DDT Pro Judgment 2018 the 21st Anniversary Show

I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered a couple hours before bell time that DDT Pro Wrestling was live streaming their 21st Anniversary show for free on their DDT Universe streaming service.  I lost my shit when during the match announcements I was reminded that The Great Muta was wrestling his final match on the show.  He had previously wrestled his final match as Keiji Mutoh on Wrestle-1's March 14th.  He is having double knee replacement surgery at the end of the month that will most likely end his in ring career.

I have never watched and entire DDT Pro show before and I can not claim to be familiar with any of the current storylines or even who their main Japanese talents are.  They are known as a promotion that heavily features comedic elements in most all matches, however their roster has featured some of the most athletically gifted wrestlers including Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega.

Some of their most well known viral clips including:

Kenny Omega wresting an 8 year old little girl

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship that Joey Ryan defended 24/7 around the world

This is where Joey Ryan first flipped someone with his dick

Yoshihiko a blow up doll and 10 time Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion that even defeated Kota Ibushi for a reign

Kota Ibushi has had so many unique and unbelievable matches in DDT Pro, feuding with Yoshihiko, wrestling a matches in the woods or on the street, and just plain bizarre stuff

Lets get to the matches!

Gauntlet Tag Team Match:
Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata defeated Lilico & Makoto Oishi vs. Reika Saiki & Lady Beard vs. Akito & Shunma Katsumata vs. Antonio Honda & Ethan Page vs. Naomi Yoshimura & Keisuke Okuda

This match was tornado style with two teams starting and the next team joining once one was eliminated.  Elimination was by pinfall, submission, or throwing one of your opponents over the top rope and both feet touching the floor. The only person I was familiar with in the match was Ethan Page.  One team was a girl and guy, Reika Saiki & Lady Beard, both dressed as J-Pop singers and they did a song and dance number before entering the ring that was actually pretty entertaining and catchy.

Lady Beard - photo courtesy of @puroresueikaiwa

The match itself varied from over the top comedy at the beginning to serious wrestling at the end.  Nothing really stood out to me in the match and I'd rate it as fair.  Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata last eliminated LiLiCo & Makoto Oishi when Hirata pinned LiLiCo

Colt Cabana defeated Joey Ryan

The premise of this match was Joey trying to get Colt to grab his dick or forcing blow pops in Colt's mouth.  In the end Colt forced Joey to grab his own dick with his left hand and using his right forced Joey to flip himself leading to the Billy Goat's Curse submission.

Colt Cabana & Joey Ryan - photo courtesy of @puroresueikaiwa

Tokyo Joshi Pro Six Woman Tag
Saki-sama, Yoshiko-sama, & Azusa Christie defeated Miyu Yamashita, Maki Ito, & Mizuki

The stream cut out at the beginning of the match so I only got to see the last few minutes.  From what I saw although there was some comedic elements that match was more akin to the hard hitting joshi style match where these girls let it all hang out and beat the crap out of each other.  What I saw was excellent.  Saki-sama pinned Mizuki

Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion: Super Sasadango Machine pinned Jiro Kuroshio

Super Sasadango Machine gave some sort of power point presentation after is introduction that went several minutes that I think outlines his plan for winning his match tonight which included a comically large iron leg trap and handing out fans to the crowd that featured his opponent so when he walked over to their section he would get caught in the trap.

When Jiro came out he spent several minutes dancing around the building narrowly missing the giant trap twice and then landing directly on it when he made his rolling dive into the ring.  After a few minutes of action Jiro had Sasadango pinned and after a count of two music kicked on and everyone seemed to freeze, then the lights dimmed and a video came on the big screen.  I have no friggin clue what is going on.  They then wrestled in slow motion while the music and video continued.  Jiro cut an impassioned promo while someone placed a large golden trap on Sasadango's prone body, the music cut out, Jiro moonsaulted onto the trap and was then promptly pinned with a school boy for Sasadango to retain.  Yup

Kota Umeda, Yuki Ueno, & Koji Takeda defeated KO-D Six Man Tag Team Champions: KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi, & Masahiro Takanashi to win the championships 

This match was fantastic.  Very serious, hard hitting, fast paced with some hard hitting action.  This match exemplifies the fact that even when the commentary is in another language if the match is good you can follow along, enjoy, and appreciate it.  Yukio Sakaguchi took the fall costing his team the titles.

