rukiya

Not much to write about for this match. The highlight of HARASHIMA’s 2025 was getting to share the ring with Hiroshi Tanahashi again and fully patch over an unpleasant memory from ten years ago. Toru Owashi was around to see his little friend win DDT’s biggest championship and Naomi Yoshimura is rightfully taking his time with getting comfortable in the ring again coming back from injury. Soma Takao still exists to shill the Dropkick Bar while I guess Shinichiro Kawamatsu will continue getting booked so he can do the Axe Bomber in tribute to the late Hulk Hogan. Back in August, Rukiya was able to wrestle matches again after spending over a year on the shelf with a cervical sprain. Given how short his career has been so far, having to start all over again from scratch isn’t as much of a setback as it sounds in his case. He is catching up to the other wrestlers in the D GENERATIONS class and knock on wood should get a moment in the spotlight next year much like the others have gotten in 2025.

3. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul, Demus & Ilusion Vs Daichi Sato, Yuki Ishida, Kazuma Sumi & Kumadori

The leader of DAMNATION T.A has a big match later down the card so the rest of the unit are stuck in an 8-Man Tag. Hideki Okatani came back from injury during the first quarter of the year with a chip on his shoulder and immediately joined DAMNATION T.A so he can get violent about it. MJ Paul continues to be around as the low card heavy muscle while the unit now has the grimy luchador Demus reuniting with them for a while (I heard a rumour he was minding an egg back in Mexico). Ilusion has gotten a lot of screen time this year by getting to speak on the microphone while everybody else in the unit just stands around brooding and being quiet. They were also fine with him carrying all of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Title belts whenever they held those titles. Sometimes it pays off to be the little shit of the group.

Facing them are a bunch of wrestlers from DDT’s current young generation. Although they do not have an official unit affiliation, DDT has collectively branded them the D GENERATIONS and they’ve gotten to run their own shows under the name throughout the year. Daichi Sato is the teenage heavyweight that joined DDT from HEAT-UP during the Springtime. The ways things are going for him so far are looking promising and he is already winning matches against other undercard wrestlers. Yuki Ishida can’t help but feel he is the weakest member of Harimao and is trying to fight through that mental block. Kazuma Sumi has been figuring out his place on the roster as the speedy high flyer. MIKAMI’s guidance has inspired him to use the 619 as a set up for the School Boy as an effective way to win matches. The odd one out is Kumadori who only wrestles a handful of matches due to his commitment with the O-MENZ dance group. He has the athleticism to become a good wrestler but I don’t know long he wants to do this for.

4. DDT Extreme Title – 5 Way Blindfold Death Match: To-y (c) Vs Akito Vs Super Sasadango Machine Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda

It’s fitting that Halloween just passed because lately To-y has had the enthusiasm of a kid running around playing with fireworks. His run as the DDT Extreme Champion for the second half of the year has been spent finding ways to build up his online presence with match gimmicks built around social media impressions and streamer behavior. To prove he is the modern champion that the title deserves, he wanted his match at Sumo Hall to be against someone from the older generation who most represents DDT’s brand of Extreme wrestling. He didn’t expect there would be a lot of options.

The first person to answer the call was Akito but pretty soon after that Super Sasadango Machine and Kazuki Hirata put out messages on social media demanding to be added as well. Antonio Honda then joined in and at least had the good manners to tell everyone in person at a DDT show. Now all that was left to do is to pick a match stipulation. To-y has gotten into gambling recently so rather than pick the match as he would be expected to as champion, he held played a dice game called Chinchiro with everyone. Sasadango ended up winning and announced the 5 Way will be a Blindfold Death Match! Being blindfolded means everyone’s training will be for nothing if they cannot see while Sasadango never trains anyway so all of his opponents are now on his level. To-y is willing to bet that he can see through his heart and prove he deserves the Extreme Title more than anyone else!

5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo, HAYATA & Junta Miyawaki Vs Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Yuya Koroku

The original point of “ULTIMATE PARTY” was to get all of the different promotions connected to DDT involved on the card. It’s not really about that anymore but at least we get to enjoy a DDT Vs NOAH 6-Man Tag match. Shinya Aoki isn’t causing a stir this time around by challenging Kenoh for matches that don’t exist like he did last time. Yuya Koroku is working hard but seems kind of aimless when he isn’t part of a title program. Jun Akiyama is there as a link between both companies. Same with Tetsuya Endo and we’ll likely find out in two months if his excursion will become permanent or not. He played his part in the TEAM 2000X story this year so I don’t know what is left in store for him over there as things currently stand. HAYATA has had the latest season of “MONDAY MAGIC” built around him as the GHC Hardcore Openweight Champion. While I had been following that series, I don’t watch enough of normal NOAH to know what Junta Miyawaki has been up to. As far as I know the only NOAH storylines going on is somebody joins TEAM 2000X, NOSAWA Rongai books something random or somebody gets mad at Naomichi Marufuji and burns a bridge.

6. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs AMAKUSA

Breath a sigh of relief because the original plan for this match was going to be very different. DDT had wanted to do Danshoku Dieno against Daisuke Sasaki in a rematch of the infamous “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2018” main event where Dieno wrestled part of the bout completely butt fucking naked. Dieno had just gotten out of surgery from acute appendicitis and claimed to have had every last drop of toxicity taken out of his body so this match was going to be the most clean match ever. Sadly for Dieno he developed an intra-abdominal abscess after his surgery and is unable to wrestle for the time being. So that’s him off the Sumo Hall card and Sasaki is now in need of a new opponent.

DDT then decided to go in a completely different direction for the replacement match. Sasaki is now going to face AMAKUSA, the junior heavyweight missionary from NOAH. On the surface this looks like a random pairing but if you delve into the history of both wrestlers you will see they are closely linked. For you see, AMAKUSA is the former Yuki Sato and he debuted in the same SUPER CREW class as Sasaki that was mentored by Dick Togo. Not only that but the two of them faced each other in their debut match! Sasaki was the winner and they would continue to cross each other’s paths for many years until Sato disappeared from the wrestling scene in 2019. That was around the time when Sato joined NOAH under the name Hao and then a few years later transformed into AMAKUSA. His current persona has no memory of ever knowing Sasaki and believes this match will be their first time meeting each other.

7. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Survival 3 Way Match: Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) Vs MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu

A match of truly heavyweight proportions coming from all sides. Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya have become a united force known as The Apex and are currently the tag team to beat in DDT. They won the KO-D Tag Team Titles from Astronauts back in June and have had five successful defences so far against teams of all sizes. However it seems like if there is a team out there that are capable of beating them, it must be a pair of heavyweights. The Strange Love Connection believe they are that team of heavyweights. KANON has blown up in size over the last year and now weighs around 103kg while MAO is claiming he has also bulked up to about 100kg thanks to his square-shaped lifestyle. Meanwhile the only heavy hitting that KIMIHIRO can do is entrance introductions and victory speeches because SLC’s microphone work without him always fall apart.

Just when the match was ready to be booked for Sumo Hall, a third team entered into the picture. Team 200kg from Sendai Girls sent in a video demanding that they be the ones to get a title shot because Chihiro Hashimoto has unfinished business with Iino. The two had clashed several times back when ALL OUT and Sendai Girls feuded in 2019 and Hashimoto had her hand raised in victory in most of those battles. Simply the thought of Hashimoto being nearby has now driven Iino to lose his temper and go searching for her around venues so they can fight again. While all of that is going on, the soon to retire Yuu wants to test her might against Naya thinking she will be too much for him to handle. The solution to this three way dilemma is to make the match Survival rules so the last team standing gets to keep the belts for themselves. MAO promises a match chaotic enough to destroy Sumo Hall itself, although he wants it to only reach the level where SLC destroy their opponents instead.

8. Dramatic Dream Match: Zack Sabre Jr. Vs Chris Brookes

Oh the bittersweet memories of BritWres at its peak. It is what helped get these two to where they are today yet getting out of it at the time they did was probably the smartest decisions they ever made. It sent Zack Sabre Jr. on a journey all the way to the top of New Japan. It also showed the world that Chris Brookes was the perfect fit for DDT as he became that company’s top wrestler too. They were able to reunite here and there in Japan over the last couple of years. There were a few DDT appearances for Sabre and also some sneaky cameos on a couple of Baka Gaijin + Friends related events. But a singles match between the two hasn’t happened since 2017 over on the other side of the world.

Since this is happening on a DDT show you can expect the early part of the match to be a bit relaxed and light hearted. Maybe Brookes will do the rubber band spot. I bet Sabre remembers the days of Brian Conley punching his sidekick and telling the audience “It’s just a puppet!” so he can use Bunbun to recreate that gag and have it fly over the entire audience. Once they get all of that stuff out of the way then they can show us what can happen when things get heated in the ring between close friends. Anyone wanting this to be a proper technical masterclass should probably wait for Sabre’s match with KEITA in THE House to take place and hope that makes tape.

9. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Kaisei Takechi Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada

Want to see what happens when the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion works more shows for DDT than New Japan in the month of November? Hey, I’m not going to complain about it. Konosuke Takeshita made his dramatic dream come true this year by winning the G1 Climax and then the IWGP Title. He is coming fresh off of a successful title defence against Hirooki Goto as well. DDT are capitalizing on this by having him team up with their newest draw, Kaisei Takechi. The handsome entertainer has now joined DDT to wrestle for them on a more regular basis and recently won his first championship, the KO-D 6-Man Tag Titles. Given how important this match is meant to be, Takeshita wanted Kazusada Higuchi to be one of their opponents. He still considers his match with Higuchi from September 2022 as one of his favorites. Takechi then decided he should pick Higuchi’s partner and chose Takeshi Masada because Masada was part of his debut match. It gives Takechi the chance to find out just how much he has grown against someone who can likely become a career long rival.

I’m excited to see Takeshita and Higuchi face off again after so long. DDT’s main event storytelling kind of pulled the rug from under Higuchi this summer as his King Of DDT victory and two month reign on top was brushed aside for a different direction. It probably isn’t something to worry about because as long as he stay healthy he will always be someone they can rely on, maybe not on the level as HARASHIMA but you can count on him staying loyal to them. Masada has become more comfortable as a wrestler by being part of SCHADENFREUDE International. He doesn’t have to worry about being the supernova rookie as first advertised but I hope he doesn’t lose his ambition as time goes by. He had a little taste of New Japan before on a dark match but that was pretty much played for laughs at the time because he had the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. Maybe seeing Takeshita with the IWGP Title up close can stoke the flames a bit more for him.

10. KO-D Openweight Title & DDT Universal Title: Yuki Ueno (K/c) Vs Minoru Suzuki (U/c)

This entire situation was all Yuki Ueno’s fault and he’s opened the door to making it worse. Back in January Ueno won the DDT Universal Title from Gringo Loco and came up with a grand plan to increase the championship’s value without needing to travel around the world. A couple of months earlier Ueno fought Minoru Suzuki in a tag match that ended in a draw. He wanted to face him again so what better way to lure the “Pirate King” back to DDT than to wave some treasure around to get his attention. A title match was put together at “JUDGEMENT 2025” and Ueno proceeded to balls it all up by losing to Suzuki. So after years of one-off appearances in DDT where Suzuki only showed up to torture Sanshiro Takagi, he had now become one of their champions and decided to stick around to wreck anyone else who dared challenge him. Various challengers of all shapes and sizes stepped up to him just to fall at his feet one after the other. With every victory Suzuki felt more at home in DDT until eventually the time came for him to start looking for the one prize in DDT that is worth even more than the Universal Title.

