Time for a roundup of recent DDT news:
This past weekend in JCW in the US, DDT Extreme Champion Joey Janela successfully defended the title against Beastman in a Body Slam Challenge match. The rule was the first to successfully bodyslam your opponent wins, and Janela managed that. V3 for Janela. Video of the entire event may be available on the Game Changer Wrestling YouTube channel (it was a free livestream).
Former AEW Women's World Champion Riho will be part of Tokyo Joshi Pro's major WRESTLE PRINCESS 3 event on 10/9 at Tokyo Dome City Hall. This is expected to be TJPW's biggest event of the year, although a case can be made for GRAND PRINCESS in March when they ran Ryogoku Kokugikan for the first time.
Ganbare has announced two new events for November-an 11/3 holiday matinee at Yokohama Radiant Hall (11/2 US time) and 11/19 at 2AW Square in Chiba.
The full card for DDT on 10/8 in Chiba was announced and is headlined by a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship match and two DDT-ONLY WE crossover tag matches. One is an intergender tag of Shunma Katsumata & Saki Akai vs. Hibiscus Mii & Kaji Tomato.
UPDATE: AEW star Abadon, previously announced for the 9/16 TJPW event, is now off that event. Visa issues. She was to have faced Moka Miyamoto. Mei Suruga is the replacement. Refunds will be offered. Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh will also miss the event. Both are on another international excursion.
Tag: DDT
DDT 9/13/22 Results
DDT resumed their current tour today with a house show in Tokyo.
Today’s event was held at Asakusa Flower Theater in Tokyo and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 233, a legit sellout.
Match 1: Dark match-Tawaramachi Kid Jr. & Supermarket Grilled Meat Machine (probably Super Sasadango Machine) beat Sumo Ninja 9 & Torin Tatami. Kid pinned Tatami after an explosive bulldog.
Match 2: Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno vs. Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hirata and Akito & Sanshiro Takagi in a 3-way went to a no contest. GM Imabayashi stoppage.
Match 3: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Yuji Hino & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Sasaki beat Matsunaga with a crossface.
Match 4: MAO & Shunma Katsumata beat Makoto Oishi & Yoshihiko. Katsumata pinned Oishi after Totonoe Splash.
Match 5: Chris Brookes & Kid Lycos beat Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada. Lycos pinned Masada after Ink Bomb.
Koriki Choshu appeared for a comedy segment.
Match 6: HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Yukio Naya beat Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada. Naya pinned Okada after a backdrop.
Main Event: Konosuke Takeshita, Yuki Ueno & Toui Kojima beat Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida. Takeshita pinned Ishida after Zani.
The next event is “STERNNESS 30th Anniversary-Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Commemoration” Sunday at Korakuen Hall. Vocal support by fans will be allowed so it will be reduced capacity. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT.
DDT 9/10/22 Results
DDT ran a special event today to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Konosuke Takeshita’s debut. He has since become one of the promotion’s top names.
Today’s event was held at Nishinari Community Center in Osaka and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. The live broadcast was only on ABEMA.
The announced paid attendance was 487, a super full house/very near sellout.
Match 1: Pre-Show Match-MJ Pawl & KANON beat Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada. KANON pinned Masada after Sleepy Hollow.
Match 2: Pre-Show Match: Toru Owashi won a 13 man battle royal, last eliminating Kazuki Hirata, to win the vacant DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship. Owashi becomes the 1551st Champion. Which led to…
Kazuki Hirata beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Toru Owashi to win the title. Hirata becomes the 1552nd Champion. Which led to…
Keiko Takeshita beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Kazuki Hirata to win the title. Takeshita becomes the 1553rd Champion. That’s Konosuke Takeshita’s mother.
Match 3: Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno beat Chris Brookes & Kid Lycos. Ueno pinned Lycos after BME.
Match 4: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima beat Brahmans Shu, Kei & Sanshiro (Sanshiro Takagi). Kojima pinned Sanshiro after an accidental explosion of mysterious powder.
Match 5: Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Offer Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki beat Miu Watanabe & Arisu Endo and Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao in a 3-way when Sakazaki pinned Endo.
Match 6: Yasu Urano, Antonio Honda & Trans Am Hiroshi beat Masa Takanashi, Super Sasadango Machine & DJ Nira. Hiroshi pinned Machine after Seiken Thrust.