Your NEW KO-D Six Man Tag Team Champions - photo courtesy of @puroresueikaiwa

Weapon Rumble 5 Way Tag Loser Gets Anal Blast Match
"Speed Ball" Mike Bailey & MAO defeated Sanshiro Takagi & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa vs. Yuko Miyamoto & Soma Takao vs. Isami Kodaka & Fuminori Abe vs. Michael Nakazawa & Chinsuke Nakamura

Chinsuke dresses like, has his hair cut like, and acts like Shinsuke Nakamura complete with violin styled music that a black guy came out pretending to play a violin during his entrance.  So the match starts and we got a 8 man head scissors with a 9th guy putting the first guy in a boston crab that forced everyone to roll over.  We got an eight man overhead suplex.  In between the comedy spots we did get some good high flying wrestling.  The finish came when Mike Bailey dropped the double knees on Michael Nakazawa and MAO landed a 450 splash for the pin.  Nakazawa was supposed to take the Anal Blast but ran to the back.

Then I think everyone and the referee played some elaborate game of not it.  The last guy, Sanshiro Takagi then "took one for the team" I guess, he removed his boots, knee pads, and trunks as he walked down the walkway laying down with his ass exposed near the entrance while a knock off instrumental version of "we can be heroes" played.  At the last moment he couldn't do it, so Munenori Sawa laid on top of him with his ass exposed and lacing their fingers together then pressed the red button setting off an explosion that apparently anal blasted them.

Every minute a new weapon or competitors come to the ring.

Weapons: metal wash tub, surf board, locker style metal cabinet, cardboard and paper mache steamroller, giant barbed wire board, it took up a third of the ring! a ten foot ladder,

Competitors: Cross dressed trio, a trio of monks that brought a dead wrestler back to life, two guys in black body suits with plastic bats that hit everyone in the ass, a guy on a pedal bike that rode around the ring clotheslining people, another guy in a black body suit with a plastic bat and he took struck everyone in the ass because they lined up for him.  Each of these people would leave right after they did their gimmick.

The big take away for me in this match was that Speed Ball and MAO are a great tag team and I would like to see them in some serious matches.

Dramatic Dream Match
The Great Muta, Daisuke Sasaki, & Tetsuya Endo defeated Danshoku Dino, Keisuke Ishii, & Ken Ohka when Great Muta pinned Ishiii

I marked out big time for Muta's entrance and his awesome costume.  Muta always moved oddly in the ring, but you could tell that his knees are giving him trouble.  Whenever Danshoku Dino was in the ring it was all sexual comedy spots, that's his gimmick, but when he wasn't it was a very good match.  We saw green and red mist in this match.  The finish came when Muta gave Ishii his patented fast backbreaker and landed one last moonsault for the three count.

The Great Muta's final entranace - photo courtesy of @puroresueikaiwa

At fifty five I truly believe that this will be his final match and I'm ecstatic that I got to see it.  When he was walking to the back with the classic Muta music playing I couldn't help but get a little emotional.

I later read in post match comments Danshoku Dino challenged Muta to a singles match.

The Great Muta - photo courtesy of @puroresueikaiwa

Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazusada Higuchi defeated KO-D Tag Team Champions: HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji to win the championships 

Work interfered with me paying close attention to this match.  From what I saw it was a strong style heavy striking tag team affair .  From what I could gather the story was watch how hard we can hit each other and he who hits the hardest wins.  I enjoyed the match though.

KO-D Openweight Champion: Konosuke Takeshita pinned Shuji Ishikawa

At 42 Ishikawa is a serious contender even though he is 20 years older than the champion Takeshita. He is a four time KO-D Openweight champion, former AJPW Triple Crown Champion, and his back shows the scars from his wars in Big Japan.

Konosuke Takeshita - photo courtesy of @puroresueikaiwa

This was an excellent match, hard hitting, good story of the veteran putting over the younger guy but making him work hard for it.  Takeshita got the pin with a straight jacket german suplex.

Match of the night for me is a toss up between the The Six Man Tag and Takeshita vs. Ishikawa.

Michelle @puroresueikaiwa on twitter resides in Japan and graciously allowed me to use some of the photos she took at the event.  You can see more photos including a video of Great Muta's final moonsault on her twitter and be sure to check out her blog as well it is in both Japanese and English - http://ameblo.jp/catbearmouse

Again this is my first complete DDT Pro show and even though I was completely confused a couple times I must say overall I was thoroughly entertained.  

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, read my other posts, and like my blogs Facebook page and while you're at it check out my weekly podcast Podcast of 1,000 Holds on the Nerdy Legion Podcast Network. 

Later Readers!

PWG 2015 Battle of Los Angeles

The Pro Wrestling Guerrilla 2015 Battle of Los Angeles was UN-BE-LIEVABLE!

