DDT continued the D KING GP 2023 today with an event in Fukuoka.
Today’s event was held at Nishitetsu Hall in Fukuoka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 355, a full house/near sellout.
A pre-show match was provided by Kyushu Sangyo University Pro Wrestling Research Department with a bunch of masked wrestlers.
Match 1: Yukio Sakaguchi & Takao Soma beat Yukio Naya & Yusuke Okada. Soma pinned Okada.
Match 2: MAO, Toi Kojima & Vanvert Jacques beat Azure Dragon, Akito & Kazuma Sumi. Kojima pinned Sumi after Kojima Wonderland.
Match 3: D KING GP Block B: Kazuki Hirata beat Chris Brookes.
Match 4: D KING GP Block B: Rei Saito beat KANON.
Match 5: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi beat Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada. Oishi pinned Ishida with a tornado clutch.
Match 6: D KING GP Block A: Kazusada Higuchi beat Yuki Iino.
Match 7: D KING GP Block A: Yuki Ueno beat HARASHIMA.
Main Event: D KING GP Block A: Daisuke Sasaki beat Tetsuya Endo by submission.
Standings:
Block A:
1-Higuchi, 3-1, 6 points
2-Ueno, 2-1-1, 5 points
3-Endo, 2-2, 4 points
4-Sasaki, 1-1-1, 3 points
5-HARASHIMA, 1-3, 2 points (OUT)
6-Iino, 1-2, 2 points (OUT)
Block B:
1-Naya, 3-1, 6 points
2-Saito, 3-1, 6 points
3-MAO, 2-1, 4 points
4-KANON, 2-2, 4 points (OUT)
5-Brookes, 1-3, 2 points (OUT)
6-Hirata, 1-4, 2 points (OUT). Finished.
The winner of each block advances to the Finals. Block A will come down to Endo-Higuchi on 12/24. If Higuchi wins, he advances. If Endo wins, he needs a Ueno loss or tie on 12/24 (Iino) to advance on tiebreakers. If Ueno wins, he needs Endo to beat Higuchi to advance. If Endo wins and Ueno draws, that makes it a 3-way tie but the tiebreakers would go to Endo. Sasaki still has a chance if he wins both his remaining matches, then he would also need an Endo win and Ueno loss or draw. In Block B, it’s still up in the air. Naya still advances with a win in his last match (MAO) while Saito must win (Brookes) and Naya must lose to advance (Naya has tiebreaker). MAO can advance by winning both his remaining matches (Naya, KANON) and Saito must lose or draw. Saito has tiebreaker over MAO. KANON is technically out because while he beat Naya, he lost to Saito.
The next event is tomorrow at Sakurajuji Hall Yatsushiro Multipurpose Hall in Kumamoto. Tomorrow’s tournament matches are Sasaki-Iino and MAO-KANON. There will be no live broadcast. When the on demand replay is available there will be an intermission after the 4th of 6 scheduled matches.
