DDT is just having horrible luck with injuries the last few months. That continues today and it’s a major one-Chris Brookes is now out. Abdominal pain that turned out to be a tumor. Surgery to happen ASAP. Out several weeks. This means he is out of his final D KING GP Block B match Sunday and Rei Saito gets a win by forfeit. Saito will now face Hideki Okatani instead and will wait for the MAO-Yukio Naya result to determine who wins Block B.
Tag: DDT
Injury Report: Return Quickly DDT’d
And yet another DDT wrestler goes down again…and this one after a short comeback. Just one month after he returned from injury, Yuki Ishida is out again. Lumbar disc hernia. Out indefinitely.
More as it becomes available.
DDT 12/17/23 Results
DDT continued the D KING GP 2023 today with the penultimate event of the prelim round.
Today’s event was held at Sakurajuji Hall Yatsushiro Multipurpose Hall and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Wednesday. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 282, a super full house/very near sellout.
Match 1: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani beat Takao Soma & Kazuma Sumi. Okatani beat Sumi with a dragon sleeper.
Match 2: Chris Brookes, Akito & Takeshi Masada beat Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata. Masada pinned Oishi after a triangle kick.
Match 3: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada beat HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Rukiya. Endo pinned Rukiya after a rotating torture rack bomb. This was Akiyama’s final match as a member of the Burning faction, or at least such match teaming with Endo in the faction.
D KING GP:
Match 4: Block A: Daisuke Sasaki beat Yuki Iino.
Match 5: Block B: MAO beat KANON.
Main Event: Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida beat Yuki Ueno & Toi Kojima. Higuchi pinned Kojima after Brain Claw Slam.
Standings Update for tournament: In Block A, Sasaki stays in it with the win and 4 still have a chance on the final day. Scenarios to win are as follows:
Higuchi (6 points): Advances with win (Endo). Also advances with draw and Sasaki win.
Ueno (5 points): Advances with win (Sasaki) and Higuchi loss or draw.
Sasaki (5 points): Advances with win (Ueno) and Higuchi loss.
Endo (4 points): Advances with win (Higuchi) and Ueno/Sasaki must end in a no points scenario (double DQ or no contest).
In Block B, KANON is now OUT thanks to the loss today so it’s 3 tied for the lead. Their scenarios to win:
MAO (6 points): Advances with win (Naya) and Rei Saito loss or draw.
Naya (6 points): Advances with win (MAO).
Rei Saito (6 points): Advances with win (Brookes) and MAO win.
The next event is 12/24 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The card is subject to change last-minute due to a DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship battle royal being scheduled (the title has legit 24/7 rules and can be won anytime, anywhere by anything as long as a referee is present). Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET. Live results will be provided here.
DDT 12/16/23 Results
DDT continued the D KING GP 2023 today with an event in Fukuoka.
Today’s event was held at Nishitetsu Hall in Fukuoka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 355, a full house/near sellout.
A pre-show match was provided by Kyushu Sangyo University Pro Wrestling Research Department with a bunch of masked wrestlers.
Match 1: Yukio Sakaguchi & Takao Soma beat Yukio Naya & Yusuke Okada. Soma pinned Okada.
Match 2: MAO, Toi Kojima & Vanvert Jacques beat Azure Dragon, Akito & Kazuma Sumi. Kojima pinned Sumi after Kojima Wonderland.
Match 3: D KING GP Block B: Kazuki Hirata beat Chris Brookes.
Match 4: D KING GP Block B: Rei Saito beat KANON.
Match 5: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi beat Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada. Oishi pinned Ishida with a tornado clutch.
Match 6: D KING GP Block A: Kazusada Higuchi beat Yuki Iino.
Match 7: D KING GP Block A: Yuki Ueno beat HARASHIMA.
Main Event: D KING GP Block A: Daisuke Sasaki beat Tetsuya Endo by submission.
Standings:
Block A:
1-Higuchi, 3-1, 6 points
2-Ueno, 2-1-1, 5 points
3-Endo, 2-2, 4 points
4-Sasaki, 1-1-1, 3 points
5-HARASHIMA, 1-3, 2 points (OUT)
6-Iino, 1-2, 2 points (OUT)
Block B:
1-Naya, 3-1, 6 points
2-Saito, 3-1, 6 points
3-MAO, 2-1, 4 points
4-KANON, 2-2, 4 points (OUT)
5-Brookes, 1-3, 2 points (OUT)
6-Hirata, 1-4, 2 points (OUT). Finished.
