Following the shocking & sad news that Shinjuku Face in Tokyo is closing at the end of September after 21 years, DDT ran the first of what will be their final 10 events at the venue before than today. The venue’s lease is expiring but no further details are known yet.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The paid attendance was not announced.
Pre-show Match: Tokyo Joshi Pro match: Rika Tatsumi & Uta Takami beat Yuki Kamifuku & Kira Summer. Tatsumi pinned Summer after Missile Hip.
Shortly after that…
Antonio Honda beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Rika Tatsumi to win the title. Honda becomes the 1809th Champion.
Match 1: Shinya Aoki, Junta Miyawaki & Viente Maligno beat Chris Brookes, Kota Sekifuda & Hinata Kasai. Aoki beat Kasai with Aoki Clutch.
Match 2: HARASHIMA & Antonio Honda beat Jun Akiyama & Kazuki Hirata. Honda pinned Hirata after a HARASHIMA Blue Sword.
During the opening announcements that followed, Antonio Honda vs. Yoh (New Japan) was announced for 4/15 at Korakuen Hall. Honda announced he would defend the Iron Man Title then against Yoh. However…
GM Imabayashi beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Antonio Honda to win the title. Imabayashi becomes the 1810th Champion.
Match 2: Kazuma Sumi, Naomi Yoshimura, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida beat Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani, MJ Paul & Illusion. Yoshimura pinned Illusion after Paybacks.
Match 4: Shishamo Power, Eel Mask & Gota Ihashi beat Yuki Iino, Yukio Naya & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Power pinned Matsunaga after a fisherman’s buster.
Match 5: KO-D Tag Team Champions MAO & KANON beat Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine to retain the titles.KANON pinned Dieno after a lariat. V4 for the champs.
Main Event: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato beat KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Yuki Ueno, To-y & Kaisei Takechi to win the titles. Masada, Koroku & Sato become the 60th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Masada pinned Takechi. That will not make the ladies happy. Next up: Yoshimura, Nakatsu & Ishida. That match will happen on 3/22 at Korakuen Hall. As for Imabayashi…odds are his Iron Man reign will also end on 3/22 as he will defend the title in a 1 vs. 6 Handicap Match against Honda, Minoru Suzuki, Sanshiro Takagi, Dnashoku Dieno, Super Sasadango Machine & Toru Owashi. Then we’ll see what happens because if Rika Tatsumi doesn’t steal it back that will affect Tokyo Joshi Pro’s 3/29 event as she was supposed to defend the ttile then in a battle royal. With the “Card subject to change” caveat of course. But hey, if it means Mahiro Kiryu can’t win it back I will not complain. Also, TJPW will have a pre-show match on 3/22.
The next event is Sunday at Yume Messe Miyagi in Miyagi. There will be no live broadcast. On demand on 3/18.