Tag: DDT

DDT continued the D KING GP today with a homecoming event for Yukio Sakaguchi & HARASHIMA and, following the Tokyo Joshi Pro event a couple hours before, a second such event for Saki Akai. The tournament entered the home stretch.

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

The announced paid attendance was 280, a super full house/very near sellout. Vocal cheering was allowed.

Match 1: Rickey Shane Page, Makoto Oishi & Yuya Koroku beat Joey Janela, Makoto Oishi & Kazuma Sumi. Koroku beat Sumi with a chicken wing. Yes, the results say Makoto Oishi was on both teams…

Match 2: Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata beat Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino by DQ. Iino DQ’d. Ref assault. Good thing Masayuki (referee) was properly wearing his face mask when Iino “assaulted” him.

Match 3: D KING GP Block B; Yukio Naya beat KANON.

Match 4: D KING GP Block B: Yuji Hino beat MAO.

Match 5; Tetsuya Endo, Naruki Doi & Akito beat Hideki Okatani, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada. Doi pinned Ishida after Bakatare Sliding Kick. Afterwards, Doi announced his intent to continue participating in DDT in the future (he primarily has competed in Dragon Gate for most of his career).

Match 6: D KING GP Block A: Daisuke Sasaki beat Naomi Yoshimura.

Match 7: D KING GP Block B: Kazusada Higuchi beat Chris Brookes.

Main Event: Saki Akai Produced Match: Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & HARASHIMA beat Aja Kong, Yuki Ueno & DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Shunma Katsumata. Sakaguchi pinned Katsumata after God’s Right Knee to win the title. Sakaguchi becomes the 1555th DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion. Which led to…
Saki Akai beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Yukio Sakaguchi to win the title. Akai becomes the 1556th DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion. Apparently Hideki Okatani then tried to win the title from Akai but it appears he failed.

D KING GP Standings:
Block A:
1-Endo, 2-1-1, 5 pts
2-Sasaki, 2-1-1, 5 pts
3-Ueno, 2-2, 4 pts
4-Janela, 2-2, 4 pts
5-Page, 2-2, 4 pts
6-Yoshimura, 1-3, 2 pts (OUT)

Block B:
1-Higuchi, 3-0-1, 7 pts
2-Hino, 3-0-1, 7 pts
3-Naya, 3-1, 6 pts
4-Brookes, 1-3, 2 pts (OUT)
5-MAO, 1-4, 2 pts (OUT)
6-KANON, 1-4, 2 pts (OUT)
The winner of each block advances to the Finals. Block A comes down to Endo-Yoshimura & Sasaki-Ueno, but if both were to somehow end in a draw or no contest, the Janela-Page winner can steal it. It should be noted if Endo & Sasaki tie at the top, their head-to-head match ended in a time limit draw. Block B probably will come down to Higuchi-Naya. If Naya wins, Hino wins Block B with a win in his last match (Brookes) but Naya wins if Hino loses. If Higuchi wins and Hino loses or draws, Higuchi wins. If both Higuchi and Hino win, it gets very interesting because their head-to-head match was a time limit draw.

The next event is Friday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1:30 AM PT/4:30 AM ET.

DDT continued the D KING GP earlier today as they finished up their stretch of events in Osaka as part of the tournament.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 320, a full house/near sellout. Vocal cheering was allowed.

Pre-show match: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi. Okada pinned Sumi.

Match 1; MJ Pawl & KANON beat Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada. KANON pinned Masada.

Match 2; Danshoku Dieno Produced Match: Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino vs. Aja Kong & HARASHIMA went to a no contest. Ring announcer Ken Kato stoppage.

Match 3: D KING GP Block B: Yukio Naya beat Chris Brookes.

Match 4: D KING GP Block A: Daisuke Sasaki beat Joey Janela.

Match 5: D KING GP Block A: Tetsuya Endo beat Rickey Shane Page.

Impromptu Match: Shunma Katsumata beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Keiko Takeshita by handover of the title belt to win the title. Katsumata becomes the 1554th DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion.

Match 6: Naruki Doi, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata beat KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Yuji Hino, Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi to win the titles. Doi, Owashi & Hirata become the 58th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Hirata pinned Oishi.

Match 7: D KING GP Block B: Kazusada Higuchi beat MAO.

Main Event: D KING GP Block A: Naomi Yoshimura beat Yuki Ueno.

The next event is tomorrow at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 3:30 AM ET/12:30 AM PT.

DDT has made the video of their 11/6/22 one-match event in Saitama available FOR FREE on YouTube, likely for a limited time. It should also be available on WRESTLE UNIVERSE, but if you are not yet a subscriber check it out below while it’s available (description is in Japanese, there are no spoilers):

DDT held another of their special one-match Street Wresting events today, held outside of a train station and open to anyone who wanted to watch.

