DDT Pro-Wrestling
DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDTプロレスリング, DDT Puroresuringu) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name stands for Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's official name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the promotion was eventually bought and managed by Shoichi Ichimiya until December 2005, when Sanshiro Takagi took over as the new president. In 2017, DDT was sold to CyberAgent. Takagi retained his position, while Takahiro Yamauchi took over as the new DDT director.
DDT logo since April 2018 | |
| Acronym | DDT |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| Style | |
| Headquarters | Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan |
| Founder(s) | Shintaro Mutoh |
| Parent | CyberFight (CyberAgent) |
| Sister | |
| Formerly | Dramatic Dream Team (1997–2004) |
| Website | Official website |
DDT became one of the top promotions in Japanese independent wrestling by creating a unique sports entertainment style, often parodying WWE, with a Japanese puroresu flair to the matches. DDT has had agreements with various MMA and professional wrestling promotions around the world.[citation needed] DDT's biggest event is Peter Pan, held each year since 2009.
The cards' matches tend to be a mixture of Japanese lucharesu (a mix of lucha libre and traditional puroresu), worked shoot-style, hardcore brawling and comedy matches. DDT is in many ways a parody of American pro wrestling, particularly WWE, using over-the-top gimmicks (most notably Danshoku Dino) as well as unique match types including hardcore matches in a campsite (which featured use of bottle rockets as weapons), an "Office Deathmatch" (where the ring was set up to resemble a section of an office building, complete with cubicle walls and computers), and a "Silence Match" (where wrestlers were forbidden to make loud noises, resulting in slow-motion chops and punches and featuring the commentary team speaking in a faux-whisper).
In January 2020, DDT's parent company CyberAgent purchased Pro Wrestling Noah, with DDT's executives taking over Noah's operations and Noah's content appearing on DDT's streaming service Wrestle Universe.[1]
History
Dramatic Dream Team (1997–2004)
The promotion was founded by Shintaro Muto, Sanshiro Takagi, Kyohei Mikami and Kazushige Nosawa, after they left Pro Wrestling Crusaders.[2] The promotion was named Dramatic Dream Team, its first event took place on January 31, 1997, in Tokyo. In 1999, DDT started producing pay-per-view digests of its product on DirectTV.[citation needed]
The promotion then established their own governing body in 2000, the King of DDT, shortened as KO-D, creating the KO-D Openweight Championship, Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship and the KO-D Tag Team Championship. DDT also created their own tag team tournament the DDT Tag League. Later in 2003, Shoichi Ichimiya became the new president of DDT.[3]
Independent DDT Pro-Wrestling (2004–2017)
On 2004, DDT rebranded to DDT Pro-Wrestling yūgen gaisha renaming the promotion to DDT Pro-Wrestling. In October, DDT got a timeslot on Fighting TV Samurai, creating their regular broadcast program DDT Dramatic Fantasia.[4] In 2005, indie promotion Union Pro Wrestling was revived by DDT.[5]
On December 28, 2005 Ichimiya retired from professional wrestling and announced his departure from DDT.[6] This led to Sanshiro Takagi taking over the promotion as the new president. Then the company focused on the feud between the face stable Italian Four Horsemen and the heel stable Disaster Box. In November 2006, DDT announced the creation of their fourth active title the DDT Extreme Championship. Later in 2007 DDT announced a working relationship with Dragon Gate. DDT and Dragon Gate held their first co-promoted show, Dramatic Dream Gate on April 18, 2007 in Shinjuku Face in Tokyo, Japan. DDT would later become a member of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance. The group was established as a means to aid the many competing wrestling promotions in Japan. In 2009, DDT announced that they were going to become a stock company, turning their company from private to public.[citation needed] In March 2010, DDT announced a working relationship with Big Japan Pro Wrestling.[7] Later in March, Takagi announced the DDT48 (later renamed Dramatic Sōsenkyo), which was a fan vote where the winner received a shot at the KO-D Openweight Championship. Later that month, in storyline, Michael Nakazawa stepped down as the CEO of DDT and Amon Tsurumi became the General Manager of the promotion.[citation needed] In 2011, DDT received the Fighting TV Samurai Indie no Oshigoto prize for having the best show the year, winning the Best Show Award for Judgement 2011.
