Hey everyone, after a week off it’s time to get back to the joys of rambling about pro-wrestling. This has been a tough time for more reason than one, and it isn’t something that I’ll be able to put behind me easily, but I want to reiterate that be you old friend or total stranger, the need to talk is common to us all, and I’m very easy to contact.
Anyway, let’s move on from the serious stuff and go find out what’s happening in DDT.
Eruption (Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi and Saki Akai) defeated Chris Brookes, Yukio Naya and Mizuki Watase
Have I ever mentioned that I fancy every member of Eruption? I’m not sure it’s come up.
This was serving as a tease for the NEO Itoh Respect Army coming up against Sakaguchi and Akai next week, and Brookes’ interactions with both of them did more than enough to keep me interested. He has those nice long limbs for Yukio to grab hold of and kick while Saki continues to take a beating like few others.
Outside of that, I was intrigued to see how Watase was presented after his heroic defeat to Akiyama. He showed some fire, trying to stand up and battle Sakaguchi, but he was also sent flying with some ridiculously violent throws before being choked out. He’s looked good in both these matches, though, so fingers crossed DDT is working towards giving him more opportunities.
Anyway, this was a fun opener that gave Eruption a strong win after some high profile losses.
Verdict: Swoon
MAO was forced to relinquish his Anytime Anywhere Gauntlet because of his injury. However, he will get a chance to compete for it again after Peter Pan and got himself a match-up on that show, as he and ASUKA team up against HARAFUJI.
Antonio Honda defeated Danshoku Dieno by DQ, but didn’t win the DDT IronmanTitle
I have no idea how to review this bizarre little feud that Dieno and Honda have going on. I don’t want to spoil the jokes, although if you’re an English-speaker those jokes are very reliant on ddtpro_eng (hit him up on Twitter for all your translations).
It’s also not entirely worked for me. I find Dieno’s brand of humour tough to deal with at the best of times, so while I think Honda is hilarious, it’s all fallen a bit flat on my end. This was no different as they dived into Twitter polls and text boxes to get to where they were going.
Ultimately, that was a DQ and Oishi challenging Dieno to a match next week before spitting in his face (that was played into as being inappropriate in the current climate, so it wasn’t totally tone-deaf). Will that tick my boxes? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Verdict: Not For Me
DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki and Soma Takao) defeated ALLOUT (Shunma Katsumata and Yuki Iino)
Shunma (and Isami Kodaka) are set to face Daisuke next week under hardcore rules, so this was our warm-up. They certainly embraced the chaos we should expect from that particular trio as those who get annoyed by a lack of adherence to the legal man should probably stay away.
If you are cool with that bending of wrestling’s rules, it made for a fun match, as they worked at a wild pace. Daisuke was in full dickhead mode, dragging out chairs and making life difficult for Shunma. It wasn’t one-sided, though, as Shunma caught Charisma off-guard a couple of times, looking good as he came forward. Sadly, it was a short-lived thing, his involvement coming to an end when he was dropped face-first on a chair.
The finish then caught me off-guard, Soma dropping Iino with a Running Elbow for the three. I guess it’s not hugely surprising that he pinned Iino, but I think the definitive nature, and the fact it was an Elbow against a big man, gave it the feeling of a statement. Still, what you think about that aside, they set it up well, and it was a good finish to a fun match.
Verdict: Lovely Stuff
Jun Akiyama defeated Hideki Okatani
Okatani impressed Akiyama in a tag, which earned him his first-ever singles. It’s not a bad way to start, is it?
He came out hot too, attacking Akiyama while he was being introduced. It was the set-up for a classic rookie vs veteran battle, Okatani showing all the fire before eventually being put down by the more experienced man.
It’s a style I love, and both men were great, Okatani bursting with passion while Akiyama gave him just enough before putting him away. If Okatani’s careers goes to plan, this is one we’ll be able to look back on ten years from now and smile.
Verdict: Impressive Rookie
Seigo Tachibana turned up at the end of last week’s TV show, demanding a match and had turned up at the start of this week’s doing the same. He got one as a newly slimmed-down Nobuhiro Shimatani was also on the scene, so Imabayashi booked them together for Peter Pan. In case you didn’t know, that show is taking place over two days, hence the insane number of matches being booked.
We weren’t done with the fun as Daisuke was running down Shunma backstage. That incurred the wrath of Joker Shunma who attacked leading to Sasaki shouting for help from the police and Batman. That movie is still shit, but Shunma got his revenge for the match with a Pedigree onto a pile of Lego and chairs.
ALLOUT (Konosuke Takeshita and Akito) defeated Yoshihiko and Akihiro
Wow, this was brutal. ALLOUT were all out for blood (sorry), viciously going after Yoshihiko and Akihiro. All the frustration they’d felt from Yoshihiko’s taunting messages being unleashed.
It would lead to perhaps the most horrific finish to a wrestling match ever. Akito literally tied Yoshihiko up into a ball (something I didn’t know was physically possible due to bones and shit) before dangling him from a railing, forcing him to watch on while Takeshita ripped off Akihiro’s arm. It was unforgiving and brutal, a statement being made loud and clear.
For after the match Takeshita demanded that they end this next week, challenging Yoshihiko to a Last Standing match while taunting him with the arm. This is going to end at Peter Pan.
My favourite of these matches is still the Shunma one, and this was quite a way off that, but it was still enjoyable. ALLOUT are selling this feud brilliantly.
Verdict: The War Is Coming To An End
KENOH turned up with KONGO and, unsurprisingly, he’s not a fan of DDT and Takagi. The boss man took his words to heart, coming out to set up a match for next week with him, Higuchi and Matsunaga taking on KENOH, Haoh and Kitamaya. I don’t watch much, if any, NOAH, so can’t comment on that team, but I’m intrigued to see if go ahead with a full-blown inter-company war.
DAMNHEARTS (Tetsuya Endo, T-Hawk and El Lindaman) defeated DISASTER BOX (HARASHIMA, Naomi Yoshimura and Yuki Ueno)
Ueno asked Imabayashi to make this a title match. He fobbed the question off on the champs, with Linda accepting. However, this being Linda, he had a clause, and if DISASTER BOX lost, they could never challenge again.
These DAMNHEARTS matches are always a shitload of fun, and this was no different. The cocky prick energy of Lindaman backed up by Endo and T-Hawk makes all the sense in the world and is a ridiculously fun dynamic. He’s the wee bully with his two big mates, bossing them around and never quite realising how ridiculous he is.
DISASTER BOX did their bit too, of course, the Nautilus pairing looking strong and HARASHIMA being HARASHIMA. Ueno continues to be perhaps the most underappreciated wrestler on the planet while they worked at a pace that made it impossible for this to ever get boring.
Sadly for them, a good performance wasn’t enough to get them the win. Endo put Ueno away with the Shooting Star Press, leading Lindaman and T-Hawk to challenge for the Tag Titles. With Endo also waving his sword at Tanaka, there is a chance DAMNHEARTS are going to end up with a lot of gold, and I wouldn’t hate it.
Verdict: DAMNHEARTS!
Overall Show
The week off did me good, but it was nice to sit down and watch DDT. I’m glad that even while the world burns this ridiculous wrestling company struggles on, making me smile. You can’t ask for more than that.
Watch DDT: https://www.ddtpro.com/universe
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