Today’s event was held at Tobu Tojo Line Shingashi Station West Exit Ekimae Street Venue in Saitama and should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The attendance was not allowed because this was a free event and open to the public without tickets needed.

Main Event: Shunma Katsumata beat Makoto Oishi, HARASHIMA & Nabe Yakan (?) in a 4-way Falls Count Anywhere match by pinning Oishi. The match went 36 minutes.

The D KING GP 2022 resumes Saturday at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 12:30 AM PT/3:30 AM ET.

DDT continued the D KING GP 2022 Tournament today with a doubleheader in Yokohama. The first event, a midday matinee (late night last night in the US), was this month’s DDT FREE event with free admission for lucky ticket winners. The second event, a couple hours after the first event concluded, was a “normal” event.

Today’s events were held at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Japan and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

Event 1:
The announced attendance was 300, a legit sellout. All tickets were free with no paid admissions. This was legit full capacity.
Match 1: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi. Koroku beat Sumi with a chicken wing.

Match 2; Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari beat Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda. Iino beat Hirata with Sexy Arabian Night.

Match 3; Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA, Makoto Oishi & Akito beat Hideki Okatani, Toui Kojima, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada. Oishi beat Ishida with a Fujiyama kneelock.

Match 4: D KING GP 2022 Block A: Joey Janela beat Naomi Yoshimura.

Match 5: D KING GP 2022 Block B: KANON beat MAO by submission.

Main Event: D KING GP 2022 Block A: Rickey Shane Page beat Daisuke Sasaki.

Event 2:
The announced paid attendance was 280, a super full house/very near sellout.
Match 1; Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Pawl beat Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida. Pawl pinned Ishida after Death Valley Bomb.

Match 2; Yukio Sakaguchi Produced Match: In a Handicap Match, Pocotan & Gota Ihashi beat Saki Akai, Hideki Okatani & Kazuki Hirata. Pocotan pinned Hirata after a diving body press. It turns out Pocotan actually was Sakaguchi this time.

Match 3; D KING GP 2022 Block B: Chris Brookes beat KANON.

Match 4: D KING GP 2022 Block A: Joey Janela beat Tetsuya Endo. UPSET ALERT!

Match 5: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA, Takao Soma & Yukio Naya beat MAO, Shunma Katsumata, Toui Kojima & Takeshi Masada. Naya pinned Masada after a chokeslam.

At this point, a title match was announced for the upcoming special free event on 11/27: Takao Soma will face Chikara for the World Omori Class Championship. This was to have been Masa Takanashi getting the title shot, but Takanashi will be on an overseas excursion and gave the match to Soma.

Match 6: D KING GP 2022 Block A: Yuki Ueno beat Rickey Shane Page.

Main Event; D KING GP 2022 Block B: Kazusada Higuchi vs. Yuji Hino went to a 30 minute time limit draw. Epic Hoss Fight.

Standings:
Block A:
1-Janela, 2-1, 4 pts
2-Page, 2-1, 4 pts
3-Ueno, 2-1, 4 pts
4-Endo, 1-1-1, 3 pts
5-Sasaki, 0-1-1, 1 pt
6-Yoshimura, 0-2, 0 pts

Block B:
1-Hino, 2-0-1, 5 pts
2-Higuchi, 1-0-1, 3 pts
3-Brookes, 1-1, 2 pts
4-Naya, 1-1, 2 pts
5-KANON, 1-1, 2 pts
6-MAO, 1-2, 2 pts

The next event is a special one-match “Street Wrestling in Shingashi Exciting Festival” today at Tobu Tojo Line Shingashi Station West Exit Ekimae Street Venue in Saitama, a free event. The one match will be HARASHIMA vs. Makoto Oishi, Shunma Katsumata and (I believe) Kikutaro in a 4-way Falls Count Anywhere match. This event is weather permitting, it will be held in light rain but if it’s too heavy it could be cancelled. There will be no live broadcast.
The tournament continues on 11/12 at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.

DDT continues the D KING Grand Prix 2022 today as part of a doubleheader with Ganbare Pro, who ran their event before this one.

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

The announced paid attendance was 239, a super full house/very near sellout.

During the opening announcements, Yuki Urno came out for the opening shout and to promote his new side hustle-he is now an actor. Ueno is currently starring in a popular series on TV Kanagawa in Kanagawa Prefecture, a modern re-imagining of legendary samurai Nobunaga Oda and others in today’s Japan as teenagers and roommates. If you’ve played any Koei (now Koei Tecmo Games) games over the last 40 years, namely any of the “Nobunaga’s Ambition” or “Samurai Warriors” games (also “Warriors Orochi”), you’ll know these names.

