By Mark Worrall@hoohoowozza
28/04/2019, Tokyo
Following on from the success of their USA show, DDT return for their first Korakuen Hall show since returning back to Japan as they host ‘Max Bump 2019’.
Show opens with two members of the Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling roster, well one being the ring announcer who I have no doubt put over their own Korakuen Hall show happening this Friday. Danshoku Dieno, the current Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion then makes his way to the ring, wearing the title which, as happens on most occasions becomes a beacon for anyone of the roster to attempt a roll up in an attempt to win the multi, multi time held title! Gota Ihashi is unsuccessful after attacking Dino ringside as is Nobuhiro Shimatani who attacks Dino in the ring but receives a shot to the balls and an exploder for his troubles!
KAZUKI HIRATA & TORU OWASHI def. MASAHIRO TAKANASHI & POKOTAN(W/DANSHOKU DIENO)
Silly little opener that the crowd seem to enjoy with the premises of Pokotan, a rather large cuddly toy that I last saw at the February ‘Judgement Day’ show just trying to keep his head on throughout the match until the moment came when he lost his head which lead to him losing his mind and attacking anyone he could including his own team which would lead to a disqualification and a win for Owashi and Harata who seemingly did not get along either! Typical DDT match that for me was a little silly, however the crowd responded and seem to enjoy!
KEISUKE OKUDA, YUKI UENO & NAOMI YOSHIMURA def. MIZUKI WATASE, YUKI IINO & KOTA UMEDA
Terrific six man match featuring DDT’s youngsters, most of them from the DNA brand that is currently enjoying a sabbatical, however these youngsters have really stepped up and the future of this company looks in safe hands. Okuda however bids farewell and was a standout in the match and a certain spot in the match saw Umeda and Okuda exchanging some really hard kicks that had the crowd invested as Okuda would eventually nail a ‘buzzsaw kick’ on Yuki Iino to end what was a fast paced contest with little mistakes and a match worth investing your time in.
SAKI AKAI & ASUKA def. MAD PAULIE & NOBUHIRO SHIMATANI
Inter-gender wrestling in DDT is common place, and whether you agree with it or not DDT does it well. Personally I have no issue with men vs. women at all and this was a really good tag match that featured former WAVE wrestler Asuka who is one of wrestling’s few transgender stars teaming up with Saki Akai taking on two of Damnations bottom feeders who battered poor Saki Akai after a terrific moonsault from Asuka, accompanied by Akai flying into the arms of Paulie which he used to ram Akai into the turnbuckle. The Damnation pairing dominated poor Saki whose feeble attempt to lock Paulie into a triangle saw her met with a power bomb. Asuka is really good and a German suplex on Paulie was textbook which gasped the crowd and eventually, Akai at the brunt of a lot of punishment was able to nail her impressive looking finisher ‘Quetzalcoatl’ on Shimatani to pick up the win. Saki Akai then announces that Hikaru Shida will join herself and Asuka to challenge for the KO-D six-man titles on May 11th against the Sendai Girls trio.
LEGENDARY WRESTLER YOSHIAKI YATSU FIRST MATCH IN DDT
YOSHIAKI YATSU, SANSHIRO TAKAGI & YUKIO SAKAGUCHI def. KAZUSADA HIGUCHI, AKITO & HIROSHI YAMATO
This is Yoshiaki Yatsu’s first ever match inside a DDT ring as is the actual title of the match. Yatsu is 62 years old and was a legend of the Japanese wrestling scene until his retirement in 2010. A former Olympian, Yatsu represented Japan in Amateur wrestling at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and would have done so again at the Moscow games four years later if Japan had not boycotted. Looking agile, the former first ever World tag team champion insisted on starting the match which the crowd were encouraged by as they chanted his name as he opened strong facing former Wrestle-1 star Yamato, now freelancer who really impressed throughout the match for me with his strength and more so his bumping as he sold well for Yatsu and especially Takagi who executed a super cutter from a Yamato dive from the top turnbuckle that almost had this match done. Takagi’s flying Lariat from the top on Yamato did put this match to bed and the Korakuen looked happy for Yatsu’s debut match. Nice six-man, some obvious heat between Yatsu and Higuchi that played out well and a feel good match for the on-looking fans.
Sanshiro Takagi’s pinfall on Hiroshi Yamata also rewards him with Yamata’s right to challenge anytime, anywhere gauntlet.
DDT EXTREME TITLE – PANTY HUNT TIGER CUB ROPE DEATH MATCH
ANTONIO HONDA def. HARASHIMA(c) – title change!