Ueno was left to regret his decision to bring Suzuki into DDT this way but he got over it in order to come up with another plan to raise his company’s profile. One day he would like to fight Konosuke Takeshita once more and he wants it to happen when both of them are at the height of their powers. Takeshita had the G1 win and later the IWGP Title so Ueno set forth to win back the KO-D Openweight Title. He achieved that at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2025” in August then suffered another massive blunder when Kazuki Hirata of all people won the belt off him thanks to an impeccably timed Right To Challenge cash in. Ueno got revenge for that one month later with his own deviously planned RTC cash in and now with the belt back around his waist he is ready to lead DDT again. That is until Suzuki showed up wanting to challenge Ueno for the title in order to dominate DDT once and for all. Ueno saw this as his chance to redeem himself by getting Suzuki to put the Universal Title on the line too so we are now going Title Vs Title at Sumo Hall.

While the fate of DDT’s two main championships hang in the balance for the main event, there is not much actual hatred shared between Ueno and Suzuki. Ueno respects Suzuki for the freedom he has achieved as a pro wrestler and how it strengthens him. It inspires Ueno to believe in his own ideas to become stronger. Meanwhile Suzuki is enjoying the time he has spent conquering DDT this year, describing the experience as a new beginning for him. As we’ve seen over the last two decades, Suzuki likes to make himself at home in a company for a couple of years before eventually jumping over to another for a while and then again onto the next place. With that being said, he still took the opportunity at a press conference to attack Ueno in an attempt to injure him before their match. Even if he likes fighting the guy, he’s going to remind Ueno that pro wrestling should be a ruthless business.

Neko’s Graduation This Weekend, Battle Of Shinkiba, BIG AL In TJPW

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW AUTUMN VICTORY IN SHINKIBA”, 27/09/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima & Kaya Toribami Vs Yuki Arai, HIMAWARI & Mifu Ashida
2. 3 Way Match: Mahiro Kiryu Vs Raku Vs Shino Suzuki
3. Rika Tatsumi & Pom Harajuku Vs Suzume & Mahiro Kiryu
4. Mizuki Vs Chika Nanase
5. Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara Vs Toga & Ren Konatsu
6. Miu Watanabe, Arisu Endo & Uta Takami Vs Yuki Aino, Haru Kazashiro & Kira Summer

This will be Haruna Neko’s graduation show. Her ceremony will take place during it but she will not be wrestling because of her injury.

DDT “DRAMATIC INFINITY 2025 ~3 HOUR SPECIAL~”, 28/09/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Soma Takao & Rukiya Vs Daichi Sato & Hinata Kasai
1. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Survival 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya Vs MAO & KANON (w/ KIMIHIRO) Vs Akito & Kazuma Sumi
3. Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida Vs Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Diego
4. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA Vs Evil Uno & Danshoku Dieno
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs Yuki Ueno, To-y & Kaisei Takechi
6. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Takeshi Masada
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazuki Hirata (c) Vs Yoshihiko

This is the match order for Sunday’s DDT show in Korakuen Hall.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW AUTUMN VICTORY IN SHINAGAWA”, 04/10/2025
Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX

1. Next Generation Tournament ’25 – Round 1B: Uta Takami Vs Ren Konatsu
2. Next Generation Tournament ’25 – Round 1A: Kira Summer Vs Chika Nanase
3. Rika Tatsumi Vs Raku
4. Arisu Endo, Suzume & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Miyu Yamashita, Hyper Misao & Kaya Toribami
5. Yuna Manase & Toga Vs Yuki Arai & Mifu Ashida
6. Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara Vs Mizuki & Pom Harajuku
7. Miu Watanabe & Shino Suzuki Vs Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro

The next challengers for the Princess Tag Team Titles get a warm up match. It’s a chance for Yuna Manase & Toga to fine tune their gameplan and their opponents Kyoto Tag are a pretty new team as well.

Both Shoko Nakajima and HIMAWARI will be absent from the show because they will be wrestling each other in America for MLW that weekend. The MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title will be on the line too.

The Next Generation Tournament begins with the opening round. Losing here won’t eliminate anyone but it’s going to send those people down a harder path to reach the final.

GANBARE☆PRO “BAD LIEUTENANT 2025”, 13/10/2025
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center

1. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Masaaki Mochizuki (c) Vs Shuichiro Katsumura

After a brief delay over who should become No. 1 Contender, Shuichiro Katsumura gets his chance to win the Spirit Of Ganbare World Title for a second time. He will be waiting for Masaaki Mochizuki to come meet him at Takashimadaira.

FREEDOMS/GANBARE☆PRO “SHINKIBA NO JIN”, 16/10/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Dragon Libre & Reiya Igarashi Vs Shota Kawakami & Sentaro Motoshima
2. GENTARO Vs Shuichiro Katsumura
3. Violento Jack Vs Munetatsu Nakamura
4. Mammoth Sasaki, Daisuke Masaoka & Kenji Fukimoto Vs Keisuke Ishii, Takuya Wada & YuuRI
5. Takashi Sasaki & Toru Sugiura Vs Yumehito Imanari & Yuna Manase
6. Death Match: Jun Kasai & Tomoya Hirata Vs Ken Ohka & Mizuki Watase

This is going to be fun. The rivalry between FREEDOMS and Ganbare☆Pro is now moving towards a full blown Battle Of Shin-Kiba! An entire show of FREEDOMS Vs GanPro matches will take place with one side of the arena being filled with FREEDOMS fans and the other being filled with GanPro fans. The scenario throws Ken Ohka & Mizuki Watase back into Death Match wrestling as the two will fight Jun Kasai & Tomoya Hirata with the weapon choices currently to be determined. Yuna Manase and YuuRI also get what they were promised by being put in matches against some of FREEDOMS’ hard hitters.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “ADDITIONAL ATTACK ’25”, 18/10/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. International Princess Title: Arisu Endo (c) Vs Alice Crowley
2. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara (c) Vs Yuna Manase & Toga
3. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Yuki Aino

It’s an all Alice showdown for Arisu Endo’s first defence of the International Princess Title! Her challenger is a young American wrestler by the name of Alice Crowley. While she has made one or two appearances in many independents across the USA, you will usually find her in Juggalo Championship Wrestling or OVW. She used to wrestle a lot in IWA Mid South too. “Big Al” as she is nicknamed also competed in the infamous Power Slap contest earlier this year. As part of her title shot, Crowley will also be wrestling on the 12th and 19th October Tokyo Joshi Pro shows.

