Tag: DDT

DDT ran a house show today in the hometown of MAO for the first time in 4 1/2 years.

Today’s event was held at Yume Messe Miyagi West Building Hall in Miyagi and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 226.

Match 1: KANON beat Kazuma Sumi.

Match 2; Daisuke Sasaki & Demus beat Yuni & Yuya Koroku. Demus pinned Yuni after Banagueza.

Match 3: HARASHIMA, Danshoku DIeno & Makoto Oishi beat Kazuki Hirata, Aizawa #1 & Illusion. HARASHIMA pinned Illusion after Blue Sword. This was to have been Sanshiro Takagi teaming with Hirata & Aizawa #1 but Takagi was removed earlier this week due to injury. Illusion was the replacement.

Match 4: Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada beat Kazusada Higuchi & Rukiya. Okada pinned Rukiya after Sudden Death.

Match 5: Tetsuya Endo beat MJ Paul.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima beat Chris Brookes, Akito & Yukio Naya. MAO pinned Akito after Cannonball 450. Afterwards, MAO announced he wanted to hold another hometown tournament next year and closed with Heat Wave WER!

The next event is the D KING GRAND PRIX 2023 opener Sunday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 6:15 PM PT/9:15 PM ET. The legendary Kenta Kobashi will be a special guest on commentary.

DDT ran an event in Osaka today as part of a doubleheader with Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 354, a full house/near sellout. They used a much smaller layout than TJPW, who wasn’t anywhere near capacity but still drew in the low 400s. (Back in the day the venue had a full capacity of 1500-1800, but since the pandemic they have downsized considerably. Osaka has always been stricter about capacity limits since the pandemic than most of Japan, but it’s their choice)

During the opening introductions and start call, MAO tried unsuccessfully to win the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship from Kazuki Hirata.

Match 1: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Kazuma Sumi & Yuni. Okada pinned Sumi after Sudden Death.

Match 2: In a No Submissions Match, Sanshiro Takagi & His Excellency Tsuten (a local) beat Danshoku Dieno & Illusion. Tsuten pinned Illusion after a Takagi Stunner.

Match 3: MJ Paul & KANON beat Akito & Rukiya. KANON pinned Rukiya after Vietnam Driver 2.

Match 4: Daisuke Sasaki beat Takeshi Masada by submission.

Match 5: In a Hardcore match, Great Nita, Great Koji & HARASHIMA beat Jun Akiyama, The Bodyguard & Makoto Oishi. Nita beat Oishi by chain hanging chokeout.

Match 6: DDT Universal Champion MAO beat Demus to retain the title. V1 for MAO.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, Chris Brookes & Kazusada Higuchi beat Tetsuya Endo, Yukio Naya & DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion Kazuki Hirata, with Ueno pinning Hirata after WR to win the title. Ueno becomes the 1594th Champion. The 37Kamiina stick around for the show-ending victory promo. Which led to…
MAO beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Yuki Ueno to win the title. MAO becomes the 1595th Champion. Which led to…
Great Koji beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion MAO to win the title. Koji becomes the 1596th Champion. Guess it’s staying in Osaka for a while now.

The next event is Thursday at Yume Messe Miyagi West Building Hall in Miyagi. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: There are now reports Great Koji is/was actually Toi Kojima. He denies that. It has been since determined that title changes can happen only if Great Koji is pinned or submitted.

The post-Saki Akai era began in DDT today with an event featuring a mini-tournament to crown new KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions, the title she gave up upon her retirement Sunday. But Akai thankfully isn’t gone, she is now in a behind-the-scenes position with the promotion so this was her first real event in her new job.

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

The announced paid attendance was 181.

The event opened with a public signing ceremony for a DDT Universal Championship match Sunday between MAO & Demus (Mexico).

The opening was then by SCHADENFREUDE, a new faction formed by Chris Brookes of himself, Masa Takanashi, Antonio Honda and maybe someone else. They promised to begin taking over DDT by winning the KO-ad 6-Man Tag Team Championship today. Sounds more like just renaming CDK.

Match 1: Demus beat Kazuma Sumi. Borderline squash.

Match 2: KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi beat Chris Brookes, Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda. Doeno pinned Honda after Danshoku Driver. Yeah, nice backing up that promise Brookes. HAHA.

