DDT wrapped up the D KING GP 2023 and kicked off their 2024 today with a big year-opening event.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. Kenta Kobashi & SKE48 member Marika Tani were guests on commentary.
The announced paid attendance was 1194, a super full house/very near sellout. Also their best Korakuen number in a long time as they normally use a smaller configuration.
During the opening wrestler entrance ceremony, Yoshitatsu, who just left All-Japan Sunday, appeared and announced he will be participating full time in DDT starting Friday.
Match 1: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON beat Takao Soma, Shota & Yuni. KANON beat Soma with Cobra Twist 2.0. Shota was a last-minute replacement for Yuki Iino, who was removed from the match as a last-minute replacement in another match for the absent MAO (fever). Afterwards, Sasaki & KANON issued a KO-D Tag Team Championship challenge to Soma & Shota. That match will happen on 1/21 at Club Shinagawa eX in Tokyo.
Match 2: Makoto Oishi & Jun Akiyama beat Yusuke Okada & Kazuma Sumi. Oishi beat Sumi with a Fujiyama knee lock.
Miu Watanabe (Tokyo Joshi Pro) appeared to promote tomorrow’s (tonight US time) TJPW event .They then introduced Tsubasa Suzuki, aka Mother Con Kid, who will debut om 3/17. However, he is an intern and will continue as such so there is no guarantee he will become a full-time member, that decision will come in a few months.
Match 3: Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima beat Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani. Kojima pinned Okatani after a deformed face buster.
Match 4: HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata beat Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Antonio Honda. Hirata pinned Honda. After this, it appears Disaster Box officially disbanded, then Katsumata reappeared to issue a DDT Extreme Championship challenge to Hirata. That match will happen on 1/28.
Match 5: Jun & Rei Saito (All-Japan) beat Kazusada Higuchi & Rukiya. Rei Saito pinned Rukiya.
Impromptu Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion The Christmas Tree to win the title. Kuroshio becomes the 1600th Champion.
Which led to…
Match 6: DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Kuroshio TOKYO Japan beat Danshoku Dieno to retain the title.
In addition to what All-Japan announced earlier in the day, more crossover matches to be held in DDT were announced: Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai will appear on 2/7 and Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuma Aoyagi will happen on 3/17.
Match 7: Yuki Ueno & Yuki Iino beat Masa Takanashi & Takeshi Masada. Ueno pinned Masada after Jul 2. Iino was a last-minute replacement for MAO.
Main Event: D KING GP 2023 Finals: Yukio Naya beat Tetsuya Endo to win the tournament. First victory for Naya. As a result, Naya will face KO-D Openweight Champion Yuki Ueno for the title on 1/28.
The next event is Friday at Shinjuku Face. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
UPDATE: In post-match backstage comments, Sanshiro Takagi announced he will take a break from wrestling after the 7/21 event for health reasons. He will continue in his current managerial role for owner CyberFight Corporation.
