Tag: DDT

There are chop fests and there are chop fests in wresting…and then there was Kazusada Higuchi & Yuji Hino taking it to new heights in November 2022.Ahead of their upcoming KO-D Openweight Championship match, DDT is making the full 11/5/22 event with their first meeting available FOR FREE on YouTube. You can watch below, but be advised it will not be available until Wednesday (1/25/23) at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET, of course you can watch anytime on WRESTLE UNIVERSE if you are a subscriber.

DDT wrapped up their year-opening tour today with the final event before their first major event of the year next weekend, offering us one last preview of a potential hoss fight between Kazusada Higuchi & Yuji Hino for the KO-D Openweight Championship.

Today’s event was held at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 175, a full house/near sellout.

The opening segment and announcements included Tetsuya Endo apparently stealing Yuki Iino’s if-it-can-be-called-a-thong.

Match 1: MJ Pawl & KANON beat Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi. KANON pinned Sumi after Sleepy Hollow.

Match 2: Danshoku Dieno beat Yusuke Okada. After the match, which Dieno won due to Iino interference, Endo appeared again and, because apparently Iino has two of those it-it-can-be-called-thongs, stole the second one. Hilarious photographical evidence on DDT’s website.

Match 3: Sanshiro Takagi, Makoto Oishi & Akito beat Yuki Ueno, Toui Kojima & Shinichiro Kawamatsu. Akito beat Kojima with a stepover toe hold.

A public signing ceremony for Higuchi-Hino was held here.

Match 4: Yuki Iino beat Tetsuya Endo by DQ. Endo stripped Iino naked yet again.

Match 5: HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata beat Takao Soma, Keigo Nakamura & Takeshi Masada. HARASHIMA pinned Nakamura after Blue Sword.

Matvh 6: In a Monoboke Death Match, where if the challenger made the champion laugh 3 times after a pinfall kickout or rope break he would win, and the champion would win with 3 successful pinfalls/submissions, DDT Extreme Champion Jun Akiyama beat Antonio Honda to retain the title. V2 for Akiyama. Next up: Akito. That match will happen on 2/18.

Main Event: Kazusada Higuchi, Chris Brookes & Yuki Ishida beat Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Makoto Oishi. Higuchi pinned Hino after Brain Claw Slam.

The next event is “Sweet Dreams!” 2023″ on 1/29 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin on 1/28 at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.

DDT continues their year-opening tour with a house show in Sendai, complete with an “Only In DDT” plot twist from yesterday that forced a late change to the card.

Today’s event was held at Miyagino Ward Cultural Center in Sendai and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 198, a full house/near sellout.

There was an unknown last-minute change to the card because Daisuke Sasaki missed the event. No-show after “disappearing” following a post-event phone and text chat with KANON. DDT’s English Twitter posted screenshots of what transpired.

Match 1: MJ Pawl & KANON beat Yusuke Okada & Keigo Nakamura. KANON pinned Nakamura after Sleepy Hollow.

Match 2: Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno beat Kazuki Hirata & Kazuma Sumi. Iino pinned Sumi with Sexy Roll 2023.

Match 3: Jun Akiyama & Toru Owashi beat Yukio Naya & Takeshi Masada. Akiyama pinned Masada after Exploder.

Match 4: Makoto Oishi beat Shunma Katsumata by countout.

Match 5: Yuji Hino & Akito beat Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida. Akito beat Ishida with a stepover toe hold.

Match 6: Tetsuya Endo beat Yuya Koroku.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toui Kojima beat HARASHIMA, Chris Brookes & Hideki Okatani. MAO pinned Okayani after Cannonball 450.

The next event is Friday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama with DDT Extreme Champion Jun Akiyama vs. Antonio Honda on a comedy deathmatch for the title. There will be no live broadcast.

Today is former DDT owner & current president Sanshiro Takagi’s 53rd birthday, and it’s Friday The 13th…which of course means DDT! They ran a special birthday event for Takagi today.

Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 241.

During the opening announcements, the rules for the next DDT Extreme Championship match on 1/21 were announced: It’s a Monovoke Deathmatch at challenger Antonio Honda’s request. After a pinfall kickout or rope escape, Honda gets to do a comedy promo. If he makes champion Jun Akiyama laugh 3 times, Honda wins the title. Akiyama must get 3 pinfalls or submissions to retain the title.

Atsushi Onita will launch his Dramatic Dream Onita on 3/19 when DDT returns to Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market in Kanagawa.

Match 1: Keigo Nakamura Return Match: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada beat HARASHIMA, Hideki Okatani & Keigo Nakamura. Endo pinned Nakamura after a modified Yurikamome.

Match 2: MJ Pawl & KANON beat Antonio Honda & Kazuma Sumi. KANON pinned Sumi after Sleepy Hollow.

Match 3: Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Shunma Katsumata beat Akito, Kazuki Hirata & Yuya Koroku. Latsumata pinned Hirata after Segodon. This was the fallout from a recent match where, because Katsumata took the loss against them, he had to join Pheromons for a day. So he became their human dog, complete with ears and painted whiskers & nose. Only In DDT.

Match 4: Kotaro Suzuki (Pro Wrestling NOAH) beat Takao Soma.

Match 5: Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi beat MAO & Toui Kojima. Oishi pinned MAO with a tornado clutch.

Match 6: Sanahiro Takagi & Fuminori Abe beat Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada. Abe pinned Masada.

Match 7: Yuji Hino & Yukio Maya beat Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida. Hino beat Ishida with a King Kong Sleeper.

Main Event: Naruki Doi beat DDT Universal Champion Ueki Ueno & Daisuke Sasaki in a 3-way elimination match, beating Ueno after Ueno eliminated Sasaki, to win the title. Doi becomes the 9th DDT Universal Champion. Next up: KANON. That match will happen on 2/18 at Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall.

The next event is tomorrow at Miyagino Ward Cultural Center in Sendai. There will be no live broadcast.

DDT welcomed back longtime deathmatch icon (and controversy magnet) Atsushi Onita today for an event featuring his signature exploding current deathmatch, but there was a lot on the line in the match-Onita’s trademark to the match name against DDT executives’ positions in the company.

Today’s event was held at Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market in Kanagawa and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably Tuesday). There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 234, a super full house/very near sellout.

The show opened with the first-ever electric current explosion mirror split.

Match 1: Yukio Naya beat Takeshi Masada.

Match 2: Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino beat Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi. Iino beat Sumi.

Match 3: HARASHIMA, Saori Anou & Yusuke Okada beat Kazuki Hirata, Saki Akai & Gota Ihashi. Anou pinned Ihashi after an Akai high kick and a medulla oblong slash.

Match 4: In a Chain Deathmatch, Chris Brookes beat Demonio Uno by ref stoppage (TKO-technical submission).

Match 5: Yuki Ueno & MAO beat Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku. Ueno pinned Koroku after Stretch Bomb.

Match 6: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida. KANON beat Ishida with a cobra twist.

Main Event: In a New Year Air Time Bomb & Electric Blast Deathmatch, with a time bomb suspended above the ring that would explode after 10 minutes had passed, Atsushi Onita, Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima beat Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Takao Soma.Onita pinned Soma after an electric blast bat full swing. The stip was that if Onita’s team lost, he lost the “exploding current” trademark to DDT, but if Onita’s team won whoever scored the winning pinfall/submission took the loser’s position in the company. As a result, Onita becomes the store manager of DDT’s Dropkick bar/restaurant, a position previously held by Soma. Exploding current cocktail has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Afterwards, HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata came out to make a challenge for a current bombing match on 3/19 (a potential return date to the venue) and Onita declared the launch of “Dramatic Dream Onita”. Never know what will happen with “Mr. Liar” though.

The next event is Friday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo, a special event to celebrate Sanshiro Takagi’s birthday. Those who purchase special Takagi seats for, in tribute to his “346” number associated with him-34,600 yen-get an all-you-can-drink meal with Takagi at Dropkick afterwards (and with Onita now manager this could be a lot of fun), a special ringside seat during Takagi’s match (which is Takagi & Fuminori Abe vs. Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada), a commemorative photo with Takagi in the ring and more. There’s also a 3-way DDT Universal Title match on the card. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.
(Correction: The original post said there would be no live broadcast for the 1/13 event. It will stream live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE)

DDT ran a special “All Seats 3000 yen” house show today, a morning matinee spotlighting the promotion’s younger talent. All the seats were a discounted 3000 yen, a monthly special that was replaced in 2022 by the DDT FREE events with free admission and tickets distributed via lottery.

Today’s event was held at Itabashi Green Hall in Tokyo and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (expected to be Saturday). There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 234, a legit advance sellout.

Match 1: HARASHIMA & Antonio Honda beat Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno. Honda pinned Dieno after a diving fist drop.

Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata and Yukio Naya & Yusuke Okada in a 3-way when Sasaki beat Hirata.

Match 3: Yuki Ueno & Yuya Koroku beat Makoto Oishi & Illusion. Ueno pinned Illusion after a dropkick.

Match 4: Tetsuya Endo beat Hideki Okatani.

Match 5: MAO & Shunma Katsumata beat Toui Kojima & Kazuma Sumi. Katsumata pinned Kojima after Super Double Miracle Ecstasy.

Match 6: Chris Brookes beat Takeshi Masada.

Main Event: Kazusada Higuchi beat Yuki Ishida.

Konosuke Takeshita appeared at the end and announced he is returning to the US tomorrow (he is headed back to All Elite Wrestling starting tomorrow) but wanted one more match before he left. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuki Ueno went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

The next event is Saturday at Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market in Kanagawa, headlined by a New Year’s Air Time Bomb & Electric Current Blast Bat Deathmatch featuring Atsushi Onita (a 6-man tag match). A time bomb will be placed above the ring and explode after 10 minutes. If Onita’s team loses, he loses the trademark rights to “exploding current” and they are transferred to DDT. But if Onita’s team wins, the winning member (Onita, Shunma Katsumata or Toui Kojima) will assume the corporate role within DDT of the loser (President if Sanshiro Takagi takes the loss, Vice President if it’s Akito, Store Manager if it’s Takao Soma). It is trending towards a legit sellout. Unfortunately for the rest of us, there will be no live broadcast.

DDT began their 2023 today with a mid-major event that would begin the path to their 26th Anniversary event in March as well as other major events this year.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 759, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi beat Hideki Okatani & Toui Kojima. Oishi pinned Kojima after Cactus Flower.

Match 2: Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno vs. Akito & Antonio Honda went to a No Contest. GM Imabayashi stoppage.

The promotion’s biggest events of the year were announced outside of the 26th Anniversary event on 3/21-5/3 will be MEGA MAX BUMP 2023 at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, and 7/23 will be WRESTLE PETER PAN, the promotion’s biggest annual event, at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Match 3: Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata beat New Year Pokotan, Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Kazuma Sumi. Hirata pinned Sumi.

Match 4: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Kotaro Suzuki (Pro Wrestling NOAH), Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Kazusada Higuchi, HARASHIMA, Rickey Shane Page, Takao Soma & Yuki Ishida. Endo pinned Ishida after Burning Star Press.

Match 5: Yuki Ueno & Cara Noir beat MJ Pawl & KANON. Noir beat Pawl with Blackout Sleeper.

Match 6: Konosuke Takeshita beat Takeshi Masada. Afterwards, Takeshita requested a match against Sanshiro Takagi. Takagi initially refused, but that match will happen on 3/21.

It was then announced that AEW duo Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford will appear on 2/18 & 2/26, and former WWE wrestler Kalisto/Samurai Del Sol will appear on 3/21.

Match 7: Naruki Doi vs. Daisuke Sasaki went to a 30 minute time limit draw. This was to have determined the next challenger for the DDT Universal Championship. As a result, the title match on 1/13 will be a 3-way survival, meaning it’s very likely an elimination match.

Main Event: MAO & Shunma Katsumata beat Chris Brookes & Masa Takanashi to win the vacant KO-D Tag Team Championship. MAO & Katsumata become the 76th KO-D Tag Team Champions. MAO pinned Takanashi after Our Madokasu.

The next event is Thursday at Itabashi Green Hall in Tokyo. The event is a legit advance sellout. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: The next challengers for the KO-D Tag Team Championship have been announced: Oishi & Asahi. That match will happen on 1/29 at Korakuen Hall.

DDT wrapped up their 2022 with a New Year’s Eve event today featuring a one day 6-man tag tournament with many independent names as well as DDT participants and also an independent year-end awards ceremony by Japanese sports network Samurai! TV.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast unless it was on Samurai! TV.

The announced paid attendance was 615, a full house/near sellout.

During the Japan Independent Awards Ceremony, DDT earned 2 prizes-Kazusada Higuchi was named MVP while the Best Unit award went to those deplorable Pheromons for a second straight year.

All 6-Man Tag Team Tournament Matches until the Semifinals had a 10 minute time limit.
Match 1: MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto beat Yukio Naya, Hideyoshi Kamiya & Kikutaro. MAO pinned Kikutaro.
Match 2: Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sekimoto & Isami Kodaka vs. Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI went to a 10 minute time limit draw. Which led to…
In a 1 Count Fall Overtime with No Time Limit, Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI beat Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sekimoto & Isami Kodaka. Higuchi pinned Brookes.
Match 3: Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi (All-Japan Pro Wrestling) beat Tetsuya Endo, Yasufumi Nakanoue & Brahman Shu. Aoyagi pinned Shu.
Match 4: HARASHIMA, Yuki Ishikawa & Masashi Takeda beat Takeshi Masada, Takuya Nomura (All-Japan Pro Wrestling) & Masato Tanaka (ZERO1). Takeda pinned Masada after a reverse U Crash.

Match 5: Ryuji Ito, Jaki Numazawa, Abdullah Kobayashi & Kankuro Hoshino (Big Japan Pro Wrestling) beat Danshoku Dieno, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Shunma Katsumata. Ito pinned Hirata after Bilibili Dragon Splash.

Match 6: Tournament Semifinals (15 minute time limit): MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto beat Kazusada Higuchi, Kota Sekifuda & MUSASHI. Aoki pinned ? (DDT’s website didn’t say exactly who won and lost but looked like Aoki beating either Sekifuda or MUSASHI. Definitely not Higuchi taking the loss).

Match 7: Tournament Semifinals (15 minute time limit): Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi beat HARASHIMA, Yuki Ishikawa & Masashi Takeda. Ueno pinned HARASHIMA with a rolling guillotine Ace Crusher.

Match 8: Konosuke Takeshita, Rickey Shane Page, Drew Parker & Cara Noir beat Yuji Okayabashi, Kazumi Kikuta, Takuho Kato & Kazumasa Yoshida. Takeshita pinned Yoshida after Zahi.

Main Event: Tournament Finals (No Time LImit): Yuki Ueno, Daichi Hashimoto & Yuma Aoyagi beat MAO, Yuya Aoki & Yuko Miyamoto to win the tournament. Hashimoto pinned MAO after a rising DDT. Afterwards, Ueno appeared to ask Hashimoto & Aoyagi to come back for potentially a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship challenge.

The promotion’s first event of 2023 is “Hatsuyume 2023” Tuesday at Korakuen Hall. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET. Vocal cheering will be allowed and it’s trending towards being a legit sellout (only a few seats left in all but one section). After this event, DDT also announced that SKE48 member Marika Tani will be a guest on commentary Tuesday.

DDT ran their final big event of the year today, NEVER MIND 2022, loaded with numerous major matches and surprises and, unless you shelled out 250,000 yen for the most expensive seats, a money back guarantee if you found it boring courtesy of host LiLiCo. But how could a show starting with a LiLiCo anal explosion be boring?

Today’s event was held at Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 1207, a super full house/very near sellout. It sounds low for the venue because vocal cheering was allowed, so between the almost-automatic 50% capacity limit and the layout, that lowered the max capacity to maybe 1500 (the venue’s normal capacity is, I believe, in the 3000-3500 range). No word on how many refunds were requested post-show, if any.

The show opened with the promised LiLiCo anal explosion, a DDT blowout event tradition.

Pre-show Match 1: Hideki Okatani & Toui Kojima beat Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi. Okatani pinned Sumi after a diving knee drop.

Pre-show Match 2: Minoru Fujita, MJ Pawl & KANON beat Masa Takanashi, Antonio Honda & Takao Soma. KANON beat Honda with a cobra twist.

Keigo Nakamura, who has been out an extended time due to injury, will return on 1/13.

The LiLiCo anal explosion opened the main show.

Match 1: Sanshiro Takagi beat Takeshi Masada.

Match 2: HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi beat Yuji Hino & Yuki Ishida. HARASHIMA pinned Ishida after Blue Sword.

Match 3: Danshoku Dieno, Yuki Iino, Yumehito Imanari & Koju Takeda beat Akito, Osamu Nishimura, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Shunma Katsumata. Iino pinned Katsumata. As a result, Katsumata must join Pheromons for a day.

Match 4: Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls) beat Shinya Aoki.

Match 5: Yuki Arai (Tokyo Joshi Pro) & Sali Akai beat Saori Anou & Rika Kawabata (Independent/Freelancers). Akai pinned Kawabata after Quetzalcoatl.

Match 6: Tetsuya Endo, Kotaro Suzuki (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Yusuke Okada beat KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata to win the titles. Endo, Suzuki & Okada become the 49th KO-D Tag Team Champions. Endo pinned Hirata after Burning Star Press. Mext up: Those despicable Pheromons (Dieno/Iino/Takeda). That match will happen on 1/29 at Korakuen Hall.

Match 7: In a match with rules determined by Super Sasadango Machine’s weight pre-match, DDT Extreme Champion Jun Akiyama beat Super Sasadango Machine to retain the title. V1 for Akiyama. This went just over 2 minutes. Afterwards, Akiyama issued an open challenge for challengers. Next up: Antonio Honda. That match will happen on 1/21 at Yokohama Radiant Hall.

Match 8: Konosuke Takeshita & Yukio Naya beat Daisuke Sekimoto (Big Japan) & Rickey Shane Page. Naya pinned Page after a backdrop.

Match 9: MAO beat Chris Brookes, Daisuke Sasaki & Cara Noir in a 4-way by pinning Brookes.

Main Event: KO-D Openweight Champion Kazusada Higuchi beat Yuki Ueno to retain the title. V5 for Higuchi. Ueno’s DDT Universal Championship was not on the line. Next up: Hino. That match will happen pn 1/29.

Their final event of the year is Saturday at Korakuen Hall with a one-day 6-man tag team tournament. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: With regards to Katsumata having to join Pheromons for a day, that day will be 1/13 at Shinjuku Face.