Match 3: KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima beat Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON. Ueno pinned Paul after BME.

Match 4: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Takashi Yoshida (Dragon Gate) & Rukiya. Okada pinned Rukiya after Sudden Death.

Match 5: In a DDT Trivia King Death Match, where a trivia question had to be answered correctly after a pinfall/submission to win, DDT Extreme Champion Kazuki Hirata beat MIKAMI to retain the title. V5 for Hirata. They also traded the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship during this with MIKAMI becoming the 1592nd Champion then Hirata becoming the 1593rd Champion.

Match 6: Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito beat Takao Soma, Shota, Tetsuya Endo & Yukio Naya. Akito beat Soma with a Figure 4. Afterwards, Akito issued a KO-D Tag Team Championship challenge on behalf of himself & Toru Sugiura. That match will happen on 12/2.

Main Event: KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals: Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi beat Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima to win the tournament and the vacant titles. Akiyama, Dieno & Oishi become the 53rd KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Dieno pinned Kojima after Danshoku Driver. Afterwards in backstage comments Akiyama announced he will leave the Burning faction by the end of the year. That would leave Endo, Okada & Koroku in the faction.

The next event is a Street Wrestling event Saturday at Tenjin Misaki Sports Park in Fukushima. This is a free one-match event. There will be no live broadcast. Fans that attend are encouraged to take pictures and upload them to the organizer’s official social media accounts for a chance to win prizes.

DDT runs what may be their last super blowout event of the year today, ULTIMATE PARTY 2023, and it will be just that with 12 matches planned, several major title matches including a main event of KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes vs. Yuki Ueno for the title, New Japan’s Hiromu Takahashi returning to face Kazuki Hirata-if Takahashi makes it there from New Japan’s event in Aichi today as DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion-which is still an if-it’ll be for the title in an epic comedy match-and also a farewell as we say goodbye to Saki Akai, who is retiring after her final match today. She celebrated her 10th anniversary in wrestling earlier this year and although she is still very healthy and only 35, she made the decision to walk away while she was still in excellent physical condition and not stay until she was a “wilting flower”and potentially injured & unable to compete at her best. She’s set herself up to do very well post-wrestling with a beauty salon/spa, a line of skin care products for women & men, her own autobiography (and recently doing the obligatory photobooks and sexy photoshoots for the Japanese idol magazines) and today wraps up her retirement tour that also took her through Tokyo Joshi Pro and Ganbare Pro as well as All-Japan Pro Wrestling, and she leaves as a champion as Akai, Yukio Sakatuchi & Hideki Okatani are the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions but they will vacate the titles after today. DDT has done a masterful job of putting Akai over as the theme of her final match today: Strong, Noble, Beautiful. All perfectly describe Saki and then some. She will be dearly missed.
It’s also been announced that a PPV featuring backstage footage of Akai from today’s event and more will be available on WRESTLE UNIVERSE later this month. It will premiere on 11/28 (scheduled for 3 AM PT/6 AM ET) and will feature behind the scenes footage from today and more exclusive benefits: You’ll also receive digital photos of the event, a digital photograph signed by Akai, the opportunity to write a special message to Akai (they will be delivered to her personally at a later date), and a chance to win goods with handwritten autographs (no word on if that is limited only to fans in Japan). The PPV can be pre-purchased now on WRESTLE UNIVERSE for 4000 yen (currently around $27 US) and you will be able to watch the program until January 30, 2024. You can buy it until December 4 at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

Today’s event will be held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. The Japanese commentary will include 2 special guests-voice actor Toru Inada and SKE48 member (and semi-regular UNIVERSE special guest) Marika Tani. The English commentary team will be Hiroshi Arai, Christelle Ciari & Ash Mann. You can also watch the first 2 matches in Japanese FOR FREE on YouTube. There is no pre-show but given the ULTIMATE PARTY theme, this is going to be a long marathon party of an event. Plan on an all-night party depending on where you are as I expect the event’s running time to be at least 4 hours, maybe pushing 5 hours.

There was a last-minute change to the lineup at yesterday’s pre-event final press conference and public contract signings for the title matches: At the request of MAO, the DDT Universal Championship match between Matt Cardona & MAO is now a No DQ match.

