Dramatic Dream Team 12/16/2023 D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 in Fukuoka

Dramatic Dream Team 12/16/2023 D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 in Fukuoka

Great Tamu & Occult Daimao vs. Ionazun Shirai & Tiger Nishiya Mask

Great Tamu

Occult Daimo

Ionazun Shirai

Tiger Nishiya Mask

Tamu is in the purple and black with the fangs. Occult has the yellow sun around his eye.

Tamu is in the purple and black with the fangs. Occult has the yellow sun around his eye. Tiger and Occult lock up to start. They trade wristlocks and Occult shoulders him over. Occult trips Tiger and works his knee. Tiger knees his leg and kneedrops it.

Shirai hits kicks to Occult's chest then handspring back elbows him. He snapmares Occult into a kick then does a standing moonsault. Shirai double jump dropkicks him then Occult rakes his face. The heels elbow drop Shirai and Tamu elbow drops Shirai.

Shira hits chest kicks on Tamu then is slapped and dropped. Shira stunners Tamu out of a suplex and flying boots him in the corner. Shirai triangle enzugiri's him. Tiger gets in. Tamu takes an atomic drop into a dropkick. Tiger puts Tamu in the paradise lock and basement dropkicks him out. Tiger spinning neckbreakers him.

Tiger cravates Tamu and does a neat submission on him. Tiger russian legsweeps Tamu into la escalara. Occult eye rakes Tiger to break the hold. Tamu enzugiri's Tiger then step up knees him in the corner. Tamu tornado ddt's Tiger.

Occult stomps Tiger then corner lariats him. Occult splashes Tiger for 2 then figure fours him. Tiger elbow drops Occult then package piledrivers him. Occult abdominal stretches Tiger and Shirai can't break it up. Occult running STO's tiger then Tamu fisherman spinning neckbrekaers Tiger. Tamu jackhammers Tiger then Occult running STO's Tiger for 2. Occult suplexes Tiger.

Shirai springboard dropkicks Occult and slams him. Shirai top rope springboard moonsaults Occult then Tiger spin kicks Occult. Tiger swinging side slams Occult then top rope splashes him to win it.

I thought it went long for a pre-show match. It wasn't bad though. Shirai had some okay flying moves and the heels stuck to basic heel tactics. Tiger also didn't try to copy Tiger Mask's stuff too much here and did his own thing. I expected nothing out of this but these guys ending up putting on an okay match. 

Soma Takao & Yukio Sakaguchi vs. Yukio Naya & Yusuke Okada

Naya and YS start us off. They trade leg kicks and forearms. Naya drops him with a knee to the body. Okada and YS trade forearms then Okada headbutts him. Okada hits forearms in the corner then is dropped with a kick. Soma boots Okada and forearms him over. Okada and YS trade forearms and YS drops him.

Okada takes a kick to the back then dropkicks him. Naya slams YS then elbow drops him. Naya high crabs Soma. YS gets in and drops Naya with a kick. Soma top rope double stomps Naya for 2. Soma hits running forearms on him then takes a face kick. Okada top rope dropkicks Soma. Naya corner splashes Soma then Okada top rope splashes Soma.

Okada and Soma trade forearms then Soma cradles him. They reverse each others cradles and Soma picks up the win.

I'm not sure what I expected here but it was a heavy strike based match with a lot of forearms. I didn't think they picked the right match for the amount of time they had. They needed some kickouts here or some other high impact moves. It was okay, but it definitely felt like there needed to be a 2nd part to this.

Akito, Azul Dragon & Kazuma Sumi vs. The 37KAMIINA (MAO & Toy Kojima) & Van Vert Jack

Azul and Toy start us off. Toy goes up and over in the corner then goes over his back with an armdrag. Mao shoulders over Akito then uses the ropes to armdrag him. Akito armdrags him and they stand off. Sumi and Jack dropkick both. Jack armdrags Sumi and Sumi cartwheels out of one. Jack headflips out of a spinning headscissors and hits a hurricanrana.

Sumi dropkicks Jack then uses Toy to armdrag Mao. Mao's arms are locked up and Sumi poses on top of Mao. Toy chops him off. Mao crisscrosses Akito then 3 people spin around to do an abdominal stretch. Mao then gets on top and pulls Akito's arm.

Akito gets stomped and takes Jack's basement dropkick. Toy machine gun chops Akito then slams him. Akito takes corner attacks then running forearms Mao. Mao kips up and superkicks them then takes a gordbuster. Azul rolls Mao then does a cartwheel and dropkick.

Azul fisherman suplexes Mao for 2. Akito and Azul are pushed into each other then they get put in the star. Jack then hurricanrana's Sumi in the star. Akito takes a double kick combo. Azul plancha's Mao outside then Sumi 619's Toy. Sumi diving hurricanrana's Toy from the apron then Jack does a step up corkscrew dive outside.

Jack jumping double knees Azul then Azul 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. Toy top rope crossbodies Azul then Sumi 2nd rope hurricanrana's Toy. Mao armdrags Sumi then 2nd rope moonsaults 2 opponents.

Akito rolls Mao into an ankle lock then Mao rolls him. Mao hits a running shotei and everyone gets a move in. Toy does a lifting spinning flatliner on Sumi for 2. Jack step up blind tornillo's opponents outside then Toy full-nelson slams Sumi to win it.

It was a pretty good lucha style match with fast paced work and some dives. Jack had two nice dives here.

D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 Block B Match - Kazuki Hirata vs. Chris Brookes

 

Hirata sneaks up on CB and tries to roll him up to start. CB jumping knees and enzugiri's him then brainbusters him for 2. CB chokes him with a shirt. Hirata trips him and basement dropkicks him. Hirata then tries to dance and is put in an octopus. Hirata flying headscissors CB then misses a corner splash. CB sentons him.

