DDT Pro Wrestling wraps up the 2022 KING OF DDT Tournament today with the Semifinals and Finals, and the stakes are as high as they can be in the annual singles tournament. Not only will the winner claim the KING OF DDT title and a 1 million yen bonus prize (about $7400 US), but also will become the new KO-D Openweight Champion after Tetsuya Endo had to vacate the title due to a concussion suffered at CyberFight Festival ’22. Endo will be in attendance and address the crowd so it will be interesting to hear what he has to say. And when.
Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. Additionally, two pre-show matches and the first main card match will be streamed FOR FREE on YouTube.
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani vs. Toru Owashi, Takao Soma & Toui Kojima
Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & KANON vs. Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida
Main show:
Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari vs. Akito, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
KING OF DDT Semifinals:
Yuki Ueno vs. Naomi Yoshimura
Kazusada Higuchi vs. Jun Akiyama
Masa Takanashi & HARASHIMA vs. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
MAO & Shunma Katsumata vs. Chris Brookes & Andrew Everett
KING OF DDT Finals for the vacant KO-D Openweight Championship
Tetsuya Endo will appear and speak to the fans
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest updates.
Updates below will begin at 9:45 PM ET/6:45 PM PT. The live stream begins at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT.
9:45 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates start now.
Waiting for the live stream to go to the venue, which should happen shortly. The first match should begin in about 15 minutes.
9:53 PM ET UPDATE: We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Or were for a moment. Stand by.
9:57 PM ET UPDATE: Take 2…We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your Japanese hosts are Ken Kato & Sayoko Mita. Your English hosts are Baliyan Akki & Christelle Ciari.
Pre-show:
Match 1: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani vs. Toru Owashi, Takao Soma & Toui Kojima. 10 minute time limit
Result: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani beat Toru Owashi, Takao Soma & Toui Kojima. Okatani pinned Kojima after a double arm suplex.
Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & KANON vs. Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida. 10 minute time limit
Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & KANON beat Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida. KANON pinned Ishida after a brainbuster.
The main show will begin at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT. During the pre-event announcements they bring in Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling stars Yuki Aino & Raku and Ganbare Pro star Ken Ohka to promote their respective major events next weekend at Ota City General Gym. The main show broadcast begins during Okha’s promo.
New Japan Pro Wrestling stars Yuji Nagata & Yoshinobu Kanemaru are announced for the Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Event on 9/18.
Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima come out to promote their Super Hardcore Girls event on 7/14, where they will transform into hardcore schoolgirls to take on members of Prominence. They lead the opening call to start the event.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Looks like a near-sellout/full house.
Main Show:
Sanahiro Takagi (reluctantly) joins Japanese commentary.
Match 1: Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari vs. Akito, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari beat Akito, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata. Iino beat Akito.
Tetsuya Endo comes out. With microphone. He apologizes to the fans for worrying them following his injury (concussion) at CyberFight Festival. He announces he was just cleared to resume training and will return on 7/24 at Korakuen.
The YouTube broadcast ends here.
Match 2: KING OF DDT Semifinals: Yuki Ueno vs. Naomi Yoshimura. No time limit
Result; Naomi Yoshimura beat Yuk Ueno. As a result, Yoshimura advances to the Final to face the winner of the next match.
Match 3: KING OF DDT Semifinals: Kazusada Higuchi vs. Jun Akiyama. No time limit
Result: Kazusada Higuchi beat Jun Akiyama. As a result, Higuchi advances to the Finals to face Naomi Yoshimura for the KO-D Openweight Championship in the main event.
Quick break for ring cleaning.
Match 4: Masa Takanashi & HARASHIMA vs. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Masa Takanashi & HARASHIMA. Okada pinned Takanashi. Afterwards, Okada with microphone. He challenged Takanashi for the DDT Universal Championship.
Match 5: MAO & Shunma Katsumata vs. Chris Brookes & Andrew Everett. 30 minute time limit
Result; Chris Brookes & Andrew Everett beat MAO & Shunma Katsumata. Everett pinned Katsumata after a moonsault chokeslam off the top rope. Note that while Everett calls himself “The Giant”, he really is no bigger than Brookes. By no means is he 7 feet, 300+ pounds.
Konosuke Takeshita, who is on an excursion to All Elite Wrestling in the US, appears in a recorded promo. He may be coming back for WRESTLE PETER PAN.
Main Event: KING OF DDT Finals: Naomi Yoshimura vs. Kazusada Higuchi for the vacant KO-D Openweight Championship. No time limit
Result: Kazusada Higuchi beat Naomi Yoshimura to win the tournament and the title. Higuchi becomes the 79th KO-D Openweight Champion.
The next event is Thursday at Shinjuku Face, which is this month’s DDT FREE event. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
Post-show news/updates:
The announced paid attendance was 703.
The DDT Universal Championship match hinted at will happen on 7/24. Whoever wins will defend vs. TBA on 8/20.
First up for Higuchi: TBA. That will be on 8/20 at WRESTLE PETER PAN, but Higuchi stated he wants to wait for Endo.
Joey Janela vs. Shunma Katsumata in a Hardcore match was announced for 8/20, as was Shinichiro Kawamatsu, Sanshiro Takagi & Takao Soma vs. Osamu Nishimura, Makoto Oishi & Akito.
Atsushi Onita participation in an explosion death match was announced for 9/4 at Nagoya Congress Center.
For the DDT Extreme Championship match on 7/16, which is Yuki Iino defending vs. Akito, the rule is a 3 vs. 1 handicap match of Pheromons vs. Akito. If any of the Pheromons get a pinfall or submission, Iino retains the title. But if Akito gets a pinfall or submission on any of the Pheromons, even if it’s not Iino, Akito wins the title.
For the Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Event on 9/18 at Korakuen, it will be set up where vocal cheering will be allowed in one section of the venue but not in another section, and the vocal section will be at 50% capacity.