Today’s lineup (in order):
KO-D Tag Team Champions Takao Soma & Shota vs. Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda for the titles
5 team staggered entry tag team battle royal. Participating teams: MJ Paul & KANON, Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku, Toi Kojima & Yuki Ishida, Yuni & Rukiya
Tokyo Joshi Pro Provided Match: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki vs. Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara
Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu vs. Yoshitatsu (All-Japan), Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine
Kuroshio TOKYO Japan (Jiro Kuroshio/Ikemen Jiro) vs. Takeshi Masada
Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya vs. Jun & Rei Saito & Toshizo (All-Japan)
Daisuke Sasaki vs. Tetsuya Endo
Saki Akai Retirement Match-Strong, Noble, Beautiful-Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani vs. Miyu Yamashita (Tokyo Joshi Pro), Naomichi Marufuji (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Kazusada Higuchi
Saki Akai Retirement Ceremony. Streamers/paper tape throwing by fans will be allowed only at the end of this segment
DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kazuki Hirata in a Fun Death Match for the title if Takahashi is still champion. The match happens either way. The match will be held using rounds and a roulette system to determine the rules for each round. The winner will receive a 10 year supply of Nivea Water Retention Body Wash as a prize from sponsor Nivea Kao Co. Ltd.
DDT Universal Champion Matt Cardona vs. MAO in a No DQ match for the title
Chris Jericho vs. Konosuke Takeshita
KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes vs. Yuki Ueno for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. The live stream is expected to begin 10 minutes before the event.

7 PM PT UPDATE: Matufuji just tried to win the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship from Hiromu Takahashi but there was no referee present. Denied!

8:30 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has started. We should be going to the venue in about 20 minutes. Updates will begin then.

8:50 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…

We are LIVE from Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. Your Japanese hosts are Haruo Murata & Marika Tani (SKE48). Kagehiro Osano was on commentary at the All-Japan Pro Wrestling event at Korakuen Hall that is just wrapping up. Your English hosts are Hiroshi Arai, Christelle Ciari & Ash (Mann).

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s hard to predict here based on advance ticket sales and because they don’t use full capacity for the venue (the lower level box seats/mass seats that hold 4-6 people for sumo are only used for up to 2 people here) so I can only hope they do a good number, which for an event like this I feel will be at least 4000. The venue’s full capacity for sumo and-when used as such-wrestling is 15,000. Based on how empty the upper level looked at the start, I think a more realistic estimate right now is around 2500. The All-Japan event right before this probably isn’t helping. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 4785, a full house/near sellout. A great number for mostly using only the lower level and just the front 2-3 rows of the second level)

The matches will begin in about 15 minutes.

The matches begin at 9:07 PM PT. The crowd really popped during the card rundown for Jericho-Takeshita. Could we get a Japanese Judas Sing-Along? MAYBE!

Match 1: KO-D Tag Team Champions Takao Soma & Shota vs. Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: KO-D Tag Team Champions Takao Soma & Shota beat Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda to retain the titles. Soma pinned Honda after Gin & Tonic. V1 for the champs.

Shunma Katsumata joins the broadcast as a special guest on Japanese commentary.

Match 2: 5 team staggered entry tag team battle royal. Participating teams: MJ Paul & KANON, Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku, Toi Kojima & Yuki Ishida, Yuni & Rukiya. Eliminations by pinfall, submission or over the top rope. A team is eliminated when one member is eliminated. No time limit
Result: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku won, last eliminating MJ Paul & KANON.. Order of entry: Ishida/Kojima, Yuni/Rukiya, Okada/Koroku, Doi/Sumi, Paul/KANON. Order of elimination: Yuni by Doi (Bakatare Sliding Kick. Yuni/Rukiya OUT), Kojima by Paul (body splash. Kojima/Ishida OUT), Doi by Koroku (over the top rope. Doi/Sumi OUT), Paul by Koroku (leg roll clutch hold. Paul?KANON OUT).

The YouTube broadcast ends here.

Match 3: Tokyo Joshi Pro Provided Match: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki vs. Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki beat Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara. Arai pinned Uehara after Finally.

Your new host for now is Ken Kato with Toru Owashi joining as a guest on Japanese commentary replacing Katsumata. Haruo Murata presumably will be back later. Marika Tani remains on commentary.

