KUDO vs. Masa Takanashi (DDT, 11/6/2011)

DDT - Osaka Bay Blues Special 2011 (11/6/2011)

KO-D Openweight Championship: KUDO (c) vs. Masa Takanashi

Masa's aiming for the leg in this match, a game plan that got him far in his first Openweight challenge against Daisuke Sekimoto. This match ruled, loved the slap exchange and KUDO's Palo special between the ropes (into a rolling German suplex) was awesome.

***1/4

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.

***

DDT - Third Numazu Tournament! In Numazu 2017 (9/30/2017)

5. DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki & Mad Paulie) vs. Smile Squash (HARASHIMA & Soma Takao)

Now this was a solid match, the heat building between HARASHIMA and Sasaki was good, and I liked the segment Paulie had with HARASHIMA. I don't know what you do with Soma. He desperately needs a change in character.

**3/4

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

I thought everyone looked great here. Ishii's obviously a fucking pro and whenever he's involved shit gets intense. Dino's shtick and Takeshita's high-impact offense woke up this Numazu crowd. Good main event.

***1/4

DDT - Who's Gonna Top? DDT Dramatic General Election 2017 ~ Last Request Special! (9/24/2017)

6. HARASHIMA vs. KUDO

Thank God Yasu Urano was booked on this show. He's the best HARASHIMA cheerleader. This was a 'Greatest Hits' kind of match where they were hitting their signature sequences and spots. I didn't feel there was a strong narrative hook to make this stand out from their most recent matches, but the physicality was there -- they were beating the shit out of each other. Cute match.

***3/4

7. KO-D Openweight Championship / DDT Extreme Championship / Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship: Daisuke Sasaki (c) [DDT] vs. Ken Ohka (c) [Independent] vs. Konosuke Takeshita (c) [KO-D]

This is a bizarre match-up, I didn't know what to expect from it, but it turned out to be a wild fucking ride. Takeshita looked like a fucking wrecking machine in this match, his offense had a ton of velocity behind it. Sasaki is a maestro, and Ohka looked great whenever he got his time to shine. Fun all around.

***3/4

HARASHIMA vs. KUDO (DDT, 5/31/2015)

DDT - Audience 2015 (5/31/2015)

KO-D Openweight Championship: HARASHIMA (c) vs. KUDO

Oh man, these guys work so well together. They start off tenderising each other's midsections with kicks, knees and punches, and the match only gets more and more intense as it continues. HARASHIMA was the perfect asshole here, using punches to the face and smiling when he had the advantage. KUDO had to make well-timed counters to gain the win, having learned from previous encounters. This was incredible.

*****

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 - Judgement 2017 ~ DDT 20th Anniversary Box Office (3/20/2017)

3. Shigehiro Irie vs. Mike Bailey

Two of the nicest wrestlers in the world beating the shit out of each other.

***3/4

4. Saki Akai, Meiko Satomura & Shoko Nakajima vs. Aja Kong, Cherry & Miyu Yamashita

There's a lot personality in this match. Of course Meiko and Miyu facing off was awesome and post-match between the two was heated.

***1/2

5. Yoshihiro Takayama & Dick Togo vs. KUDO & Shungo Oyama

This was some kind of old man nostalgia fest, I guess. I have no idea who Oyama is, but perusing his wiki I learned he's married to an 80s idol. KUDO is always cool.

**1/2

6. Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship - Anal Explosion Death Match: Danshoku Dino vs. Joey Ryan

Donald Trump informs the crowd that this match will take place under 'anal explosion death match' rules as per DDT's new deal with Bakky Visual Planning. Standard Dino singles match with exposed asses. It's only after that match that an anus actually explodes.

*

7. KO-D Tag Team Championship: Masakatsu Funaki & Yukio Sakaguchi (c) vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Tetsuya Endo

This was fast-paced and hard-hitting and Endo did his great flippy stuff.

***1/2

8. Kou Shibusawa 35th Anniversary “Nobunaga’s Ambition ~Our Warring States~” Sengoku Warlords Match: Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Sanshiro Takagi), Shingen Takeda (Keiji Muto) & Yukimura Sanada (Isami Kodaka) (w/ Matsu-hime (Kimika Tokuta)) vs. Katsuie Shibata (Daisuke Sekimoto), Kenshin Uesugi (Jun Akiyama) & Nobunaga Oda (Kota Ibushi) (w/ Oichi (Mai Iriya))

This sounds like the craziest cluster-fucking shit ever on paper, but they mostly wrestled a straight match, only they were wearing samurai wearing armor.

***1/2

9. DDT Extreme Championship - Sekichu Presents Hardcore Match: Jun Kasai (c) vs. Daisuke Sasaki

Kasai crushes his nose in one spot so when he does his signature nose blowing taunt, there's a cloud of red. That was a cool visual. This was good fun, spot after spot of violent and dangerous stunts.

****

10. KO-D Openweight Championship: HARASHIMA (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Takeshita makes one hell of a comeback, using signature moves from past opponents, showcasing his growth while overcoming HARASHIMA. This built up well to a strong finale.

***3/4

DDT - Dramatic 2017 March Special ~ Road To SUPER ARENA ~ (3/5/2017)

3. KUDO vs. MAO

The ridiculously good-looking MAO did his flippy stuff, and KUDO punished him with strike combinations and kicks to the face. Brutal!

***3/4

7. Happy Motel (Antonio Honda & Konosuke Takeshita) vs. Smile Squash (HARASHIMA & Soma Takao)

Soma and Takeshita are two sides of the same coin. They both have the charisma of a washing board, but make up for it with their intensity. Both of them were awesome here, especially during the final act.

***3/4

KUDO vs. Tetsuya Endo (DDT, 1/8/2017)

DDT - Road To Super Arena in Nagoya ~ Dramatic Dream Tenusu ~ (1/8/2017)

KO-D Openweight Championship #1 Contender Tournament - Semi Final: KUDO vs. Tetsuya Endo

It feels like KUDO has been coasting since he returned from his ACL injury, but here, it felt like he returned to form. Endo looks like a blend between Jim Reid and a Greek god. I really like his Tanahashi-style leg work that was sold well by KUDO. The counters are smooth and the high spots fit well into the pacing.

****

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