DDT continued the D KING GP today with a homecoming event for Yukio Sakaguchi & HARASHIMA and, following the Tokyo Joshi Pro event a couple hours before, a second such event for Saki Akai. The tournament entered the home stretch.
Today’s event was held at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 280, a super full house/very near sellout. Vocal cheering was allowed.
Match 1: Rickey Shane Page, Makoto Oishi & Yuya Koroku beat Joey Janela, Makoto Oishi & Kazuma Sumi. Koroku beat Sumi with a chicken wing. Yes, the results say Makoto Oishi was on both teams…
Match 2: Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata beat Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino by DQ. Iino DQ’d. Ref assault. Good thing Masayuki (referee) was properly wearing his face mask when Iino “assaulted” him.
Match 3: D KING GP Block B; Yukio Naya beat KANON.
Match 4: D KING GP Block B: Yuji Hino beat MAO.
Match 5; Tetsuya Endo, Naruki Doi & Akito beat Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada. Doi pinned Ishida after Bakatare Sliding Kick. Afterwards, Doi announced his intent to continue participating in DDT in the future (he primarily has competed in Dragon Gate for most of his career).
Match 6: D KING GP Block A: Daisuke Sasaki beat Naomi Yoshimura.
Match 7: D KING GP Block B: Kazusada Higuchi beat Chris Brookes.
Main Event: Saki Akai Produced Match: Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & HARASHIMA beat Aja Kong, Yuki Ueno & DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Shunma Katsumata. Sakaguchi pinned Katsumata after God’s Right Knee to win the title. Sakaguchi becomes the 1555th DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion. Which led to…
Saki Akai beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Yukio Sakaguchi to win the title. Akai becomes the 1556th DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion. Apparently Hideki Okatani then tried to win the title from Akai but it appears he failed.
D KING GP Standings:
Block A:
1-Endo, 2-1-1, 5 pts
2-Sasaki, 2-1-1, 5 pts
3-Ueno, 2-2, 4 pts
4-Janela, 2-2, 4 pts
5-Page, 2-2, 4 pts
6-Yoshimura, 1-3, 2 pts (OUT)
Block B:
1-Higuchi, 3-0-1, 7 pts
2-Hino, 3-0-1, 7 pts
3-Naya, 3-1, 6 pts
4-Brookes, 1-3, 2 pts (OUT)
5-MAO, 1-4, 2 pts (OUT)
6-KANON, 1-4, 2 pts (OUT)
The winner of each block advances to the Finals. Block A comes down to Endo-Yoshimura & Sasaki-Ueno, but if both were to somehow end in a draw or no contest, the Janela-Page winner can steal it. It should be noted if Endo & Sasaki tie at the top, their head-to-head match ended in a time limit draw. Block B probably will come down to Higuchi-Naya. If Naya wins, Hino wins Block B with a win in his last match (Brookes) but Naya wins if Hino loses. If Higuchi wins and Hino loses or draws, Higuchi wins. If both Higuchi and Hino win, it gets very interesting because their head-to-head match was a time limit draw.
The next event is Friday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.