DDT “WRESTLING HARVEST ~UNDER THE RED SKY~”, 19/10/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya (c) Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida

Let’s see if some Dosukoi spirit can take a tag team up past The Apex. The Harimao pair of Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida have stepped up to become the next challengers for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. For Higuchi it is a chance to win another championship so soon after losing the KO-D Openweight Title. Meanwhile Ishida has been picking up momentum, mostly from beating other wrestlers from the D GENERATION. Knocking down either Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya with the Flame Palm on route to a championship win will be a massive accomplishment for the little sumo.

DDT “ULTIMATE PARTY 2025”, 03/11/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Sanshiro Takagi Return Match – Special Single Match: Sanshiro Takagi Vs Hinata Kasai
2. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Shinya Aoki & Yuya Koroku Vs Tetsuya Endo, HAYATA & Junta Miyawaki
3. DDT Extreme Title: To-y (c) Vs Akito
4. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Kaisei Takechi Vs X & X
5. Dramatic Dream Match: Zack Sabre Jr. Vs Chris Brookes

The N1 Victory is now over and done with so the next big event on Tetsuya Endo’s calendar is his one night return to DDT. He’s bringing some NOAH friends with him because HAYATA & Junta Miyawaki are coming along too. I think this will actually be Miyawaki’s first time teaming with Endo. They were opponents for all of the previous times in NOAH I could find. The opposition has a lot of BURNING in it because both Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku are there. Shinya Aoki fills up the remaining space.

DDT At “ALL TOGETHER” Results

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

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

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

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

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

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

“CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” Results

“CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”, 12/06/2022
Saitama Super Arena
4,891 Fans

0. STARTING BATTLE KICKOFF ~ DDT Provided Tag Match: Muscle Sakai & Yukio Naya defeated Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata when Naya pinned Hirata with the Back Drop (9:02).
0. STARTING BATTLE 2 ~ TJPW Provided 10-Woman Tag Match: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami defeated Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko & YuuRI when Kiryu pinned Harajuku with the Spinebuster (9:10).
0. STARTING BATTLE 3 ~ DDT Vs Ganbare☆Pro Battle: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Ken Ohka, Yuna Manase & Mizuki Watase by TKO when Sakaguchi used the Sleeper Hold on Watase (10:20).
1. NOAH Vs DDT Battle: Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura defeated Toi Kojima & Yuya Koroku when Okada pinned Kojima with a Crab Hold (11:45).
2. TJPW Provided 6-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Juria Nagano defeated Hikari Noa, Suzume & Yuki Arai when Yamashita pinned Suzume with the Skull Kick (10:54).
3. DDT Provided 8-Man Tag Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari & Akito “Cochin” Nishigaki defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Kendo Kashin, Shinya Aoki & Yumiko Hotta when Nishigaki submitted Takagi with the Chicken Okotta Hold (13:21).
4. Princess Of Princess Title Next Challenger Decision 4 Way Match: Rika Tatsumi defeated Mizuki, Yuki Kamifuku and Miu Watanabe when Tatsumi pinned Watanabe with the Missile Hip (9:37).
5. NOAH Provided 10-Man Tag Match: Michael Elgin, El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Rene Dupree, Simon Gotch & Timothy Thatcher defeated Takashi Sugiura, Kazuyuki Fujita, Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba & Shuhei Taniguchi when Elgin pinned Inaba with the Elgin Bomb (14:01).
6. DDT Provided 8-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura, Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, MAO & Asuka when HARASHIMA pinned Katsumata with the Somato (14:29).
7. NOAH Provided 6-Man Tag Match: Rob Van Dam, Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA defeated Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & YO-HEY when Van Dam pinned Harada with the Five Star Frog Splash (12:03).
8. NOAH Vs DDT Battle: Katsuhiko Nakajima, Atsushi Kotoge & Yoshiki Inamura defeated Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Kazusada Higuchi by TKO when Nakajima knocked out Endo (6:20).
9. NOAH Vs DDT Battle ~ Hardcore Match – No DQ Rules: Kenoh defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the P.F.S. from the Ladder (21:28).
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) defeated Yuka Sakazaki with the Diving Senton (14:57).
*V3 for Shoko Nakajima.
11. GHC Heavyweight Title: Satoshi Kojima defeated Go Shiozaki (c) with the Lariat (21:11).
*Go Shiozaki fails in V1. Satoshi Kojima becomes the 39th GHC Heavyweight Champion!

The 2nd annual “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL” brought together all of the wrestling promotions owned by CyberAgent for a massive show inside Super Saitama Arena. There was plenty of news coming out of it and you can argue it was a better showing for NOAH and Tokyo Joshi Pro than it was for DDT, especially when it came to the inter-promotional matches.

Or maybe it’s New Japan that came out the winner because one of their guys now holds NOAH’s top championship! Satoshi Kojima defeated Go Shiozaki in the main event to win the GHC Heavyweight Title. He is now the fourth wrestler to achieve the biggest grand slam in Japanese pro wrestling. Only he, Kensuke Sasaki, Yoshihiro Takayama and Keiji Muto are the only wrestlers to win the GHC Title, the IWGP Heavyweight Title and the Triple Crown. Shiozaki threw everything at him including Lariats, the Go Flasher and even the Emerald Flowsion. Kojima survived all of it and put his power into three Lariats to dethrone the champion down in his first defence.

Kojima’s big celebration was cut short when Kenoh walked down to the ring. He told Kojima that NOAH is not the destination for New Japan wrestlers. He’s been of the opinion for the last few years because of Muto and Kazuyuki Fujita too. Kenoh promised to open up the future because right now NOAH and CyberFight has none! He challenged Kojima to a title match and Kojima accepted. He later said he doesn’t want anyone to think NOAH is at a low level because he is now their champion. He assures the fans that Shiozaki and the rest of the NOAH roster are not inferior to New Japan. The big title match will take place at Nippon Budokan on 16th July.

