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'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
editDramatic Dream Team (1997–2004)
editThe 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)
editOn 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)
editOn 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]
On December 15, 2023, DDT was announced as one of the founding members of the United Japan Pro-Wrestling alliance, a joint effort to further develop professional wrestling in Japan through promotion and organization, with Seiji Sakaguchi being named as the chairman of the project.[30]
Personnel
editChampionships
editCurrent championships
editSingles
editChampionship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Days held |
Successful defenses |
Location | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KO-D Openweight Championship | Shinya Aoki | 1 | August 25, 2024 | 14+ | 0 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Yuki Ueno at Summer Vacation Memories 2024. | [31] | |
DDT Universal Championship | Yuki Iino | 1 | September 8, 2024 | 0+ | 0 | Nagoya, Aichi, Japan | Defeated Mao at DDT Friendship, Effort & Victory In Nagoya '24 | [32] | |
DDT Extreme Championship | Shunma Katsumata | 3 | January 28, 2024 | 224+ | 2 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Kazuki Hirata at Sweet Dreams! 2024. | [33] | |
O-40 Championship | Azul Dragon | 1 | April 13, 2024 | 148+ | 0 | Fukuoka, Japan | Defeated Makoto Oishi to win the vacant title at Dramatic Dream Tour 2024 in Fukuoka. | [34] | |
World Ōmori Championship | Soma Takao | 1 | November 27, 2022 | 651+ | 1 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Chikara at UTAN Festa 2022. | [35] | |
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship | Danshoku Dino | 41 | August 15, 2024 | 24+ | N/A | Tokyo, Japan | Pinned Effy at Fighting Beer Garden 2024 in Shinjuku . | [36] |
Tag teams
editChampionship | Current champion(s) | Reign | Date won | Days held |
Successful defenses |
Location | Notes | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KO-D Tag Team Championship | Schadenfreude International (Chris Brookes and Takeshi Masada) |
1 (2, 1) |
August 10, 2024 | 29+ | 0 | Osaka, Japan | Defeated Burning (Tetsuya Endo and Yuki Iino) at Osaka vs. Tokyo - Dream East-West Wrestling War. | [37] | |
KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship | Damnation T.A (Daisuke Sasaki, Kanon and MJ Paul) |
3 (7, 3, 6) |
July 21, 2024 | 49+ | 0 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Smile Squash (Akito, Harashima and Yasu Urano) at Wrestle Peter Pan 2024. | [38] | |
KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Championship | Schadenfreude International (Masahiro Takanashi, Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada and Mecha Mummy) |
1 (1, 1, 3, 1, 1) |
January 5, 2024 | 247+ | 2 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, Toy Kojima, Yuni and Yoshihiko at Sweet Dreams! 2024 Tour in Shinjuku. Takayuki Ueki, who filled in for Brookes who was injured, is also considered champion. | [39] |
Former, inactive and defunct championships
editDDT has had a lot of different championships, some of which were very short-lived.[40]
Events
editMarquee events
edit- Peter Pan
- Judgement
- Ultimate Party
- Into The Fight
- Max Bump
- God Bless DDT
- Who's Gonna Top?
- Never Mind
- Sweet Dreams!
Tournaments
editActive
editAccomplishment | Last winner(s) | Date won | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
King of DDT | Chris Brookes | May 21, 2023 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Kazusada Higuchi in the tournament final. |
D-Oh Grand Prix | Yukio Naya | January 3, 2024 | Tokyo, Japan | Defeated Tetsuya Endo 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
editAccomplishment | Last winner(s) | Last held | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
King of Street Wrestling | Chris Brookes | 2022 | A single elimination street fight tournament. |
Young Drama Cup | Soma Takao | 2010 | A round-robin tournament for the younger talent of DDT, held in 2009 and 2010. |
Accomplishments
editAccomplishment | 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 |
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 (similar to WWE's Money in the Bank contract). Unlike Money in the Bank, contract holders have to defend their contracts in every official match in which they participate. |
Dropkick Bar
editDropkick 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.[41][42]
Broadcasters
editDomestic:
- 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-Wrestling 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
editReferences
edit- ^ 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). 28 January 2020. - ^ "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 サムライ【
番組 情報 :DDT】 [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). Archived from the original on September 29, 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. - ^
武道館 ピーターパン~DDTの15周年 、ドーンと見 せます超 豪華 4時 間 SP~. 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. - ^ DDTのプロレスバンザイ\(^o^)/. 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. Archived from the original on 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.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ 【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.
- ^
新 日 、全日 、ノアら9団体 が「日本 プロレスリング連盟 」設立 来年 5月 には設立 記念 興行 も [Nine organizations, including NJPW, AJPW, and Noah, establish "United Japan Pro-wrestling"; launching event to be held next May]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). December 15, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2024. - ^ KO-D
無 差別 級 選手権 . Extreme Party (in Japanese). - ^ DDT UNIVERSAL
選手権 . Extreme Party (in Japanese). - ^ DDT EXTREME
選手権 . Extreme Party (in Japanese). - ^ O-40
選手権 . Extreme Party (in Japanese). - ^
大森 夢 フェア認定 世界 大森 級 選手権 . Extreme Party (in Japanese). - ^ アイアンマンヘビーメタル
級 選手権 . Extreme Party (in Japanese). - ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 10, 2024). "DDT Osaka vs. Tokyo - Dream East West Pro Wrestling Battle". cagrmatch.net. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 21, 2024). "DDT Wrestle Peter Pan 2024". cagematch.net. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
- ^ 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. - ^ 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
edit- Official website
- DDT Universe Archived 2016-10-26 at the Wayback Machine
- Dramatic Dream Team (Japan) - Title history of all major DDT championships