Hey, hello, hi! How you doing? Good to hear. We got a DDT Wrestle Peter Pan 2026 to review. The biggest night of the year. The show of shows. Let’s get into it.

Takeshi Masada & Yuya Koroku & Daichi Satoh vs KANON & Yukio Naya & Viento Levante

This opening bout for the KO-D six man tag title was just a very generic nothing match. Picture what all six-man tags look like today yeah, it was one of those. Gun-ho action that lacks any structure, and even the action is too slow and too sloppy to be enjoyable. I broadly like all these wrestlers, even that filthy slut Yuya Koroku, but this just didn’t have the juice.

The only interesting wrinkle to this match is the continuation of Viento Levante, the former Keigo Nakamura, story. Ever since he donned the mask, he’s moved away from his technical style, now being more of a high flyer. Which he’s bad at. But in the match’s closing moments, he returns to it, winning the match with an Aoki-like pin. That was fun, but not enough to save a very forgettable match.

Rating: ** 1/4

Ilusion vs Yuki Ishida vs Yuki Iino vs Toru Owashi vs Akito vs Soma Takao vs Fuminori Abe vs Naomi Yoshimura vs Super Sasadango Machine vs Mj Paul vs Yuni & Masami Inahata

Before the Battle Royal for the Iron Man Heavy Metal title starts, it’s announced that whoever is champion when the match starts will win a one-year “promotional” Shinkansen travel pass. This then cuts to Illusion attempting to make a Goldberg-style entrance. The entrance keeps getting interrupted because someone new wins the title, and then they try to continue the entrance. The title goes from Illusion to Super Sasadango Machine to Yuki Ishida to Yuni to Kazuki Hirata and finally to Akito who wins the free train tickets. Fun stuff.

The actual Battle Royal itself is okay. Highlights include Abe constantly stealing Yuki Iino’s durag to reveal his shit hair. Everyone puts on Super Sasadango Machine to attack Illusion. The best bit is when Yoshihiko makes a surprise entrance, cleans house, and has a great finale three minutes against Illusion, which ends with the doll being thrown into the crowd. My main takeaway from this match is that I wish Abe was a full-time member of the DDT roster. Fun stuff.

Rating: ** 3/4

Post-match, Illusion is attacked by Hirata in his sexy evil persona, Hammer Hirata, who wins the title and heads back behind the curtain. Which leads straight into…

Minoru Suzuki & Sanshiro Takagi vs Kazuki Hirata & To-y

Immediately after going to the back, Hirata comes back out, now dressed as his normal persona and riding a hoverboard. He’s joined by To-y, sporting the blue Right to Challenge Anytime, Anywhere contract and a nice new robe. This match is built around the fact that Hirata and To-y are scared of Suzuki, with neither one wanting to be the legal competitor when Suzuki is in the ring. It allows Suzuki to do what he’s best at, pulling funny faces, and in general, he plays the straight man in this match perfectly. Some funny stuff in this, with the best moment being when Suzuki breaks Hirata’s glasses, which kills him. To-y shouts that he’s got no pulse. The longtime rivals Suzuki and Takagi are unable to coexist as Suzuki gets frustrated with Takagi and slaps him. Though To-y fails to take advantage of this as he goes for hwa top rope splash that has never hit anyone.

Eventually, Hirata comes back to life, much like Jesus, and runs around the arena, baiting Suzuki to chase him. But To-y is unable to take advantage of this, falling victim to two Stunners, and Takagi picks up the win, making him the new holder of the Blue Right to Challenge Anytime, Anywhere.

Everyone in this match played their role perfectly. Matches like these are what DDT is built on.

Rating: *** 1/4

Jun Kasai & Hinata Kasai vs Jun Akiyama & Rukiya

To celebrate his one-year anniversary as a wrestler, Hinata gets to tag with his dad. But he wants to show his dad he can win without him, throwing his father out of the ring at the beginning of the match and refusing to tag him in. But over time, he learns to accept help from his papa. This match will bring a tear to the eye of the most emotionally empty people across the universe.

If you find the Jun Kasai being Hinata’s dad bit funny, then this match is fine, but the actual wrestling was nothing.

Rating: ** 

Hideki Okatani vs Shunma Katsumata

One of DDT’s greatest strengths is its ability to excel at so many different types of wrestling. Deathmatch wrestling is not one of those types. This Barbed Wire Death Match for the “Extreme” title is just so tame. It fails to understand why barbed wire is such an iconic weapon in pro wrestling. It’s the way it entangles wrestlers, watching it slowly peel off them, ripping skin. Here, sure, they bump into the barbed wire, but they just bounce off it. I’m sure it isn’t a pleasant experience, but it just isn’t what you want from a barbed wire match.

