October 28, 2019

DDT Pre Ultimate Party 2019 Ready to Go! (10.27.19) review

DDT Pre Ultimate Party 2019 Ready to Go!

 

October 27, 2019

 

We’re in Tokyo, Japan at Korakuen Hall. I’ve not watched DDT in fucking ages so let’s do this.

 

Keigo Nakamura vs. Nobuhiro Shimatani

This is technically a dark match, which is blatantly airing so once again DDT don’t understand the concept of “dark”. Maybe I should be closing my eyes while it happens? This is my first time watching Nakamura and my initial reaction is a good one. He lands some hefty kicks but also mixes it up with some aerial stuff. He’s probably too lightweight right now but there’s potential.

Final Rating: *3/4

 

Danshoku Dino, ASUKA, Antonio Honda, Shunma Katsumata & Yuki Ino vs. Super Sasadango Machine, Makoto Oishi, Saki Akai, Kazuki Hirata & Towu Owashi

There is a rugby gimmick going on here showing DDT has its finger on the pulse. I’m not sure whether you need to have possession of the ball to score a pinfall but it does appear that way. They work in a line out and a scrum. I’m not convinced any of this is a good idea but they have a laugh and I can’t argue with that. They do a haka, which Ino knows perfectly but Dino and Honda put their own unique spin on it. Oishi ends up getting a pin and everyone looks confused.

Final Rating: **

 

Mad Paulie & Soma Takao vs. Cody Hall & Yukio Naya

Cody, having failed in New Japan and NOAH, is looking to finally break Japan in DDT. He’s teaming up with Big Boi Yukio Naya, who’s a hoss. No really, he makes Mad Paulie look small. He’s 6’7” and 285lbs. Takao looks borderline confused as to what to do with these two massive dudes. It’s not good at all when he’s in there. Naya and Paulie have a sequence where Naya wants to push Paulie back into the ropes, for reasons best known to himself, and Paulie has no fucking clue what he’s doing. It’s spectacularly bad. Naya plants Paulie with a backdrop driver for the win. This was fucking awful. Avoid at all costs.

Final Rating: ½*

 

Yukio Sakaguchi & Mizuki Watase vs. Hiroshi Yamato & Shuichiro Katsumura

This is a marked improvement with Sakaguchi and Katsumura kicking each other a lot. It’s not a good match but at least it’s not the drizzling shits. Yamato wins with a fisherman suplex on Watase. This was what it was.

Final Rating: **

 

Daiki Shimomura vs. FUMA vs. Akito vs. Daisuke Sasaki

As this is a multi-man type deal there’s no DQs and Daiki gets to throw a lot of kendo stick shots. It’s very untidy. Daiki gets flat out killed. Busted open way up in the hairline and then given a DVD on a metal box, side on. It’s a bit harsh. Then he gets ruined with a ladder and speared through a table by Sasaki. Holy shit guys. Give the poor little fucker a break.

This is actually the best match on the show to this point and the manic ‘anything goes’ nature helps that along nicely. FUMA drops the heavy metal elbow and wins. RAAAAAWWWWKKK.

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

Grand Prix looks wild this year

 

Jiro Kuroshio vs. Tetsuya Endo

Hasn’t Ikemen signed for WWE yet? Endo does a few flipz in the ring to detract from Jiro pissing around pre-match. Good lad. Jiro annoys me incessantly here with his stupid verbal ticks, including his dumb laugh. However his actual strategic approach to the match is great. He’s constantly trying to remove Endo’s arm so he can beat him to death with it. Thus keeping him grounded and immobile. This leads to the old handspring with dropkick to the injured arm, which is my shit. I fucking love it. And he does a hammerlock slam. Endo, who still has two functioning legs, is able to flip around and he does a fantastic fake-out on a dive where Jiro dropkicks nothing. Is this…Actually Good? Endo finishes with the SSP and I really enjoyed this. The 15 minutes flew by.

Final Rating: ****

 

Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Yuki Ueno & Naomi Yoshimura

This is the #1 contender’s match for the tag belts.

The 10 is “Longness”.

Ueno is hench so Brookes can work his underdog gimmick against that. He sells a bunch for Yoshimura too. Chrissy B, you are too giving my friend. Yoshimura very definitely is trying to channel Kota Ibushi. From the style to the gear, the influence is right there. Brookes has a style of tag wrestling that has taken him to a high level in Europe. He tries to bring that same chaotic busy style to this match but it’s hit and miss. They do a good job of playing off his trademarks so they have Ueno catch “shoop” and Yoshimura splash him off the ropes. Brookes finishes with his double underhook piledriver, the name of which briefly escapes me but I first saw as the Jay Driller. It’ll come to me later (edit it future Arn).

Final Rating: ***1/4

 

Konosuke Takeshita, Ken Ohka & Shoko Nakajima vs. HARASHIMA, Isami Kodaka & Yuka Sakazaki

This is two out of three falls intergender action. Shoko and Sakazaki are here from TJPW, DDT’s sister promotion. Ohka is a bit of a dick about the whole IG thing. They do some dumb stuff here including a ‘partner DDT’s teammate’ spot with Takeshita. He’s better than that. Ohka gets pinned after 7 minutes for 1-0. I briefly forgot it was three falls and thought they’d run a really fucking short main.

 

Second fall is super energized with everyone going after those big flash pins. Shoko pins Yuka with a senton bomb and we’re level at 1-1.

 

Third fall unfortunately loses a bit of steam. They do triple submission spots and slows right down. Takeshita brings us back up by straight up murdering Sakazaki with a release German suplex. He also beats the shit out of HARASHIMA for most of the final fall while everyone else hits dives. Takeshita dominates him so much he tapes him out with a Boston Crab. That spine work paying off.

Final Rating: ***1/2

 

Overall:

This show was decent. A lot of the undercard is completely skippable but you settle into those last four matches and you’ve got a solid card. Interesting to see Brookes in Japan. He’s clearly happy there.

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