August 28, 29, & 30 Reseda, California


Of course once I got the three events it was after my days off and when I started my 10 hour shift rotations which severely limits my free time for watching Pro Wrestling matches.  Because of this I watch the events a match or two at a time over a period of a few days which is actually kind of awesome.


I have determined that PWG is my favorite promotion to watch, I realize they only run 9 – 10 shows a year but they are always awesome.  The venue, the atmosphere, filming style, the commentary, everything about it is amazing.  Watching the shows over a few days spreads out the awesomeness!

This year PWG brought in wrestlers the England, Wales, Scotland, Holland, Canada, & Mexico to compete in the tournament with several wrestlers making their PWG debuts.  It was truly an international event!


NIGHT 1 August 28^th


First Round Matches


Brian Cage defeated Aero Star with a Steiner Screwdriver Suplex

I had never seen Aero Star before and as we all know Brian Cage is an f’n machine.   I was quite impressed with Aero Star’s ability and his unique high flying manor.  When he does splashes or planchas to the floor is basically makes his body stiff as a board until impact so it looks a little odd but it’s unique and definitely his own thing.


Biff Busick defeated Andrew Everett
It was a great match that featured both wrestler’s key styles mixing mat based wrestling with high flying.  Biff went gremlin mode at one point grabbing Everett by the jaw and laying in several slaps to the face.


William Ospreay pinned Mark Andrews
I had seen a couple Ospreay matches on You Tube but had never heard of Mark Andrews.  Both of these wrestlers are from the UK, as are 3 others in the tournament this year, and were making their PWG debuts.  It was a great introduction to both wrestlers, the fans wildly behind Ospreay in this match.  I was impressed by both of them and their high flying techniques and a very unique Canadian destroyer style DDT.


Non-Tournament Tag Team Match
Los Gueros del Cielo: Angelico & Jack Evans defeated Inner City Machine Guns: Rich Swan & Ricochet when Evans pinned Swan after a 630 splash.
This match started with a dance contest and then exploded into a one high spot after another and some amazing acrobatics by Jack Evans.  This was the third match I have seen Angelico in and I am really impressed by him.  I know on night 2 Evans and Angelico have a singles match and I’m looking forward to it.


First Round Matches


Pentagon Jr. pinned Drago
The battle of two AAA luchadores with the crowd solidly behind Pentagon Jr.  This match was odd as the beginning and end were fast paced and high impact but the middle really dragged and almost came to a standstill.  Some good mat wrestling and submissions by Pentagon Jr.


Matt Sydal pinned Fenix
I was expecting some serious high flying, and we got some, but Sydal really worked Fenix’s leg trying to slow down the high flyer, but he didn’t succeed.  Fenix has unbelievable balance and the way he flies through the air is amazing.  Sydal played the heel much of the match but the crowd popped when he won.


Non Tournament Match
Mt. Rushmore 2.0: World Champion Roderick Strong & World Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks: Nick & Matt Jackson defeated Eurotrash: Zack Sabre Jr., “The Villain” Marty Scurll, & Tommy End.
This match had everything, British style mat wrestling, strong style, high flying, and many, many, many stiff kicks.  A very good match that highlighted all six competitors involved and even though Sabre took the pinfall from Strong, it didn’t hurt him at all and only enhanced the feud where we will eventually see Sabre win the championship from Strong.


NIGHT 2 August 29^th
Dave Meltzer from the Wrestling Observer was sitting front row this show


First Round Matches


“The Villian” Marty Scurll defeated Rich Swan
Decent match was really surprised that Scurll went over but I’m glad to get the chance to see him in the next round which is against Trevor Lee.  For some reason Scurll just looks really small to me, he’s my height but it’s almost like, with his long beard and hair, that his head is disproportioned in size to his body.  Either way though it was a good match and a great way to kick off night two of the 2015 Battle of Los Angeles.


Jack Evans pinned Angelico

In a match-up of tag team partners the very vocal Jack Evans got the win to advance.  Evans wasn’t playing full blown heel but was making some very disparaging remarks to the crowd for the second consecutive day.  At one point Evans had him a drink and went all drunken master, it was done brilliantly especially the corkscrew head butt.


Chris Hero pinned Timothy Thatcher
This was a methodical and extremely hard hitting match between both of these men.  I really like Hero a lot and I know the elbow is his specialty, but sometimes I think he hits it too many times.


Tag Team Match


Aero Star & Fenix defeated Drago & Pentagon Jr.
This was a fast paced high flying match with all 4 leaving everything in the ring.  Fenix is so amazing, his corkscrew dive off the top rope to the floor is phenomenal!  Pentagon is a bad ass, plain and simply.  The match ended with a double pin on Drago and Pentagon after different piledriver variations.


