Furious’ DDT New Year Lottery Special 2017

DDT New Year Lottery Special

 

January 3 2017

 

We’re in Korakuen Hall for one of the most hotly anticipated cards at the start of 2017. DDT start their year with a huge title defence; HARASHIMA vs. Mike Bailey. 2017 is DDT’s 20^th Anniversary Year so expect big things from them.

 

NWA (Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata & MAO) vs. Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata vs. Soma Takao, Gorgeous Matsuno & Cherry

Matsuno and Cherry duet on their way out here and the match gets fully underway while they’re still singing. This creates a weird atmosphere, even by DDT’s standards where the wrestling plays second fiddle to the lounge act from Swingers. Matsuno and Cherry’s attempt at a double handspring rank among the humorous spots of the year so far. Oishi manages to roll up Hirata to score the pinfall in three minutes and change. This was pure comedy and a total night off for all involved.

Final Rating: NR

 

Gota Ihashi & Saki Akai vs. Joey Ryan & Laura James

They run a backstage segment where Gota sees Joey and Laura kissing and suggests he and Saki should do the same for the improvement of their team work. Naturally this leads to lots of sexy fun in the ring. As you’d expect this is also purely done for comedic purposes including Gota attempting to replicate the back-slid oil spot on an unsuspecting Saki. Thankfully that doesn’t happen. Joey uses his groin as a weapon and my God is it potent. Gota eats the lollipop and a superkick for the pin.

Final Rating: **

 

Shigehiro Irie & Yasu Urano vs. Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii

Irie is taking another excursion to the USA after the success of last year’s trip, which explains why DDT didn’t put the title on him. Irie looks a class apart and another American journey will further enhance his potential. Irie is at the centre of everything whether it’s exchanging liplocks with Dino or out-classing his former ally Ishii. He looks like an absolute goddamn star. His advancements during 2016 have turned him from a comedy act to a legitimate main event. He’s been there before but now he’s that much better in the ring. Even when he’s miscuing Irie is completely on point. Urano flukes a pin on Ishii while Irie is buried in Dino’s behind. No, really.

Final Rating: **1/2

 

 

Post Match: Urano stares longingly at Ishii’s AJPW Junior title.

 

Shuten Doji (KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masa Takanashi) vs. Dick Togo, Yoshihiro Takayama & Guanchulo

There’s a fucking tonne of talent in this one. Togo has been used sparingly in big matches since returning from a premature retirement. Hopefully this is a teaser for a future trios match where Togo & Tak return with someone better than Guanchulo. Takanashi does wonderful work in being shit scared of Takayama. Big Tak was toast before coming to DDT but they’ve found a way to utilise his talents. Here they’ve got Sakaguchi coming after him like some kind of blonde Shibata. KUDO isolates Guanchulo and beats him easily with the double knees. This was fine but it needed more Togo.

Final Rating: **1/4

 

IPPON Light Tube Death Match

DDT Extreme Championship

Jun Kasai (c) vs. Akito

You can tell Jun Kasai, death match King, is the extreme champion as the stipulations are becoming more ‘extreme’. Although compared to Big Japan this is not extreme at all. Instead of the usual light tube covered ropes, there’s one singular tube hanging from one rope. It’s typically silly DDT but it’s surprisingly effective, with them teasing a spot onto that one tube for the entire match with some dramatic near misses. They probably don’t have ten minutes worth of material but there’s a twist in the tale with the tube being shockingly durable. Kasai adds to the intrigue by bringing in a fake light tube and taking a bump on it. Although the stipulation means that whoever breaks the tube over his opponent wins nobody thinks to just bash said opponent with the tube. Kasai wins by driving Akito through the tube after another sequence of near misses. This was a great little story about one big spot and how to avoid doing it. There are wrestlers out there who could learn a lot from the psychology employed here.

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

Daisuke Sasaki vs. Candice LaRae

I thought DDT had forgotten about this! Sasaki made motions toward Candice just before forming the evil DAMNATION stable and going fully heel. Now that group has had some time to establish itself Sasaki is back with unfinished business. Sasaki can’t speak English so he asks Guanchulo to translate for him. Sasaki claims to have divorce papers from Johnny Gargano. Candice is a little cool on the idea, which leaves Sasaki conflicted. He realises a vicious assault on his would-be bride would sully the deal but he really wants to punch her in the mush for the elements of disrespect. The crowd jeer Sasaki every time he gives in to his urge to assault Candice in order to win her hand. This is the third match this evening with sexual molestation as a key theme, which is a dangerous route for DDT to be frequently journeying down. I prefer my inter-gender matches to be competitive. Nixon Newell’s tend to be tonally where I want them. When they do actual wrestling the match is solid with Candice managing an assortment of tidy counters. Sasaki’s internal conflict continues until Candice flips him the bird. This leads to her eating a superkick and the Vietnam Driver II for the pin. Good storyline and tidy in-ring work.

