DDT - Uchikomi! Presents Road to Ryogoku 2017 (7/23/2017)

2. Makoto Oishi & Yoshiko vs. Masahiro Takanashi & Saki Akai

Good match, Saki looked great and I was into everything Yoshiko did.

**1/2

5. KO-D Tag Team Championship: YaroZ (Kazusada Higuchi & Shigehiro Irie) (c) vs. DAMNATION (Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie)

This was packed with action, really great big boys clash.

***3/4

6. DDT Extreme Championship - Ladder Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) vs. Joey Ryan

The dick spots were well played and I liked how they built around them, and the spike lollipop and LEGOs were a lot of fun. Joey's an underrated brawler, dude was throwing nice punches.

***1/4

7. KO-D Openweight Championship: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Keisuke Ishii

Takeshita was holding his own, but this was Ishii's story, he was giving it all he had, zeroing in on the neck and answering almost everything Takeshita threw at him. The escalation in this match was amazing, it gets really heated and emotional towards the end. Terrific match.

****1/2

8. KO-D Openweight Championship: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Naomi Yoshimura

After defending the belt, Takeshita has to deal with an orange steamroller named Naomi Yoshimura who has cashed in his Right-to-Challenge contract. This was good, they were throwing bombs and Takeshita gets powerbombed through a table. Really put Yoshimura over as a beast.

***1/4

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 - 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 Ryogoku 2017 ~ Dramatic Dream Clock Tower ~ (5/21/2017)

1. Danshoku Dino & Royce Isaacs vs. T2Hide (Hirata Collection A.T. & Sanshiro Takagi)

This Royce Isaacs guy can break things with his ass and he's over. He'll be main eventing Wrestle Kingdom in 8 years.

*

2. NωA (Makoto Oishi & Shunma Katsumata) & Soma Takao vs. KUDO, Tomoya & Toru Owashi

Toru has had the same look for decades. How has he been allowed to get away with this? This was a fun match. The literal who indie hack was impressive.

***

3. Keisuke Ishii vs. Koji Yoshida

Who the hell is Koji Yoshida? Ishii was fucking this guy up with rough kicks to the face and submission holds, but the indie hack wouldn't stay down. He hits an Emerald Fusion that fails to get the job done, and Ishii pins him with a Tiger suplex. Fun little match, I loved the way they bumped.

***1/2

4. DAMNATION (Mad Paulie & Tetsuya Endo) vs. Shuten-doji (Masahiro Takanashi & Yukio Sakaguchi)

Sakaguchi was on fire in this match. He leaps off the back of Paulie to kick the hell out of Endo in an awesome sequence. Endo lands his shooting star weird and almost fucks himself up. This ruled!

***

5. Kouki Iwasaki & MAO vs. Smile Squash (HARASHIMA & Yasu Urano)

Another fast-paced tag, but this one was a bit more methodical, with HARASHIMA destroying MAO's limbs with surgical legdrops, and Urano following up on it by working the leg. MAO hardly sold it, but I'll forgive him! This moved at an exciting pace; no time for nonsense like long-term selling. Urano gets a bloody lip scuffling with the DNA youngins. Good stuff.

***3/4

6. DDT Extreme Championship - No Disqualification: Daisuke Sasaki (c) vs. Antonio Honda

Sasaki takes a spike piledriver through a table, which looked dangerous and idiotic, but... it also looked really awesome! Honda applies an Octopus Hold on the damage neck of Sasaki, but the DAMNATION leader has his cohorts to break the hold. Honda clears the scumbags off the apron, and tries for a diving fist drop, but Sasaki lifts up the ring bell to counter! Antonio's arm is beyond fucked and he's selling it brilliantly, attempting to make the one-armed comeback before Sasaki shuts him down. Awesome match, the punches were great, and I just enjoy the sound of bodies crushing into piles of chairs!

****

7. KO-D Tag Team Championship (vacant): ALL OUT (Akito & Konosuke Takeshita) vs. Kazusada Higuchi & Shigehiro Irie

Sweat sparks fly during the Takeshita/Higuchi exchange; these two will obviously clash in singles soon. Akito comes in with his geeky technical wizardry, targeting the hurting arm of Higuchi, but Higuchi overpowers him with a chokeslam. He was so adamant about working that arm and kept getting overpowered. Poor Akito. Very awesome match, with plenty of movez and hard hits throughout.

****

DDT - Choshi Electric Railway x DDT Train Pro-Wrestling (4/16/2017)

Falls Count Anywhere Gauntlet Battle Royal: Danshoku Dino vs. Guanchulo vs. HARASHIMA vs. Kazusada Higuchi vs. Keisuke Ishii vs. Ladybeard vs. Mad Paulie vs. Makoto Oishi vs. MAO vs. Nobuhiro Shimatani vs. Rekka vs. Royce Isaacs vs. Saki Akai vs. Sanshiro Takagi vs. Shunma Katsumata vs. Yasu Urano

***

DAMNATION - Unlawful Assembly (4/14/2017)

1. Falls Count Anywhere Match: Antonio Honda, Gota Ihashi & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Brahman Brothers (Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu) & HARASHIMA

A Brahman Brothers match.

**

2. X vs. Nobuhiro Shimatani

Heidi Katrina was revealed as the X, and instantly gets over with this crowd who can't stop wooing her. Her movements felt mechanic at times, but she was hitting hard and the little no-neck bastard bumped good. 

**1/4

3. Ryuichi Sekine vs. Tetsuya Endo vs. Yusuke Kodama

Tetsuya Endo being cool as fuck.

***

4. Daisuke Sekimoto & Masato Tanaka vs. DAMNATION (Mad Paulie & Shuji Ishikawa)

Masato Tanaka is one of my favorite spot wrestler ever. He just goes non-stop. This was a fun clash between badass hard-hitting dudes and Daisuke Sekimoto.

***1/2

5. DDT Extreme Championship - Ultimate Submission Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) vs. Dick Togo

Big Dick Togo gains the early lead with 2 points, and Sasaki has to pick his spots to even the score. The moments where Sasaki stalks before striking the worked-over leg were great, and gave the match that 'human chess game' vibe. Both competitors have measured/urgent movements, and the submission hold struggles and limb selling were very compelling. Also dug the punches they connected with in this. Great match!

****

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