Match 1: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Takao Soma, Toui Kojima & Takeshi Masada. Okada pinned Kojima after Sudden Death.

Match 2: HARASHIMA produced match: In a Blindfolded Breasts Match, a comedy match where everyone wore bras and the match also ended when someone’s bra was stripped off, Antonio Honda & Shunma Katsumata beat HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata. Katsumata beat HARASHIMA by bra stripping. Afterwards, HARASHIMA admitted he lost “because I’m training”. This is classic “Only In DDT” stuff.

Match 3: D KING GP Block B: Yuji Hino beat KANON.

Match 4: D KING GP Block B: Yukio Naya beat MAO.

Match 5: Rickey Shane Page, Chris Brookes & Masa Takanashi beat Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida. Page pinned Ishida after a backdrop.

Match 6: D KING GP Block A: Yuki Ueno beat Joey Janela.

Main Event: D KING GP Block A: Tetsuya Endo vs. Daisuke Sasaki went to a 30 minute time limit draw.

After 2 days, Endo leads Block A at 1-0-1, 3 points. Hino leads Block B at 2-0, 4 points. Not everybody has been in two matches yet though.

The next event is Saturday, which will also be this month’s DDT FREE event with free admission. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Friday at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT.

DDT began the D KING Grand Prix today, a round-robin format tournament to determine who will get to face KO-D Openweight Champion Kazusada Higuchi for the title at the year-assuming of course Higuchi doesn’t win the tournament. (He’s defending the title regardless but this could complicate determining the next challenger)

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

The announced paid attendance was 411.

Pre-show Match: Danshoku Dieno, Yuki Iino & Koju Takeda vs. Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata (with Akito) went to a no contest. GM Imabayashi stoppage. The comedy storyline here is Akito is now in charge of subjugating those despicable Pheromons. It didn’t start well.

During the opening announcements, DDT announced a business partnership with Sun Music Production Co. Ltd. to expand entertainment opportunities for wrestlers (much like what is common in New Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH among others, where their wrestlers frequently appear on TV and radio in Japan. New Japan also has a weekly podcast in Japanese featuring Hiroshi Tanahashi, which can also be listened to on YouTube)

Match 1: Yusuke Okada, Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishida beat Shunma Katsumata, Toui Kojima & Kazuma Sumi. Ishida pinned Sumi after a spinebuster.

Match 2: Joey Janela & Yukio Sakaguchi vs. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Pawl went to a no contest. Out of control.

Match 3: D KING Grand Prix Block A: RSP (Rickey Shane Page) beat Naomi Yoshimura.

Match 4: D KING Grand Prix Block B: MAO beat Chris Brookes by countout.

Match 5: Jun Akiyama Produced Match-Jun Akiyama & HARASHIMA beat Yuya Koroku & Takeshi Masada. Akiyama pinned Masada after Exploder.

Match 6: D KING Grand Prix Block B: Yuji Hino beat Yukio Naya.

Match 7: D KING Grand Prix Block B: Kazusada Higuchi beat KANON.

Main Event: D KING Grand Prix Block A: Tetsuya Endo beat Yuki Ueno.

The next event is Thursday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 12:30 AM PT/3:30 AM ET.

DDT held a Hiroshi Yamato 15th Anniversary event today, featuring the former All-Japan wrestler who has made occasional appearances in DDT over the last few years while also working as a freelancer.

Today’s event was held at Kimitsu City Shuto Junior High School Gym in Chiba and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 291, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Hideki Okatani beat Takeshi Masada.

Match 2: Danshoku Dieno & Yuki Iino vs. Nao Sano (?) & Kazuki Hirata went to a double countout.

Match 3: Chris Brookes & Yuya Koroku beat Kuishinbo Kamen & Makoto Oishi. Brookes pinned Kamen after a big boot in just 7 seconds. Which led to…
Match 3 (Take 2): Chris Brookes & Yuya Koroku beat Kuishinbo Kamen & Makoto Oishi. Brookes pinned Kamen after Praying Mantis Bomb.

Match 4: SAKI & Shunma Katsumata beat Saki Akai & Antonio Honda. Katsumata pinned Honda after Totonoe Splash.

Match 5: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & KANON beat Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toui Kojima. KANON pinned Kojima after Sleepy Hollow.

Match 6: HARASHIMA & Yukio Sakaguchi beat Yuji Hino & Yusuke Okada. HARASHIMA pinned Okada after Blue Sword.

Main Event: Hiroshi Yamato 15th Anniversary match: Hiroshi Yamato, Jun Akiyama & Yukio Naya beat Kazusada Higuchi, Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ishida. Yamato pinned Ishida after Northern Lights Bomb.

The next event is the D KING Grand Prix 2022 Tournament beginning Tuesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.