In March 2012, the Dramatic Fantasia weekly program was briefly cancelled by Samurai TV. This led to the launch of the program DDT Wrestling Hour on Niconico, starting April 2.[8] On June 4, DDT launched another sub-brand named Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW), which was exclusive to women's wrestlers.[9] DDT celebrated its 15th anniversary on August 18, 2012, by holding its first ever event in Nippon Budokan.[10] On December 23, 2012, DDT announced the creation of their fifth active title, the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship.[11] On January 17, 2013, DDT announced that Daisuke Sasaki had signed a contract to officially make DDT his home promotion, ending his days as a freelancer.[12][13] On April 17 DDT formed another sub-brand Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling (GanPro). On May 3, DDT's Max Bump event was broadcast live by Samurai TV. After that DDT launched a weekly program DDT's Pro-Wrestling Banzai ＼(^o^)／, which was also broadcast by Samurai TV.[14] On November 28, DDT announced a new project named DDT New Attitude (DNA) which would be another sub-brand of DDT, functioning as a developmental brand for DDT.
On January 14, 2015, DDT opened a women's wrestling school with Makoto Oishi and Cherry as instructors.[citation needed] Later DDT announced the creation of their sixth active title, the King of Dark Championship, which would be "won" by the loser of a dark match. On June 23, DDT opened the Dropkick Bar which is a professional wrestling, boxing and mixed martial arts-themed sports bar. Professional wrestling personalities regularly make appearances at the bar. On August 17 it was announced that Union Pro would be folding after its 10th anniversary event on October 4.[15] Three days after its folding, Union was replaced by a new promotion named Pro-Wrestling Basara, which launched in January 2016.[16] In October 2016, DDT announced "DDT Universe", a new streaming service for events held by DDT, DNA, Basara, TJPW and GanPro.[17] The service launched on January 23, 2017.[18] On April 30, 2017, announced the creation of their seventh active title, the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Championship, meant for teams of five wrestlers, the title is believed to be the first of its kind in professional wrestling.[19][20] with the inaugural champions crowned on August 20, 2017.[21]
On July 5, 2017, it was announced that DDT had entered into a partnership with Canada's Canadian Wrestling's Elite promotion.[22] On August 20 Danshoku Dino defeated Sanshiro Takagi in a match, where if Dino won he would become the Producer of DDT. After Dino won he fired the DDT's General Manager Amon Tsurumi and Turumi returned to a backstage role as assistant producer and reverted to his real name Hisaya Imabayashi. Dino also announced the creation of a new tournament called "D-Oh Grand Prix".
DDT under CyberAgent (2017–present)
On September 1, 2017, 100% of DDT's shares were sold to the CyberAgent company. Sanshiro Takagi remained as the DDT president, while CyberAgent director Takahiro Yamauchi took over as the new DDT director.
On June 11, 2019, DDT announced Basara would be splitting up from DDT and become an independent company starting January 1, 2020.[23][24] In October, the third edition of the annual "Iron Fist Tag Tournament" led to the creation of Basara's first tag team championship, the Iron Fist Tag Team Championship.[25]
On January 28, 2020, DDT's parent company CyberAgent purchased Pro Wrestling Noah. DDT's President Sanshiro Takagi was named the President of Pro Wrestling Noah and Naomichi Marufuji the Vice President. Noah's events began airing on DDT's streaming service DDT Universe starting with Noah's Global Jr. League 2020 on January 30.[26] On July 27, 2020, it was announced Noah and DDT would merge in a new company, CyberFight.[27]
On March 20, 2022, at Judgement, it was announced that All Elite Wrestling (AEW) had formed a working relationship with DDT and TJPW that would see wrestlers from both brands appear on AEW programming.[28][29]
Personnel
Championships
Current championships
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Days held | Successful defenses | Location | Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KO-D Openweight Championship | Yuji Hino | 2 | January 29, 2023 | 111 | 2 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Kazusada Higuchi at Sweet Dreams! 2023. | [30] | |
| DDT Universal Championship | Tetsuya Endo | 1 | March 21, 2023 | 60 | 1 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Naruki Doi at Judgement 2023. | [31] | |
| DDT Extreme Championship | Shunma Katsumata | 2 | May 3, 2023 | 17 | 0 | Yokohama, Japan | Defeated Jun Akiyama in a Toys, ladders, and chairs match at Mega Max Bump 2023. | [32] | |
| KO-D Tag Team Championship | ShunMao (Mao and Shunma Katsumata) | 1 (3, 2) | January 3, 2023 | 137 | 5 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Calamari Drunken Kings (Chris Brookes and Masahiro Takanashi) to win the vacant title at Hatsuyume 2023. | [33] | |
| KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship | Harimau (Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu and Yuki Ishida) | 1 (4, 1, 1) | May 14, 2023 | 6 | 0 | Chiba, Japan | Defeated Shinya Aoki, Yuki Ueno and Super Sasadango Machine at Only We × DDT Special: Yuji Hino's Debut 20th Anniversary . | [34] | |
| KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Championship | The37Kamiina (Mao, Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, Toy Kojima and Shinya Aoki) | 1 (1, 1, 1, 1, 2) | June 25, 2022 | 329 | 0 | Yokohama, Japan | Defeated DDT Legend Army (Poison Sawada Julie, Takashi Sasaki, Gentaro, Mikami and Thanomsak Toba) at Dramatic Dream Tour 2022 in Yokohama. | [35] | |
| O-40 Championship | Makoto Oishi | 1 | March 21, 2023 | 60 | 0 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Gorgeous Matsuno and Shinichiro Kawamatsu in a three-way match to win the vacant title at Judgement 2023.. | [36] | |
| World Ōmori Championship | Soma Takao | 1 | November 27, 2022 | 174 | 0 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Chikara at UTAN Festa 2022. | [37] | |
| Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship | Yoshihiko | 20 | March 31, 2023 | 50 | N/A | Los Angeles, California | Pinned Cole Radrick at GCW vs. DDT. | [38] | |
Former, inactive and defunct championships
DDT has had a lot of different championships, some of which were very short-lived.[39]
Events
Marquee events
- Peter Pan
- Judgement
- Ultimate Party
- Into The Fight
- Max Bump
- God Bless DDT
- Who's Gonna Top?