The finish was cool, with Katsumata wrapping himself in barbed wire, Matsunaga-style, before hitting a splash. Overall, a really disappointing match, especially from Okatani, who’s been on a roll in 2026.

Rating: * 3/4

Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA vs Shinya Aoki & Junta Miyawaki

This match for the KO-D Tag Team titles was really good. I could bore you with describing why Harashima and Aoki were brilliant and Brookes did his job, but I’d rather focus on Junta, who has made great improvements during his excursion to DDT, and this match is his best showing yet. He doesn’t start great, as during his entrance he goes to pose with a child who clearly couldn’t give a fuck. But in this match, he shows off how great a seller he’s become, especially with his exhaustion. More impressively, he’s able to properly hang with Harashima during the final moments of this match, where it’s just the two of them. It’s brilliant, and when he gets the win with an Aoki-esque pin, it’s such a gratifying moment.

You should go watch this match. Junta is in the running for Most Improved Wrestler of the Year. 

Rating: *** 3/4

YAMATO vs Danshoku Dieno

Dieno comes out in his big-match Dieno gear, flanked by Akito and Super Sasadango Machine, entering through the crowd like The Shield if they were good. Yamato plays his role as the straight man fine enough, but this is just a bog-standard Dieno match, and while I like those, it’s not the elevated stuff you often get on these big shows.

The best bit is the interference. After the ref is taken out via a kiss, Akito and SSM attack Yamato, leading to Owashi making the save and betraying DDT for Dragon Gate, though he immediately falls into Dieno’s ass. We then get another run-in, this time from Yosuke♡Santa Maria, a wrestler I’m not too familiar with, but they’re the best part of this match, betraying Dragon Gate but attacking Yamato.

Yamato picks up the win and gives Dieno a post-match kiss. If you love Dieno like I do, then give this a watch, but if not, you can skip it.

Rating: ***

Daisuke Sasaki & DOUKI vs Antonio Honda & Tetsuya Endo

Antonio Honda is the best wrestler in the world.

Just a match that is absolutely my shit. Heels trying to stop the comedy from happening, it constantly getting teased before the faces finally get their moment to do a stick. Then a brilliant final third where Honda shows off why he’s got the best punches in the business. A simple match but the best things in life are simple.  I loved this match. It’s everything I love about pro wrestling.

Rating: **** 

Kazuma Sumi vs Ryusuke Taguchi

Taguchi still has it. An immensely impressive performance from the funky weapon. His charisma-filled take on technical wrestling is such a delight. After some trading of dance moves, Sumi tweaks his knee. This leads to a match with laser-focused limb work, which I believe was invented by SHLAK. Taguchi brilliantly suffocates Sumi and his knee. Sumi holds his own well enough, but there are some issues. He often forgets he has an injured knee to sell. But in the classic tale of the mobility of youth vs. the experience of non-youth, he embodies what he needs to embody. Match is solid as a rock.

All the 40 year olds in New Japan are still actually better than all the new guys they’re pushing. Taguchi captured the Universal title, and I can’t wait to see what he does with it.

Rating: *** 1/2

KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs Kaisei Takechi

I mean, there’s interesting ideas here. Takechi, no one’s favourite wrestler, is a young up and comer like Takeshita used to be, and this is the biggest match of his career, whereas for Takeshita, it was Tuesday. And there are moments where Takechi’s comebacks are fun, but the match is just really, really boring. Normally, I complain about Takeshita matches for being too fast-paced with no structure, but god, I wished something would happen in this match. A real Goldilocks wrestler. Hopefully, one day he’ll find a way to wrestle just right. 

Rating: **

Yuki Ueno vs MAO

Don’t waste my motherfucking time!

Rating: * ½

Beep beep beep, we’ve got ourselves a bonus match.

After the show’s end, we see MAO and the rest of Strange Love Connection walking through a hallway, getting ready to celebrate, when MAO is attacked by Takagi and walked to the ring as he’s cashing in his Right to Challenge Anytime, Anywhere! Before the bell, he attacks him with a fire extinguisher and a bike.

This match was great. There’s a real sense of tension due to MAO’s exhaustion. Takagi is all over him and gets the plastic crates out. In the end, he only loses because MAO gets his knees up for a top-rope splash with a crate and rolls Takagi up.

More of this, less of whatever the half an hour before it was.

Rating: *** ¼

Full shows thoughts

Like a sandwich with great filling but packaged within two pieces of moldy bread, which is followed by a nice dessert. I’d recommend Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA vs Shinya Aoki & Junta Miyawaki and Daisuke Sasaki & DOUKI vs. Antonio Honda & Tetsuya Endo, but there’s nothing else on this show you need to go out of your way to see.

I do still love DDT, but my love is being tested.