The winner of each block advances to the Finals. Block A will come down to Endo-Higuchi on 12/24. If Higuchi wins, he advances. If Endo wins, he needs a Ueno loss or tie on 12/24 (Iino) to advance on tiebreakers. If Ueno wins, he needs Endo to beat Higuchi to advance. If Endo wins and Ueno draws, that makes it a 3-way tie but the tiebreakers would go to Endo. Sasaki still has a chance if he wins both his remaining matches, then he would also need an Endo win and Ueno loss or draw. In Block B, it’s still up in the air. Naya still advances with a win in his last match (MAO) while Saito must win (Brookes) and Naya must lose to advance (Naya has tiebreaker). MAO can advance by winning both his remaining matches (Naya, KANON) and Saito must lose or draw. Saito has tiebreaker over MAO. KANON is technically out because while he beat Naya, he lost to Saito.
The next event is tomorrow at Sakurajuji Hall Yatsushiro Multipurpose Hall in Kumamoto. Tomorrow’s tournament matches are Sasaki-Iino and MAO-KANON. There will be no live broadcast. When the on demand replay is available there will be an intermission after the 4th of 6 scheduled matches.
News: United Japan Pro Wrestling Industry Group Formed
Just after Mitsuharu Misawa formed Pro Wrestling NOAH in 2000, he would spearhead the creation of an alliance to attempt to better facilitate cooperation between Japanese promotions. Today a new such alliance was formed to modernize those efforts-the United Japan Pro Wrestling Industry Group.
The initial membership will consist of the following promotions: New Japan Pro Wrestling, All-Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling, Big Japan Pro Wrestling, DDT Pro Wrestling and its affiliated sub-brands (Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling & Ganbare Pro Wrestling) and Stardom. Seiji Sakaguchi is the founding chairman with the executive offices based at New Japan Pro Wrestling HQ and New Japan Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi serving as executive chief.
The biggest thing for fans to get excited about here is a joint event scheduled for 5/6/24 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo under the United Japan Pro Wrestling banner. More details forthcoming.
New Japan’s English website has posted a press release with much more about this new alliance, read the full statement here:
DDT 12/9/23 Results
DDT continued the D KING GP today with an event in Osaka.
Today’s event was held at Osaka Azalea Taisho in Osaka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Tuesday. There was no live broadcast.
The announced paid attendance was 245, a full house/near sellout.
Match 1: Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi beat Akito & Kazuma Sumi. Oishi pinned Sumi after Death Penalty.
Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul beat Yuki Iino & Tsutentakku by DQ. Iino DQ’d. Ref assault. Tsutentakku was a last-minute replacement for the absent Rukiya (poor physical condition).
Match 3: Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada beat MAO, Toi Kojima & Illusion. Masada pinned Illusion.
D KING GP Block B:
Match 4: Rei Saito (All-Japan) beat Kazuki Hirata.
Match 5: KANON beat Yukio Naya by ref stoppage (TKO).
Match 6: All-Asia Tag Team Champions Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani beat Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada to retain the titles. Okatani pinned Okada after Quetzalcoatl. V1 for the champs. Next up: Kojima & Atsushi Onita…which, like it or not, means electric blast death match because Onita can’t do straight wrestling anymore. And frankly hasn’t since roughly the 1990s.
D KING GP Block A:
Match 7: Kazusada Higuchi beat HARASHIMA.
Main Event: Tetsuya Endo beat Yuki Ueno.
Standings:
Block A:
1-Endo, 2-1, 4 points
2-Higuchi, 2-1, 4 points
3-Ueno, 1-1-1, 3 points
4-Iino, 1-1, 2 points
5-HARASHIMA, 1-2, 2 points
6-Sasaki, 0-1-1, 1 point
Block B:
1-Naya, 3-1, 6 points
2-KANON, 2-1, 4 points
3-MAO, 2-1, 4 points
4-Saito, 2-1, 4 points
5-Brookes, 1-2, 2 points (OUT)
6-Hirata, 0-4, 0 points (OUT)
The winner of each block advances to the Finals. Everyone still has a chance in Block A. It’s probably going to come down to Endo-Higuchi on 12/24. Note that if Ueno & Sasaki ultimately tie for the top spot, they will have a rematch because they went to a draw. In Block B, it’s Hirata NO! as the DDT Extreme Champion is not surprisingly out of it already, he’s mainly been here for the jobber/comedy role. Naya would have ended it with a win today but is still in control, however he does still need to win his last match (MAO) and now needs a KANON loss or draw in one of his remaining matches (MAO, Saito). Brookes is now out because he loses the tiebreaker to Naya, his only hope would have been to tie with KANON as that is his only tiebreaker (he would also lose to MAO). Saito has the tiebreaker over MAO but loses to Naya. The advantage is now with MAO, who was not in action today, just because his last two are Naya & KANON. If he wins both, he advances on tiebreakers.
The next event is at Nishitetsu Hall in Fukuoka. There will be no live broadcast.