Match 7: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Aliyama & Yuji Hino beat Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yukio Naya. Hino pinned Naya after F*cking BOMB.
Match 8: Minoru Suzuki & Yukio Salaguchi beat HARASHIMA & Shinya Aoki. Sakaguchi pinned HARASHIMA after God’s Right Knee.
Main Event: Konosuke Takeshita 10th Anniversary Match-Konosuke Takeshita beat Daisuke Sasaki. The match was sponsored by Japan Bakery Marketing Co., the event sponsor.
The next event is Tuesday at Asakusa Flower Theater in Tokyo. There will be no live broadcast. The event is a legit advance sellout.
Muscle 7 Event 1 Results (Link) 9/7/22
DDT revived the Muscle sub-label today for the first of 4 special themed events over the next 3 days. It can be best described as a theater/opera-style performance with some actual wrestling. Today’s event featured lots of the former and a roughly 18-20 man tag match.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 544.
It’s easier just to link to DDT’s website for the recap, which has optional Google https://www.ddtpro.com/results/18824translation built in on some browsers.
https://www.ddtpro.com/results/18824
Event 2 is tomorrow at Kitazawa Town Hall in Tokyo and will be the monthly DDT FREE event with free admission for lucky ticket lottery winners. The last 2 events are Friday, also at Kitazawa Town Hall. There will be no live broadcast for any of the events.
DDT News Dump 9/6/22
Lots of DDT Group news today:
First up, Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced the next challengers for Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Arai & Saki Akai-Leah O’Reilly & Nightshade, both from Pro Wrestling EVE in England and both are heavyweights by women’s wrestling standards, so another literally huge test for AA Eye Candy. That match will happen at WRESTLE PRINCESS 3 on 10/9. Nightshade previously appeared in TJPW in 2019, challenging Maki Itoh for the International Princess Championship. O’Reilly spent time just before that in the Sendai Girls promotion.
A match to determine the next challenger for International Princess Champion Alex Windsor will happen on 9/16 at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. It will be Miu Watanabe vs. Suzume. The question then is will the winner go to England for the match like Hikari Noa did, or will Windsor return to Japan? Also, Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh will miss the 9/16 event. Both are headed overseas again.
Now for DDT: On 9/3 in Game Changer Wrestling in the US, Joey Janela successfully defended the DDT Extreme Championship in an 8-man Two Ring Ladder Scramble F**kfest match. V2 for Janela. The event is available as a PPV on FITE but the match likely will be on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at some point in the future.
All-Japan Pro Wresting announced Yukio Naya has been added to their 50th Anniversary event on 9/18 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Naya is replacing Ren Ayabe, who is now off due to injury.
Ganbare Pro wrestler Takaki Iwasaki has been added to 10/15 & 10/16 in Hokkaido.
And finally, the details of LiLiCo’s insane “Full refund if boring” plan for the year-ending event at Tokyo Dome City Hall have been announced: The refund window will be up to one hour after the 12/29 event ends, with refunds provided at a special booth by DDT Vice President/wrestler Akito. Fans will have to present their ticket stub from that day and ID and fill out a questionnaire and will only get the ticket price back. If they bought seats that cane with any benefits/goods, those have to get returned too. Same for any giveaway items for WRESTLE UNIVERSE members. No refunds for 25th Anniversary Last Commemorative Seats, which will be a whopping 250,000 yen each (around $1900 US). Other seats will cost 5000-35,000 yen ($40-275 US). So if everyone that could request a refund does, they could lose maybe in the 6 digits US. Tickets go on sale September 18.
DDT 9/4/22 Results
DDT held their “DRAMATIC EXPLOSION 2022” event today, a major show built around the signature death match gimmicks alongside their comedy style, although there were some big wrestling matches too.
Today’s event was held at Nagoya Congress Center in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese.
The announced paid attendance was 529, a full house/near sellout. It looked like a smaller capacity layout than Tokyo Joshi Pro’s event due to the planned matches. Vocal support by fans was allowed. Your hosts are Haruo Murata & Kagehiro Osano with special guest Marika Tani of SKE48, who changed out of her Yuki Arai shirt from earlier (supporting her SKE48 teammate during the TJPW event) into a Pheromons shirt. Shameful, haha.
Match 1: Yusuke Okada beat Takeshi Masada.
Match 2: Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno beat Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda. Iino pinned Hirata.
Match 3: Akito & Shinya Ishida beat MAO & Yuki Ishida. Akito beat Yuki Ishida with a Figure 4. No relation between the Ishidas.
Match 4: Yuki Ueno, Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi beat Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku. Oishi beat Koroku with a Fujiyama kneelock.
Match 5: KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & Kanon beat Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani to retain the titles. KANON pinned Okatani after Sleepy Hollow. V2 for the champs. Next up: Hino, Oishi & Shiori Asahi. That will happen on 10/8 in Chiba.
Intermission. Skip ahead 10-15 minutes here.
Match 6: In a Bunkhouse Scramble Exploding Blast Current Death Match, Atsushi Onita, Shinya Aoki & Yukio Naya beat Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima. Naya pinned Kojima. Afterwards, Kojima with microphone. He wants another such match with Onita.
Match 7: Chris Brookes beat Asuka (Veny).
Main Event: KO-D Tag Team Champions Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura beat HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi to retain the titles. Yoshimura pinned Owashi after a lariat. V1 for the champs. Next up: Sasaki & KANON. That will happen on 10/12 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Then Shinya Aoki teased cashing in his “Money In The Bank” open match rights (represented by an NFT collectible) on Higuchi then and there for the KO-D Openweight Championship, but ultimately did not.
The next event is the Konosuke Takeshita 10th Anniversary Event Saturday at Nishinari Community Center in Osaka. The live broadcast will be available ONLY IN JAPAN ON ABEMA. Tokyo Joshi Pro will have a 3-way tag match on the card as well.
DDT News & Updates for Nagoya-9/4/22
DDT & Tokyo Joshi Pro are running a doubleheader in Nagoya this Sunday, September 4 with mid-major shows for both. Here is a rundown of the steady stream of news coming out for each event:
First, TJPW…for the second time in the past year, all-girl J-Pop megagroup SKE48, which Yuki Arai is a member of, will have a live mini-concert during Sunday’s event. Arai will perform along with “teammates” (group members) Natsuki Kamata, Haruka Kumazaki, Nao Fukushi & Yoshiko Matsumoto. And while she is not performing, fellow teammate Marika Tani will be a guest on commentary for both the TJPW and DDT events. The performance will be part of the live broadcast on WRESTLE UNIVERSE, and you can watch on demand too but only for one month, so don’t miss it! Then after the performance Arai and Saki Akai defend the Princess Tag Team Championship against Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu. Arai has taken tough losses to both Kamifuku & Kiryu recently so here’s hoping her teammates can provide enough of a boost to lift AA Eye Candy to a win over the so-called Allies Of The Orient aka Special KK. (They come up with weird names for teams-take Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta, who are known as Free WiFi)
Here is the full card for Sunday:
Yuki Aino vs. Nao Kakuta & Neko Haruna in a 3-way
Hikari Noa vs. Moka Miyamoto
Maki Itoh vs. Arisu Endo
Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Miyu Yamashita & Raku
Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Pom Harajuku vs. Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Suzume
Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Arai & Saki Akai vs. Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu for the titles
The event will stream LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE beginning Saturday at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT. LIVE RESULTS will be posted here.
DDT runs shortly after TJPW. As noted above, Marika Tani will be a guest on commentary for this event as well.
Because it’s DDT, the previously announced Electric Current Explosion Death Match will now have weapons including an electrified barbed wire bat, block toy bat (a favorite of The37KAMINA), mine board and, now of all things, the first ever electrified explosive current bazooka. Yes, explosive current bazooka. Drop the $6.56 US for a month of WRESTLE UNIVERSE or get the new subscriber 2-week free trial for this level of ridiculousness…and Atsushi Onita too, although you never know with “Mr. Liar”. And also to hear Marika Tani likely squealing like crazy on commentary.
