DDT continued the D KING GP 2023 today with the first half of a weekend doubleheader in Tokyo.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 334, a full house/near sellout.
Match 1: Jun Akiyama, Yuki Iino, Yusuke Okada & Rukiya beat Yuki Ueno, Toi Kojima, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi. Okada pinned Masada after Sudden Death.
Match 2: D KING GP Block B: Chris Brookes beat KANON.
Match 3: D KING GP Block B: MAO beat Kazuki Hirata.
Match 4: KO-D Tag Team Champions Takao Soma & Shota beat Toru Sugiura & Akito to retain the titles. Shota pinned Akito with Gannosuke Clutch. V2 for the champs. Next up: TBA but Shota hinted at a defense at the last Korakuen Hall event of the year later this month, ideally a “same generation” battle.
Match 5: D KING GP Block A: Kazusada Higuchi beat Daisuke Sasaki.
Match 6: D KING GP Block B: Yukio Naya beat Rei Saito (All-Japan).
Main Event: D KING GP Block A: HARASHIMA beat Tetsuya Endo. HARARSHIMA concluded the event with his post-match now-signature victory promo: Because I’m Training!
After 2 days of the tournament Block A has 4 tied for the lead at 1-0 or 1-1, 2 points, with Endo & Sasaki at 0-1, 0 points. Block B has Naya leading at 2-0, 4 points with everyone else except Hirata at 1-1, 2 points. Hirata unsurprisingly is 0-2, 0 points and is really there for comedy purposes.
The next event is tomorrow. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin TONIGHT at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET and live results will be posted.
