“SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS BOX OFFICE ~ SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS VS PROMINENCE”, 14/07/2022 Shin-Kiba 1st RING 147 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Falls Count Anywhere Match: SenoSister Mao Inoue defeated Mochi Natsumi with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch (12:07).
2. DDT Offer? Match: Yuki Ueno & Konosuke Takeshita (Sakura Hirota) defeated Akito & Kazuki Hirata when Takeshita (Hirota) pinned Hirata with the German Suplex (14:06).
3. Special TLC Match: DASH Chisako Vs Hideki Okatani ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
4. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Bring In 1 Item Hardcore Match: Risa Sera & Akane Fujita defeated Elizabeth❤️Toy & Sylvania❤️Catherine when Sera pinned Toy with the Diving Double Knee Drop onto Chairs (17:18).
5. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Special Hardcore Match: Suzu Suzuki defeated Carousel❤️Shun with the German Suplex (20:18).
The feud between Shunma Katsumata and Suzu Suzuki continues going in unusual directions. Suzuki wanted to get revenge on Katsumata for beating her in the King Of Street Wrestling tournament earlier this year. Katsumata however did not want to deal with her again so he brought his “relative” Carousel❤️Shun to take his place. As the story goes, Carousel❤️Shun is a joshi wrestler who travelled to America three years ago to form the Super Hardcore Girls promotion. The global pandemic kept her from returning to Japan until recently but she jumped at the opportunity to lead SHG against Prominence in a war between two deathmatch joshi groups! The two sides agreed to a crossover show where Suzuki could settle the score with the Katsumata family.
The main event involved tables being broken, jumping off ladders, a lot of toy blocks spread across the ring and plenty more. Shun and Suzuki both use a stapler on each other’s arms until Suzuki found something to pierce Shun’s ear with. Shun should have won the match when she had Suzuki pinned with the Totonoe Splash but other members of Prominence pulled the referee out of the ring to stop the count. That led to a big brawl between the SHG and Prominence wrestlers around ringside. Suzuki recovered and Power Bombed Shun from a ladder through a board with forks sticking out of it. That wasn’t enough and Suzuki then landed the German Suplex onto the toy blocks to get the win. After the match Suzuki demanded that Shun go and get Shunma Katsumata so the actual rematch can happen. Suzuki warned that Katsumata won’t get away with it if he does not show up again. Shun said she was thankful to bring SHG to Japan and will continue to chase after Prominence while leaving the rest to Katsumata.
Prominence can confidently declare victory over SHG with a 2-1 result from today’s show. The other win came from Risa Sera & Akane Fujita defeating the relatives of Toi Kojima & Takahiro Katori in a match where everyone was allowed to bring one weapon each. Elizabeth❤️Toy brought out an ear piercing device but Fujita took it off her and used it against her. Sylvania❤️Catherine brought out a stuff toy wrapped in barb wire but Toy got hit with it by accident. Sera then whacked Toy over the head with a bamboo stick, placed chairs on top of her and hit a Diving Double Knee Drop from the top rope for the finish. Unlike Suzuki, Sera enjoyed today’s show and said she would like to do fight against SHG again.
There was a different crossover match away from the feuding promotions. Hideki Okatani likes to dip his toe into Hardcore wrestling every now and then so he was put into a TLC Match against DASH Chisako from Sendai Girl’s! Okatani took some big bumps throughout the match including a Power Bomb over the top rope onto a bridging ladder outside the ring! Chisako made a big mistake though when she missed a Diving Double Stomp from the ladder onto some chairs. Okatani quickly turned the tables and hit a Diving Elbow onto chairs from the same ladder. The two kept on fighting until the very end when time ran out and the match was ruled a 15 minute draw.
There was a sudden change of plans in the match DDT put together. Yuki Ueno was meant to team with Sakura Hirota but when it was time for her entrance, Konosuke Takeshita’s music played instead and out came “Konosuke Takeshita”! Now “Takeshita” looked a little shorter than usual but once the shirt was off and the physique was on show, there was no doubt over who it was. There was one uncharacteristic moments when “Takeshita” struck Akito from behind with a kancho attack. Kazuki Hirata dodged the same move but was eventually caught in the German Suplex with “Takeshita” getting some assistance with the bridge from Ueno. Afterwards backstage “Takeshita” talked about getting a last minute flight from America to get here today after wrestling in AEW last night. Makes perfect sense.
SHG’s only win on the show came from SenoSister Mao Inoue beating Mochi Natsumi in a Falls Count Anywhere match. They fought outside to the parking lot then on the way back to the ring, Inoue’s costume was suddenly replaced with wrestling gear similar looking to what Natsumi was wearing. Inoue ended up pinning Natsumi with a Japanese Leg Roll Clutch on the entrance ramp.
“SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS BOX OFFICE ~ SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS VS PROMINENCE”, 14/07/2022 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Falls Count Anywhere Match: SenoSister Mao Inoue Vs Mochi Natsumi
2. DDT Offer? Match: Yuki Ueno & Sakura Hirota Vs Akito & Kazuki Hirata
3. Special TLC Match: DASH Chisako Vs Hideki Okatani
4. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Bring In 1 Item Hardcore Match: Elizabeth❤️Toy & Sylvania❤️Catherine Vs Risa Sera & Akane Fujite
5. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Special Hardcore Match: Carousel❤️Shun Vs Suzu Suzuki
Shunma Katsumata has been tweeting messages to Suzu Suzuki on behalf of Carousel❤️Shun, warning Suzuki she won’t win no matter how hard she studies for the “exam”.
GANBARE☆PRO “BAKURETSU TOSHI BURST CITY 2022”, 17/07/2022 Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR
1. GanPro Summer Festival! MakoHaruka Vs YuriMoeka Full-Scale Battle: Makoto & HARUKAZE Vs Moeka Haruhi & YuuRI
2. GanPro Summer Festival! Lari Pro Army Vs Knee Pro Army Full-Scale Battle: Shuichiro Katsumura & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Keisuke Ishii & Shota
3. GanPro Summer Festival! GanPro Survival 8-Man Tag Match ~Ohka Army Vs Imanari Army Full-Scale Battle~: Ken Ohka, Kouki Iwasaki, Mizuki Watase & Sayaka Obihiro Vs Yumehito Imanari, Soma Takao, Tyson Maguchi & Yuna Manase
The GanPro Survival Tag Match is fought as a regular 2 Vs 2 tag match. Whenever a wrestler is eliminated, they are replaced with the next wrestler on their team. This continues until a team is reduced to one wrestler left and cannot field a complete tag team. An extra rule is being added to the upcoming version of this match. Over the top rope eliminations will count but the match cannot be won that way. The final elimination needs to be done through normal means (pinfall, submission, DQ, etc).
Lariat Pro Wrestling returns but there is resistance coming from Knee Pro Wrestling. It’s time to decide which is better, Lariats or Knee Strikes!
