DDT runs their monthly major event today and it’s both running back from what happened during KING OF DDT earlier this year and also potentially shaking up the landscape of the promotion. First, if you are an early bird you could witness the end of those despicable Pheromons…or perhaps what is going to be the most disastrous day in the history of CyberFight Corporation (in a very hilarious only-DDT way). Then at the end, KO-D Openweight Champion Kazusada Higuchi defends the title against his former Eruption factionmate and leader Yukio Sakaguchi, who win or lose wants Higuchi back in the faction after the match along with new teammates Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida. And today is also Higuchi’s birthday. Will the new flagbearer of DDT abide by his former partner’s demands?
Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. Voice actor Takayuki Kondo will be a special guest on commentary. There will be a pre-show dark match scheduled for 30 minutes before the event begins. Including this, I anticipate today’s event having a total runtime of about 3 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show: Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino vs. Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi, Akito & Antonio Honda in a handicap match. If Pheromons lose, they must disband. But if they win, Iino becomes CyberFight Corporation President for a day
Main Show:
Kazuma Sumi Debut Match: Kazuma Sumi vs. Kazuki Hirata
Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Pawl & KANON vs. Shuma Katsumata, Toui Kojima, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani
HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada vs. Takao Soma & Hikaru Machida
Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku vs. Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuki Ishida
Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Chris Brookes vs. Tetsuya Endo, MAO & Yukio Naya
DDT Universal Champion Yuki Ueno vs. Koju Takeda for the title
KO-D Openweight Champion Kazusada Higuchi vs. Yukio Sakaguchi for the title
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 9:50 PM ET/6:50 PM PT.
9:50 PM ET UPDATE: The stream has just launched. We should be going live in less than 10 minutes.
10 PM ET UPDATE: We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your pre-show hosts are Ken Kato, Haruo Murata & Kagehiro Osano.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Vocal cheering is allowed so 50% max capacity, but based on advance ticket sales it could be a legit sellout. If not, it will be extremely close (at least 90%).
Pre-show dark match: Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino vs. Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi, Akito & Antonio Honda in a handicap match. No time limit
Result: Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino beat Sanshiro Takagi, Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi, Akito & Antonio Honda. Dieno pinned Takagi after GM Imabayashi turned on Takagi and hit him (weakly) with a chair. As a result, Iino will become CyberFight Corporation President for a day. That day will be November 1.
Pre-show concludes at 10:18 PM ET. Updates will resume when the main show matches begin in 15-20 minutes.
During the opening announcements, it is announced that DDT will be part of a Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) event on 3/31/23 at Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA and also likely a standalone DDT event on 3/30/23. Joey Janela promo follows. It will be part of an event called The Collective and will feature DDT vs. GCW. Janela is still DDT Extreme Champion. Also, Takao Soma was announced as the new manager of the pro wrestling & sports bar “Dropkick”.
Main show begins now (10:30 PM ET). Your hosts are Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano & special guest Takayuki Kondo.
Match 1; Kazuma Sumi Debut Match: Kazuma Sumi vs. Kazuki Hirata. 30 minute time limit
Result; Kazuki Hirata beat Kazuma Sumi by submission. Unlike Takeshi Masada, Sumi had to make his debut in a comedy match. That being said, it was a solid debut and he showed great potential and agility. He has a bright future ahead.
Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Pawl & KANON vs. Shunma Katsumata, Toui Kojima, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani. 30 minute time limit
Result: Daisuke Sasaki, Minoru Fujita, MJ Pawl & KANON beat Shunma Katsumata, Toui Kojima, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani. KANON pinned Kojima after Sleepy Hollow. Afterwards, Sasaki & KANON with microphone. They teased a potential D-KING Grand Prix final between them.
Quick break for ring cleaning.
Match 3: HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada vs. Takao Soma & Hikaru Machida. 30 minute time limit
Result: Takao Soma & Hikaru Machida beat HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada. Machida pinned Masada.
GM Imabayashi brings out two outside women wrestlers whose names I didn’t catch. They will be the opponents for Saki Akai & Yuki Arai at Tokyo Dome City Hall on 12/29. Will try and update tomorrow with names. One is a champion in another promotion though as she was carrying a blue title belt.
Match 4: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku vs. Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuki Ishida. 30 minute time limit
Result: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Yuki Ishida. Koroku beat Ishida with a cross armbar.
Match 5: Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Chris Brookes vs. Tetsuya Endo, MAO & Yukio Naya. 30 minute time limit
Result: Naomi Yoshimura, Yuji Hino & Chris Brookes beat Tetsuya Endo, MAO & Yukio Naya. Brookes pinned Naya with a leg clutch rollup.
Akito joins commentary here.
Match 6: DDT Universal Champion Yuki Ueno vs. Koju Takeda for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: DDT Universal Champion Yuki Ueno beat Koju Takeda to retain the title. V2 for Ueno.
Main Event: KO-D Openweight Champion Kazusada Higuchi vs. Yukio Sakaguchi for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: KO-D Openweight Champion Kazusada Higuchi beat Yukio Sakaguchi to retain the title. V4 for Higuchi. Higuchi was busted open during the match, my first thought was perhaps a broken nose or close to it. Post-match, as far as Sakaguchi’s demand that Higuchi re-join Eruption win or lose, and bring the rest of Harimao (Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida) with him…it sounds like Higuchi refused. Harimao remains its own faction and Higuchi remains its leader and double champion as he still holds the KO-D Tag Team Championship with Yoshimura.
The next event is Wednesday at Shinjuku Face, which will be this month’s DDT FREE event. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 701, a legit sellout.
Saori Anou & Rika Kawabata are the opponents for Akai & Arai on 12/29. At this time it is, assuming AA Eye Candy are still the Tokyo Joshi Pro Princess Tag Team Champions at the time, a NON-TITLE match. Also announced for 12/29 is Higuchi defending the KO-D Openweight Championship against the D-KING Grand Prix winner, unless Higuchi wins the tournament. Then it’s TBA. Konosuke Takeshita was also announced for this event, suggesting that if reports of his returning to All Elite Wrestling are true, he’ll be back there for about 2 months.
