Dramatic Dream Team 12/17/2023 D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 in Kumamoto

Dramatic Dream Team 12/17/2023 D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 in Kumamoto

I skipped the Dino tag.

Kazuma Sumi & Soma Takao vs. Eruption (Hideki Okatani & Yukio Sakaguchi)

 

Oka shoulders Sumi over and Sumi cartwheels and backflips over him. Sumi walks the top rope and does rope tricks, flipping Oka over. Sumi dropkicks him out and boots him when he gets back in. Oka flips Sumi then boots him in the chest.

Sumi has two people pushing his head in with their boots. Sumi hits a forearm on Yukio and is dropped with a kick. Yukio running knees him in the gut then Sumi's head is banged off the buckles.

Oka slams Sumi then chinlocks him. Sumi's opponents put their heead on his head in the corner then Yukio kicks him in the back. Sumi hits dropkicks on Yukio then tags out. Soma 2nd rope dropkicks Yukio then hits a ddt + reverse ddt combo. Yukio sleepers Soma and they trade forearms. Soma takes a pump kick from Yukio then Oka running forearms him over. Oka neckbreakers Soma then Soma backcrackers him while he's on the 2nd rope.

Sumi tornado ddt's Oka off the up and over in the corner. Sumi double stomps him and does an asai moonsault off of it. Oka face kicks him then flying lariats him for 2. Oka hits a nice northern lights suplex for 2. Soma fights off both opponents then takes a forearm + kick combo, then a sliding D + kick combo.

Oka drops Sumi with a nice forearm after taking chops. Oka sliding lariats him for 2. Oka then does a grounded dragon sleeper and gets the tap out win.

It was a decent opener with them keeping up a fast pace and Sumi having a few highlights. 

Jun Akiyama, Tetsuya Endo & Yusuke Okada vs. HARASHIMA, Rukiya & Yukio Naya

HS = Harashima

HS and Endo start us off. Endo side headlock takeovers him then HS hammerlocks him. They mat wrestle. Naya and Jun go at it. Jun side headlocks him and they shoulder battle. Naya knocks him over. Okada and Ruki go at it. Okada shoulders him over then takes a running forearm. Ruki hiptosses him and hits forearms. Okada back elbows him and throws him out hard. Ruki hits forearm clubs on the floor then is headbutted. Okada slams him on the floor. Ruki fires up off of it and hits nice forearms. Ruki then slams him on the floor.

Back in the ring, Endo is tagged in and tries to cheapshot Naya on the apron. Endo headscissors Ruki. He bangs Ruki's head into the mat while hitting a jawbreaker on Naya at the same time. Ruki and Jun trade shots. Ruki hits forearms then take a face kick. Jun short piledrivers him for 2. Ruki tries chest clubs on Jun and no sells his face kicks. Ruki running forearms him over.

Naya corner splashes Jun then elbow drops him. Jun side headlocks him and they trade forearms. Naya knees him in the gut then is lariated over. Okada dropkicks HS in the knee then running forearms him. Okada top rope dropkicks him for 2 then is pumping knee'd while up top. HS superplexes him then hits chest kicks. HS hits a rough falcon arrow.

Ruki gets in and spinning neckbreakers Okada. Ruki bulldogs him for 2 then Okada hits a stiff knee to the gut. Endo gets caught on the 2nd rope by Ruki then tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. Ruki backslides Endo and rolls him into a suplex. Naya knees Endo in the gut then ddt's him. HS springboard splashes him then Ruki running forearms Endo.

Endo and Ruki trade forearms. Endo face kicks him then handspring corkscrew kicks him. Jun and Endo hit stereo exploders. Ruki rolls Endo up then Endo deadlift powerbomb backbreakers him for 2. Endo spinning torture rack bombs him and wins it.

It was a good trios match with a good pace and lots of stiff shots. It wasn't super memorable or anything but this is the kind of stuff that makes DDT good. 

D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 Block A Match - Daisuke Sasaki vs. Yuki Ino

 

Ino spears DS before the intros are done. DS rolls out and takes shots to the back. DS rakes at Ino then is slammed. Ino misses an elbow and DS grabs a chair. DS hits him with a chair in front of the ref and pushes the ref. Ino takes a chairshot then lariats him.

Ino hits himn the gut outside and sends him into a chair. DS is stomped on then Ino is sent into the post. DS chairs him more and shoves the chair into his leg. DS butt drops Ino's leg. Ino chops him then is dropkicked in the knee.

DS takes the turnbuckle pad off and bangs Ino's head off the exposed buckle. Ino shoulders over DS then chops him. Ino corner splashes him then suplexes him. Ino back body drops him and DS puts a crossface on him. Ino ropebreaks and DS top rope elbow drops him. Ino hulks up and they trade shots.  DS slaps him around then is lariated over.