TJPW got their spotlight as the semi-main event match. Shoko Nakajima achieved her third straight Princess Of Princess Title defence by beating her long time friend and rival Yuka Sakazaki. Both were given major entrances fitting for the big occasion. Sakazaki got an army of dancing magical girls while Nakajima led a pack of dinosaurs down to the ring. Sakazaki almost won the match by hitting the Magical Merry-Go-Round but her odds vanished after Nakajima blocked the Magical Girl Niwatori Yaro with her knees. The champion then took over with a DDT and pinned Sakazaki with the Diving Senton. Nakajima is happy to see so many people watch her match against somebody as special to her as Sakazaki. Her opponent feels the same even though she lost.

The night had three DDT Vs NOAH matches and NOAH ended up with a clean sweep of victories. The big one was Kenoh defeating Daisuke Sasaki in a No DQ Match. It was a wild affair featuring interference from both DAMNATION T.A and Kongo, including Masakatsu Funaki cycling down the ramp and crashing into the wrong target. Even Yoshihiko showed up defending DDT’s honour only to get thrown out of the ring by Kenoh. Sasaki used a stun gun to prevent Kenoh from doing his Flame Kick. He then brought out a casket with thumbtacks sprinkled inside only to get slammed into it himself. Sasaki also missed a Diving Elbow Drop from the top of the ladder which cost him dearly. Kenoh had no such trouble and hit the P.F.S. Diving Stomp from the ladder to win. Afterwards backstage Kenoh explained his thoughts over DDT. He’s been calling DDT “School Wrestling” and wonders why they should feel ashamed of it? Why does DDT want to turn into a conservative mainstream wrestling company? They were built on being “Cultural Pro Wrestling” so they should have pride and confidence in being that. DDT was at its brightest when they understood it and that was how they could compete against New Japan, NOAH and All Japan. Kenoh thinks Sanshiro Takagi does not understand that and should be lucky to have a guy like Daisuke Sasaki who gets it. Sasaki blamed his loss on having to carry DDT on his back. If he fought selfishly for himself today’s result would have been very different. He says he will carry this shameful loss for the rest of his life, just like how Tetsuya Endo will carry his…

The second big DDT Vs NOAH match was the 6-Man Tag and it ended up becoming the most controversial story of the show. It was meant to be a big match with flashy entrances for everyone involved. Stories were built up pitting Kazusada Higuchi and Yoshiki Inamura against each other along with Jun Akiyama against Atsushi Kotoge. Then five minutes in we get to Tetsuya Endo against Katsuhiko Nakajima. There was an awkward looking moment when Nakajima held himself back against the ropes when Endo tried to drag him away from there. Endo threw a big kick to make him move then some Elbow Strikes. Nakajima responded with a big slap across the face, knocking Endo out and stopping the match! While Endo was getting medical assistance, Akiyama gave Nakajima a stern talking to with the other wrestlers looking on. Endo was still conscious but was helped carried to the back and diagnosed with a concussion. Akiyama criticised Nakajima in his post-match interview without naming him. He explained it doesn’t matter if you can take a strike to the temple if your opponent cannot. He was once told by Giant Baba that no matter what happens, in the end all wrestlers are friends in the same business. He doesn’t think that was the case here. He finished by saying let’s wrestle properly and do it right. I personally do not think it was Nakajima’s intention to knock out Endo but they were clearly not on the same page in the brief time they were in the ring together. I hope it was just a bad misread by Nakajima by trying to add tension to the match. Akiyama was the right person in the right place at the right time to prevent things from escalating further.

The big international guest for the show was Rob Van Dam. Today was his first time wrestling in Japan since 2014. He was on the winning team with Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA beating Kaito Kiyomiya, Daisuke Harada & YO-HEY in a 6-Man Tag Match. RVD even picked up the win by pinning Harada with the Five Star Frog Splash. Backstage RVD promised to come back next month. NOSAWA Rongai heard that and challenged him to a Hardcore Match with some of his friends at the Budokan show.

The main core of DDT’s tag team division provided an 8-Man Tag Match. DISASTER BOX & CDK joined forces to take on The 37KAMIINA plus Asuka. There was a massive pile on of Yuki Ueno on top of Asuka on top of Masahiro Takanashi on top of MAO on top of Naomi Yoshimura. The entire thing was then broken up by a Somato from HARASHIMA. MAO & Asuka took care of Chris Brookes with their Doomsday Shiranui double team. Shunma Katsumata tried to finish things off but HARASHIMA got him in the end with the Somato. Takanashi found it weird that wrestlers they feuded with not so long ago are here smiling with them today. Just goes to show when situations change so can certain alliances. The 37KAMIINA also agree they had a fun time and hoped the fans did too.

NOAH’s offer match was a 10-Man Tag Team bout pitting Japan against the world. The foreign team won when Michael Elgin pinned Daiki Inaba with the Elgin Bomb. Timothy Thatcher said if the match took place tomorrow the result may have been different. But today NOAH’s international team were blessed with good teamwork. Simon Gotch said NOAH has always had great foreign wrestlers and this team are part of the new history that will continue to bring in even more. Rene Dupree bragged about North America beating Japan today. The NOAH home team did not provide any post-match comments.

Shoko Nakajima’s next challenger for the Princess Title was determined in a 4 Way Match. Any idea of Daydream joining forces to wipe out the competition did not last long and the match quickly turned into every woman for herself. Miu Watanabe gave both Rika Tatsumi and Mizuki the Giant Swing together. Yuki Kamifuku later tried killing two birds with one stone by hitting the Famouser onto both Tatsumi & Mizuki at the same time. Watanabe jumped in and was ready to give Kamifuku the Tear Drop when Tatsumi broke it up with a Hip Attack. The match came down to the two Daydream wrestlers and Tatsumi came out on top with the Missile Hip to her partner. Tatsumi will now face Nakajima for the Princess Title at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 9th July. Kamifuku said she doesn’t need a championship for now. Instead she wants to fight the Cyber Japan Dancers who performed during intermission!