First Round Matches


Tommy End pinned Drew Gulak
This match wasn’t very long, it was mat based and very, very physical and violent with severe striking by both of them.  I liked this match because it was different and ended unexpectedly.


“Speedball” Mike Bailey pinned Drew Galloway
Visually this was a massive mismatch.  Galloway easily has a foot on Bailey and a 50 – 60 pound weight advantage.  Bailey utilized his kicking ability and quickness to out maneuver Galloway to get the eventual win.  This is just another great match by Bailey in the long line he’s been having as of late.  Galloway was fantastic in the ring and it obvious how WWE missed the boat with him.


Zack Sabre Jr. pinned Ricochet
A high-flying and mat based affair with the future of professional wrestling.  Sabre got the win


Six Person Tag Team Guerrilla Warfare Match
Mt. Rushmore 2.0: Super Dragon and Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks: Matt & Nick Jackson defeated Biff Busick, Andrew Everett, & Trevor Lee.


This match was absolutely crazy fighting all over the building using anything they could find as weapons.  All six of them were flying all over place, vicious chairshots, ladders, trash cans, one table the Bucks broke out the thumbtack sneakers, one for each this time.   Biff finally got his hands on Dragon and even though in the end Dragon pinned Biff of the win for his team, Biff beat the tar out of Dragon first.


After the match Excalibur got in the ring to say he’s had enough of 2.0 and was going to put a team together to go against them.  Dragon and Bucks ran back and beat up Excalibur, Chris Hero made the save but eventually was also laid out


NIGHT 3 August 30^th


Second Round Matches


Jack Evans pinned Brian Cage

Jack Evans cut another scathing promo endearing himself to Brian Cage and the fans.  Cage beat the tar out of Evans for a few moments before Evans hit is one offensive kick and then scored a quick upset pin.


Chris Hero pinned Biff Busick

Another brutally stiff match that featured lots of striking and ended with an avalanche piledriver from the second rope.


“The Villain” Marty Scurll submitted Trevor Lee

Scurll worked the shoulder the entire match leading to his chicken wing finisher.  Trevor Lee was fantastic as always.


Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Pentagon Jr.

Very little high flying, lots and lots of mat based wrestling and VERY unique submissions holds.  Sabre got the win with a kimura, or as JR calls it a double wrist lock.


“Speedball” Mike Bailey defeated Tommy End
So many brutally stiff kicks from both men in this match, Bailey got a decisive victory in this match where the other first round matches seemed to be quick or fluke wins.  Tommy End is THE man


William Ospreay defeated Matt Sydal

These two have a very similar style with fast paced high flying and stiff strikes.


Eight Man Tag
Mt. Rushmore 2.0: Super Dragon, World Champion Roderick Strong & World Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks: Nick & Matt Jackson defeated Angelico, Fenix & Inner City Machine Guns: Rich Swann & Ricochet
This was high flying everyone going everywhere match with lots of high flying awesomeness. Of course Mt Rushmore couldn't lose this weekend with Rich Swann being pinned.


Semi-Final Round Matches


Chris Hero defeated Jack Evans
Before and after this match Evans addressed the crowd much the same he has the last two nights belittling the crowd.   Evans took a beating this entire match but kicked out of every pinfall attempt at a 1 count, except for the final one where the ref reached 3.


“Speedball” Mike Bailey defeated William Ospreay

Again two similarly styled competitors bringing it with high flying and Bailey's brutal and precise kicks.  I'd love to see a longer match between the two.


Zack Sabre Jr. defeated “The Villian” Mart Scurll

I loved this match!  There was comedy, but it was the cheeky British style comedy and some really great mat wrestling and reversals including some stuff I've never ever seen before!


Ten Person Tag Team Match
Aero Star, Drew Galloway, Drew Gulak, & Best Friends: Chuck Taylor & Trent?  Vs. Mark Andrews, Tommaso Ciampa, Drago, Andrew Everett, & Timothy Thatcher

This was a giant train wreck! We had a 10 way nut shot, slow motion action, intense mat wrestling, high flying, everything, just everything.


2015 Battle of Los Angeles Finals


Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Chris Hero & “Speedball” Mike Bailey
The match starts with very unique 3 man mat wrestling that I've never seen before!  I don't think it's anything you can practice so it was all very creative.  This match was vicious from beginning to end with stiff, stiff strikes, and submissions galore. Long match too.


Chris Hero pinned Bailey after 3 piledriver variations


Sabre submitted Hero with a double arm bar and stomps to the head.


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Later Readers!