DDT welcomed back longtime deathmatch icon (and controversy magnet) Atsushi Onita today for an event featuring his signature exploding current deathmatch, but there was a lot on the line in the match-Onita’s trademark to the match name against DDT executives’ positions in the company.
Today’s event was held at Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market in Kanagawa and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably Tuesday). There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 234, a super full house/very near sellout.
The show opened with the first-ever electric current explosion mirror split.
Match 1: Yukio Naya beat Takeshi Masada.
Match 2: Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino beat Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi. Iino beat Sumi.
Match 3: HARASHIMA, Saori Anou & Yusuke Okada beat Kazuki Hirata, Saki Akai & Gota Ihashi. Anou pinned Ihashi after an Akai high kick and a medulla oblong slash.
Match 4: In a Chain Deathmatch, Chris Brookes beat Demonio Uno by ref stoppage (TKO-technical submission).
Match 5: Yuki Ueno & MAO beat Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku. Ueno pinned Koroku after Stretch Bomb.
Match 6: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida. KANON beat Ishida with a cobra twist.
Main Event: In a New Year Air Time Bomb & Electric Blast Deathmatch, with a time bomb suspended above the ring that would explode after 10 minutes had passed, Atsushi Onita, Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima beat Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Takao Soma.Onita pinned Soma after an electric blast bat full swing. The stip was that if Onita’s team lost, he lost the “exploding current” trademark to DDT, but if Onita’s team won whoever scored the winning pinfall/submission took the loser’s position in the company. As a result, Onita becomes the store manager of DDT’s Dropkick bar/restaurant, a position previously held by Soma. Exploding current cocktail has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Afterwards, HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata came out to make a challenge for a current bombing match on 3/19 (a potential return date to the venue) and Onita declared the launch of “Dramatic Dream Onita”. Never know what will happen with “Mr. Liar” though.
The next event is Friday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo, a special event to celebrate Sanshiro Takagi’s birthday. Those who purchase special Takagi seats for, in tribute to his “346” number associated with him-34,600 yen-get an all-you-can-drink meal with Takagi at Dropkick afterwards (and with Onita now manager this could be a lot of fun), a special ringside seat during Takagi’s match (which is Takagi & Fuminori Abe vs. Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada), a commemorative photo with Takagi in the ring and more. There’s also a 3-way DDT Universal Title match on the card. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.
(Correction: The original post said there would be no live broadcast for the 1/13 event. It will stream live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE)