Pheromones are looking unstoppable once more thanks to their newest member Akito “Cochin” Nishigaki. He is all in on the gimmick, proving it is not an attempt to infiltrate the unit and destroy it from the inside. However their opponents had their own tricks to deal with, such as Kendo Kashin using a body double so he could attack from another angle. Yumiko Hotta got more than she bargained for and was sprayed with a fire extinguisher. Takagi gave Akito a Stunner but Akito stripped out of his costume to toughen up. He put Takagi in a Figure 4 Leg Lock and Yuki Iino sat on Takagi’s face for added damage, making him give up. Backstage Kashin asked for a rematch which Hotta & Shinya Aoki both agreed to. Takagi said maybe next year because his shoulder is bothering him. Kashin said it has to be this year. The four of them then crashed the Pheromones post-match interview to attack Yumehito Imanari and pull his pants down in front of the media.

Nivea sponsored the TJPW 6-Woman Tag Match and rewarded the winners with 10 years supply of their products. Hikari Noa, Suzume & Yuki Arai entered to the brand new TJPW theme song “Princess March” by Masayoshi Soken. Then Maki Itoh performed her theme song with 6 members of IQ Project before Miyu Yamashita & Juria Nagano made their entrance together. The experience of 121000000 was the deciding factor. Yamashita & Itoh took out Noa & Arai with a High Kick/Headbutt Sandwich. Yamashita then wiped out Suzume with the Skull Kick to get the three count. It is Nagano’s first win as a wrestler and Itoh joked about her getting rewarded with gifts from Nivea.

The opening match of the main show was the first DDT Vs NOAH bout of the event. It was between two teams of young wrestlers with Kinya Okada & Kai Fujimura from NOAH beating Toi Kojima & Yuya Koroku from DDT. Kojima & Koroku are both frustrated by the loss but still believe their form of training is not inferior to NOAH’s.

The STARTING BATTLE pre-show provided three dark matches involving DDT, TJPW and Ganbare☆Pro. The Ganpro team went to battle against Eruption but quickly got off on the wrong foot when Ken Ohka got rolled up in tape by his enemies once again. Yuna Manase tried to even the score by getting the better of Saki Akai with a Lariat. Mizuki Watase fought with Hideki Okatani but then turned his attention to Yukio Sakaguchi once Ohka got back into the action. Unfortunately for them, Eruption ended up with the numbers advantage and Sakaguchi choked out Watase with the Sleeper Hold to end the match. When Watase recovered he told Eruption he can continue fighting and began cutting his hair to prove it. Backstage Eruption said they will think about having more matches against Ganpro at Ganpro’s big show in Ota Ward on 10th July. Watase confronted them again and continued cutting off his hair to show how determined he is to fight them. Sakaguchi was convinced an agreed for Eruption to have another match against Ganpro at Ota Ward.

Mahiro Kiryu finally got her day in the sun by getting the win for her team in the TJPW 10-Woman Tag Match. It was an important match for some of the other women too. Kaya Toribami is celebrating finishing her first year as a pro wrestler. Raku was absent and missed by everyone, even by the opposing team. Her replacement YuuRI was disappointed to lose but would be happy to fight with the TJPW wrestlers again. Hyper Misao wanted to win before challenging for the Princess Tag Team Titles soon but still enjoyed her team today. She’d like the 5 of them to do something together again, like have a 5 Way Match! Pom Harajuku was just upset her summer is ending already because she took the fall.

DDT provided the very first match of the day inside the venue when Muscle Sakai & Yukio Naya took on Soma Takao & Kazuki Hirata. Sakai took Kenoh’s criticisms of DDT to heart and wanted to wrestle seriously. He declined a dance battle with Hirata until he was given the Hirata GO! glasses. Takao cut the dancing short so he could continue the match with Naya. Hirata almost pinned Naya with an Inside Cradle but Naya kicked out. He then delivered a Back Drop to Hirata and pinned him Yuji Hino style to get the win. Hirata said he didn’t expect Muscle Sakai of all people to come in wanting to do an exciting match.

Perhaps the biggest news of all to come out of the show was Keiji Muto’s announcement. He once called pro wrestling a marathon without a finishing line but the time has finally come for him to finish. He is going to retire next spring and is planning to wrestle only a few more matches before his career is over. His doctor told him the condition of his left hip is becoming bad and he may need to replace it with an artificial joint. Should he need a hip replacement he will no longer be able to wrestle even though he still wants to. Muto is still thinking of where and when his retirement will take place along with exactly how many more matches he will do before then. He also said The Great Muta may reappear once or twice more but when the Demon Gate to his world closes, it will this time close for good.

The entire event was not just about the pro wrestling show. There was a festival set up around the venue for fans to experience everything about the different CyberFight promotions. I could not find many details but apparently Gake no Fuchi Pro had a stall set up where Miyako Matsumoto held a meet and greet but it was taken over by Prominence.

“CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2021” Results

“CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2021”, 06/06/2021
Saitama Super Arena
4,800 Fans – Super No Vacancy

