DDT continued the D KING GP 2023 today with the penultimate event of the prelim round.
Today’s event was held at Sakurajuji Hall Yatsushiro Multipurpose Hall and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Wednesday. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 282, a super full house/very near sellout.
Match 1: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani beat Takao Soma & Kazuma Sumi. Okatani beat Sumi with a dragon sleeper.
Match 2: Chris Brookes, Akito & Takeshi Masada beat Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata. Masada pinned Oishi after a triangle kick.
Match 3: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada beat HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Rukiya. Endo pinned Rukiya after a rotating torture rack bomb. This was Akiyama’s final match as a member of the Burning faction, or at least such match teaming with Endo in the faction.
D KING GP:
Match 4: Block A: Daisuke Sasaki beat Yuki Iino.
Match 5: Block B: MAO beat KANON.
Main Event: Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida beat Yuki Ueno & Toi Kojima. Higuchi pinned Kojima after Brain Claw Slam.
Standings Update for tournament: In Block A, Sasaki stays in it with the win and 4 still have a chance on the final day. Scenarios to win are as follows:
Higuchi (6 points): Advances with win (Endo). Also advances with draw and Sasaki win.
Ueno (5 points): Advances with win (Sasaki) and Higuchi loss or draw.
Sasaki (5 points): Advances with win (Ueno) and Higuchi loss.
Endo (4 points): Advances with win (Higuchi) and Ueno/Sasaki must end in a no points scenario (double DQ or no contest).
In Block B, KANON is now OUT thanks to the loss today so it’s 3 tied for the lead. Their scenarios to win:
MAO (6 points): Advances with win (Naya) and Rei Saito loss or draw.
Naya (6 points): Advances with win (MAO).
Rei Saito (6 points): Advances with win (Brookes) and MAO win.
The next event is 12/24 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The card is subject to change last-minute due to a DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship battle royal being scheduled (the title has legit 24/7 rules and can be won anytime, anywhere by anything as long as a referee is present). Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET. Live results will be provided here.