- Never Mind
- Sweet Dream
Tournaments
Active
| Accomplishment | Last winner(s) | Date won | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King of DDT | Kazusada Higuchi | July 3, 2022 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Naomi Yoshimura in the tournament final. |
| D-Oh Grand Prix | Yuki Ueno | December 4, 2022 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Yukio Naya in the tournament final. |
| Ultimate Tag League | Disaster Box (Harashima and Naomi Yoshimura) | February 27, 2022 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated The37Kamiina (Konosuke Takeshita and Yuki Ueno) in the tournament final. |
| D Generations Cup | Takeshi Masada | February 16, 2023 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Yuya Koroku in the tournament final. |
Inactive
| Accomplishment | Last winner(s) | Last held | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young Drama Cup | Soma Takao | 2010 | A round-robin tournament for the younger talent of DDT, held in 2009 and 2010. |
Accomplishments
| Accomplishment | Last winner(s) | Date won | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DDT Dramatic General Election | Masahiro Takanashi (singles) | October 30, 2018 | Tokyo, Japan | DDT Doramatikku Sōsenkyo (DDTドラマティック総選挙). Won by fan votation. Formerly known as DDT48. |
| Shuten-dōji (units) | ||||
| Right to Challenge Anytime, Anywhere | Shinya Aoki | August 14, 2022 | Tokyo, Japan | Contracts for a championship match, which can be "cashed in" by the holder at any point in the year following their victory. The holders have to defend their contracts in every official match in which they participate. |
Dropkick Bar
Dropkick Bar is a professional wrestling, boxing and mixed martial arts-themed sports bar owned and operated by DDT in Shinjuku. Professional wrestling personalities make appearances at the bar.[40][41]
Broadcasters
Domestic:
- Fighting TV Samurai (2004–present, currently broadcasting live specials, retrospective shows and magazine show DDT Pro Wrestling Banzai)
- AbemaTV (2017–present, online linear television service, live-streaming episodes of DDT Pro Wrestling Banzai)
- Nico Nico Douga (2012–present, currently broadcasting live specials, DDT Wrestling Hour streaming untelevised spot-shows and interviews)
Worldwide:
- Wrestle Universe (streaming service, broadcasting most DDT shows live, as well as on-demand classic, as well as content from other promotions, beginning with DDT sister promotions Pro Wrestling Noah, Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestlng and Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling)
- FITE TV (2020–present, streaming service, broadcasting most DDT big shows live, as well as on-demand classic)
See also
References
- ^ ノアがＤＤＴに続きサイバーエージェント傘下に！ 業界勢力図に大きな影響 – 東京スポーツ新聞社. 東スポＷeb – 東京スポーツ新聞社 (in Japanese).
- ^ "DDT "JUDGEMENT 2017 ~ DDT 20TH ANNIVERSARY BOX OFFICE" Preview". Dramatic DDT. March 17, 2017.
- ^ CIMO (November 11, 2019). 【プレゼント企画】年商500万円の弱小プロレス団体が上場企業のグループ入りするまで DDT大社長 高木三四郎を抽選で2名様にプレゼント！応募締切11/19(火)迄. Proresu Today (in Japanese).
- ^ [Fighting TV Samurai [Program Information: DDT]] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 19, 2008.
- ^ "Union Pro Wrestling Timeline". October 2, 2015.