DDT “ROJO PRO WRESTLING IN HANDMADE IN JAPAN FES 2022”, 23/07/2022 Tokyo Big Sight West Hall 1 & 2
1. Falls Count Anywhere 3 Way Tag Match: MAO & Toi Kojima Vs Sanshiro Takagi & Yuki Ishida Vs Yukio Naya & Yuya Koroku
A good time is always had when DDT holds a Falls Count Anywhere Match at the HandMade In Japan Festival.
DDT “ROAD TO PETER PAN 2022 IN OSAKA”, 30/07/2022 Osaka 176BOX
1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda
2. Shunma Katsumata Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Akito & Yuya Koroku
4. Tetsuya Endo Vs Hideki Okatani
5. Special Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs MAO & Toi Kojima
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Bodyguard Vs Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida
7. Osaka Specialty Special Tag Match: HARASHIMA & Gamma Vs Yuki Ueno & Makoto Oishi
Gamma is the special guest for this show. The former DRAGONGATE star will be retiring from pro wrestling on 14th August.
Tetsuya Endo’s first singles match during his comeback is against Hideki Okatani.
DDT “ROAD TO PETER PAN 2022 IN KORAKUEN ~LET’S SHOUT!~”, 14/08/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Special Single Match: Asuka Vs Saki Akai
One week before they join Jun Akiyama and Chris Brookes for the Mixed Tag Match, Saki Akai and Asuka face off one on one.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022”, 20/08/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Shinichiro Kawamatsu Debut Match ~ Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Member Vs Bunkyo Ward Assembly Member: Shinichiro Kawamatsu, Sanshiro Takagi & Soma Takao Vs Osamu Nishimura, Makoto Oishi & Akito
2. Special Mixed Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Saki Akai Vs Chris Brookes & Asuka
3. International Special Hardcore Match: Joey Janela Vs Shunma Katsumata
4. DDT 25th Anniversary Special 6-Man Tag Match: Dick Togo, Daisuke Sasaki & KANON (w/ MJ Paul) Vs Konosuke Takeshita, MAO & Yasu Urano
5. DDT Universal Title: Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs X
6. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs X
Daisuke Sasaki is calling in the big guns to combat Konosuke Takeshita on his return. He’s bringing his master Dick Togo back to DDT! Sasaki’s history with his maestro is usually hostile so there haven’t been many times when they teamed together. But “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022” is a big show and Sasaki is offering the olive branch to Togo. It will also be KANON’s first time in the ring with him too. We’ll see if wrestling with DAMNATION T.A is any different from wrestling with House Of Torture. In response to this, Takeshita chose MAO & Yasu Urano as his partners. Urano was picked because he knows both Sasaki & Togo inside out!
DDT “DDT FREE -LET’S ALL SPEAK UP!-”, 07/07/2022 Shinjuku FACE
1. KANON Vs Yuya Koroku
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Akito & Kazuki Hirata
3. Jun Akiyama, Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
4. Masahiro Takanashi & Shunma Katsumata Vs Asuka & Yusuke Okada
5. DAMNATION T.A Vs The Iyasareru!: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda
6. Special Single Match: MAO Vs Andrew “The Giant” Everett
7. Special Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura Vs Yuki Ueno & Toi Kojima
A press conference was held today for Kazusada Higuchi to address the King Of DDT aftermath. The new KO-D Openweight Champion thanked the fans for their support because he doesn’t think he won the tournament by himself. He praised both of his recent opponents Jun Akiyama and Naomi Yoshimura. He would be fine with Akiyama being one of his title challengers. He also suggested teaming with Yoshimura in a tag match because they did not interact often in DNA and it would be something new. DDT accepted his request for the tag match. They chose Yuki Ueno & Toi Kojima for their opponents because Ueno was also in the semi-finals and Kojima is from after the DNA generation.
Questions have been asked about Andrew Everett’s true size ever since his DDT debut took place. He was given a surprise height measurement during today’s press conference after he was told he would face MAO in a singles match this Thursday. Hisaya Imabayashi tried to measure him but Everett kept trying to cheat. He jumped in the air, stood on a chair and then accidentally pulled the measuring tape off the wall before Choke Slamming it. Imabayashi finally got to measure him when he wasn’t looking and discovered he is really only 170cm tall! Everett has been exposed as a fraud! However his high flying abilities during yesterday’s match was so impressive that DDT still wants to book him. So his match with MAO will go ahead.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22”, 09/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Juria Nagano
2. Aja Kong, Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Hyper Misao, Nao Kakuta, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami
3. Ryo Mizunami Vs Miu Watanabe
4. Hikaru Shida & Hikari Noa Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu
5. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Alex Windsor
6. Riho & Arisu Endo Vs Mei Suruga & Suzume
7. Special Single Match: Thunder Rosa Vs Miyu Yamashita
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Saki Akai & Yuki Arai
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi
Unfortunately Willow Nightingale is unable to get her visa in time to travel to Japan for the show. Tokyo Joshi Pro are trying to arrange a new schedule for her to wrestle in Japan as soon as possible. Miu Watanabe’s new opponent is Ryo Mizunami making her first appearance in TJPW!
GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA”, 10/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Ganpro Specialty 3 Vs 2 Handicap Match: Ganbare Tamagawa, Nobuhiro Shimatani & HARUKAZE Vs Onryo & YuuRI (w/ Ippanjin Munenori Sawa)
2. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Takaiwa Army: Kouki Iwasaki & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & 5th Black Tiger
3. Four Beasts Of Fate Gathered In Sekigahara ~Special Tag Match~: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs Isami Kodaka & Shuji Ishikawa
4. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Eruption: Mizuki Watase, Moeka Haruhi & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
5. Special Single Match: Yuna Manase Vs Sayaka Unagi
6. Special Tag Match ~ CDK Vs ROMANCE DAWN: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Shota & Soma Takao
7. Special Single Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Minoru Suzuki
8. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) Vs Ken Ohka
An autograph session for Ken Ohka and Shota was held at the Champion shop in Suidobashi yesterday. Yumehito Imanari crashed the event and taunted Ohka by offering him a choice of chicken salad or sweetbread. Ohka chose the salad and took a bite out of it to prove he is taking his diet for the match seriously. Imanari approved and said he can see the shine in Ohka’s face returning. But then he tried to stuff the sweetbread into Ohka’s mouth. Ohka resisted and said he wouldn’t break his promise to be the best Ken Ohka he can be. Imanari backed off and again gave approval to Ohka’s serious attitude toward their match.
BASARA “BASARA 196 ~ITCHI DANKETSU~”, 10/07/2022 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. Lil’ Kraken Vs Banana Senga
2. Daichi Kazato & Tsutomu Oosugi Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
3. Daiki Shimomura Vs Yasu Urano
4. FUMA, KUBITO & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Ryota Nakatsu, SAGAT & Akiyori Takizawa
5. Isami Kodaka 20th Anniversary Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & Takumi Tsukamoto Vs Fuminori Abe & Ikuto Hidaka
This is KUBITO’s first match under his new ring name.
“SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS BOX OFFICE ~ SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS VS PROMINENCE”, 14/07/2022 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. DDT Offer? Match: Yuki Ueno & Sakura Hirota Vs Akito & Kazuki Hirata
2. Special TLC Match: DASH Chisako Vs Hideki Okatani
3. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Falls Count Anywhere Match: SenoSister Mao Inoue Vs Mochi Natsumi
4. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Bring In 1 Item Hardcore Match: Elizabeth❤️Toy & Sylvania❤️Catherine Vs Risa Sera & Akane Fujite
5. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Special Hardcore Match: Carousel❤️Shun Vs Suzu Suzuki
All matches for the one-off Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence show have been decided. Carousel❤️Shun & Elizabeth❤️Toy aren’t the only members of Super Hardcore Girls, there are two more coming in. SenoSister Mao Inoue is a familiar face on Gake no Fuchi Joshi shows. Sylvania❤️Catherine is apparently related to indie wrestler Takahiro Katori.
DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2022 TOUR IN NAGOYA”, 16/07/2022 Aichi Nippon Gaishi Sports Plaza 3rd Stadium
1. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi, Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda
2. DDT Extreme Title – 3 Vs 1 Handicap Rule: Yuki “Sexy” Iino (c), Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Akito
The match stipulations for DDT Extreme Title defences are usually decided by the champion so it is a little odd how little those rules get abused. This is one of those times. Yuki Iino is teaming with Danshoku Dieno AND Yumehito Imanari to face Akito in a 3 Vs 1 Handicap Match. However the rule may backfire because it is a one fall match and Akito will become the champion if he beats any member of Pheromones.
DDT “SUMMER VACATION 2022”, 24/07/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Makoto Oishi Return Match: Makoto Oishi Vs X
2. Tetsuya Endo Return Match: Tetsuya Endo Vs X
3. DDT Universal Title: Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Yusuke Okada
Yusuke Okada is tired sitting on the sidelines while the rest of BURNING gets to do their thing. He is finally taking initiative for himself and challenging Masahiro Takanashi for the DDT Universal Title. Takanashi is fighting to keep the title so he can bring it with him when he begins wrestling around the world after the summer.
42 days after his concussion, Tetsuya Endo will be cleared to wrestle again. He accepts the result of the DDT Vs NOAH match from “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” and wants to move on with a fresh start. Whether or not he quickly returns to the title picture remains to be seen but the path to take it would begin here.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022”, 20/08/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Shinichiro Kawamatsu Debut Match ~ Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Member Vs Bunkyo Ward Assembly Member: Shinichiro Kawamatsu, Sanshiro Takagi & Soma Takao Vs Osamu Nishimura, Makoto Oishi & Akito
2. International Special Hardcore Match: Joey Janela Vs Shunma Katsumata
3. DDT Universal Title: Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs X
4. KO-D Openweight Title: Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs X
Higuchi wants to nominate Endo as his opponent for “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022”. It will all depend on how well Endo does in his return match on 27th July. If DDT or Endo himself does not think he is up to the task then Higuchi may have to nominate someone else.
The debut match of Shinichiro Kawamatsu is going to be more political than he anticipated. One of his opponents is Osamu Nishimura! The legendary wrestler is currently a Councilor on the Bunkyo Ward Council.
Konosuke Takeshita will be on the show. He is coming back to Japan for a little while before continuing his international excursion.
DDT “DRAMATIC EXPLOSION 2022”, 04/09/2022 Aichi Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall
1. Current Blast Death Match: Atsushi Onita Vs X
It’s the return of Atsushi Onita and the Explosion Death Match to DDT!
DDT “JAPAN BAKERY MARKETING PRESENTS KONOSUKE TAKESHITA 10TH ANNIVERSARY ~NISHINARI BAY BLUES~”, 10/09/2022 Osaka Nishinari Kumin Center
1. Japan Bakery Marketing Co., Ltd. Presents Special Single Match: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Daisuke Sasaki
Takeshita will also be in his hometown to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of his debut match. He was asked to choose his opponent and he picked Daisuke Sasaki. He decided nobody else can bring out all of himself in the ring like Sasaki can. He also doesn’t know how many more times they will have singles matches against each other so now is the time to do it again.
DDT “KING OF DDT 2022 FINAL!!”, 03/07/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 703 Fans
0. Dark Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani defeated Toru Owashi, Soma Takao & Toi Kojima when Okatani pinned Kojima with the Double Arm Suplex (7:55).
0. Dark Match: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida when KANON pinned Ishida with the Sleepy Hollow (6:51).
1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari defeated Akito, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata by TKO when Iino used the Pheromone Judgement on Akito (7:16).
2. King Of DDT 2022 – Semi Final: Naomi Yoshimura defeated Yuki Ueno with the Osaka Pride (10:46).
3. King Of DDT 2022 – Semi Final: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Jun Akiyama with the Brain Claw Slam (14:28).
4. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated Masahiro Takanashi & HARASHIMA when Okada pinned Takanashi with the Sudden Death (10:09).
5. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Andrew “The Giant” Everett defeated MAO & Shunma Katsumata when Everett pinned Katsumata with the Choke Slam Spanish Fly (14:59).
6. KO-D Openweight Title – King Of DDT 2022 – Final: Kazusada Higuchi defeated Naomi Yoshimura with the Brain Claw Slam (18:55). *Kazusada Higuchi becomes the 79th KO-D Openweight Champion!
There is a word that has been following around Kazusada Higuchi, particularly recently. “Kuronin” (苦労人). It’s a word that describes a person who works hard because they struggle so much in their life. For Higuchi that struggle was his failure to win the KO-D Openweight Title throughout his 8 year career. Five chances that spread across from his super rookie days in DNA up to his current standing in Eruption all ended in failure. Today he finally reached the top and claimed the belt by winning King Of DDT! The vacant KO-D Title was on the line in the final when Higuchi faced a red hot Naomi Yoshimura. The two heavyweights had an even battle of strength with Yoshimura using a Choke Slam to counter Higuchi’s Brain Claw. Lariats were thrown back and forth. Yoshimura’s key moves the Harai Goshi and Osaka Pride were both blocked so he reverted to his original finisher, the Throwaway Power Bomb. Higuchi grabbed him in the Brain Claw once more and this time hit the Brain Claw Slam, pinning him for the victory.
Higuchi is now the champion and he needed to have his belt. Suddenly, Jun Akiyama entered the ring and volunteered to wrap the title around Higuchi’s waist. It was over a year ago when Akiyama established his authority in DDT by ordering a rebellious Higuchi to wrap the belt around his waist after beating him in a title match. To see Akiyama now present the title to Higuchi shows how much respect has been earned. Sanshiro Takagi then brought out the DDT flag that Higuchi carried to the ring at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”. He told Higuchi he is now entrusting the flag to him as a symbol of DDT’s strength for him to lead the company with. Higuchi thanked the other members of Eruption as well as Akiyama for their support. He went through a lot to reach this point and is now putting a lot of thought into who he wants his first challenger to be. He wants to defend the title against Tetsuya Endo! He will wait for him at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 20th August.
