DDT - Ready Pro Wrestling! Feeling Seijo 2017 (10/4/2017)

1. Mizuki Watase vs. Yukio Sakaguchi

What an awesome slugfest.

***3/4

4. NωA (Makoto Oishi, MAO & Shunma Katsumata) (w/ Kayako Takagi) vs. T2Hide (Kazuki Hirata, Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi)

Super fun trios; good energy. The Hirata-Kayako spot was gold.

***

6. ALL OUT (Akito & Konosuke Takeshita) vs. Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii

This was another solid prelude to Takeshita-Dino. Ishii's my favorite part about these matches, I must say. He's always working hard.

***

Akito vs. Daisuke Sasaki (DDT, 4/19/2015)

DDT - Saitama Slam! Vol. 1 (4/19/2015)

DDT Extreme Championship - 60 Minute Iron Man Match: Akito (c) vs. Daisuke Sasaki

This was good, I wouldn't rank it amongst the best 60-min matches I've seen, but good. It kept me watching. I was impressed with how they paid close attention to certain details, and there were these clever little moments. They were wearing each other down with dueling limb work, and then they would have these short bursts of 'action' before slowing things down again with matwork. The finishing stretch had a great sense of escalation.

***3/4

DDT - Ryogoku Peter Pan 2017 (8/20/2017)

3. Jiro Kuroshio vs. Shunma Katsumata

This was supposed to be a special showcase for Shunma, but I'm afraid he got completely overshadowed by Jiro.

***1/4

7. DDT Extreme Championship - Cabellera Contra Cabellera: Daisuke Sasaki (c) vs. Akito

Not a fan of Akito's attire choices lately. This was fairly similar to Sasaki/Kasai earlier in the year, except with limb/neck work and a focus on submission holds. It was interesting to see Akito fight in Sasaki's garbage wrestling environment, and the guitar shot that he takes to the head looked fucking wicked.

****

8. KO-D Tag Team Championship: YaroZ (Kazusada Higuchi & Shigehiro Irie) (c) vs. HARASHIMA & Naomichi Marufuji

This was a good match. Not as good as I would have hoped, but good enough. You can always count on Marufuji to do fun, thigh-slappy shit.

***1/2

9. KO-D Openweight Championship: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Tetsuya Endo

Neither of these guys are interesting characters, but they were working very hard to captivate the Sumo Hall crowd, trading stiff offense and taking hard bumps. It's like watching two Hirooki Goto's go at it. The match was based around mutual neck work, and I thought they did a swell job of selling the damage. The middle finger spot would have worked better for Endo, given his role in the match (working underneath). But that is only a minor complaint. Good match!

****

DDT - BLACK OUT presents KING OF DDT 2017 FINAL ROUND (6/25/2017)

2. KING OF DDT 2017 - Semi-Final: HARASHIMA vs. Shigehiro Irie

If only I had caught this live! It was worked in such a way that the match ending in just 2 minutes would have been totally unexpected. Irie immediately storms to the back, really selling the defeat. 

***3/4

3. KING OF DDT 2017 - Semi-Final: Akito vs. Tetsuya Endo

Akito picks apart the leg like only he can, with clever offense and counterwork. I don't recall Endo doing much of anything.

***

4. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship: vs. NωA (Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO) (c) vs. Shuten-doji (KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi) 

Very fun trios spotfest. Makoto takes this crazy spot where he gets diving double knees from KUDO into a powerbomb from Masahiro.

***

6. DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie) vs. Kaz Hayashi & Keisuke Ishii

***

7. ALL OUT (Konosuke Takeshita & Diego) vs. Mike Bailey & Kazusada Higuchi

Bailey was a massive dickhead here. He KOs Diego at the start and taunts Takeshita with his partner's limp body. This was heated and did its job in getting me excited for the upcoming Takeshita/Bailey match.

****

8. KING OF DDT 2017 - Final: HARASHIMA vs. Tetsuya Endo

HARASHIMA gives Endo an aggressive workover, targeting the taped legs with kicks and flashing his sinister smile when he gets the upperhand. Endo has been working underneath the entire tournament, and he's selling good and makes a hard-fought and intense comeback. The Spanish Fly that won Endo his previous matches gets kicked out of in a nice bit of continuity. Simple, but great match.

****

DDT - KING OF DDT 2017 2nd ROUND (6/4/2017)

4. KING OF DDT 2017 2nd ROUND: Akito vs. Masahiro Takanashi

Masahiro ambushes Akito dressed up as a fan, and a bunch of fun ensues, with meticulous counterwork and move applications. Akito using a shoe to anchor himself as Masahiro's tried to hit his finisher was neat.

**3/4

5. KING OF DDT 2017 2nd ROUND: KUDO vs. Tetsuya Endo

These guys were beating the shit out of each other; KUDO has bruises and Endo has a bloodied lip that suited his gimmick well. Endo wins with another Spanish Fly so that'll be the move to look out for in the final portion of the tournament.