They trade forearms for chops then Hirata eye rakes him. Hirata flying battering rams him out then plancha's him. Hirata does his dance then CB john woo's him hard into the corner for it. CB piledrivers him for 2. Hirata puts his glasses on CB and rolls him up for 2. Hirata cradles CB for 2. CB puts the glasses on. Hirata enzugiri's him and is kicked in the back. CB breaks the glasses and meteora's him for 2.

CB top rope double knee drops Hirata for 2. CB tries a double underhook move and Hirata cradles him to win it.

This was mostly comedy as expected and it went longer than it needed to.

D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 Block B Match - KANON vs. Rei Saito

Kanon does a bad boot then dropkicks him in the corner. Kanon abdominal stretches Rei then Rei slams him. They trade shots outside and Rei's head is banged off the apron. Rei chokes Kanon with a towel. Rei stomps him and slaps him around in the ring. Kanon hits forearms then drops him with a chop. Rei then elbow drops him for 2.

Rei slams him then stands on his gut. Rei machine gun chops him and corner splashes him. Kanon back body drops him then slams him. Kanon fist drops him for 2. Kanon abdominal stretches him. They lariat battle. Rei slaps him then lariats him. Kanon lariats him then Rei chokeslams him.

Rei misses a 2nd rope splash then Kanon abdominal stretches him again. Kanon forearms him in the gut then takes a crossbody for 2. Rei then top rope splashes him to win it.

Not a ton of highlights here on this one. It was okay though, just not a lot of moments worthy of gifs. I expected more lariats and stuff out of Kanon that we didn't get here.

D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 Block A Match - Kazusada Higuchi vs. Yuki Ino

They shoulder battle and Ino knocks him over. They trade chops outside. Ino headbutts him then KH's back is driven into the apron. Ino corner splashes him inside and elbow drops his back. Ino double axe handles his back then chinlocks him. Ino slams him twice then stomps his back.

Ino corner splashes him then KH guillotines him. KH suplexes him  then hits corner chops. KH running lariats him then powerslams him. They trade chops and KH hits a hard double chop. Ino hits punches then TKO's him. Ino hits a skull crushing finale for 2.

Ino hits lariats and they lariat each other and pose. Ino pounces him. Ino hits a spear and KH splits out of another spear. KH hits a stiff corner lariat to the back of his head then germans him. Ino running battering rams him.

They collide in the ring sumo style and KH brain claw sto's him for the win.

It was a fun heavyweight match as expected. These two really collided into each other hard and pounded on each other. I wish we could have gotten another 5-10 minutes out of this because it could have been great. 

D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 Block A Match - HARASHIMA vs. Yuki Ueno

Ueno and HS do some grappling to start then trade forearms. Ueno hurricanrana's him then boots him off the apron. HS puts him on the 2nd rope and knee presses him down. HS pendulum knees him then stomps him. Ueno goes up top and is kicked. HS then 2nd rope superplexes him. HS holds on and is suplexed. Ueno hits a flying crotch in the corner then rebound germans him. HS germans him and Ueno no sells it. Ueno flips out of a german, they lariat each other and Ueno runs into a kick.

Ueno slingshot double knees him then leg lariats him on the ropes. They trade shots and HS hits chest kicks. HS falcon arrows him for 2 then slingshot double stomps him. HS gorilla press codebreakers him then Ueno hits a shining wizard. Ueno hits a 2nd rope moonsault and HS gets his knees up. HS flying double knees him in the corner then is dropkicked. HS poisonrana's him then meteora's him for 2.

HS hits kicks then takes a meteora. Ueno leg lariats him in the back of the head then hits slaps. Ueno hits 2 nice dropkicks then wins with a ranhei variation.

It had the usual Ueno issues with no selling. They didn't go overboard here too much which was good but there wasn't a lot of logic or story in this.

D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 Block A Match - Daisuke Sasaki vs. Tetsuya Endo

DS offers a handshake but Endo ignores it. DS headlock takeovers him twice. Endo headscissors him, avoids a crossface and they do the headlock takeover > headscissors spot again. DS slides out. Endo nails him as he comes back in. DS eye rakes him. Endo misses a springboard and takes a baseball slide.

DS bangs endo's leg off the apron then drops his knee on a chair. Endo's leg is banged off the post and chaired. DS dragon screws Endo's leg over the middle rope. DS leglocks Endo then bangs his knee off the mat. Endo enzugiri's him then backdrops him. Endo tornado ddt's him then chinlocks him.

DS escapes a backslide then is rolled into a head and arm hold. DS crossfaces him then Endo pele kicks him as he stands on the apron. DS then drops down to the floor. DS tries to dive on Endo but is kicked. Endo then hits a flying space tiger drop on him.

Endo springboard lariats him in the ring then germans him. Endo hits a lariat then is speared. Endo lariats him again and both go down. DS misses a top rope elbow drop. Endo blocks his hurricanrana then powerbombs him on his knee. DS pedigrees him then Endo hits a standing spanish fly. Endo spinning torture rack bombs him then top rope ssp's him. Endo tries to hurricanrana DS off the top and totally spikes his neck into the mat in a nasty moment. Endo then recovers and hits a handspring into a corkscrew kick. DS b-drivers him.

Endo goes for a tombstone and DS reverses it to drop him on his head. Endo does a crossface variation and wins it.

I didn't like this at all. The early leg work went nowhere, Endo nearly killed himself, it went long and it wasn't good.

Overall thoughts: I liked Ino/Higuchi and the two undercard matches but the two top matches weren't any good here. I wouldn't recommend this one.