Injury Report: DDT Super-Last-Minute Change
DDT had announced a very last-minute change for tomorrow’s event in less than 2 hours from this post: Rukiya is now off the event. The ever-vague poor physical condition/poor health. He was to have teamed with Yuki Iino to face Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul. Tsutenkakka (who I have erroneously called His Excellency Tsuten from translations) is the replacement.
(There is no love broadcast on WRESTE UNIVERSE for the event. It should be available on demand Tuesday)
DDT Pro Wrestling 12/3/23 Results
DDT continues the D KING GP 2023 today with the second half of a weekend doubleheader in Tokyo. There are 4 tournament matches scheduled today, two in each of the 2 blocks. Block A has Tetsuya Endo vs. Yuki Iino and Yuki Ueno vs. Daisuke Sasaki. Block B has Yukio Naya vs. Kazuki Hirata and, in the main event, Chris Brookes vs. MAO. Based on the standings so far, if Naya wins and he should, he will be firmly in control of Block B at his halfway point at 3-0. Block A has almost everyone at 1 win after 1 or 2 matches so today could help determine favorites to move on to the eventual finals.
Today’s event will be held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. There will probably be no commentary. With just 6 matches on tap and no intermission it’ll go 3 hours tops, but realistically I’m estimating the running time being closer to 2 1/4 hours. Probably depends on the main event, which I can see going the full 30 minutes.
Today’s lineup (in order):
MIKAMI & Kazuma Sumi vs. Demus & KANON
Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi, Yusuke Okada & Rukiya vs. HARASHIMA, Akito, Toi Kojima & Takeshi Masada
D KING GP:
Block B: Yukio Naya vs. Kazuki Hirata
Block A: Tetsuya Endo vs. Yuki Iino
Block A: Yuki Ueno vs. Daisuke Sasaki
Block B: Chris Brookes vs. MAO
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET.
6:30 PM PT UPDATE: The stream launch, normally 30 minutes before the event begins, has been pushed back to 6:45 PM PT/9:45 PM ET. Unless there’s a last-second change, no pre-show matches planned.
7 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. Advance sales were good so it looks to be probably around yesterday which did 334. It looks at first like it’ll be 325-350. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 266)
Match 1: MIKAMI & Kazuma Sumi vs. Demus & KANON. 30 minute time limit
Result: Demus & KANON beat MIKAMI & Kazuma Sumi. Demus pinned Sumi after a spinning neckbreaker bomb.
Match 2: Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi, Yusuke Okada & Rukiya vs. HARASHIMA, Akito, Toi Kojima & Takeshi Masada. 30 minute time limit
Result: HARASHIMA, Akito, Toi Kojima & Takeshi Masada beat Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi, Yusuke Okada & Rukiya. Masada pinned Rukiya.
Quick break for the usual opening announcements from GM Imabayashi. The end of this brings out MAO with microphone. Comments in Japanese. He then called out Chris Beookes, his opponent in the main event. Brookes came out. It sounded like MAO wanted to change today’s match to also be for the DDT Universal Championship. Imabayashi makes it official. Main Event now for the title.
Match 3: D KING GP Block B: Yukio Naya vs. Kazuki Hirata. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yukio Naya beat Kazuki Hirata. Comedy match and, as usual with Hirata, a really funny one.
Match 4: D KING GP Block A: Tetsuya Endo vs. Yuki Iino (remember he’s no longer Sexy!). 30 minute time limit
Result: Tetsuya Endo beat Yuki Iino
Match 5: D KING GP Block A: Yuki Ueno vs. Daisuke Sasaki. 30 minute time limit
Result: Time Limit Draw. Largely because of MJ Paul interference and heel tactics by Sasaki including blatantly taking out the ref late.
Main Event: D KING GP Block B: DDT Universal Champion MAO vs. Chris Brookes for the title. 30 minute time limit (not 1 Hour because it’s a tournament match)
Result: DDT Universal Champion MAO beat Chris Brookes by countout to retain the title. V2 for MAO. Apparently they had the match in a way that they were trying to both win by countout.
The next event is 12/9 at Osaka Azalea Taisho in Osaka. There will be no live broadcast.
DDT 12/2/23 Results
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.
Injury Report: Yet Another One DDT’d (Updated)
The injuries in Japan keep piling up, including for DDT, and unfortunately they’ve just lost another wrestler. This time it’s Yuya Koroku. Left tricep and elbow. Happened at Sunday’s Korakuen Hall event. Out indefinitely but going to be long-term. This means he will be out of an upcoming All-Asia Tag Team Title challenge. DDT is consulting with the PWF (All-Japan Pro Wrestling) on what to do.
More as it becomes available.
UPDATE: For the All-Asia title match where Koroku was teaming with Yusuke Okada, DDT made the announcement today: Jun Akiyama is the replacement. That match is scheduled for 12/9 at Osaka Azalea Taisho in Osaka.