Match 4: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu vs. Yoshitatsu (All-Japan), Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yoshitatsu, Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine beat Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu. They changed the rules backstage before the match, so I didn’t understand it but this of course was a ridiculous comedy match. (Update: The rule was the first to be made to kneel & apologize, which was Takagi, lost)

Match 5: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan vs. Takeshi Masada. 30 minute time limit
Result: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan beat Takeshi Masada. Mostly a comedy match. Kuroshio’s entrance lasted almost as long as the match as he kept running into the crowd in the lower level and posing for photos along with other antics. He barely has come back to Japan since leaving WWE and is already insane over.

Match 6: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya vs. Jun & Rei Saito & Toshizo (All-Japan). 30 minute time limit
Result: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya beat Jun & Rei Saito & Toshizo. Naya pinned Toshizo after a backdrop.

A video reveals the blocks for the upcoming D KING GP (participants were previously announced before). After this, Yuki Iino appears in the ring. With microphone. This is his first appearance since Pheromones had to disband last month. He’s in the tournament. The tournament starts on 11/26 and ends on 1/3/24. They announce the 11/26 matches, which will have 5 tournament matches, 2 from Block A and 3 from Block B.

Haruo Murata returns as your host now. Kagehiro Osano has made it over from Korakuen Hall and also joins commentary.

Match 7: Daisuke Sasaki vs. Tetsuya Endo. 30 minute time limit
Result: Daisuke Sasaki beat Tetsuya Endo by ref stoppage (technical submission)

Announced for July 21, 2024 at Ryogoku is WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024, their biggest annual event.

Marika Tani & Toru Owashi rejoin Japanese commentary

And now the moment I have been sadly not wanting to come…
Match 8: Saki Akai Retirement Match-Strong, Noble, Beautiful-Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani vs. Miyu Yamashita (Tokyo Joshi Pro), Naomichi Marufuji (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Kazusada Higuchi. 30 minute time limit
Result: Miyu Yamashita, Naomichi Marufuji & Kazusada Higuchi beat Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani. Yamashita pinned Akai after Skull Kick. Before the end, everyone else cleared out of the ring to let Yamashita & Akai have the final moments alone.

Saki Akai Retirement Ceremony.
A graphic noted she competed in 662 matches in her career, winning 414, losing 239, 9 other matches were draws or no contests. She won 6 championships in her career. Recorded congratulatory messages from New Japan’s Hiroshi Tanahashi and Togi Makabe were also played. Okatani & Sakaguchi then returned to join Akai in the ring and present her with the customary flower bouquets and pose one last time as Eruption for the ringside photographers. The next guest was hardcore icon and Game Changer Wrestling star Rina Yamashita along with Takumi Iroha, who debuted 10 years ago when Stardom’s Yuzuki Aikawa, a former idol/pinup model-turned-wrestler, retired at Ryogoku. Next up was Sanshiro Takagi, former owner and current President of DDT. After the flowers, Takagi with microphone to deliver thanks and words of encouragement as well as share some memories from her 10 years in DDT. He also offered Akai a behind-the-scenes position with DDT effective immediately. Audio muted after this…when unmuted a few seconds later, commentary noted it was a message from WWE superstar Shinsuke Nakamura. Akai then read from prepared comments. Then…the final 10 bell salute. And the final introduction announcement…Strong, Noble, Beautiful…SAKI AKAI! As Murata said before she walked off…Arigato, Akai Saki! And thanks to Takagi this hopefully isn’t goodbye and she will remain part DDT backstage going forward.

Match 9: DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi (New Japan) vs. Kazuki Hirata in a Fun Death Match for the title. The match will be held using rounds and a roulette system to determine the rules for each round. The winner will receive a 10 year supply of Nivea Water Retention Body Wash as a prize from sponsor Nivea Kao Co. Ltd..
Result: DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi beat Kazuki Hirata to retain the title. I won’t even try to explain the match beyond ridiculous comedy. Which led to…
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi to win the title. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship becomes the 1590th Champion. Which led to…
Kazuki Hirata beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to win the title. Hirata becomes the 1591st Champion. Takahashi tried to win it back but the referee didn’t get in position to make the count in time. As Takahashi left, Danshoku Dieno came out and kissed him the rest of the way to the back. Classic DDT.

