The busy schedule of freelance wrestler Veda Scott – known for her work in Ring of Honor, Shimmer, and many other independent promotions – recently included a tour of DDT and their
With her signature giant cat head by her side and sometimes on her opponent’s head, she wrestled comedic intergender tag team matches alongside Mike Bailey and Antonio Honda and worked with some of TJPW’s finest in tag team, triple threat and singles matches.
When Diva Dirt asked Scott how she first got involved with DDT and TJPW, she replied, “I’ve been a fan of DDT since before I became a wrestler and following TJPW since it started. My DDT Universe subscription gets a lot of use! So being a huge fan and wanting to wrestle in Japan as much as possible made me pursue it. Also, I love doing intergender wrestling and that possibility isn’t as readily available with many other Japanese companies right now.”
Although she loves working in Japan, Scott said there isn’t a big difference between wrestling for a
Scott also described what makes the promotions of the DDT Universe unique in the wrestling world both from a creative perspective and as a working wrestler. “The quality of the in-ring talent is top notch. For me personally, the chance to train with TJPW wrestlers was an absolutely unbeatable opportunity. Every single woman there works hard and cares about becoming the best wrestler possible.
The combination of high-quality wrestling plus comedy-slash-character development is probably the most unique thing about DDT and Tokyo Joshi. It’s difficult to make pro wrestling funny! It’s even more difficult to combine things that are funny with so-called “serious” wrestling – but these athletes do it every show.”
When asked about her favorite match in DDT and TJPW, Scott said that it was “really difficult” to pick an answer. However, she could narrow it down to “anytime Mike Bailey and I get to team up” in DDT.
In Tokyo Joshi Pro, she mentioned “a match against Yuki Aino that stuck out for me because it was a really tough fight. She’s among a group of women who are ready to move up to the next level of competition, so every single match is a critical chance to impress. But honestly, I enjoy every match I have for different reasons and – especially in Japan – I learn and grow whenever I’m in a ring. So they’re all my favorite!”
Scott’s highest-profile match in TJPW so far was her Tokyo Princess of Princess Championship match against the promotion’s ace, Miyu Yamashita, in January 2018. On
Scott and Bailey are far from the only wrestlers to travel from the Western hemisphere to work for DDT and TJPW, which have also featured Candice LeRae, Joey Ryan, Priscilla Kelly, Puma King, El Generico, and more.
DDT, with TJPW wrestlers including Yamashita and Maki
Although DDT and TJPW aren’t the most popular Japanese wrestling promotions outside of Japan yet, Scott says she believes in them “so strongly and genuinely” that she thinks “any single person who competes there has what it takes to shine around the world.”
“TJPW sent a team to last CHIKARA King of Trios (Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, and Yuka Sakazaki) and obviously, they all did really well. So that was a great introduction to the talent, but all three would be such great additions to, say, SHIMMER or other American promotions!
Clearly, championship-level talent should be wrestling everywhere, but up and down any card, every wrestler has a unique character and skill set. That’s a huge part of what makes these companies so special. No one just exists. There’s a reason and a purpose behind everything and I think a lot of wrestling promotions in the States could learn something about creativity and pushing boundaries by watching more.”
Scott, who’s been touring in Europe since her latest tour of Japan ended, says the best place to keep up with her work is on Twitter @itsvedatime, where she updates followers about her upcoming shows.
