DDT is back in Tokyo for a special free event today, and one that is far bigger than the usual free mini-events as it’s closer to a typical event. Today’s headliner is a KO-D Openweight Championship match with a lot of Baka-Shinya Aoki aka Baka Survivor defends the title against Chris Brookes aka Baka Gaijin as the latter looks to become a 2-time champion. There also may be some entertainment on tap as members of KLP48, a Malaysia idol group, are scheduled to perform a mini-concert and maybe we’ll see an appearance by Kumatori, a musician/dancer who will be making his pro wrestling debut at the end of December. That was just announced earlier today on DDT’s website. And just in time for US elections Tuesday, DDT’s Japanese wrestling politician SHinichiro Kawamatsu is back in action today too.
Today’s event will be held at Sumida City Gym aka Higashin Arena in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. It’s not yet known if there will be any commentary. Also, it has been announced that the KLP48 performance will not be part of the live or on demand broadcast due to copyright reasons so if that doesn’t come first or last there may be a break in the broadcast at some point. Based on the rest of the card and the title match I anticipate today’s event running close to 3 hours, so if like me you plan to watch New Japan’s major event later some split-screening setups may be needed for a bit.
Today’s lineup:
Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida vs. Yuni & Kazuma Sumi
Touchikun & Pocotan vs. Oshinarikun & Higapyon
Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul, KANON & Demus vs. Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino, Masa Takanashi & Yuya Koroku
Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata vs. Makoto Oishi & Takao Soma
Takeshi Masada vs. Illusion
Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Shinichiro Kawamatsu vs. Satoshi Kojima, Akito & Antonio Honda
Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y vs. HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine
KO-D Openweight Champion Shinya Aoki vs. Chris Brookes for the title
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET. The live stream is scheduled to begin 20 minutes before the event.
7:40 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in 15-20 minutes.
7:50 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Sumida City Gym aka Higashin Arena in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.
The paid attendance will NOT be announced after the event this time because it’s a free admission event. The crowd is still filing in but the potential number already is looking good. They just did some reserved sections for WRESTLE UNIVERSE members. (UPDATE They did announce attendance of 2200 afterwards. While the venue was not completely full, it would under normal circumstances have qualified as a super full house/very near sellout)
The matches should begin in about 15 minutes.
Oh wait, we’ve got trouble brewing with Danshoku Dieno & The37Kamiina. And I see referee Daisuke Kiso nearby…and Yukinori Matsui, the other referee. And they’re in the ring! The37Kamiina and Dieno with Super Sasadango Machine and HARASHIMA and now I see GM Imabayashi…so apparently Yuki Ueno has the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship belt, meaning he must have won it from Dieno and we don’t know it yet. Apparently a match was made and then Machine tried but failed to win the title from Ueno. That leads into the opening announcements. The first of what probably will be several sponsor plugs/appearance today follows.
The matches begin at 8:02 PM PT/11:02 PM ET. And there is Japanese commentary! Your hosts are Haruo Murata & Kagehiro Osano.
Match 1: Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida vs. Yuni & Kazuma Sumi. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuni & Kazuma Sumi beat Keigo Nakamura & Yuki Ishida. Sumi pinned Ishida.
Quick break for more GM Imabayashi announcements. This includes the next sponsor rep intro, and they take over on commentary for the next match.
Match 2: Touchikun & Pocotan vs. Oshinarikun & Higapyon. 30 minute time limit. Giant mascot comedy match
Result: Oshinarikun & Higapyon beat Touchikun & Pocotan. Oshinarikun pinned Pocotan. Maybe the first match ever with actual live commentary in the arena, not just on the broadcast.
Match 3: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul, KANON & Demus vs. Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino, Masa Takanashi & Yuya Koroku. 30 minute time limit
Result: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul, KANON & Demus beat Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino, Masa Takanashi & Yuya Koroku. Sasaki beat Takanashi with a crossface.
KLP48 mini-live. This will not be shown on the stream for copyright reasons so, for us UNIVERSE viewers, intermission. The stream will resume after the performance (starting at 8:50 PM PT/11:50 PM ET) which should last 10-15 minutes. Updates will resume at that time. During the break the stream will show information about the rest of today’s lineup and also upcoming events.
The stream resumes at 9:07 PM PT/12:07 AM ET with the mini-live concluded.
Match 4: Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata vs. Makoto Oishi (Independent/Freelancer) & Takao Soma. 30 minute time limit
Result: Makoto Oishi & Takao Soma beat Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata. Soma pinned Hirata. Comedy match. On his way out of the ring area, Owashi tossed the DDT O-40 Championship belt to a fan in the crowd.
Match 5: Takeshi Masada vs. Illusion. 30 minute time limit
Result: Illusion beat Takeshi Masada. Lots of Damnation TA interference.
Intermission. Sounds like 15 minutes. Updates will resume after the break, which should be around 9:55 PM PT.
The matches resume at 9:55 PM PT/12:55 AM ET.
Match 6: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Shinichiro Kawamatsu vs. Satoshi Kojima (New Japan), Akito & Antonio Honda. 30 minute time limit
Result: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & SHinichiro Kawamatsu beat Satoshi Kojima, Akito & Antonio Honda. Kawamatsu pinned Honda after a shoulder block spear.
Yuki Iino with microphone. It was announced that on 12/22 at Korakuen Hall he will face New Japan’s Tomohiro Ishii.
Match 7: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y vs. HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine. 30 minute time limit
Result: Double pinfall when To-y pinned DIeno and Machine pinned Ueno to win the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship. Machine becomes the 1687th Champion. (I think). Situation explained by referee Daisuke Kiso. Which led to…
Match 7 (again): Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y vs. HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine. 30 minute time limit. Match restarted.
Result: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y beat HARAHSIMA, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine, with Katsumata pinning Machine to win the title. Katsumata becomes the 1688th Champion. Machine voluntarily unmasked himself briefly during the match. Afterwards, Ueno & Katsumata with microphone to celebrate. Which led to…
Yuni beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Shunma Katsumata to win the title. Yuni becomes the 1689th Champion. Katsumata slipped a couple times on the plastic covering on the floor trying to run after Yuni.
Main Event: KO-D Openweight Champion Shinya Aoki vs. Chris Brookes for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Chris Brookes beat KO-D Openweight Champion Shinya Aoki by submission to win the title. Brookes becomes the 84th KO-D Openweight Champion. And now a 2-time champion. Post-match promo quickly interrupted by Damnation TA. Next up: Daisuke Sasaki. GM Imabayashi makes it official for the year-end blowout event on 12/28 at Ryogoku Kokugikan.
The next event is CHARISMANIA, a Daisuke Sasaki Produced event, Wednesday at Shinjuku Face. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
