DDT Pro-Wrestling
DDT Pro-Wrestling’s King Of DDT tournament continued in the Kanda Myojin Hall today.
The full results were:
• Dramatic Challenge battle royale: Tetsuya Endo
• T-Hawk def. Makoto Oishi
• Yuki Ueno def. Danshoku Dieno
• Akito def. Toru Owashi
• Shinya Aoki def. Daisuke Sasaki
• Minoru Tanaka def. Shunma Katsumata
• Konosuke Takeshita def. El Lindaman
• Kazusada Higuchi def. HARASHIMA
The updated tournament bracket is:
Left side of the bracket
• Yuki Ueno vs. T-Hawk
• Shinya Aoki vs. Akito
Right side of the bracket
• Tetsuya Endo vs. Minoru Tanaka
• Kazusada Higuchi vs. Konosuke Takeshita
The quarterfinals will take place tomorrow. Then, the four semi-finalists will be shuffled and the semifinals and final will take place on August 23 in Korakuen Hall.
The winner of the tournament will face Tetsuya Endo for the KO-D Openweight Championship at Ultimate Party 2020 on November 3 in Ota Ward General Gymnasium.
However, if Endo wins the tournament himself, he has promised he will name Kenny Omega as his next challenger.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
The eighth Summer Struggle tour show took place today in Korakuen Hall.
The full results were:
• Gedo and Yujiro Takahashi def. Gabriel Kidd and Yuya Uemura
• Ryusuke Taguchi, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata def. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma and Yota Tsuji
• SANADA and Shingo Takagi def. DOUKI and Minoru Suzuki
• Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kota Ibushi and Master Wato def. El Desperado, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jr.
• EVIL and Taiji Ishimori def. BUSHI and Tetsuya Naito via DQ
• NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships: Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI def. Kazuchika Okada, SHO and Toru Yano
Minoru Suzuki challenged Shingo Takagi to a NEVER Openweight Championship match at SUMMER STRUGGLE in JINGU on August 29 in Jingu Stadium.
Hiromu Takahashi returned from his shoulder injury to attack Bullet Club, although gifting EVIL and Taiji Ishimori the victory via disqualification in the process.
The main event was only the fifth ever time Kazuchika Okada has challenged for a championship other than the IWGP Heavyweight Championship since his return from excursion in 2012.
The other four times were his IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship match against Tetsuya Naito on January 5, teaming with Hirooki Goto against EVIL and SANADA for the IWGP Tag Team Championships in February 2018, teaming with Rocky Romero and Toru Yano against BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships in September 2017 and lastly teaming with YOSHI-HASHI against Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson for the IWGP Tag Team Championships in September 2014.
Interestingly, Okada has lost all five challenges.
Of course, this also meant YOSHI-HASHI finally won a championship in New Japan. Milano Collection A.T. was crying on commentary.
Elsewhere, New Japan is hoping to have Will Ospreay back for the G1 Climax according to Dave Meltzer.
Meltzer was asked by a fan about Ospreay’s ability to enter Japan when he responded: “Not certain and the current climate in Japan is worrisome. The hope is G-1.”
The Climax schedule was also announced during yesterday’s show.
The full schedule is:
• September 19 in Edion Arena Osaka, Osaka
• September 20 in Edion Arena Osaka, Osaka
• September 23 in Hokkaido General Sports Center Hokkai Kiteru, Hokkaido
• September 24 in Hokkaido General Sports Center Hokkai Kiteru, Hokkaido
• September 27 in Kobe World Memorial Hall, Hyogo
• September 29 in Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
• September 30 in Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
• October 1 in Aore Nagaoka, Niigata
• October 5 in Takamatsu City Gymnasium, Kagawa
• October 6 in Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall, Hiroshima
• October 7 in Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall, Hiroshima
• October 8 in Zip Arena Okayama, Okayama
• October 10 in in Edion Arena Osaka, Osaka
• October 11 in Aichi Gymnasium, Aichi
• October 13 in Hamamatsu Arena, Shizuoka
• October 14 in Yokohama Budokan, Kanagawa
• October 16 in Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo
• October 17 in Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo
• October 18 in Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo
Pro Wrestling NOAH
Pro Wrestling NOAH will hold its NOAH the CHRONICLE vol.3 show in Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium tomorrow.
The full card is:
• Haoh and Nioh vs. Tadasuke and YO-HEY
• Atsushi Kotoge, Hajima Ohara and Seiki Yoshioka vs. Kinya Okada, Kotaro Suzuki and Yoshinari Ogawa
• Katsuhiko Nakajima, Mohammed Yone and Shuhei Taniguchi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki, Naomichi Marufuji and Yuko Miyamoto
• IPW:UK Junior Heavyweight Championship: Daisuke Harada (c) vs. HAYATA
• Kazushi Sakuraba, Kendo Kashin and Takashi Sugiura vs. Manabu Soya, Masa Kitamiya and Yoshiki Inamura
• Kaito Kiyomiya vs. Keiji Mutoh
• GHC Heavyweight Championship and GHC National Championship: Go Shiozaki vs. Kenoh
The main event will be Go Shiozaki’s fourth defense of the GHC Heavyweight Championship and Kenoh’s first defense of the GHC National Championship.
The championships are not being unified. The winner will hold both championships.
Kaito Kiyomiya first requested a singles match against Keiji Mutoh in May. Nearly three months later, he finally gets his wish.
Yuko Miyamoto will make his first appearance in NOAH since being revealed as the fourth member of M’s Alliance in June.
The the full field for this year’s N-1 Victory will be announced at the show.
The tournament will take place across shows on September 18, 20, 22, 23, 26 and October 4. There will be two shows on September 23 and the final will take place on October 11.
Depending on the size of the tournament, it is mathematically possible someone also competing in All Japan Pro Wrestling’s Champion Carnival could compete in the N-1 Victory.
There have been some signs of NOAH and All Japan working together this year. Shuji Ishikawa, SUWAMA and Yusuke Okada were scheduled to compete at NOAH the CHRONICLE vol.2 in March and Takashi Sugiura was going to compete in the Champion Carnival.
However, both plans were cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic.
NOAH the CHRONICLE vol.3 will air on ABEMA tomorrow at 4pm JST, 8am BST, 3am ET.
Big Japan Pro Wrestling
Big Japan Pro Wrestling will hold a show in Korakuen Hall tomorrow.
The full card is:
• Deathmatch: Kankuro Hoshino and Masaya Takahashi vs. Toshiyuki Sakuda and Yuki Ishikawa
• BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship challenger tournament: Kazuki Hashimoto vs. Tatsuhiko Yoshino
• BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship challenger tournament: Shinobu vs. Yusuke Kodama
• Kazumi Kikuta and Ryuichi Kawakami vs. Shigehiro Irie and Takuho Kato
• Hideyoshi Kamitani, Yuji Okabayashi and Yuya Aoki vs. Kuma Arashi, Ryota Hama and Yasufumi Nakanoue
• Deathmatch: Abdullah Kobayashi, Minoru Fujita and Takumi Tsukamoto vs. Isami Kodaka, Ryuji Ito and Yuko Miyamoto
• BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship: Daichi Hashimoto (c) vs. Akira Hyodo
• BJW Tag Team Championships: Daisuke Sekimoto and Kohei Sato (c) vs. Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura
Daisuke Sekimoto and Kohei Sato will attempt their fourth defense of the BJW Tag Team Championships against Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura in the main event.
Sekimoto previously held the championships with The Bodyguard, but the duo were forced to vacate them after The Bodyguard suffered a ruptured quadriceps while teaming with Sekimoto in All Japan’s Real World Tag League.
Daichi Hashimoto will attempt his fifth defense of the BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship against Akira Hyodo. It will be Hyodo’s first time challenging for the championship.
There is also a BJW World Strong Heavyweight Championship defense scheduled on August 29 at Big Japan’s first of two LAST BUNTAI show in Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium.
Oliver Taylor Blog 