Endo himself confirmed his return to the ring by announcing 24th July as his comeback date. He apologised to the fans causing worry with his absence while he recovered from his concussion. He was also sorry for showing a side at Saitama Super Arena that no champion should ever show. He received permission from his doctor to resume his in-ring training again last week and no longer feels any discomfort from moving around. He and DDT agreed to set 24th July as the target for his return. He is half excited, half anxious over it but will push himself hard over the next 3 weeks to regain any trust he lost from the fans. In his backstage comments, Endo said he lost to Katsuhiko Nakajima because he could not withstand his slap even if it was an accidental knockout. Everything that happens in the ring is reality and Endo accepts that reality. He will move on with his wrestling life on 24th July.
DDT’s latest foreign attraction has arrived but has the company been sold a bill of goods? Andrew “The Giant” Everett built hype to his DDT debut by claiming to be 223cm tall while weighing 190.5kg. When he finally showed up, people became skeptical because he looked to be around 175cm tall. Not even Chris Brookes kneeling down next to him could make “The Giant” look any taller. Everett also struggled to give MAO a Choke Slam. However as the match started speeding up, Everett’s aerial skills begun to be highlighted. A Shooting Star Press to MAO out of the ring wowed everyone. He then placed Shunma Katsumata up on the top rope and delivered the Choke Slam Spanish Fly to get the win. MAO is now a believer. He thinks Everett will become a tourist attraction in Japan once he stabs a spike onto his head and turns him into a second Sky Tree. Backstage, Everett mocked ShunMao for being small opponents and said he wants to fight the biggest guy in DDT… Yoshihiko?!?
The tricky wrestling style of Masahiro Takanashi has its benefits but the weakness is what happens once his opponents finally catch up to him. That was what happened today. Some wacky redirections from Takanashi caused Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku to bundle up together so HARASHIMA could hit a Swan Dive Body Press to the both of them. However Okada got his breath back and avoided the Takatonic. Instead he got to do the Intercept DDT and Diving Headbutt on Takanashi. Some cradle attempts were used from Takanashi but it couldn’t stop Okada’s momentum. In the end Okada got Takanashi’s shoulders on the mat for three with the Sudden Death. After the match Okada challenged him for the DDT Universal Title. He had to miss “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” and King Of DDT. He also couldn’t do anything but watch the rest of BURNING to their thing during that period. It’s driving him crazy so he wants the title match. Takanashi accepted the challenge and the match will take place on 24th July. Takanashi also said he is the one about to travel the world so the Universal Title rightfully belongs to himself.
Higuchi and Yoshimura bought went through important opponents in their King Of DDT semi-final bouts. As mentioned already, Higuchi’s history with Akiyama is one with plenty of disrespect and trust issues. Even putting that aside you are always in a fight for your life against Akiyama. Higuchi was almost counted out when he was given an Exploder Suplex on the floor. He was also almost pinned with exposed Knee Strikes from Akiyama. Higuchi almost got his big win earlier in the match with an Avalanche Brain Claw Slam but he took too long to go for the pin. Akiyama also tried a rate top rope attack but his Flying Knee Strike was countered in mid-air with a Lariat. Higuchi got to apply the Brain Claw again and turned it into the Brain Claw Slam to advance to the final.
Yoshimura continues to be unbeaten against Yuki Ueno in singles matches but don’t let that fool you into thinking it was an easy match. Some well timed Dropkicks kept giving Ueno an advantage but he could just not get his big moves to count when it mattered. Yoshimura blocked the BME and avoided the WR. Ueno however couldn’t stop the Throwaway Power Bomb and was done for when he was given the Osaka Pride. Ueno is obviously disappointed he lost but the experience made him excited to spread the word of how fun and strong DDT is.
Akito’s desire to regain the DDT Extreme Title is taking him through Pheromones hell. Before their match today began, Danshoku Dieno warned that he was lifting a banned torture technique that was handed down from generation to generation since the Edo Period. This was Pheromones way of judging Akito for the Extreme Title shot on 16th July. The torture move was eventually shown to be Akito getting his head sandwiched between Yuki Iino’s backside and Dieno’s crotch. Any rescue attempt from Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata was cut off by Yumehito Imanari. Akito was stuck in the hold for such a long time that the match was eventually stopped for his safety and Pheromones were declared the winners. After the match Dieno said Akito was not going to fight Iino on his own for the Extreme Title. The match will be a 3 Vs 1 Handicap match where Akito has to fight all of Pheromones by himself! Dieno reminded everyone the rule of the Extreme Title is the champion gets to pick the stipulation so Akito has to accept it.
A new referee named Yusho Nakata (son of the late NOAH executive and ring announcer Ryu Nakata) debuted on this show by working the opener and the dark match. That meant the poor guy had to deal with DAMNATION T.A. He tried to show control by warning Daisuke Sasaki over illegal usage of the ropes. But when Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya looked to be on the road to victory Nakata was pulled down and held back by MJ Paul. That gave KANON the chance to regroup and give Yuki Ishida a Modified Brainbuster that is now called the Sleepy Hollow for the win.
The dark match saw the other three members of Eruption beat the trio of Toru Owashi, Soma Takao & Toi Kojima. There was an exchange between Saki Akai and Takao where Akai tried applying a Triangle Choke only to get slammed out of it. Kojima almost pinned Hideki Okatani with the Full Nelson Buster but Yukio Sakaguchi broke the count. Eruption took control with Sakaguchi & Akai giving Kojima a Sandwich PK. Kojima had enough strength to kick out of Okatani’s Northern Lights Suplex but the follow up Double Arm Suplex couldn’t be beaten.
Konosuke Takeshita is temporarily returning to Japan in August. He sent a video announcing he will be part of “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022” on the 20th.
Also revealed for the show was news of Shinichiro Kawamatsu’s debut match. He will team with Sanshiro Takagi & Soma Takao in a 6-Man Tag Match. Their opponents are Makoto Oishi, Akito and another pro wrestling politician Osamu Nishimura! Takagi wants to answer the question of who will win a fight between Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly and the Bunkyo City Council! Kawamatsu thought he wouldn’t be bringing politics into the ring for his match but he looks forward for the chance to wrestle Councilor Nishimura.
At the beginning of the show several wrestlers promoted a bunch of upcoming events. Katsumata promoted the upcoming Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence event taking place on 14th July.
Akiyama will be holding his 30th Anniversary show on 18th September. Two special guests were announced for it today. They are Yuji Nagata and Yoshinobu Kanemaru from New Japan! Akiyama has a deep history with both wrestlers so it was important for them to be involved in the show.
Ken Ohka was at the show promoting Ganbare☆Pro’s biggest show in their history “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA” at Ota Ward Gym on 10th July. He was joined by Yuki Aino & Raku who both promoted Tokyo Joshi Pro’s event in the same venue, “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22” on the 9th.
Last but not least, Atsushi Onita returns to DDT on 4th September for a Current Blast Death Match in Nagoya.
