Updates and upcomings from non-NJ feds:
All Japan: Had a Korakuen show the same day as the NJ Senguku show main evented by Suwama successfully defending the TC against his Violent Giants partner Shuji Ishikawa in a match I would call decent but not quite as good as the 2017 match when the roles were reversed with Shuji as champion. As the two did their friendly sportsman post-match to reassure they'll continue on as the current tag champs, they were then challenged by Kento Miyahara and Ikemen in for the tag belts, slated for 8/30. The other major match was Susumu Yokosuka's six-month five-defense reign coming to an end against Koji Iwamoto in what was IMO a lackluster match, especially considering Susumu's other matches from the reign (I recommend his defense against Francesco Akira and both the matches against Hikaru Sato).
Other major events over the next couple months include the Atsushi Aoki Memorial Show on 8/15 (with main event beef-fest Violent Giants/Shigehiro Irie vs Kento/Jake Lee/Yuji Okabayashi) and the rescheduled Champion Carnival for mid-late September with participant list to be announced in mid-August.
DDT: The
King of DDT tournament is slated to start on 8/8 and conclude 8/23, with the winner getting a KOD title shot at Ultimate Party on 11/3. Current KOD champ Tetsuya Endo has been included this year with the stip that if he wins he gets to choose his own opponent, and after his most recent KOD defense against Yuki Ueno, Endo called his shot in the ring saying that when he wins, he wants his match to be against one Mr Kenneth Omega
Dragon Gate: With DOA cancelled and Kobe postponed (AFAIK, don't think it was officially cancelled), the 8/2 Memorial Gate in Wakayama show marks their first major show of the year, headlined by Dream Gate champion Naruki Doi defending against King-of-Gate winner Eita. Tough to say which way this will go, whether DG will finally follow thru on the Eita push they've been working on for however long. The booking hasn't really indicated either as Eita pinned Doi to win KOG, but Doi has pinned Eita twice in multi-men matches leading up to Saturday. There's also a 3-Way 6-man Tornado Rumble tag match which are usually fun (one man from each team starts, then based on a lottery additional team members enter in rotating order at timed interval; it's single team elimination rules so a wrestler losing knocks out the whole team, even if they haven't all entered yet). Beyond that is an IMO lackluster looking Twin Gate match with BxB Hulk & KAZMA defending against Kota Minora & Jason Lee, plus the standard low-stakes multi-men matches
