Not even a week removed from WRESTLE PETER PAN, their biggest annual event, DDT has their monthly Tokyo big event on tap today, Summer Vacation 2023. With it being just that in Japan, the promotion is offering free admission to elementary & middle school students accompanied by paying adults today for what looks like another loaded card. In the main event, Konosuke Takeshita will continue his recent heel turn in All Elite Wrestling by now aligning himself with the Damnation T.A. faction, teaming with Daisuke Sasaki & KANON to face The37Kamiina trio of Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima. As usual there is also a title match today as DDT Extreme Champion Kazuki Hirata looks to pull out all the stops-literally and figuratively-for a comedy handicap/Captains Fall/2 Count Falls defense against HARASHIMA. Ever seen Grilled Yakitori Chicken in a wrestling match as a participant? You will today! Only in DDT.
Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. Kentaro Kumagi, a Japanese voice actor who also is a lifelong wrestling fan, will be a special guest on commentary. There is a pre-show match scheduled before the event so it will start around 15 minutes earlier than the listed start time. Including the pre-show match the event’s total running time should be between 2 1/2-3 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Pre-show: Yuni vs. Kazuma Sumi
Main show:
Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul vs. Takao Soma & Rukiya
Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno vs. Akito & Naruki Doi
Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya vs. Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
Yukio Sakaguchi 50th Birthday Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Tanomusaku Toba & Masa Takanashi
Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada vs. Kazusada Higuchi, Kotaro Suzuki & Yuki Ishida
DDT Extreme Champion Kazuki Hirata, Broom, Kokeshi Door, Chair, Grilled Yakitori Chicken & Hirata’s Merry Fighters vs. HARASHIMA in a Handicap Captains Fall 2 Count Falls match for the title
Konosuke Takeshita, Daisuke Sasaki & KANON vs. Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET. The pre-show match is scheduled to begin at 7:15 PM PT/10:15 PM ET.
7 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has started. We should be going to the venue in about 15 minutes for the pre-show match.
7:15 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano & special guest Kentaro Kumagi.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. The crowd is still filing in but they’re using the same reduced hard-camera-view bleacher setup as Tokyo Joshi Pro did yesterday so it’ll be less than full capacity.Too early to predict potential attendance as the crowd is still coming in. (Main show update: I’m thinking it’s gonna be around 550 but by the end of the event I changed my thoughts to be closer to 800) (Update: The announced paid attendance was 761)
Pre-show match: Yuni vs. Kazuma Sumi. 15 minute time limit
Result: Yuni beat Kazuma Sumi
Updates will resume when the main show matches begin.
No opening announcements today, we go right to opening video. Your hosts are Ken Kato, Kagehiro Osano & Kentaro Kumagi.
The matches begin at 7:36 PM PT.
Match 1: Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul vs. Takao Soma & Rukiya. 30 minute time limit
Result: Minoru Fujita & MJ Paul beat Takao Soma & Rukiya. Paul pinned Rukiya.
Akito & Naruki Doi promo.
Match 2: Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno vs. Akito & Naruki Doi. 30 minute time limit
Result: Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino beat Akito & Naruki Doi. Dieno pinned Akito after Danshoku Driver. Comedy match of course. Afterwards, Saki Akai came out. She asked for a match against Dieno. Dieno accepted. GM Imabayashi made it official for the next Korakuen event Dieno then brought Iino back in the ring and spread his butt for Akai to see, sending her running back to the backstage area. The match would probably be on 8/27 as the next Korakuen before that on 8/12 is Saki’s 10th Anniversary event and that match is already set.
Match 3: Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya vs. Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya beat Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku. Hino pinned Koroku after Fuckin’ BOMB.
GM Imabayashi heads to the ring for what are normally his show-opening announcements. First, for the upcoming Saki Akai 10th Anniversary match, the TBA in the 6-woman tag match is revealed as Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s Shoko Nakajima. The earlier-made Dieno-Akai match is also made official for 8/27.
Your host from here on out is Haruo Murata. There must have been a YouTube simulcast up to this point that wasn’t advertsided.
Match 4: Yukio Sakaguchi 50th Birthday Match: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Tanomusaku Toba & Masa Takanashi. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani beat Shuji Ishikawa, Tanomusaku Toba & Masa Takanashi. Sakaguchi pinned Toba after God’s Right Knee. Sakaguchi addressed the fans afterwards as well as receiving 50th birthday gifts. I missed some of this due to internet issues and some streaming issues once these were resolved. Back up and running as intros for the next match began.
Match 5: Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada vs. Kazusada Higuchi, Kotaro Suzuki & Yuki Ishida. 30 minute time limit
Result: Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada beat Kazusada Higuchi, Kotaro Suzuki & Yuki Ishida. Brookes pinned Ishida after Praying Mantis Bomb.
Match 6: DDT Extreme Champion Kazuki Hirata, Broom, Kokeshi Door, Chair, Grilled Yakitori Chicken & Hirata’s Merry Fighters vs. HARASHIMA in a Handicap Captains Fall 2 Count Falls match for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: DDT Extreme Champion Kazuki Hirata beat HARASHIMA to retain the title. V1 for Hirata. This was so many levels of indescribably hilarious. Next up: Possibly Sakaguchi, who made the challenge from the timekeeper/announcer & GM Imabayashi’s table. It’s made official for next month. (Update: That match will happen on 8/13)
Quick break for ring cleaning.
Main Event: Konosuke Takeshita, Daisuke Sasaki & KANON vs. Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima. 30 minute time limit
Result: Konosuke Takeshita, Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima. Sasaki beat Ueno with a crossface. During the post-match promo, Shunma Katsumata came out still on crutches, leading to Sasaki attacking him but Damnation T.A. bailed afterwards and Takeshita ducked a crutch shot from MAO before rolling out of the ring. Afterwards, Ueno & The37Kamiina reinforced their alliance and did their signature call to end the show.
The next event is 8/6 at Yamagata Big Wing in Yamagata. There will be no live broadcast.
Post-show note: If Sakaguchi/Akai/Okatani retain the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship in their upcoming defense in All-Japan on 8/27, which is also for the All-Japan 6-Man Tag Team Championship, they will defend on 9/9 at Ota City General Gym vs. Yankee 2 Pistols & Ram Kaichow. Also set for 9/9 is Takeshita & Sasaki vs. Ueno & MAO.