DDT “KING OF DDT 2022 FINAL!!”, 03/07/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
0. Dark Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani Vs Toru Owashi, Soma Takao & Toi Kojima
0. Dark Match: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida
1. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari Vs Akito, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
2. King Of DDT 2022 – Semi Final: Yuki Ueno Vs Naomi Yoshimura
3. King Of DDT 2022 – Semi Final: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Jun Akiyama
4. Masahiro Takanashi & HARASHIMA Vs Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
5. Special Tag Match: MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Chris Brookes & Andrew “The Giant” Everett
6. KO-D Openweight Title – King Of DDT 2022 – Final: X Vs X
Another prize is on the line in the main event. The King Of DDT winner will not just get the KO-D Openweight Title but also 1,000,000 from the match sponsor BLACK OUT.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’22”, 09/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Juria Nagano
2. Aja Kong, Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Hyper Misao, Nao Kakuta, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami
3. Miu Watanabe Vs Willow Nightingale
4. Hikaru Shida & Hikari Noa Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu
5. International Princess Title: Maki Itoh (c) Vs Alex Windsor
6. Riho & Arisu Endo Vs Mei Suruga & Suzume
7. Special Single Match: Thunder Rosa Vs Miyu Yamashita
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Saki Akai & Yuki Arai
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi
The Magical Sugar Rabbits went skydiving in Tochigi as part of their preparations for the Princess Tag Team Titles match. Mizuki said afterwards she now feels invincible. Yuka Sakazaki agreed and is certain they will successfully defend the titles at Ota Ward Gymnasium next month. Sakazaki is now currently in America, appearing at AEW last night and scheduled for PWG this weekend.
Mei Suruga & Suzume have decided on what to call their tag team. Their name is MeiBee Surprise!
GANBARE☆PRO “WRESTLE SEKIGAHARA”, 10/07/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. Ganpro Specialty 3 Vs 2 Handicap Match: Ganbare Tamagawa, Nobuhiro Shimatani & HARUKAZE Vs Onryo & YuuRI (w/ Ippanjin Munenori Sawa)
2. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Takaiwa Army: Kouki Iwasaki & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & 5th Black Tiger
3. Four Beasts Of Fate Gathered In Sekigahara ~Special Tag Match~: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs Isami Kodaka & Shuji Ishikawa
4. Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling Vs Eruption: Mizuki Watase, Moeka Haruhi & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
5. Special Single Match: Yuna Manase Vs Sayaka Unagi
6. Special Tag Match ~ CDK Vs ROMANCE DAWN: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Shota & Soma Takao
7. Special Single Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Minoru Suzuki
8. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Yumehito Imanari (c) Vs Ken Ohka
Nine years ago Ganbare☆Pro was created by Ken Ohka. Standing next to him was Yumehito Imanari, who wasn’t even a full fledged pro wrestler at the time. Now Imanari has become a strong wrestler and also a champion. Ohka knows his friend has already surpassed him but he really, really wants to win the Spirit Of Ganbare Title. Imanari says neither of them make a living from pro wrestling alone but he does not feel guilty about it. This has been his way of life for a decade and he will put everything into it at Ota Ward. He also remembers their last singles match against each other 4 years ago. There was no winner then because of outside interference so he wants the result to be clear on 10th July.
Shuichiro Katsumura met face to face with Minoru Suzuki for the first time since their brawl earlier this month. Since then Katsumura changed his attitude over the match. At first he was excited to finally wrestle Suzuki but after meeting him he is now determined to beat him. He’s been studying Suzuki trying to find any weaknesses he can take advantage of. Suzuki accused Katsumura of holding onto past glories from his MMA career which makes him want to smash Katsumura to pieces! He also told Katsumura not to disappoint him.
The war of words between Yuna Manase and Sayaka Unagi took a bizarre turn during the press conference. Manase talked about having no regrets in her career that brought her from Stardom to Actwres girl’Z to Tokyo Joshi Pro to Ganpro. So she knows Unagi but is unsure if her behavior now is out of confidence or insecurity. However she will not underestimate her opponent because she wants to prove Ganpro is amazing. Unagi said her problem is when she lost the singles match against Manase in 2019 she lost to a woman who is in the late stages of her wrestling career. Unagi needs to get her win back so she can move on to working her way up in Stardom and collect all of their championships. The bizarre moment was when the two stood next to each other for the photo op. Unagi suddenly attacked Manase and bit her on the chest! Unagi told her she is sick of seeing Manase acting so kind hearted. She wants to see Manase fighting for her life and go crazy in the ring!
“SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS BOX OFFICE ~ SUPER HARDCORE GIRLS VS PROMINENCE”, 14/07/2022 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence ~ Special Hardcore Match: Carousel❤️Shun Vs Suzu Suzuki
The grudge between Shunma Katsumata and Suzu Suzuki from Prominence isn’t over yet. Katsumata’s little idea of introducing Super Hardcore Girls to the feud has taken a life of its own. Now we’re getting a stand alone show pitting the two sides against each other! Carousel❤️Shun returns to the ring by taking on Suzuki in a Hardcore Match. Shun’s BFF Elizabeth❤️Toy is expected to return too while more members of Prominence are yet to be announced. Katsumata & Toi Kojima are selling tickets to the show on behalf of Super Hardcore Girls.
BASARA “ISAMI KODAKA 20TH ANNIVERSARY”, 18/07/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Lil’ Kraken Vs Raimu Imai
2. 3 Way Jacket Match: Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi Vs Gouma Vs Shiori Asahi
3. Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Kengo Mashimo Vs FUMA, Yusuke Kubo & Daichi Kazato
4. Daiki Shimomura, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino Vs Tsutomu Oosugi, Banana Senga & Masahiro Takanashi
5. Elimination 8-Man Tag Match: Ryota Nakatsu, SAGAT, Naoki Tanizaki & Akiyori Takizawa Vs Fuminori Abe, Takuya Nomura, Hideyoshi Kamitani & Daichi Hashimoto
6. Isami Kodaka Vs Yuko Miyamoto
Kosuke Sato is out of action for a month to recover from injury. Daichi Hashimoto takes his place in the Elimination Tag Match.
“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.
DDT “AUDIENCE 2022”, 22/05/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 529 Fans
1. Naomi Yoshimura defeated Yuki Ishida with the Harai Goshi (5:45).
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Akito (w/ Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari) defeated HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda when Akito submitted Honda with the Figure 4 Leg Lock (10:52).
3. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno defeated Kazuki Hirata with the WR (9:13).
4. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence Full-Scale Battle ~ Special Hardcore Match: Suzu Suzuki & Akane Fujita defeated Carousel❤️Shun & Elizabeth❤️Toy when Suzuki pinned Toy with the German Suplex (12:18).
5. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku defeated Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya, Ilusion & El Unicorn when Koroku submitted Unicorn with a Crab Hold (14:38).
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: MAO & Asuka defeated Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) when MAO pinned Brookes with the Osaka Rinkai Upper (14:08). *CDK fails in V3. MAO & Asuka become the 74th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
7. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Final: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani when Sasaki submitted Okatani with the Crossface Lock (20:04). *DAMNATION T.A become the 46th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions!