0. STARTING BATTLE KICKOFF ~Tokyo Joshi Pro Offer 10-Woman Tag Match~ Kaya Toribami Debut Match: Mirai Maiumi, Suzume, Haruna Neko, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo defeated Nao Kakuta, Raku, Pom Harajuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami when Maiumi pinned Kiryu with the Lariat (12:29).
0. STARTING BATTLE ~ Staggered Admission Battle Royal: Antonio Honda defeated Masao Inoue with a School Boy (22:31).
Order Of Elimination: Yuna Manase, Makoto Oishi, Yusuke Okada, Shu Sakurai, Yuya Koroku, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Kazuki Hirata, Shuhei Taniguchi & Yuji Hino, Akitoshi Saito, Saki Akai, Mohammed Yone, Toru Owashi and Masao Inoue.
0. STARTING BATTLE MAIN ~ Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Offer Match: Shuichiro Katsumura, Kouki Iwasaki & Yumehito Imanari defeated Ken Ohka, Keisuke Ishii & Shota when Iwasaki pinned Shota with the Vertical Drop Reverse DDT (8:43).
1. DDT Vs NOAH Battle: Junta Miyawaki & Kinya Okada defeated Yuki Iino & Toui Kojima when Miyawaki submitted Kojima with a Cross Armbreaker (7:39).
2. 3 Way Tag Match Provided By Tokyo Joshi Pro: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao defeated Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe and Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino when Nakajima pinned Aino with the Diving Senton (8:04).
3. DDT Vs NOAH Battle: Takashi Sugiura & Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine when Sugiura pinned Sasadango with the Olympic Slam (9:25).
4. DDT Vs NOAH Battle: Masa Kitamiya defeated Hideki Okatani with the Jail Hold (2:25).
5. Match Provided By Tokyo Joshi Pro: Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku & Marika Kobashi defeated Hikari Noa, Mizuki & Yuki Arai when Itoh submitted Arai with the Itoh Punish (13:02).
6. Match Provided By NOAH: Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada & Hajime Ohara defeated Yoshinari Ogawa, HAYATA & Seiki Yoshioka when Harada pinned Yoshioka with the Katayama German Suplex (13:33).
7. Match Provided By DDT: Daisuke Sasaki, Tetsuya Endo & Soma Takao (w/ Mad Paulie) defeated Chris Brookes, Shunma Katsumata & MAO when Sasaki submitted MAO with the Crossover Facelock (14:36).
8. DDT Vs Kongo Full Scale 12-Man Tag Team Match: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yukio Naya defeated Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya, Haoh, Nioh & Tadasuke when Takagi pinned Haoh with the Sit Down Himawari Bomb (19:59).
9. DDT Vs NOAH Battle: Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno defeated Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura when Ueno pinned Kiyomiya with the BME (17:51).
10. Princess Of Princess Title – Triple Main Event I: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Yuka Sakazaki with the Crash Rabbit Heat (16:36).
*V1 for Miyu Yamashita.
11. KO-D Openweight Title – Triple Main Event II: Jun Akiyama (c) defeated HARASHIMA by TKO with the Front Neck Lock (18:53).
*V3 for Jun Akiyama.
12. GHC Heavyweight Title – Triple Main Event III: Naomichi Marufuji defeated Keiji Muto (c) with the Tiger King Zero (23:30).
*Keiji Muto fails in V3. Naomichi Marufuji becomes the 35th GHC Heavyweight Champion!

The big supershow came and went without a hitch! DDT, NOAH, Tokyo Joshi Pro and Ganbare☆Pro all worked together to offer their best effort at Saitama Super Arena in front of 4,800 fans. When the three main events were done the three main champions of DDT, NOAH & TJPW entered the ring to thank the fans for coming to see them. Naomichi Marufuji said the CyberFight promotions will energize everyone with the power of pro wrestling. Jun Akiyama thanked everyone for attending even in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. He also thanked the fans watching on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Last but not least Miyu Yamashita pointed out this was the largest crowd TJPW has performed in front of. She is certain that many people saw TJPW for the first time today and will be happy if any of them will stick around to see more. The entire cast of wrestlers gathered together on the stage for a massive group photo to close out the show.

Only one title changed hands out of the three main event championship matches. On the NOAH side, Marufuji won the GHC Heavyweight Title from Keiji Muto in what was called a “Genius Showdown”. Muto pulled out all the stops to try and win, going far enough to pull out the Moonsault that he retired three years ago! Just as shocking was Marufuji kicking out of the pin. He then got on the attack and unleashed all of his kicking and knee strikes on the champion. Muto tried to block what he could but he fell to the Tiger King Zero and the title now belongs to Marufuji.

DDT’s main event saw Akiyama choke out HARASHIMA to retain the KO-D Openweight Title. Akiyama entered the ring carrying the giant hammer commonly seen in DDT’s hardcore matches as a sign of loyalty to the company. HARASHIMA took the big risk of doing the Swan Dive Somato but Akiyama rolled out of the way. The champion then struck HARASHIMA with a Knee Kick and then dropped him with the Wrist Clutch Exploder. For weeks the Front Neck Lock was the finishing move used by both wrestlers so it was only fitting for Akiyama to sink it in on his opponent until the referee called for the bell. Backstage Akiyama said he has now defeated all of DDT’s icons. Next in line for him is whoever wins King Of DDT. If Akiyama wins the tournament then he promises to nominate Sanshiro Takagi so they can see which of them in their 50s is stronger.

Over at TJPW, Yamashita scored her first Princess Of Princess Title defence by beating Yuka Sakazaki. The match meant a lot to both wrestlers and they brought out their big moves. Sakazaki attempted the Magical Girl 450 Splash but missed, Yamashita hit the Skull Kick but was too tired to go for the pin allowing Sakazaki enough recovery time to reach for a rope break when she was pinned. Yamashita feigned a Crash Rabbit Heat to make Sakazaki flinch, then redirected herself to hit the move from another angle. With her opponent’s defence down, Yamashita hit the move proper for the victory. Yamashita tried to communicate with Sakazaki after the match but got a big slap across the face instead. Sakazaki stormed off while Yamashita celebrated with her title. Backstage Yamashita said she wants TJPW to push even further and aim for their own event at Sumo Hall.

The big DDT Vs NOAH match of the show provided the perfect storm to show two wrestlers going in opposite directions. DDT’s Yuki Ueno is having a banner year while NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya is currently going through a rough slump of results. The DDT’s team lived up to Konosuke Takeshita’s promise of getting an overwhelming win over Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura. Takeshita used his power to do a German Suplex to Kiyomiya and his own partner Ueno. A big Dropkick from Ueno to Kiyomiya’s face was the move that captured everyone’s attention and the Best Moonsault Ever sealed the deal. Both of the DDT wrestlers were impressed with Inamura’s power though. This might not be the last time they cross paths. Kiyomiya insists that this current run of bad results is just a passing point for him.