Ken Kato returns to host commentary and we are now joined by special guest Tetsu Inada.

Match 10: DDT Universal Champion Matt Cardona vs. MAO in a No DQ match for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: MAO beat DDT Universal Champion Matt Cardona to win the title. MAO becomes the 12th DDT Universal Champion. At one point after a ref bump Yoshihiko was brought in as a second referee.

Quick break for ring cleaning. Your host the rest of the way is Haruo Murata.

Match 11 (Main Event 1): Chris Jericho vs. Konosuke Takeshita. 30 minute time limit. A little bit of Judas Sing-Along in English from the crowd for Jericho! Intros for both were in English only.
Result: Chris Jericho beat Konosuke Takeshita by submission. Crowd very much American-like in terms of noise & chants/shouts. Incredibly unusual for Japanese fans. Afterwards, Jericho offered a handshake to Takeshita. Accepted. After Jericho left, Takeshita with microphone. He said something quick in Japanese before leaving.

Main Event (2): KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes vs. Yuki Ueno for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Yuki Ueno beat KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes to win the title. Ueno becomes the 82nd KO-D Openweight Champion. This went almost 30 minutes, but if you looked at Brookes’ face during his entrance, that sent one clear message-he was losing. But a rematch could happen early next year if he wins the D KING GP. It also means Ueno can probably look forward to at least 2 months as champion before his first defense.

The whole event went an all-night party length of 5 1/2 hours.

The next event is Thursday at Shinjuku Face with a one-day tournament to crown new KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions and DDT Extreme Champion Kazuki Hirata vs. MIKAMI for the title. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

UPDATE: After the event, in the dressing room backstage Ueno presented flowers to Akai for her retirement, Takeshita hugged Ueno in a surprise moment between the former The37Kamiina stablemates, (more given Takeshita is now a heel), and attempts were made to win the Iron Man Title from Hirata but were unsuccessful.

In DDT, the popular catchphrase of promotion icon HARASHIMA is, loosely in English, “I’m training!” It went to a new level today with the wonderful news that he is now a father. He posted a picture on social media of the new baby holding the new father’s finger. This is his first child. It’s a boy, but we don’t know the name yet.

Many DDT wrestlers, broadcast commentators and others have posted well-wishes & congratulations in Japanese and I join them in congratulating HARASHIMA on the birth of his first child. He’s Really Training!

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.

DDT ran their annual free Omori Festival-themed outdoor event today outside a train station in Tokyo. It was weather permitting, but the weather was fine so it went on as planned.

Today’s event was held at JR Omori Station East Exit Plaza in Tokyo and may be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

Admission was free but they announced a total attendance of 1029, a super full house.

Match 1: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON beat Yusuke Okada, Yuya Koroku & Yuni. Sasaki pinned Yuni after a spear.

Match 2: Danshoku Dieno beat Rukiya.

Match 3: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Chikara beat Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Kazuki Hirata. Endo pinned Akito after Burning Star Press.

Match 4: World Omori Champion Takao Soma beat Antonio Honda to retain the title. V1 for Omori.

Match 5: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani beat Aja Kong, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi. Akai pinned Sumi after Quetzalcoatl. Afterwards, Aja cut a promo and paid respect to Akai, who is retiring in just 2 weeks (Aja is still going strong after an insane 38 years).

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima beat HARASHIMA, Makoto Oishi & Yukio Naya. Ueno pinned Oishi after BME.

The next event is Friday at Shinjuku Face with an All-Asia Tag Team Championship match (to be held under PWF/All-Japan Pro Wrestling rules as technically it’s their title) and Saki Akai’s final 10th Anniversary match, which also will be the last single match of her career. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Thursday at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET. Live results are scheduled.

THIS JUST IN…(after this was posted via social media) the following happened in the hours after last night’s New Japan Pro Wrestling event in the US:
A Yellow iPhone 14 beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi to win the title. iPhone becomes the 1585th Champion. Which led to…
Sumie Sakai beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Yellow iPhone 14 to win the title. Sakai becomes the 1586th Champion. Which led to…
Hiromu Takahashi beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Sumie Sakai to win the title. Takahashi becomes the 1587th Champion. GOD BLESS DDT AND THE IRON MAN TITLE!