When it was announced in early 2020 that Chris Brookes would be moving to Japan to go full time with Dramatic Dream Team (DDT), there was a lot of buzz. He had been a mainstay of the British indies, making his own promotion. Additionally, he had a few DDT matches under his belt. Looking back at 2020, what did Chris Brookes’ year in DDT show?
It started with Chris Brookes taking part in one of the stranger side projects of DDT. Case and point, Gake No Fuchi Joshi Pro saw one true match: Brookes vs. Miyako Matsumoto. It’s one of the stranger matches Brookes was part of, but it showed that he could roll with even the weirdest of DDT. Keep in mind that most of his 2019 matches were straight wrestling matches.
He would go on to become the inaugural Universal Champion the next month. This title that would lose its intended purpose with the pandemic hitting. However, with Chris Brookes as one of the heads of the division, it remained fresh in people’s heads. He had matches against Daisuke Sasaki, Drew Parker, and both members of Nautilus.
Another element Chris Brookes carried over from 2019 was his penchant for Rojo Wrestling. He took part in all but one of the Rojo Wrestling events of the year. During these events, he often teamed with Maki Itoh.
Despite his success, Brookes had disappointing showings in the King of DDT, scoring fewer points than he did last year at the D-Ou. Without the Universal Title, it could be argued that things were on the downturn. Chris Brookes’ year in DDT would end quietly. However, something happened that put an interesting wrinkle in his DDT story.
As a late announcement to the English commentary team for TJPW’s Ittenyon, Chris Brookes was added as a third man to the booth. It followed a pattern of trust; Chris Brookes’ Produce show was completely in English and he covered a Wrestle Universe DVD’s commentary. He had been shown to be a trustworthy name for international audiences. It seems only fitting that he capped off his first year in DDT making that effort.
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