Are you ready to get emotional? I feel like I’ve already said goodbye to Kagetsu at least a couple of times, but this is the actual last chance we’ll get to pay our respects to her before she goes on her way. Christ, that makes it sounds like she’s dying. In reality, she’s twenty-seven and is probably off to live an awesome life, but I’ll be sad all the same.
With Tokyo Joshi joining DDT in having shows cancelled by the coronavirus scare, they decided to give us a wee treat in its place. A one-day tournament that aired live from the Dojo with the winner receiving dinner coupons for Genghis Khan Kirishima, hence the convoluted name. It was taking place under what I shall refer to as snappy rules which were as follows:
Two count falls for the first three rounds with five minute time limits and janken tie-breakers.
Three count falls for the semi-finals with five minute time limits and one count fall tie-breakers.
Three count fall for the final with a ten minute time limit and a one count fall tie-breaker.
Thanks, as always, to ddtpro_eng on Twitter for all the translations.
Not even the weirdest thing to happen on this show. Credit: DDT
With coronavirus hitting Japan, DDT were forced decided to cancel a bunch of their shows. However, being the lovely folks they are, they still wanted to give the fans something to enjoy, so have put together a series of closed door events at the DDT Dojo. It would have been easy for them to pack these with filler matches, but they’ve actually put together some cool little cards which combined with the unique atmosphere was enough to draw me in.
Cards on the table, I honestly can’t remember the last time I watched Dynamite. Week three? The last AEW show I saw was probably the PPV, but I have kept an eye on what they’ve been up to, and people seem to be enjoying it. While that doesn’t mean Western TV wrestling has stopped being the Devil, I figured I’d tune in for Revolution and give them the chance to convince me otherwise.
DDT returned to Korakuen with a couple of big old matches on top. First up was the crowing of their inaugural Universal Champion, a belt that’s intended to help spread DDT across the globe. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that it shares a name with a certain title used by a company based out of Connecticut. Then, in the main event, we’ve got MAO vs Tanaka, which is all kinds of exciting. Shall we see what happened?
Just a few months after her debut, Saya Kamitani has earned her first singles main event, taking on Utami for the Future Of Stardom Title. Sadly, as one wrestler stepped up, another stepped away, with this show marking Leo Onozaki’s retirement. So, let’s celebrate her career and toast to Kamitani’s future with a good old-fashioned review. I’m sure it’s the present they both wanted.
If you put Shingo vs Ishii on top of a card, I will come. I’m pretty sure that’s written in scripture somewhere. What religion? I don’t know, one of the good ones? Are there any good ones? Christ, that’s a conversation for a different day. Onto the wrestling!
I thought I was safe from Stardom making me emotional, but they’ve only gone and pulled Kagetsu back for one last match. The traditional retirement gauntlet headlined this show, and I wasn’t going to miss a chance to ramble about that.
Shows packed with tag matches are the kind that I might generally breeze past without feeling the need to review, but this one was headlined by Lana Austin’s title shot, which brought a sparkle that caught my eye. Throw in a couple of other exciting developments, and out of nowhere, this became one you wouldn’t want to miss. Why? Read on to find out.
Stardom recently rocked up in Osaka for one of their two-show days which brought with it another trio of High Speed Grand Prix matches. While this tournament has almost trundled along in the background of Stardom’s usual offering, it hasn’t stopped me enjoying it, so let’s see if the speedy goodness continued.