***1/4

6. KING OF DDT 2017 2nd ROUND: HARASHIMA vs. Yukio Sakaguchi

Sakaguchi has that rugged bumping style that MMA guys have and it made HARASHIMA's moves look killer, and HARASHIMA winning with a sleeper hold is interesting. Great hard-hitting match.

***1/4

7. KING OF DDT 2017 2nd ROUND: Keisuke Ishii vs. Shigehiro Irie

Two former stablemates going all out with fast pacing and high-impact offense. The raw emotion in the finish was moving stuff.

***3/4

DDT - KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND (6/2/2017)

2. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Daisuke Sasaki vs. Akito

An opener based around mutual limbwork, with Sasaki throwing in some scumbaggery. He hands the DDT Extreme belt to Akito after he's made to tap out, which means this isn't over just yet.

**3/4

3. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Masahiro Takanashi vs. Hirata Collection A.T.

DJ Nira makes a cameo.

*1/2

4. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: KUDO vs. Soma Takao

This escalated into a rather heated climax. The Gin and Tonic counter sequence was sweet. I'm not sure if Soma's new angle where he's taking himself seriously is the way to go. No one is buying him as this tough guy. He still feels like an 'incomplete' performer. Give him a khaki suit and have him portray a Battler Ushiromiya gimmick.

**3/4

5. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Tetsuya Endo vs. Mike Bailey

Something about this match wasn't clicking with me, and it didn't help that it goes for 16 minutes. Bailey's offense looked and sounded good, but Endo's performance wasn't engaging me. He needs to work on his character more, he looks way cooler than he actually is.

**1/4

6. ALL OUT (Diego & Konosuke Takeshita) vs. Kouki Iwasaki & MAO

**

7. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Shunma Katsumata vs. Yukio Sakaguchi

Yukio is cold and almost dismissive of Shunma, but Shunma keeps on fighting back with clever counters, and shows a fire towards the finish with open hand slaps. Shunma is one hell of a bumper too, and Yukio beats the shit out of him. Lots of hard smacks in this. Nice chemistry developed between these two.

***1/2

8. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Kazusada Higuchi vs. HARASHIMA

HARASHIMA works underneath here and it's one of the best singles performances I've seen from him in a while. The waist-lock/powerbomb reversal sequence was nuts, and I liked the urgency and pacing of the finish.

***3/4

9. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Danshoku Dino vs. Keisuke Ishii

Ishii does one of those Samoa Joe-Necro Butcher style exploder suplexes and drops Dino flat on his face. Dino is unmoving when Ishii tries to pick him up, so Ishii knees him as he's kneeling over; such an awesome moment. This was match a nice change of pace and the finish was brutal.

***3/4

10. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Shigehiro Irie vs. Mad Paulie

No idea why this was the main event... Paulie is such a pathetic monster heel.

**

DDT - Road to Ryogoku 2017 ~ Dramatic Dream Tokasan ~ (6/17/2017)

1. Shunma Katsumata vs. Yukio Sakaguchi

***1/4

2. Kenshin Chikano, Lowther & Makoto Oishi vs. T2Hide (Hirata Collection A.T., Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi)

*

3. Mad Paulie vs. Soma Takao

**3/4

4. Antonio Honda & Saki Akai vs. Danshoku Dino & Rey Paloma

**1/4

5. DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo) vs. HARASHIMA & MAO

**1/2

6. YaroZ (Kazusada Higuchi & Shigehiro Irie) vs. Shuten-doji (KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi)

**

7. ALL OUT (Akito, Diego & Konosuke Takeshita) vs. Keisuke Ishii, Kouki Iwasaki & Mike Bailey

**1/4

DDT - Road To Super Arena ~ Dramatic Dream Tonkotsu ~ (12/11/2016)

3. Maki Ito vs. Miyu Yamashita

This was the in-ring debut of idol group LinQ's Maki Ito. She's charismatic and has an expressive face. She could have a decent little career if she keeps at it. Yamashita knocks her down time and time again with punishing kicks, but Maki shows a lot of strength.

**1/2

4. Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yasu Urano

Yasu Urano takes a nasty bump when Ishikawa just slams him over the top rope to the outside. I thought this started out strong, but it kind of fizzled out during the final act. Oh well.

**1/2

5. Shigehiro Irie & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Smile Squash (Akito & HARASHIMA)

This match built heat for HARASHIMA's title defense against Shigehiro Irie, with Taka-fucking-yama thrown in for the hell of it. Irie had just returned from his US excursion a month earlier and he's motivated, with a couple of new moves added to his destructive repertoire.

***3/4

6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship: DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki, Mad Paulie & Tetsuya Endo) (c) vs. Shuten-doji (KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Yukio Sakaguchi)

A decent trios matches; cute spots here and there. Nothing to write home about.

**1/2

7. KO-D Tag Team Championship: Konosuke Takeshita & Mike Bailey (c) vs. Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii

Shit, this was amazing. Dino's grinding and humping and trying to get a piece of Mike Bailey, and Ishii is picking away at Takeshita's arm. They have an interesting team dynamic. Bailey does everything he can to avoid Dino's signature spots, but that only makes the degenerate hungrier. I loved every second of this.

****1/2