This match had to be seen to be believed, both Harashima and Honda had the rope tied to their left hands respectively as a small cuddly tiger hung from the middle! What relevance the Tiger had I am not sure although he did roar at Harashima (with the aid of Honda) everytime Harashima attempted to strike Honda halting the champion mid strike! During the match by the way Honda wore white lace panties with Harashima wore pink with the aim to rid their opponent of their panties, and whilst they spent a majority of the time tangled in rope it would eventually be Antonio Honda who would strip Harashima of not only his pink panties, but also his Extreme title! Ridiculous match that did humour me at times and what followed was a challenge from Akito for Honda’s newly acquired title on the upcoming May 25th show!
KO-D TAG TEAM TITLES – THREE WAY MATCH
DAMNATION (SOMA TAKAO & DAISUKE SASAKI)(c) def. MOONLIGHT EXPRESS (MIKE BAILEY & MAO) & RICKY STARKS/MIKE ROLLINS
Whether it is Singles or a tag match as this was, three ways can sometimes be a messy affair as this was at times. Not to take anything away from the match, there was some good action throughout, albeit a little sloppy most of the wrestlers hit their spots reasonably well as you would expect, especially the Moonlight Express team attempting to regain the titles they previously lost to the Damnation pairing who were defending these tag titles for the first time. Bailey and Mao’s synchronicity was spot on as always, never afraid to fly as they nailed a couple of moonsault’s from the top turnbuckle sending all six into the crowd and looking like they may regain. Nevertheless, Mao would also find himself on the receiving end of some offence from both of the opposing teams with the debuting pair of Starks and Rollins getting a title match at their first DDT Korakuen with Starks, someone I have seen live before and have always felt a little impressed with his athletic ability and accuracy as he was throughout here with a little touch of comedy at the start of the match that bought the crowd onto his side. Rollins however I have not seen before, with his psycho persona he struggled at times and seemed a little stiff for this kind of match. Sasaki really let Takao do most of the work as the latter continues to get the rub picking up the win hitting a Reverse Gory Bomb Special on poor Mao as the Damnation pairing secure their first title defence.
SHINYA AOKI def. KONSUKE TAKESHITA
This was short and terrific, simply put shoot fighter Aoki faced former KO-D Openweight champion Takeshita in a grapple fest that really suited Aoki as Takeshita, looking twice the size of his opponent and also fighting bare footed just like his counterpart struggled to keep up with Aoki on the mat and desperately looked to use his wrestling knowhow hitting a superb German on Aoki finally finding an avenue of offence that would be short lived as Aoki, in just over seven minutes choked out Takeshita with a ‘Foot Choke’. Again, really good match with respect shown as handshakes were made post-match with a potential rematch in the offering as Takeshita left looking rather angry with himself.
KO-D OPENWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
TETSUYA ENDO(c) def. MAKOTO OISHI
Endo faced his first title defence since winning the title in New York, and having the option to choose his opponent for his first match Endo decided that comedy wrestler, forty year old Oishi would be his first challenger as he assumed this would be an easy win. This was a cleverly put together match with Endo seemingly dominating the opening stretch of the match has Oishi looked unthreatening throughout and Endo looking wise in his choice of opponent as he worked the back of Oishi who looked a little reluctant at times to take the younger more athletic Endo’s moves. Although Oishi tried to work on the head of Endo when he did get in some offence, the quiet crowd maybe thought this match may not go long. However, a chance for Oishi, who was able to force Endo to hit his left leg on the turnbuckle turned this match completely as Oishi continuously worked the hurt left leg dominating the second stretch of the match and finding confidence to flip a moonsault on Endo ringside that took almost all of the twenty count for Endo to scramble back into the ring. A little interference from Damnation broke an Oishi leg hold as Oishi almost had the title in his hands after nailing a Danshoku driver that not only had Korakuen chanting Oishi’s name, but also seem to spur on Endo who rallied to finally put Oishi away, planting an awesome top turnbuckle ‘Shooting Star Press’ to retain.
After the match Keisuke Ishii came to the ring wanting to use his ‘Right to Challenge’ Gauntlet for a shot at the KO-D Openweight title on May 19th.
DDT hosts a monthly Korakuen show and they are almost always great, such as this show. If you are a fan of the promotion then this is a great show, however if you are new to DDT then some of the matches may not appeal to you at first. If you invest in this promotion, get to know the wrestlers and some of the nonsense that this company do so well then your time will be well rewarded.
DDT have, in my opinion the best streaming service around, simply the price for the content available is great with not only the DDT Promotion, but also their sub brands so give them a try.
