Something tells me this wasn’t a moment of respect to Masa. Credit: DDT
With the world (well, parts of it) returning to normal, it was time to say goodbye to the DDT TV Show. They went out with a bang, though, delivering two big title challenges. Was it a newsworthy show or was the status quo retained? Time to find out.
I don’t think a wrestling show has ever kicked off my anxiety as much as this one. A lot has happened since Stardom last ran, and while I was delighted to have them back, there is no denying that there is a large shadow over their return to the ring. Hana Kimura’s death is still being processed by many, and the thought of Stardom without her is going to take a long time to get used to.
The IW19 tournament came to an end, em, almost a month ago actually, but shush, let’s ignore that. Yea, you probably all know what went down by now, but I’m ploughing ahead anyway, desperate to review all these shows. Why? Because it’s what I do, that’s why.
The DDT TV Show has fans! Well, I assume it always had fans, but the fans are now in the building, watching from real seats and making real noise. Yes, they’re not quite at the stage of selling the place out, but this show was a wee slice of normality, and it was nice to see.
Last week’s attempt to review Tokyo Joshi turned into a more general ramble about why I love it so, making this our first look at TJPW since the fans returned. If you haven’t guessed, I am very happy to have them back, so let’s see what went down.
In light of what’s come out over the last few days, I want to kick this off by saying that I believe victims. I have nothing but respect for those who are brave enough to speak out against abusers in wrestling and will strive to do anything I can to help. In the past, I’ve described wrestling as my safety blanket, the thing that allows me to hide from the world and feel something. That anyone could have that feeling taken away from that at the hands of some sick fuck breaks my heart and makes me furious at the same time. Wrestling can and should be better. If we have to burn it down to make that a reality, then let’s grab the matches.
There is no good way to segue from that into my nonsense, so I’m not even going to try for smoothness.
As wrestling floods back into Japan, SEAdLINNNG is coming back hot, kicking things off right where they left them. Sure, there weren’t any fans there, but ASUKA and Arisa were still going to war, and that sounds like a shitload of fun.
Ice Ribbon 1043 aired on Samurai, so while it was still behind closed doors, it was a longer show that broke the formula they’ve recently been working to. I’ve generally been in favour of these short, pacey efforts, so I was intrigued to see how this would go down without a crowd.
Unless things take a turn for the worse in Japan, this will be the last DDT TV Show to take place in an empty arena. It’s the end of an era, but probably not one that deserves much in the way of celebration. We can say that I think DDT have dealt with it all rather brilliantly, and it will be interesting to see if any of the tricks they’ve picked up along the way will continue to be of use in front of fans.