Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Hideki Okatani vs. Keigo Nakamura & Toi Kojima
The kind of opener that would convince any unsuspecting newcomer that DDT is a actually a straight-forward Japanese wrestling company. And I mean that as a compliment. Old man Matsunaga was a great fit in this setting, making the kids work for every scrap of offense and kicking young Kojima’s lime green ass from Monday to Sunday. Meanwhile, Okatani looked energized by his first decent haircut in a year and suplexed the new rookie like he fuckin’ meant it. Wrestling! **1/2
Akito, Kazuki Hirata, Super Sasadango Machine & Antonio Honda vs. Toru Owashi, Saki Akai, Danshoku Dino & Sanshiro Takagi
If the first match covered the basics, this explored the more cerebral themes of professional wrestling: Powerpoint presentations, remote-control grappling and infomercial-based storytelling. A morality play on the dangers of materialism that managed to include Dino anal insertion spots and Honda joke-telling shtick. The most high-concept DDT comedy odyssey in a while.
Chris Brookes & Shunma Katsumata vs. Yuji Hino & Mad Paulie
Happy to see Hino show up in a promotion that I actually watch. The size/toughness difference between the two teams here was mostly played for laughs and lacked any real drama, but the crowd was into it and the action flew reasonably well. To each his own, baby. Very curious to see how they book Hino for the rest of the year, as I feel he’d be much more effective as a title contender than as a midcard comedian. **
Konosuke Takeshita & MAO vs. HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya
There was some real content in this thing and I had a pretty good time. 46-year-old HARASHIMA springboarding around the ring like a spry young babyface is the kind of delicacy that I will never grow tired of. Him and Takeshita are the ultimate money pairing in this company and there was plenty of fine wrasslin’ between these two. I feel like Naya should hit the buffet a bit more often, but he was used well here. All Out playing off his size advantage and attempting to take out his leg was a nice touch. MAO kept his bullshit to a minimum and brought the sweet high spots for the finish, which is all I ask of him. Feeling grateful right now. ***
Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sasaki & Nobuhiro Shimatani vs. Makoto Oishi, Mizuki Watase & Yusuke Okada
Promising young man Yusuke Okada transitioning from the Yoshitatsu Kingdom to Junretsu is already the biggest upgrade of 2021. The boy looked like a star in his DDT debut, bringing the fight to the KO-D champ and already coming off as an important piece of the puzzle. They even sowed the seeds for a potential distrust/tension storyline between him and Watase. Please take all of my money if it leads to some sort of Junretsu Acceptance type singles bout. The rest of the match was super fun as well, as everyone put in a good bit of effort. ***
Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi © vs. CIMA & Soma Takao – KO-D Tag-Team Titles
This seemed like a real mismatch on paper but it all turned out shockingly well. Most of the match pit the challengers’ quickness and double team trickery against Eruption’s brute force to compelling results, CIMA’s creative flair adding a lot of fun twists to the layout. Takao went beyond the BIMA tribute shtick and convincingly stepped up to the plate against the hard-hitting champs. Lots of passionate strike exchanges that spotlighted the red-haired underachiever as a guy who’s probably better than you think. Dug the sleeper-oriented finish between him and Sakaguchi, who was on the defense for most of the match and did a lot to get Soma over. ***1/2
Yuki Ueno © vs. Shota – DDT Universal Title
What a swell match. The commentary team did a great job selling Ganbare Pro’s Shota as a likeable shlob trying to achieve his ‘’indie dream’’ and the match felt like a proper showcase for him. I’m no Shota Expert, but I found his unabashed Eddie Guerrero influence instantly appealing. Crafty on the mat, knowledgeable with the rollups and when nothing else works out: cheat 2 win. He brought a brisk pace and counter-heavy structure that were right in Ueno’s wheelhouse.
Speaking of the handsome sauna enthusiast, the guy carried himself like a proper champion here and watching him bounce off Shota’s shtick was half the fun of the match. I’m usually not huge on the Johnny Saint ‘’look at my hand’’ Britwres spots, but the way they worked it into the finish with Ueno dropkicking Shota right in the face was kind of genius. Not an epic by any stretch of the imagination, but not everything needs to be. ***3/4
