Wrestle Peter Pan 2020 is an upcoming two-day professional wrestling event promoted by DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). The two shows will take place on June 6 and 7, 2020, at the DDT TV Show Studio in Tokyo, Japan. This was the twelfth Peter Pan and the second promoted under the Wrestle Peter Pan name, which is DDT's biggest annual event and has been called "the largest wrestling show in the Japanese independent circuit". This is the first time that the Wrestle Peter Pan was held on two nights, instead of taking place solely on one night.
The event will air live on CyberAgent's Abema TV online linear television service and Wrestle Universe streaming service. As part of CyberAgent's acquisition of Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) wrestlers from the promotion will also appear on the show. The event was originally scheduled to take place solely on June 7, 2020, at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, but the event was canceled in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only to be rescheduled on May 15, with the event, set to take place on June 6 and June 7 on two nights, for the first time in history. At the end of February, DDT began holding shows with no audience and only essential staff present, with all DDT programming being relocated to the DDT TV Show Studio in May.
The card will comprise 16 matches which are divided between the two nights. On the first night, the show will be headlined by Konosuke Takeshita facing Yoshihiko, in a Last Man Standing match. Another prominent match scheduled for the show featured Daisuke Sasaki defending the DDT Universal Championship in a three-way hardcore match against Isami Kodaka and Shunma Katsumata. On the second night, the show will be headlined by Masato Tanaka defending the KO-D Openweight Championship against the holder of the Saitama Super Arena Sword Tetsuya Endo. The second night also featured three other title matches with Shinya Aoki defending the DDT Extreme Division Championship against Yukio Naya in a Celebration! Release Restriction Rules match, Danshoku Dieno defending the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship against Makoto Oishi and Nautilus (Naomi Yoshimura and Yuki Ueno) defending the KO-D Tag Team Championship against Strong Hearts (El Lindaman and T-Hawk).
Production
Background
Since 2009, DDT began annually producing shows in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan held in the summer, following the promotions financial success of the first event. This led to the event, becoming DDT's premier annual event and the biggest event in the independent circuit of Japanese wrestling. Since 2019, the event was renamed "Wrestle Peter Pan", the Peter Pan shows have been broadcast on pay-per-view (PPV).
Sanshiro Takagi, founder and President of the promotion
Wrestle Peter Pan was officially announced on July 15, 2019, during a match between DDT's President Sanshiro Takagi and Super Sasadango Machine in the previous Wrestle Peter Pan, in which the event would take place at the Super Saitama Arena on June 7, 2020. Takagi later commented on his decision to hold the event at the Super Saitama Arena, stating that the plan to run the event at the venue, came after the promotion didn't manage to completely sell the venue in two different events in 2015 and 2017, which were attended by 6,500 and 10,702 spectators, respectively, as well the promotion's financial growth, after selling out their events in the Ryogoku Kokugikan and their monthly events at Korakuen Hall. On January 3, 2020, it was announced that Japanese comedian Kurochan would take part in the event. On January 26, 2020, Sweet Dreams, DDT announced the annual Right to Challenge Anytime, Anywhere, but in this year, DDT created a new contract the Saitama Super Arena Sword, in which, the holder of the sword would get an opportunity for KO-D Openweight Championship at the event.
On February 23, at Into The Fight, it was announced that Kenny Omega would be appearing at the event, marking his first appearance for the promotion since November 3, 2019. On March 18, it announced that Yoshiaki Yatsu would make his return to DDT, since June 2, 2019, when he was forced to pull out of his DDT commitments when his right foot was amputated because of pre-existing problems with diabetes.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
Kenny Omega, who was originally supposed to take part in the event
The event was originally to take place at the Super Saitama Arena in Saitama solely on June 7, 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, other wrestling promotions began to cancel or postpone their shows in an attempt to prevent further spreading of the COVID-19 virus. At the end of February, DDT began holding shows with no audience and only essential staff present. DDT's sister promotion Pro Wrestling Noah began holding shows behind closed doors in an empty TV studio under NOAH TV name, with the shows being streamed in the DDT Universe. This led to all DDT doing the same in May, with all programming being relocated to the DDT TV Show Studio. On April 23, DDT announced that the event would be postponed, due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, following Japan's declaration of State of Emergency. Kenny Omega also announced that due to travel restrictions because of the COVID-19, he would be unable to work in the event. Afterwards, the card underwent changes due to issues that arose related to the ongoing pandemic. On May 16, it was announced that the event would be rescheduled to take place on June 6 and June 7, with the event being moved to the DDT TV Show Studio in Tokyo, without an audience and the event would be broadcasted live on AmebaTV and CyberAgent's streaming service Wrestle Universe.
Storylines
The event comprised a total of sixteen matches divided across the two nights. The Ryōgoku Peter Pan 2020 event featured nine professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
Main event matches
The first night of the event will be headlined by Konosuke Takeshita facing Yoshihiko, in a Last Man Standing match.
Matches
Night 1
| # | Results | Stipulations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damnation (Soma Takao and Mad Paulie) vs. Keigo Nakamura and Hideki Okatani | Tag Team match | |
| 2 | Keisuke Ishii and HARUKAZE vs. Hiroshi Yamato and Saori Anou | Tag Team match | |
| 3 | Super Sasadango Machine vs. Pokotan | Singles match Yoshihiro Sakai Presidential CEO Inauguration Match In Niigata! | |
| 4 | Nobuhiro Shimatani vs. Seigo Tachibana | Singles match Between Wrestlers Who Want To Participate In DDT Regularly | |
| 5 | Jun Akiyama and Mizuki Watase vs. All Out (Akito and Yuki Iino) | Tag Team match | |
| 6 | Daisuke Sasaki (c) vs. Isami Kodaka vs. Shunma Katsumata | Three-way hardcore match for the DDT Universal Championship | |
| 7 | Sanshiro Takagi, Kazusada Higuchi and Tomomitsu Matsunaga vs. KONGOH (Kenoh, Masa Kitamiya and Haoh) | Six-man tag team match | |
| 8 | Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yoshihiko | Last Man Standing match | |
| |||
Night 2
| # | Results | Stipulations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toru Owashi vs. Antonio Honda | Singles match Super Sasadango Machine Remote Produce match | |
| 2 | Yuka Sakazaki, Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima vs. Rika Tatsumi, Nodoka Tenma and Yuki Aino | Six-man tag team match Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling Exhibition match | |
| 3 | Yukio Sakaguchi and Saki Akai Vs Chris Brookes and Maki Ito | Tag team match | |
| 4 | Shinya Aoki (c) vs. Yukio Naya | Singles match for the DDT Extreme Division Championship Celebration! Release Restriction Rules | |
| 5 | Danshoku Dino (c) vs. Makoto Oishi | Singles match for the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship | |
| 6 | HARASHIMarufuji (HARASHIMA and Naomichi Marufuji vs. MAO and ASUKA | Tag team match | |
| 7 | Nautilus (Yuki Ueno and Naomi Yoshimura) (c) vs. Strong Hearts (T-Hawk and El Lindaman) | Tag team match for the KO-D Tag Team Championship | |
| 8 | Masato Tanaka (c) vs. Tetsuya Endo | Singles match for the KO-D Openweight Championship | |
| |||
Notes
- ↑ The event will be held without a live audience due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan.