The Slap
Tetsuya Endo's fall got a lot of attention. But how he got back up was far more interesting.
On June 12, 2022, Kazusada Higuchi, Jun Akiyama, and recently anointed KO-D champ Tetsuya Endo stepped into the ring to defend DDT’s honour against Team NOAH’s Yoshiki Inamura, Atsushi Kotoge, and Katsuhiko Nakajima at the cross-promotional super show CyberFight Festival 2022.
Approximately six minutes later, everything went to hell when Endo was legitimately knocked out by Nakajima.
Endo sustained a concussion and spent the night in the hospital. He was forced to relinquish his title and give up his spot in the upcoming King of DDT tournament to determine the next contender.
It was the beginning of one of the more vexing periods in my wrestling fandom.
As an Endo fan, I was devastated. I love seeing him portray suffering in the context of wrestling matches, but I never want to see him hurt for real. It was also gutting to see it happen at the start of what was shaping up to be a whole new level of his career. He’d finally defeated his longtime rival, Konosuke Takeshita, on the big stage when it mattered and seemed primed to take on a more leading role in the company as Take left for AEW. He was on his way to making his third KO-D reign as exciting as his first two with a banger defence against Yuki Ueno. And all of that potential—and all of the years of hard work and careful planning that led to that watershed moment—was gone in an instant.
It was also a trying period for me as a moderately pedantic autistic person, because people were being wrong on the internet.
I’m not talking about opinions about the match, or the promotions and wrestlers involved. That stuff is subjective and people are allowed to think whatever they want. (And I, in turn, am allowed to think that their taste is terrible if they don’t love Endo or DDT, but that’s a different issue.)
I’m talking about takes with little to no supporting evidence that were presented as fact. And regurgitated as such by people who weren’t even paying attention before they saw a video of the slap on Twitter.
Some people claimed that Endo had tried to shoot on Nakajima, and the latter was only trying to defend himself or provide receipts. This argument appears to have been exacerbated by some rando on Reddit claiming that this was a pattern of behaviour for Endo, who had previously tried to stiff KENTA and also been knocked out for his bad behaviour there. (The incident they were referring to was actually a spot from a KUDO vs KENTA match in 2007 . A match that happened five years before Endo debuted as a pro wrestler.)
Oddly, some other people seemed equally convinced that the opposite was true and that Nakajima had righteously put Endo down because his elbows were too weak. I suspect this version was little more than wish fulfilling fanfiction by people who hate DDT and/or Endo and would like to believe that some divine strong style god struck them down for their heresy against real wrestling that day.
Despite their contradictory theories, but camps seemed to conclude that the incident was proof that Endo was somehow weak, under muscled, or otherwise ill equipped to wrestle, though.
Now I can’t say for certain what actually did happen that day, either. I don’t think anyone who wasn’t there and doesn’t know the men involved is ever going to know exactly what went down or why—or how much of what we saw outside of the actual knockout itself was a performance. I’m inclined to believe the answer is much less sexy: it was an accident. What I can say for sure, though, is that getting knocked out in a simulated fight says nothing about your toughness or your ability to continue to perform in simulated fights. Anyone, no matter how weak or strong, will go down if their skull is struck at the right angle with enough force. Nakajima’s palm and Endo’s jaw just happened to align at the worst possible moment. Endo’s concussion was the result of anatomy, not a deficit in weight or fighting spirit.
A whole bunch of people were also convinced that this incident would ruin Endo forever. That it would be a permanent black mark on his career and fans’ perceptions of him and that DDT would need to punish him and keep him far away from the title if they ever wanted to be taken seriously. I’m going to blame that one on the aforementioned fanfic. Possibly with some weird stereotypes about Japanese culture, honour, and the sanctity of pro wrestling sprinkled on top.
Although my conviction wavered a little in the wake of that odd angle with Matt Cardona around Peter Pan 2023, I was far less concerned that this was going to the case for my beloved Endo.
For one thing, Daisuke Sasaki predicted that the incident would be a shame that Endo would carry for the rest of his life during his backstage interview at Peter Pan 2022. If DDT’s resident unreliable narrator—the man who has claimed, among many other things, that he was going to start a wrestling promotion in space, marry Candice LaRae on the moon, beat Kenny Omega and somehow win his AEW EVP role in the process, and move to LA to work at a McDonald’s part time—is saying that something is going to happen, there is about a 97% chance that it will not transpire.
The bigger reason for my relative zen regarding the longterm fallout of The Slap, though, was that I was actually paying attention. And what I noticed unfolding in DDT was rather different from any of the projections I was seeing.
DDT and Endo just went ahead and made it one more aspect of his character. Not a heavy-handed badge of shame that he had to carry throughout his every moment in the promotion. Not a disgraceful secret that could never be mentioned again as he was quietly retired from DDT’s title scene. But another wrinkle in the ongoing history of Tetsuya Endo that will occasionally come to the surface, à la his rivalry with Takeshita, his history with Sasaki, his need to prove himself, his need to show off his superlative physical strength, his gotten to-itivity, and Akito’s unrequited affections.
The slap first reappeared in Endo’s return match on July 24, 2022, a feeling out six man tag between Endo, Akiyama, and Chris Brookes and HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi, and Soma Takao. HARASHIMA delivered it as a tough love welcome home.
Although Endo was able to shake off that small initial test, it became clear that the slap was still a physical and psychological sore point in a tune up match between Harimao and BURNING right before Endo faced King of DDT winner Kazusada Higuchi for the vacated KO-D at Peter Pan 2022.
He winces, babies his face, and shakes off a bit of petulant frustration after a shoulder block.
It continues to be an issue throughout the match.
It’s enough of a concern that Akiyama steps in and gets overprotective about it, not trusting or allowing Endo to fend for himself.
If those moments in the go home match are the gun in the first act, this is when it goes off at Peter Pan:
In a rare moment of forward momentum for Endo in the title match, Higuchi goes for it. It’s not enough to drop Endo, or completely throw him off his game, but his recovery is frazzled and haphazard, containing none of the precision or grace that he usually exhibits when he’s set up an opponent in that position.
I’ve seen some reviews of this bout, most notably this one, that interpret the whole affair as a match-long humiliation for Endo in which Higuchi proves himself to be exponentially better in every possible way. Through that lens, I assume the slap would be a case of adding insult to injury.
From my perspective, though, I see it as both a test and an opportunity. This is undoubtably Higuchi’s moment and he is going to take it, but the DDT that he is going to lead does not need to rebuild itself on the back of Endo’s failure. Higuchi is successfully regaining the physical and psychological advantage with his slap, but he’s also offering Endo a small but important chance at redemption. And Endo takes it as much as he can.
Another chance comes in the final stretch when Endo is all but out for the count. But Higuchi pulls referee Matsui off of him and wills Endo back to his feet, desperately yelling “Endo, 立て” (Endo, stand up).
This isn’t a stone cold killer who wants to debase his unworthy opponent more. This is someone pleading with a comrade in arms to give them both the moment they deserve.
Endo wills himself to his feet and instantly eats more shit. He makes one final kickout at one and then drags himself back to his feet to face his fate.
Higuchi gets the win and rightfully establishes himself at the top tier of DDT. But he also solidifies his role as a leader by encouraging Endo to go out fighting. And Endo takes that as well as he can in that moment, too.
That wasn’t the end of The Slap, though.
Over the next two years, Endo would quietly build his long redemption arc, challenging and occasionally winning some of the promotion’s other belts, and subtly working out the kinks in his game. It was rarely flashy. He never did anything that would threaten to upstage brand new KO-D champs like Higuchi, Chris Brookes, and Yuki Ueno and their stories. But it was all there for anyone who was watching him.
The Slap is often employed by opponents who want to get a rise out of Endo in some way.
I’m limiting myself to three examples here, but there are exchanges of this nature scattered throughout his 2023-2024 CV.
BURNING’s young boy, Yuya Koroku, unleashes it in a failing attempt to gain an edge on his senpai in a singles match from January 2023.
GLEAT’s Tetsuya Izuchi briefly gained the upper hand with it this past June.
Kuroshio Tokyo Japan put his own spin on it when the two rekindled their battle of wits in July.
This subtle and slow burning arc finally came to a head when Endo and his tag team partner, Yuki Iino, defended their KO-D Tag Team belts again NOAH’s Atsushi Kotoge and Go Shiozaki at Peter Pan 2024.
The relevance of The Slap in this encounter requires neither autism nor an emotional attachment to Tetsuya Endo’s career to follow. Kotoge was on Team NOAH for that fateful Cyberfight match. Shiozaki made the challenge as a member of a previous incarnation of BURNING who wanted to test the new generation, but he also happened to be Nakajima’s beloved AXIZ tag team partner. And he wasn’t afraid to evoke that connection in a press conference leading up to the event.
Kotoge and Endo also did their part to remind everyone that the former had a very hard head and the latter had a bit of a hot head with a trigger point in the lead up.
Twice.
For anyone who had been paying attention the whole time, though, there was the extra weight of two years’ worth grappling with a simple strike that had overwhelming implications underscoring the proceedings. A deliciously agonizing subtext for people who enjoy having an excess of feelings about wrestling.
Ten minutes into the big match at Peter Pan, Endo runs into the ring to defend Iino with some impetuous elbows.
Shiozaki, as promised, puts the fear of his former partner back into Endo.
The lifeless Endo rolls out of the ring and we don’t see him again for over three minutes.
Iino spends those moments valiantly holding the fort as much as he can, but when he’s had enough, he starts crawling toward their corner, yelling.
“Endo, 立て”
And once again, Endo answers the call.
It isn’t a completely triumphant return. There’s still more struggling, bumping, and suffering to be done. This is a Tetsuya Endo match, after all, and that was one of the aspects of wrestling he did best even before any of this happened.
And Kotoge’s headbutts still pose a threat.
But this isn’t the Endo from two years ago. He’s learned and he’s grown. The call to stand came from his own corner and, with the support of Iino and the version of BURNING they’ve helped to build, he prevails. The Slap hasn’t necessarily been conquered. It will always be a part of his history. But it’s been put in its place as just one part of that history.
I can’t pretend that I was always patient with this process, but now that we’ve reached this point, I can see how it was all worth it. It’s a fine example of long term storytelling in wrestling—and an equally fine example of how a wrestler can build on their own lore without making it all about them and their story at all times.
I think it’s also a testament to the kind of promotion that DDT is and how the depth and breadth of wrestling it celebrates made more room for a wrestler to rebuild from a moment like the original slap than a more straightforward promotion that sells itself on only serious matches and fighting spirit ever could have provided.
Most importantly, I think it’s a testament to the kind of wrestler that Endo is. Someone with more ego or a fear of looking genuinely vulnerable in the ring might have rushed things in an effort to make themselves look cool and impervious again. Someone less dedicated to the artistry of suffering might have been content to sweep it under the rug. I think it takes a lot of character as well as a lot of talent to pull off what he’s done here.
DDT made a special graphic for Endo’s return match in 2022 that, very roughly translated, said “only those who have suffered shame can weave a drama.”
And there are fans who are only interested in the people who can weave it.