An unlikely figure has taken it upon himself to defend DDT against NOAH at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” next month. It’s Daisuke Sasaki! First he led DAMNATION T.A to victory against Eruption, reclaiming the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles that were stripped from them after Minoru Fujita’s injury. This wasn’t the heroic bit because Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON attacked Eruption with chairs. Sasaki even hit Saki Akai with a chairshot when she tried to intervene. Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi did what they could to keep Hideki Okatani in the fight but that was blown when Okatani missed the Diving Knee Drop. KANON softened him up more and Sasaki gave him the Blade Runner to set up a Crossface Lock for the submission victory.
Sasaki said his team deserved to win this “stupid” tournament. He recommended Okatani to get rid of his tacky red hair and costume so he can join DAMNATION T.A. He then praised KANON as a million dollar talent. This was when Sasaki stepped up for DDT and declared he will beat Kenoh at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” for the company. He warned the rest of DDT not to stand there and just watch the match. They are the champions now which means DDT revolves around Daisuke Sasaki & DAMNATION T.A! Meanwhile Eruption are licking their wounds. Sakaguchi said they will learn from the loss and adapt because any combination of unit is capable of winning the championship. Higuchi said he will rampage against the NOAH wrestlers as an individual member of Eruption while Sakaguchi said he will take his frustration out on Ganbare☆Pro!
History was made with Asuka becoming the first woman to win the KO-D Tag Team Titles! With MAO as her tag partner, they defeated CDK in a chaotic bout that saw MAO get buried underneath the entrance gate early in the match. MAO escaped and then used the entrance gate to Moonsault onto Chris Brookes below. Asuka did her own risky high flying by delivering a Missile Dropkick to CDK and Antonio Honda outside the ring. More double team moves came quick and fast from both teams until MAO used the Michinoku Driver II on Brookes to get the upper had. Brookes tried to reverse course but MAO pulled out the Osaka Rinkai Upper (a Super Delfin signature move) to create the title change. MAO said he doesn’t now how long this adventure with Asuka can go but he is going to enjoy it. Asuka didn’t expect to cry over this and thinks they can make something amazing together even as an impromptu tag team. MAO will also now be a double champion defending the DDT Universal Title against Masahiro Takanashi on 1st June.
The present and future of DDT in many forms were put together into an 8-Man Tag Match. All of BURNING was on one side and they were victorious against the mixture of heavyweight tag and DDTeeeen!! wrestlers. El Unicorn wanted to be put to the test and targeted both Tetsuya Endo & Jun Akiyama. The latter lost his cool towards Unicorn’s behavior and Yusuke Okada had to stop Akiyama from Piledriving the kid. When that was cleared, Okada had his hands full with fighting Ilusion. If that wasn’t enough, Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya also wanted a piece of Endo when they could. Unicorn took centre stage again by pairing off against Yuya Koroku in the final moments. The youngster showed his toughness by gutting it out for as long as he could but Koroku made him give up in the end. Akiyama was still annoyed afterwards that the others stopped him from giving Unicorn the Piledriver. Both Unicorn and Ilusion were disappointed with the result. Unicorn promised to get more experience. Ilusion reminded him they aren’t friends and he will beat him up on the way to surpassing Endo & Akiyama.
After weeks of teasing from Carousel❤️Shun, her shy friend Elizabeth❤️Toy finally made her first public appearance as the Super Hardcore Girls took on the Prominence pair of Suzu Suzuki & Akane Fujita. Toy entered to “All The Things She Said” by t.A. T.u. and wrestled in clothes that came straight from that act. It was a Hardcore Match featuring tables, Lego blocks, ladders, concrete blocks and more. Shun missed a baseball bat swing aimed for Suzuki and hit Toy instead. Suzuki capitalized and pinned Toy with the German Suplex onto the ring filled with Lego. After the match she demanded to fight Shunma Katsumata instead of an “old hag” like Shun. Shun claimed she is 18 years old and will go get Katsumata. She also wants to do a full Super Hardcore Girls show in the future. Fujita later said she is open to have Prominence involved in that if there really are more Super Hardcore Girls out there. She also told Suzuki to work on her vocabulary because she keeps using the same old insults on Katsumata.
The promise of an exciting match against Yuki Ueno had Kazuki Hirata acting different today. He came out to his old theme song and even threw away his Hirata GO! glasses to show how determined he was to win. He wrestled seriously for five minutes but when it was clear he couldn’t beat Ueno he pulled out another pair of GO! glasses and returned to his normal self. Ueno had a pair of glasses too and they both danced together until Hirata tried to Cradle his opponent. Ueno hit the WR on him instead and won the match. Hirata said he wants the rematch to be a death match but it doesn’t have to happen until 23 years time.
Akito’s plan to infiltrate Pheromones and destroy it from within hit a snag. He reluctantly joined in with their shenanigans against HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda and even picked up the win. However Danshoku Dieno told Akito after the match he didn’t exhibit any pheromones at all. He will need to pass the Excalibur Challenge to join the unit. The challenge involves Akito having to pull a sword sticking out of Yuki Iino’s butt. He tried it there and then but failed. Dieno then explained you can only do the challenge once per day so Akito will have to try again tomorrow. Sanshiro Takagi is holding a promotional event tomorrow so they will do it there.
Naomi Yoshimura’s use of the Harai Goshi judo throw continues to get him wins. This time the move put down Yuki Ishida in the opening match.
The full field of 16 wrestlers were announced for the King Of DDT 2022 tournament beginning next month. They are Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura, MAO, Yuki Ueno, Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi, Hideki Okatani, Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya, Daisuke Sasaki, KANON and Yuki Iino.
Kota Umeda will return to DDT for the first time in 3 years at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022” on 20th August. Umeda was a key part of DNA, DDT’s developmental brand that ran from 2014 to 2018. He briefly left pro wrestling in 2019 to help run his family business but returned on a part-time basis in 2020.
DDT “AUDIENCE 2022 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 06/05/2022 Shinjuku FACE
1. Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida
2. Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
3. Children’s Day Special! DDTeeeen!! Challenge Match I: Yuki Ueno Vs Ilusion
4. Children’s Day Special! DDTeeeen!! Challenge Match II: Tetsuya Endo Vs El Unicorn
5. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Round 1: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Round 1: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Akito, Hikaru Machida & Thanomsak Toba
7. CDK Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs MAO & Shunma Katsumata
KANON is the mystery man for DAMNATION T.A with a new look to boot. He’s on their team for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament.
The day after Children’s Day sees the two wrestlers from DDTeeeen!! in big singles matches. El Unicorn faces Tetsuya Endo one on one while Ilusion has to take on Yuki Ueno.
DDT “AUDIENCE 2022 TOUR IN HIROSHIMA”, 15/05/2022 Hiroshima Industrial Hall East Exhibition Hall
1. Chris Brookes Vs Yuki Ishida
2. Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
3. 4 Way Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino Vs Rey Paloma Vs Antonio Honda Vs Saki Akai
4. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuya Koroku
5. Special Tag Match: MAO & Toui Kojima Vs Hiroshi Yamato & Kenshin Chikano
6. Hiroshima Specialty Special Single Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Yuki Ueno
7. BURNING Vs Eruption!: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani
The hometown hero Danshoku Dieno gets a special single match against Yuki Ueno.
DDT “AUDIENCE 2022”, 22/05/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku Vs Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya, Ilusion & El Unicorn
2. Special Single Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Kazuki Hirata
3. Super Hardcore Girls Vs Prominence Full-Scale Battle ~ Special Hardcore Match: Carousel❤️Shun & Elizabeth❤️Toy Vs Suzu Suzuki & Akane Fujita
4. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles Tournament – Final: X, X & X Vs X, X & X
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs MAO & Asuka
A double championship conflict is forming between MAO and CDK. MAO is teaming up with Asuka to challenge for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. However it was only granted when Masahiro Takanashi got a DDT Universal Title shot in return. MAO originally considered Toui Kojima to be his partner to keep his plans within The 37KAMIINA. But he sees a lot of momentum coming out of the pairing between himself and Asuka. If he wants to get proper results he understands he should not ignore that momentum. If they can win the KO-D Tag Titles then that means three people from Miyagi will be champions in DDT (Tetsuya Endo would be the third)!
Prominence are chasing after Shunma Katsumata to get revenge for him eliminating Suzu Suzuki from the King Of Street Tournament. Katsumata wants nothing to do with them and refused to give her any rematch. However Katsumata’s relative Carousel❤️Shun has suddenly appeared wanting to fight Suzuki in his place. She claims she has spent the entire pandemic wrestling in America. She also has a friend named Elizabeth❤️Toy who is allegedly Toui Kojima’s relative. Kojima denies this, sees through “Shun’s” plan and wants nothing to do with it. Too bad for him though because the Super Hardcore Girls Shun & Toy are going to fight Suzuki & Akane Fujita in a Hardcore Tag Match!
DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2022 TOUR IN KUMAMOTO”, 29/05/2022 Kumamoto Castle Hall Civic Hall
1. Special Single Match: Saki Akai Vs Maya Yukihi
The previous plan for Saki Akai and Maya Yukihi to form an all women tag team is put on hold so they can have one more match against each other. Yukihi cannot help but think what would happen if they had a rematch of their bout at Sumo Hall so she convinced Akai to go ahead with it. Akai is adamant however this will be the only rematch.
DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2022”, 01/06/2022 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. DDT Extreme Title: Yuki “Sexy” Iino (c) Vs AKIRA
2. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs Masahiro Takanashi
There have been times in recent years when Takanashi has been away from DDT. That means he has not wrestled MAO as much as he would have liked. When he returned, Takanashi was worried he was falling out of love with DDT. But thanks to CDK he is having more fun here than ever before! He hopes the Universal Title match will make people think DDT is good.
The DDT GM Hisaya Imabayashi won his feud with Pheromones but before he considers the matter closed there is one more thing involving them he wants to do. He would like to see AKIRA become a champion one more time so AKIRA is going to fight Yuki Iino for the DDT Extreme Title!
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022”, 20/08/2022 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs X
2. KO-D Openweight Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) Vs X
Right now this is the next confirmed date for a KO-D Openweight Title defence. Tetsuya Endo has not heard anything about what he is doing at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” yet. He prefers his next challenger to be someone who can confidently say they can represent DDT. However he will defend the title against anyone if he has to even if it’s against a NOAH wrestler at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL”. He has been reserved over making comments about other companies on purpose for that reason. If a challenger shows up he will give them the title match, simple as that.
Dick Togo will return to DDT for the first time since May 2019. The way he is being promoted sounds like it is not the House Of Torture version of him either.
DDT “MEGA MAX BUMP 2022 TOUR IN YOKOHAMA”, 01/05/2022 Yokohama Budokan 835 Fans
0. Dark Match: KANON defeated Yuya Koroku with the Just Cobra Twist (7:22).
0. Dark Match: Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura defeated Antonio Honda & Yuki Ishida when Yoshimura pinned Ishida with a Harai Goshi (9:33).
1. Shinya Aoki defeated Toui Kojima with a Leg Lock (5:04).
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Thanomsak Toba (w/ Naomi Susan) (c) defeated Sanshiro Takagi, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Akito, Kazuki Hirata & Gota Ihashi when JULIE submitted Hirata with the Cattle Mutilation (8:45). *V1 for Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Thanomsak Toba.
3. Maya Yukihi & Shunma Katsumata defeated Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani when Katsumata pinned Okatani with the Totonou Splash (10:28).
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~ Pheromones Vs GM Imabayashi Final Battle: Hisaya Imabayashi, AKIRA & Muscle Sakai defeated Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno & Yumehito “Fantastic” Imanari when Imabayashi pinned Dieno with a Jackknife Pin (16:55).
5. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON defeated Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Soma Takao when Sasaki submitted Takao with the Crossface Lock (10:43).
6. Special Tag Match: Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi defeated HARASHIMA & Hikaru Sato when Higuchi pinned HARASHIMA with the Brain Claw (14:25).
7. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) defeated Asuka with the Cannonball 450 (13:56). *V2 for MAO.
8. KO-D Tag Team Titles – Kitai Jisho Group K.O. GYM Presents: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) defeated Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada when Takanashi pinned Okada with a Cradle (21:09). *V2 for CDK.
9. KO-D Openweight Title: Tetsuya Endo (c) defeated Yuki Ueno with the Burning Star Press (31:17). *V1 for Tetsuya Endo.
Golden Week continued with DDT’s big offering for the holidays held inside Yokohama Budokan. It was Yuki Ueno’s chance to take the top spot and be the one to lead DDT into a new direction. Tetsuya Endo though just claimed the headline role for himself and isn’t going to be giving it up anytime soon. Some vital rope breaks kept the match alive for Endo after Ueno had him beaten, first with the WR and then with a Sleeper Hold. Ueno attempted to set up his Wrist Clutch variation the WR Unlimited but Endo blocked the move. Instead Endo launched the comeback hitting an Exploder Suplex, a Modified One-Winged Angel and then the Burning Star Press to put his opponent away. While Ueno was carried out of the ring by his teammates, Endo said he will deal with him again when Ueno learns how to turn today’s regrets into having fun with his beliefs. Kenta Kobashi then entered the ring to present the KO-D Openweight Title to Endo.
With the KO-D Title successfully defended inside a new venue, Endo said today he engraved his name on a new page of DDT history. He believes the company has potential can grow bigger from here and he is the only one who can make that happen. However he does admit that he cannot achieve this by himself. He made a decision not to choose his next challenger. He does not care who it will be as long as they have confidence and he thinks they are a suitable representative for DDT. Sanshiro Takagi praised the main event and wonders if the sight of young wrestlers doing their best can get the audience emotionally drawn into their matches. He also likes Yokohama Budokan as a venue and hopes to continue running shows there.
