DDT has a special Friday matinee on tap today ahead of ULTIMATE PARTY 2023, the first and really only event building to next week’s blowout event. The notable matches begin with Saki Akai’s final 10th Anniversary match, and the final single match of her career before she retires next week, against Kazuki Hirata. At least that all but ensures it will be a comedy match. After that, All-Asia Tag Team Champions Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki defend the titles against Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani in a personal one for Sakaguchi, his father Seiji Sakaguchi once held these titles and the younger now wants to do the same. The main event is one last 11/12 main event build as Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada face Yuki Ueno & MAO.
Today’s event will be held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. There likely will be no commentary. While it could run a bit longer with a title match this essentially is still a house show so I anticipate the event having a total runtime of around 2 1/2 hours, but it may be shorter as they’re on a tight clock today because there is a Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling event coming up afterwards. (That event is at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET tomorrow and will also stream live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE) So it could run closer to 2 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Kazusada Higuchi & Toi Kojima vs. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
Takao Soma vs. Masa Takanashi
Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi vs. HARASHIMA & Kazuma Sumi
Saki Akai vs. Kazuki Hirata
Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON vs. Tetsuya Endo. Yukio Naya & Rukiya
All-Asia Tag Team Champions Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani for the titles
Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada vs. Yuki Ueno & MAO
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 15 minutes before the event.
8 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Shinjuku Face in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Based on advance ticket sales so far, unless there was a big same-day crowd I’m guessing it’ll be around 325. Max capacity for the venue is 500. Not a sellout as I see empty front-row seats. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 385, a super full house/very near sellout)
It is hard camera view only. The matches begin right away. No videos will be shown tonight which also will speed it up.
Match 1: Kazusada Higuchi & Toi Kojima vs. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Kazusada Higuchi & Toi Kojima. Koroku beat Kojima with an armbar.
Match 2: Takao Soma vs. Masa Takanashi. 30 minute time limit
Result: Masa Takanashi beat Takao Soma
Match 3: Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi vs. HARASHIMA & Kazuma Sumi. 30 minute time limit
Before the match, after HARASHIMA & Sumi enter first, Akito enters the ring with microphone. Something about HARASHIMA, Dieno & Pheromones. During Dieno’s entrance the annoucers apparently pointed out fans that looked like GM Imabayashi and Dieno went into the crowd and kissed them. Can’t take the deplorable Pheromones out of Dieno I guess.
Result: Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi beat HARASHIMA & Kazuma Sumi. Oishi pinned Sumi after a double-team powerbomb. Pheromones-like comedy match with Sumi.
Quick break for some mid-event announcements.
Match 4: Saki Akai Final 10th Anniversary & Final Single Match: Saki Akai vs. Kazuki Hirata. 30 minute time limit
At one point the match was stopped by Hirata so the entire roster could come out and pay tribute with messages of thanks to Akai, who is retiring next weekend. (It’s been confirmed on social media that DDT will have a retirement ceremony and final announcement for her after her retirement match). After this the match was restarted.
Result: Saki Akai beat Kazuki Hirata. Mostly a comedy match but a nice gesture by Hirata to stop the match so everyone could come out and offer Akai well-wishes. Akai got very emotional at the finish knowing the end was near before finishing with Quetzalcoatl.
Match 5: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON vs. Tetsuya Endo. Yukio Naya & Rukiya. 30 minute time limit
Result: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON beat Tetsuya Endo, Yukio Naya & Rukiya. KANON beat Rukiya with a cobra twist. Afterwards, Damnation T.A. tried to beat down Endo with a chair but Endo got the better of it and drove off Sasaki with the chair. Then, Endo with microphone. Words for Sasaki ahead of their heated-to-be match next weekend.
Match 6: All-Asia Tag Team Champions Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani for the titles. All-Japan/PWF Rules. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani beat All-Asia Tag Team Champions Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki to win the titles. Sakaguchi & Okatani become the 121st All-Asia Tag Team Champions. Sakaguchi pinned Suzuki after God’s Right Knee. Next up: Okada & Koroku, who were out right away to make the challenge and try and bring the titles back to Burning. When/if it happens is up to All-Japan (PWF). (UPDATE: It’s now official. That match will happen on 12/9 at Osaka Azalea Taisho in Osaka)
Main Event: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada vs. Yuki Ueno & MAO. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Ueno & MAO beat Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada. Ueno pinned Masada after Jul.2.
The next event is ULTIMATE PARTY 2023 on 11/12 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin on 11/11 at 9 PM PT/midnight ET.
UPDATE: A PPV about Saki Akai and her retirement match will premiere on 11/28 on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Price TBA but 4 benefits will be included. Tickets will go on sale on 11/10.
