DDT kicked off KING OF GATE 2024, one of the promotion’s 2 annual single tournaments, today with Round 1. This is a single-elimination format tournament with 16 participants.
Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 1025, a full house/near sellout.
Pre-show:
Match 1: Takao Soma, Keigo Nakamura & Yuya Koroku beat Yuni, Illusion & Kazuma Sumi. Nakamura pinned Sumia fter a diving headbutt.
Match 2: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga beat Shunma Katsumata, Akito & Kazuki Hirata in 8 seconds. Oishi pinned Hirata with a tornado clutch. Which led to…
Match 2 (again): Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga beat Shunma Katsumata, Akito & Kazuki Hirata. Oishi pinned Hirata with a tornado clutch.
Main show:
All matches were KING OF DDT Round 1 matches, no time limit.
Match 1: MAO beat Poison Sawada JULIE.
Match 2: To-y beat KANON.
Match 3: Sanshiro Takagi beat Yuki Ueno.
Match 4; Daisuke Sasaki beat Yuki Iino.
Match 5: Kazusada Higuchi beat Yukio Naya.
Match 6: Shuji Ishikawa beat HARASHIMA.
Match 7: Tetsuya Endo beat Danshoku Dieno.
Main Event: Chris Brookes beat Takeshi Masada.
The Quarterfinals are Saturday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama and will be MAO vs. To-y, Takagi vs. Sasaki, Higuchi vs. Ishikawa and Endo vs. Brookes. After all matches, a random draw to determine the Semifinal matches will be held.
The next event is ALL TOGETHER, a special charity fundraiser event for Noto Peninsula earthquake recovery efforts featuring DDT, New Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH, tomorrow at Nippon Budokan. Live streaming as a PPV only on ABEMA worldwide will begin at 12:30 AM PT/3:30 AM ET. The earliest it may be available without paywalls on New Japan World and/or WRESTLE UNIVERSE will be May 19 (when the PPV window ends).