- ^ 【プロレス】“偽造王”一宮章一が引退 28日DDT「耐震強度偽装3WAYデスマッチ」で有終[12/25]. news18.5ch.net (in Japanese). from the original on September 30, 2021.
- ^ "New Year's Indy Party Announced, UNION In Big Japan, Cherry Picking". October 2, 2010.
- ^ Niconicopedia. DDTプロレスアワー. dic.nicovideo.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved September 30, 2021.
- ^ 2012年06月04日（月） DDT新規事業として『東京女子プロレス』を設立、代表は甲田哲也氏. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). June 4, 2012. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ . DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
- ^ 【12・23リポート①】天コジ警察MA軍逮捕。6人タッグ王座新設. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). December 23, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
- ^ 2014年契約更改終了のお知らせ. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). January 17, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
- ^ DDTが2014年の契約更改を終了。佐々木大輔が所属へ！佐藤光留はレギュラー参戦継続せず！. Battle News (in Japanese). January 17, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
- ^ . SamuraiTV (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 25, 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ 【記者会見】10・4後楽園の10周年記念興行で解散、石川はフリーに。「最後にどデカい花火を打ち上げましょう」（イサミ）「『ユニオンプロレス、ここにあり』という記憶に残る大会にしたい」（石川）「完全燃焼したい」（スーザン）. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). August 17, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ 【記者会見】イサミが新団体旗揚げ！ 団体名は「プロレスリングBasara」、旗揚げ戦は1・21新宿！ 所属選手も発表／諸橋、イサミ、ビアードはDDT所属、石川＆三富はフリー、久保はTEC所属に. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
- ^ DDT独自の動画配信サービス「DDT Universe」開設！ 2017年1月スタート！. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
- ^ 動画配信サービス「DDT Universe」サイトオープンまであと10日！. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
- ^ Meltzer, Dave (May 8, 2017). "May 8, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: WWE Payback review, WWE financials, plus tons of news". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California. p. 63. ISSN 1083-9593.
- ^ KO-D10人タッグ王座新設のお知らせ／8月20日両国国技館大会で初代王者決定戦. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). April 30, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
- ^ ＬｉＬｉＣｏが初代ＫＯ―Ｄ１０人タッグ王座奪取 股間握らせ投げ技発射. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). August 20, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
- ^ "United: Canadian Wrestling's Elite Announces Partnership With DDT". Alliance-Wrestling.com. July 5, 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
- ^ cweaver1025 (November 6, 2019). "A Beginners Guide to Pro Wrestling BASARA". Pro Wrestling BASARA English Update. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ 【ＤＤＴ】「ＢＡＳＡＲＡ」が独立発表 高木社長は木高にエール. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). June 6, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ 【BASARA】10.23新木場 IFTT2019 決勝戦！イサミ&下村 vs FUMA&久保＜動画あり＞. Proresu-Today.com (in Japanese). October 26, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ Harris, Jeffrey (January 29, 2020). "DDT Pro Parent Company CyberAgent Purchases Pro-Wrestling NOAH". 411mania.com.
- ^ Thomas, Jeremy (July 27, 2020). "Pro Wrestling NOAH and DDT to Merge Into New Company CyberFight". 411mania.com.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (March 20, 2022). "AEW Announces Working Relationship With DDT Pro Wrestling And TJPW". fightful.com.
- ^ Jordan, Paul (March 20, 2022). "AEW OPENS WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH JAPAN'S DDT PRO". PWInsider.
- ^ KO-D 無差別級選手権. Extreme Party (in Japanese). Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ DDT Universal 選手権. Extreme Party (in Japanese). Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ DDT Extreme 選手権. Extreme Party (in Japanese). Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ KO-D タッグ選手権. Extreme Party (in Japanese). Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ KO-D6 人タッグ選手権. Extreme Party (in Japanese). Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ KO-D10 人タッグ選手権（第3代から8人タッグ選手権）. Extreme Party (in Japanese). Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ O-40 選手権. Extreme Party (in Japanese). Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ 大森夢フェア認定世界大森級選手権. Extreme Party (in Japanese). Retrieved November 27, 2022.
- ^ アイアンマンヘビーメタル級選手権. Extreme Party (in Japanese). Retrieved November 17, 2021.
- ^ DDTタイトル史. extremeparty.heteml.net (in Japanese).
- ^ "10 of the best bars in Tokyo for karaoke and other weird stuff". The Guardian. February 1, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ ドロップキック. Gurunavi (in Japanese). Retrieved June 10, 2015.
External links
- Official website
- DDT Universe
- Dramatic Dream Team (Japan) - Title history of all major DDT championships