The full card for Sunday:
Yusuke Okada vs. Takeshi Masada
Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno vs. Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
Akito & Shinya Ishida vs. MAO & Yuki Ishida
Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku vs. Yuki Ueno & Makoto Oishi
Chris Brookes vs. Asuka (Veny)
KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & KANON vs. Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani for the titles
KO-D Tag Team Champions Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura vs. HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi for the titles
Atsushi Onita, Shinya Aoki & Yukio Naya vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Shunma Katsumata & Youi Kojima in a Bunkhouse Scramble Current Blast Death Match
The event will stream live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Sunday at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. So if you’re pulling an all-nighter to watch both events live there will be about a 2 hour break between the events.
DDT 8/26/22 Results
DDT ran one of their occasional wacky “beer garden pro wrestling” events today, although due to the coronavirus pandemic this was a “non-alcoholic” version.
Today’s event was held at Ueno Park Outdoor Stage in Tokyo and should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 427, a full house/near sellout.
Match 1: Pre-show dark match: MJ Pawl & KANON beat Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada. KANON pinned Masada after Sleepy Hollow.
Match 2: In a Bunkhouse Scramble Weapons Falls Count Anywhere match, Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya, Yuki Ishida & Illusion beat Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Takao Soma. Naya pinned Ishida after a chokeslam onto a pool.
Match 3: In a “Crocodile Panda Drunk” (or something like that) match with unlimited 1-minute rounds, Masa Takanashi & Yukio Sakaguchi beat HARASHIMA in a 3-way after 6 rounds.
Match 4: Daisuke Sasaki beat El Unicorn.
Match 5: In a 3-way deathmatch, Akito & Makoto Oishi vs. Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno and Saki Akai & Antonio Honda went to an unclear ending.
Match 6: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima beat Yusuke Okada, Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku. Katsumata pinned Koroku after Our MADMAX.
Main Event: In a match where the teams were determined by a special customer lottery (participants were announced in advance), Konosuke Takeshita, Naomi Yoshimura & Chris Brookes beat Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ueno & Chris Brookes. Takeshita pinned Brookes after a jumping knee.
The next event is “DRAMATIC EXPLOSION 2022” on 9/4 at Nagoya Congress Center in Nagoya headlined by 2 title matches including a KO-D Tag Team Championship match and an Atsushi Onita death match. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE including English commentary will begin on 9/4 at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.
Post-show Update: The on demand replay of this event will be available starting Monday at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
DDT 8/24/22 Results
DDT began the post-WRESTLE PETER PAN portion of the year with their monthly DDT FREE event today, a free admission event beginning the build to when Konosuke Takeshita challenges Kazusada Higuchi for the KO-D Openweight Championship next month.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced attendance was 250, a super full house. All tickets were free so no paid admissions. Vocal cheering was allowed for this event.
Match 1: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuki Hirata beat Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Koju Takeda. Hirata pinned Dieno.
Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani by DQ. Okatani DQ’d. Ref assault.
Match 3: Tetsuya Endo beat Takeshi Masada.
Match 4: Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Chris Brookes beat Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku. Brookes pinned Koroku after Praying Mantis Bomb.
Match 5: Yuki Ueno & Asuka (Veny) beat Joey Janela & Akito. Ueno pinned Akito after WR.
Match 6: HARASHIMA & Toru Owashi beat Naomi Yoshimura & Makoto Oishi. Owashi pinned Oishi after a powerbomb.
Main Event: Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida beat Konosuke Takeshita & Toui Kojima. Ishida pinned Kojima after Flame Palm.
The next event is a special “non-alcoholic beer garden wrestling” event Friday at Ueno Park Outdoor Stage in Tokyo. There will be no live broadcast.
In other DDT Group news…
If the Ganbare event Saturday is held as planned (weather permitting due to being outdoors), YuuRI is now off the event. Left hand injury. She was to have teamed with Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE to face Yuna Manase, Kakeru Sekiguchi & Yoshiko Hasefawa. Cherry is the replacement.
Eri Suzuki, an actress who is a voice actress on several popular anime series, will provide some of the opening video narration for the upcoming Tokyo Joshi Pro events on 8/28 at Korakuen Hall and 9/4 at Nagoya Congress Center. Suzuki is also part of TJPW’s collaboration with popular anime series “The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls”.
Koriki Choshu, a popular Japanese comedian known for his impersonation of wrestler Riki Choshu, will make a guest appearance at the 9/13 event at Asakusa Flower Theater in Tokyo.
DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2022” Results (8/20/22)
WRESTLE PETER PAN, DDT’s biggest annual event, is now in the books. It was the highlight event so far of DDT’s 25th Anniversary celebration but there is still more to come.
Today’s event was held at Ota City General Gym in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English.
The announced paid attendance was 1250, a full house/near sellout. Because vocal cheering/support was allowed, the venue was only at 50% capacity (the whole top half of the seating was not used). Your Japanese hosts are Haruo Murata & Kagehiro Osano with special guests Marika Tani of SKE48 (a teammate of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling star Yuki Arai), Megu Taniguchi of AKB48, and the GOD of Japanese Pro Wrestling, the incomparable Kenta Kobashi. Your English hosts are Christelle Ciari, Hiroshi Arai & Bryan Burton-Lewis. (Chris Brookes was in action today and Baliyan Akki is in the US).
The event begins with opening greeting & announcements at the 10 minute mark before Kobashi delivers the opening shout at the 15 minute mark. I STILL TO THIS DAY get chills & goosebumps every time GRAND SWORD hits for his entrance (although it’s hard to see him so limited mobility-wise from age, his long career and his successful triumphs over cancer). The entire replay runs just under 5 hours.
Match 1: Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Illusion beat Toui Kojima, Yuki IShida & Takeshi Masada. Koroku beat Ishida with a stranglehold.
Match 2: Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Koju Takeda (666, but now the newest member of those despicable Pheromons) beat Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda and Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Super Sasadango Machine in a 3-way by ref stoppage (TKO) when Takeda beat Hirata.
Match 3: HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani beat Naomi Yoshimura, Kota Umeda & Keisuke Okuda. HARASHIMA pinned Yoshimura after Blue Sword.
Match 4: Shinichiro Kawamatsu Debut Match: Osamu Nishimura, Makoto Oishi & Akito beat Shinichiro Kawamatsu, Sanshiro Takagi & Takao Soma. Nishimura pinned Kawamatsu.
Match 5: Jun Akiyama & Saki Akai beat Chris Brookes & Asuka (Veny). Akai beat Asuka with an extreme arm triangle.
Match 6: In a Hardcore Match, DDT Extreme Champion Joey Janela beat Shunma Katsumata to retain the title. V1 for Janela.
Match 7: Yuki Ueno beat DDT Universal Champion Masa Takanashi to win the title. Ueno becomes the 8th DDT Universal Champion.
Match 8: DDT 25th Anniversary Match: Konosuke Takeshita, MAO & Yasu Urano beat Dick Togo (New Japan Pro Wrestling), Daisuke Sasaki & KANON. Takeshita pinned KANON after a jumping knee.
Main Event: KO-D Openweight Champion Kazusada Higuchi beat Tetsuya Endo to retain the title. V1 for Higuchi. Next up: Takeshita. That will happen on 9/25 at Korakuen Hall. Higuchi wants the best and he got the best, he certainly is proving himself to be a fighting champion and taking pride in his new position as the flag-bearer of DDT in more ways than one. This should be another excellent match.
LiLiCo, who retired earlier this year, made a special appearance today and is returning as a special ambassador for the final event of the year at Tokyo Dome City Hall. And she has come up with a true DDT idea for those attending-if you attend and feel the event was boring, you will get a full refund of your ticket price. That event will be on 12/29.
One more tournament this year is coming up-D KING GRAND PRIX 2022, a singles tournament. Kenta Kobashi has been named chairman of the tournament executive committee. It will run during November and end on December 4. Entrants will be revealed on September 25-the plan is 24 total in 2 blocks of 12 and entrants must be younger than 40 (so no Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA, Sanshiro Takagi and a few others).
The next event is Tuesday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo for the monthly DDT FREE event, where all tickets are free for those lucky enough to be chosen in the lottery to get them. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
One last thing from just finishing watching the replay: Stay tuned after the main event and Higuchi’s exit as the ending is done movie-style with a credit roll of wrestlers & staff and outtakes/unseen pre-show backstage footage. Plus some pre-event footage from outside the venue with fans entering and taking everything in, all set to one of the old DDT theme songs. Very nice touch! After it ends we see Higuchi run into Endo backstage, leading to one final show of respect between them to end the show.