Ino hits a TKO for 2 then spears him for 2. Ino is sent shoulder first into the post on a missed spear then DS superkicks him. DS crucifixes him and wins it.

It made sense but wasn't that interesting. Ino got the early advantage then DS cheated and suck, eventually getting the pin. I didn't like the open weapons usage right in front of the ref.

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

They tease maybe shaking hands then both give each other thumbs down. They headlock takeover each other and stand off. They shoulder battle and Kanon sknocks him over. Mao flips out of a snapmare. Mao wristlocks him, goes over and under into a roll-up. Mao then crossfaces him.

Kanon does a nice jump over him into a trip and abdominal stretch. Mao does a nice backroll into an adominal stretch. Mao rolls him into a crossface thne shotgun dropkicks him. Mao step up knees Kanon then comes off the 2nd rope with a leg lariat on him.

Mao jumps over the ref to stunner him then Kanon hits a nice dropkick. Mao corkscrew kicks him. Mao suplexes him for 2. They collide with lariats and Kanon hits him in the gut. Kanon drops Mao on the mat body first. Kanon cobra twists him. Mao hits a big punch then hits kicks to the body. Mao slaps and urakens him then takes a stiff lariat. The collide in the ring and Kanon flips him with a forearm. Kanon twisting brainbusters him for 2.

Mao is about to be blue thundered and turns it into a crossface. They do some fun mat wrestling as they evade submissions then Kanon does a grounded cobra twist on him. Kanon then includes Mao's arm on it in an interesting submission. Mao rolls him into a crossface and wins it.

It was a very interesting and unique match. They did some of the best reversals/counters you've ever seen here and were very creative. The only issue was that most of that happened at the end of the match and not the beginning where it could have been built up more. I was really intrigued by this one and I'd say it was a good match, just very unusual.

The 37KAMIINA (Toy Kojima & Yuki Ueno) vs. Harimao (Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida)

KH and Ueno start us off. Ueno wristlocks KH then KH hammerlocks him. Ueno goes up and over in the corner on KH then is put on the top rope. Toy and Ishida lock up. Toy wristlocks him and they trade headscissors. They shoulder battle and Ishida knocks him over.

Toy takes a double shoulder then KN slams and splashes Toy. KH hits a big palmstrike on Toy then Ishida hits chest slaps on Toy. Ueno throws Ishida into the post outside then Toy tope con hilos KH. Ishida is thrown into the post again and hits a hard elbow to the head. Ishida is thrown into chairs then his head is banged off the apron.

Toy chops Ishida then does a flying hip attack in the corner. Ishida takes running elbow drops then sandwich basement dropkicks. Toy chops Ishida and Ishida is double foot chokes in the corner. Ishida hits forearms on Ueno then they shoulder battle. Ueno knocks him down with a forearm.

Ishida slams Toy. KH and Ueno fight. KH atomic drops him and shoulders him over. KH hits a double lariat on his opponents then powerslams Ueno. Ueno enzugiri's him form the apron then slingshot double knee drops him. Ueno hip attacks KH on the ropes for 2. KH and Ueno trade chops and Ueno rebound germans him. Ueno shining wizards him for 2.

They trade hard lariats and Ueno dropkicks him. Toy dropkicks Ishida and Ishida hits corner spears and a splash. Ishida does a flying battering ram. Toy chops Ishida then hits machine gun chops on him. Ishida hits a wild chop flurry then takes a flying kick for 2.

Ishida takes a sandwich flying knee for 2. Ishida tries to fight off his opponents then takes a 2 person double chop. Ishida headbutts Toy then running battering rams him. KH 2nd rope elbow drops Toy then chops him down and lariats Ueno off the apron. Toy takes a nasty 2 person sumo palm strike flurry.

Toy takes corner attacks then Ishida then top rope splashes him. KH doctor bombs Toy for 2. Ueno and Ishida trade then Ueno is knocked over the top. Toy chops KH and hits a stiff lariat for 2. KH claw uranage's Toy and gets the win.

This was a vicious and heated tag. It dragged a little in the beginning but these guys beat the crap out of each other and showed a lot of fire doing it. I really loved this one and thought it was one of the better matches of 2023 once it was all said and done. They pretty much filmed this with the ringside handheld cam too so we really got to see and hear all the various shots. Go check this one out.

Overall thoughts: It was a little long with all of the matches I saw going 10+ minutes, but everything was at least okay. I loved the main and think it's one of the better tag matches on 2023 that nobody really saw. The semi-main was creative and different. The opener was good and the 2nd match, which was a trios match, was also good as well. I would recommend this one and thought it was a good show.