Final Rating: ***1/4

 

Post Match: Sasaki doubles down on the marriage proposal but Candice rips it up. Being married already is a bit of a hindrance. It turns out Sasaki is actually sweet on Laura James and Candice caught word of it. The sexy antics must continue! Candice really rubs salt into the wounds by pointing out Sasaki has no title but Johnny Gargano does!

 

DAMNATION (Shuji Ishikawa, Mad Paulie & Tetsuya Endo) vs. Kazusada Higuchi, Konosuke Takeshita & Antonio Honda

With Higuchi and Takeshita really coming into their own as top tier wrestlers the future is extremely bright for DDT. Endo isn’t at that level yet, which is a pity because he looked like a huge prospect. Ishikawa is a perfect challenge for any potential main eventer, as was demonstrated by Higuchi’s singles match with him but here it’s Takeshita who goes after the big man. If he’d shown this fire in defending against Shuji maybe he’d have retained the belt. DDT have a number of potential main event options so this is going to be an exciting year. Mad Paulie is quietly developing himself as a high card heel obstacle for the likes of Higuchi to mash but others to fear. It’s a good spot for him. Honda, when cornered and alone, resorts to telling children’s stories. No word on whether it was Gon, the Little Fox again. The three heels stand around listening intently. Shuji looks to be really into it. Endo isn’t and takes out Honda with a beautiful Sky Twister Press. Nobody was breaking their back in this match but the individual match ups worked as teasers for future bouts.

Final Rating: ***

 

Post Match: Takeshita and Higuchi go at it, which is potentially a huge match up for DDT. I look forward to seeing that.

 

KO-D Openweight Championship

HARASHIMA (c) vs. Mike Bailey

HARASHIMA may feel like a repetitive choice for champion but he’s proved his worth over and over and the crowd love him. He’s DDT’s ace. Bailey is a terrific talent. There are some who dislike his kick-heavy offence but I’m not seeing it. Bailey has a range of skills, not just the kicking. His mat technique is really good and he can fly with the best of them. Had he not been banned from entering the USA the WWE surely would have looked at him for the Cruiserweight Classic. The standing kick combo is his worst move but he usually compensates by doing something ridiculous like a wicked crazy dive. Bailey is very aggressive and it looks as if he’s capable of taking the strap until HARASHIMA takes out his leg to cut off the main offensive strategy. HARASHIMA’s best skill is his capacity to make matches feel realistic. The way he stomps the fuck out of Bailey’s leg, marching on the knee joint, is sensational. It allows Bailey to showcase a rarely seen aspect of his game and his knee selling is top notch. He hurts himself by firing up and throwing his own kicks and the power goes out of them because of the injury. It’s a total throwback in terms of storytelling and kudos to both men for structuring something so logical. Bailey collapsing on that bad wheel, sometimes in mid-move, is superb. They blot their copybook with a horribly botched reverse rana but you can possibly put that down to Bailey still selling the knee. HARASHIMA is cold, calculating and capable throughout. It’s why he’s the champion and has been so many times. HARASHIMA absolutely murders Bailey with a super rana and a minor complaint is that Bailey fires up afterwards when he should be deceased. The last few minutes are where the wheels come off the match with it getting a touch botchy and Bailey’s injury causing near falls that should logically lead to a genuine finish. Eventually HARASHIMA stops pussyfooting around and kills him with Somato. It’s a shame this went south after the twenty minute mark because the selling and structure beforehand was genuinely excellent.

Final Rating: ****

 

Post Match: Daisuke Sasaki comes out here to challenge HARASHIMA. They’ll face each other for the strap on January 29, the first show on the new DDT Universe streaming gimmick; Sweet Dreams.

 

 

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

A solid start to the year for DDT. Certainly a better opening show than either All Japan or Zero1 managed in their respective New Year shows in Korakuen Hall. The main event was particularly good and I also urge you to see Akito-Kasai to see how a match can revolve around one single big spot. The repeated teases of said spot were really well done and it’s a unique match up.