Nobody can stop CDK from using the referee as a weapon when they want to! They were able to physically manipulate Yukinori Matsui into Power Bombing Yusuke Okada for an unfair advantage. Jun Akiyama, who has been the strongest critic of this kind of dirty tactics, was quick to respond by giving Chris Brookes the Exploder Suplex. Okada took over from there focusing his attacks on Masahiro Takanashi. But victory slipped out of his fingers when Takanashi countered the Sudden Death into an Inside Cradle for a flash three count. Later backstage Brookes said he respects Akiyama but will not change his wrestling style for him, because his style is the DDT style.
CDK’s future plans were set in stone afterward when MAO & Asuka entered the ring. The two of them decided to team up and challenge CDK for the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Takanashi told MAO he will accept the challenge but only if MAO agrees to give him a DDT Universal Title shot. Asuka interrupted MAO and accepted the deal on his behalf. The KO-D Tag Title match will take place on 22nd May and the DDT Universal Title match will happen on 1st June.
MAO and Asuka had just finished fighting each other for the Universal Title before their reappearance later in the show. Even though MAO previously refused Asuka’s request to do a Hardcore Match, he still pulled out a plastic box to use as a weapon. Asuka ended up Choke Slamming him through the box. MAO got the upper hand and almost won with the Michinoku Driver II, a move Asuka had previously pinned him with. That didn’t work here but MAO did get the win once he hit the Cannonball 450. The two shook hands after the match, setting up their return for later. MAO said he wants to defend the Universal Title against a wide range of different challengers and unknown foreigners.
Hikaru Sato returned to DDT and Yukio Sakaguchi was right there waiting for him. Their early exchanges had them giving each other Snapmares followed by a Football Kick to the back. HARASHIMA and Kazusada Higuchi carried the second half of the match. Higuchi countered the Somato with a Power Bomb. HARASHIMA tried to block the Brain Claw Slam but Higuchi persisted and used the Brain Claw to pin his rival for the three count. Sakaguchi said the match felt like he went back in time to nine years ago. Higuchi has confidence to become more aggressive because there were three former KO-D Champions involved but he was the one who got the win.
After weeks of teases and threats of betrayal, it was time for DAMNATION T.A to reveal their newest member. It’s KANON! In the time between his dark match and the DAMNATION T.A match, KANON dyed his hair and changed into a new costume to fit in with his new alignment. The injured Minoru Fujita was also at ringside grabbing Yukio Naya’s leg to give his team the advantage. The other side still had Yuji Hino though so it was still a tough match. Daisuke Sasaki had to distract the referee so KANON could hit Soma Takao with a chair. Sasaki then applied the Crossface Lock on Takao to make him submit. He later said KANON is not in DDT to play games. DAMNATION T.A wants to reach the top in the shortest possible time which is why they recruited KANON. Then when Fujita is cleared to wrestle again their momentum will be unstoppable!
Everyone got a big surprise after that match was over and the ring emptied. Kenoh from NOAH walked out! He got on the microphone and said DDT fans have been watching fake wrestlers but now a real wrestler has arrived. He called DDT an arts and crafts show filled with a pampered roster of people. He blames Sanshiro Takagi for this and demands he leave the pro wrestling business! But first he wants to fight Takagi at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022” on 12th June. Suddenly Sasaki got back into the ring and faced off with Kenoh. He said if Kenoh wants a match then he should fight the best wrestler in DDT instead of a third rate wrestler like Takagi. Kenoh said Takagi is not even a fifth rate wrestler. He also thought Sasaki was the only sane person in DDT but it is clear he isn’t if he is standing up for them. Kenoh accepted Sasaki’s challenge for a singles match at “CYBERFIGHT FESTIVAL 2022”.
Hisaya Imabayashi was put into the fight of his life. His feud with Pheromones reached its climax right here with his children in attendance to see it. The skill gap was still gigantic but the DDT GM fought to his limit while AKIRA and Muscle Sakai did their best to keep their team in the match. Pheromones were up to their usual tricks like Yumehito Imanari spraying his opponents with a fire extinguisher in a lewd manner. Danshoku Dieno put Imabayashi in a Knee Cross that looked to be the finish until Imabayashi’s kids approached ringside cheering for their dad to keep fighting until he reached the ropes. Dieno lifted him up to do a Danshoku Driver in front of the children but AKIRA cut him off and Imabayashi rolled Dieno over into a Jackknife Pin for the upset victory!
Imabayashi thanked his two sons for their help and then told Pheromones this was the end of their conflict. However he has one request. He would like to see AKIRA hold a championship again so he wants him to challenge Yuki Iino for the DDT Extreme Title! AKIRA is happy to take that request and agreed with Iino to have the match on 1st June.
In mixed tag action Maya Yukihi & Shunma Katsumata beat the Eruption duo of Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani. The match briefly brought back the rivalry between Akai and Yukihi since they have been on good terms since their match at “JUDGEMENT 2022”. Yukihi politely interrupted Akai’s post match interview backstage. The match they just had made Yukihi wonder what will happen if they have another singles bout against each other. Akai thought she wanted them to form the only two woman tag team in DDT but Yukihi convinced her to have one more singles match before they do that.
There was another big story coming out of that tag match. Prominence came out after the match and attacked Katsumata! Suzu Suzuki wants to get revenge for him beating her in the King Of Street Wrestling. Every day since then she has only gotten angrier at Katsumata because she lost to him. She will never forgive him until they have a rematch. Katsumata said he already beat Suzuki so he will never fight her again!
The DDT Legend team hold on to the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles. Their first title defence was against a collection of undercard DDT wrestlers along with special guest and former champion Yoshiaki Yatsu. There was a moment when Kazuki Hirata almost overpowered Poison Sawada JULIE with his own magic power. JULIE stopped him and made him give up to the Cattle Mutilation. Now DDT has a scheduling problem with the reigning champions. Takashi Sasaki said he doesn’t feel like coming back to DDT unless they bring in big competition. His logic is if the complete team (including Naomi Susan) cannot get together for a title defence then they will be champions forever! However MIKAMI said he can adjust his schedule for future title defences. GENTARO is the same because he’s happy to get the work.
Toui Kojima tried using the Triangle Choke to beat Shinya Aoki but didn’t have the experience to make it work. Aoki stayed patience and found his spot to put Kojima in a Leg Lock, making the young wrestler tap. Backstage Aoki asked if Kojima wants DDT to become the No. 1 wrestling company. Kojima said he does so he can become stronger. Aoki joked they will have to beat the competition one by one so their first target is Stardom.
There were two dark matches before the show. The heavyweight team of Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura were victorious against Antonio Honda & Yuki Ishida. Owashi and Honda teased kissing each other. Yoshimura used the Harai Goshi throw from Judo to pin Ishida.
KANON’s earlier appearance with his previous look was when he won against Yuya Koroku. KANON talked about Koroku potentially becoming a rival. As a hint of what was to come later, KANON said he would never have left JTO if he was just going to stop at this level. He told the fans to keep an eye on him.
It was announced that Dick Togo will be at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022” on 20th August.