The spirit of DDT was on full display when they went into battle against Kongo. The DDT team led by Sanshiro Takagi were as motivated as ever after Kenoh called the company a place only for wrestlers with side jobs. They armed themselves with many of DDT’s signature weapons: the Dramatic Dream Cycle, the rotary drill, the big hammer and the strongest of them all… Yoshihiko! The big meeting in the ring was when Yukio Sakaguchi and Kenoh faced off. During the chaos Kenoh must have lost his mind because he decided to use the Dramatic Dream to run over Takagi on the ramp! He and Katsuhiko Nakajima continued to beat on Takagi when Sakaguchi & Kazusada Higuchi came to the rescue. Sakaguchi hit Kenoh with the God’s Right Knee. Then, with Yoshihiko’s help, he caught Kenoh in the Sleeper Hold and held him back while Takagi pinned Haoh with the Sit Down Himawari Bomb. Takagi told Kenoh afterwards that he hates him but he will never force him to change his style. Every promotion in CyberFight can do the pro wrestling they want to do. There is only one goal and that is become the No. 1 pro wrestling power in the industry!

DDT’s offer match for the show was DAMNATION taking on the combined power of Chris Brookes & The 37KAMIINA in a trios match. MAO pulled out a firecracker but Daisuke Sasaki ducked and the pop hit Shunma Katsumata instead. DAMNATION went on a tear with Soma Takao using a Hurricanrana to Brookes out of the ring onto everyone outside, Tetsuya Endo then hitting a Swan Dive Shooting Star Press and even Mad Paulie getting involved behind the referee’s back. Sasaki finished MAO off with the Crossover Facelock to give DAMNATION the victory.

There were no heel turns in the NOAH Jr. Heavyweight match. I repeat, there were no heel turns in the NOAH Jr. Heavyweight match! The champion trio of Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada & Hajime Ohara went toe to toe against STINGER. Kotoge & Ohara cut off Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA outside the ring while Harada pinned Seiki Yoshioka with the Katayama German Suplex. Harada said it gives his team confidence to go into the match as champions and win.

The SKE48 idol Yuki Arai has gotten a lot of attention with her move into pro wrestling. Today was only her second match but it was still given a big spot on the card given it was her first bout in front of an audience. SKE48 graduate Jurina Matsui was in attendance to see her fight. Arai’s immediate rival Maki Itoh formed the Saitama Itoh Respect Army 2021 to steal the attention away from her. Having Yuki Kamifuku & Marika Kobashi on Itoh’s side worked out in the end because Arai almost pinned Itoh with the Finally (Axe Kick). They broke the count then got into a fight with Hikari Noa & Mizuki. With all of them out of the way, Itoh caught Arai in a Crab Hold then twisted it in a different angle to get the submission win. That version of the move is called the Itoh Punish. Jurina cheered her friend on when Arai was helped out of the ring by her partners.

One of the DDT Vs NOAH matches had Masa Kitamiya smash through Hideki Okatani in under three minutes. Okatani put up a fight in that short time but Suplexes, a Lariat and the Jail Hold resulted in Kitamiya getting his hand raised.

The unofficial SUGI & SAKU Titles match is one that Takashi Sugiura will not remember fondly in years to come. Probably not the weirdest thing Kazushi Sakuraba has ever been a part of though, to be honest. Sugiura & Sakuraba wrestled most of the match wearing their custom Super Strong Machine masks anyway. Before the match began, Super Sasadango Machine held a PowerPoint presentation titled “How To Beat Sugiura & Sakuraba”. You cannot beat them under normal conditions but Sugiura-gun are also not used to fighting against comedy wrestlers. The plan then is to make them laugh to throw them off their game. Sasadango brought out plastic bats to play a Guru Guru spinning game but Sugiura attacked him with it instead. Danshoku Dieno wore a mask of actress Takako Tokiwa’s face to seduce Sakuraba but his trap was foiled by an Ankle Lock. Sasadango unmasked in a moment that looked serious, but it was just so he could wear pantyhose on his head. Sugiura was then forced to wear pantyhose over his head too. He pinned Sasadango to end the bout and then apologised to the fans for having them watch a shit match.

The TJPW 3 Way Tag Match involved three teams all in position to get a future Princess Tag Team Titles shot. Kyoraku Kyomei warned that Shoko Nakajima was going to destroy Saitama Super Arena in a kaiju rampage but Hyper Misao would immediately fix it afterwards like the hero she is. The match went wild with Daydream and The Bakuretsu Sisters also involved. Kyoraku Kyomei came out on top in the end. Rika Tatsumi argued that Daydream still won because she and Miu Watanabe did not get pinned. Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino said they still had fun despite Aino dropping the fall.

Yuki Iino revealed a new pink wrestling outfit when he came out for the opening match. The NOAH team of Junta Miyawaki & Kinya Okada were determined to start the show off on the right track for their company. Miyawaki made Toui Kojima tap out to get his team the win. Kojima ended up with a dislocated left elbow at some point but continued to fight until the end.

The STARTING BATTLE pre-show consisted of three matches and was home to Ganpro’s matches on the day. The headline bout of this section had Shuichiro Katsumura, Kouki Iwasaki & Yumehito Imanari defeat Ken Ohka, Keisuke Ishii & Shota. Everyone involved treated the match as if they were fighting to become the hero of Saitama Super Arena. Iwasaki got the pin and said he is ready to fight with anyone in Ganpro and was proud to do his thing inside this building. Ohka closed out this portion of the show by shouting “We are Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling!”

Antonio Honda was the last person standing in the Battle Royal. The match featured the return to the ring of Yoshiaki Yatsu for the first time in two years. He wrestled with his specailly made prosthetic foot after his right leg was amputated due to worsening diabetes. Yatsu was the first entrant in the match so he wasn’t taking things easy. Wrestlers from DDT, NOAH and Ganpro filled the ring and in the end, Honda used the power of Gongitsune to guide his way to victory.

The very first match of the day was the debut match of TJPW’s newest wrestler, Kaya Toribami. There was very little information about the masked woman given out and a solid performance in the ring today raises some questions. Is this somebody who already has wrestling experience going incognito? For the rest of the field, they could hardly contain themselves to perform in a major venue.