Tag: DDT

DDT ran their monthly DDT FREE event today, a free admission event where lucky lottery winners get to attend at no charge. This was a significant event because the ban on vocal cheering by fans was lifted for the first time in over 2 years.

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

The announced attendance was 160, a legit sellout. Because of the ban on vocal cheering being lifted, the tradeoff is capacity was limited to 50%.

Match 1: KANON beat Yuya Koroku.

Match 2: Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno beat Akito & Kazuki Hirata by ref stoppage (TKO). Iino beat Akito. Afterwards, Sanshiro Takagi made himself special referee for the DDT Extreme Title match on 7/16.

Match 3: Masa Takanashi & Shunma Katsumata beat Asuka (Veny) & Yusuke Okada. Takanashi pinned Okada after Uwabami.

Match 4: HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani beat Jun Akiyama, Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida. HARASHIMA pinned Ishida after Blue Sword. Afterwards, Saki Akai requested a tag match with Akiyama as her partner for 8/2 at WRESTLE PETER PAN.

Match 5: Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda beat Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Pawl. Brookes pinned Pawl.

Match 6: MAO beat Andrew Everett.

Main Event: Kazusada Higuchi & Naomi Yoshimura beat Yuki Ueno & Toui Kojima. Higuchi pinned Kojima after Brain Claw Slam. Afterwards, it was decided the winners would graduate from (leave) their respective factions-Eruption & Disaster Box, respectively-and become a tag team and they made a challenge for the KO-D Tag Team Championship on 7/24, when they will now face MAO & Asuka for the titles.

The next event is 7/16 at Nippongashi Sports Plaza Stadium 3 in Nagoya with a DDT Extreme and KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship match on tap. Unfortunately for those looking forward to them, there will be no live broadcast (likely due to the major NOAH event at the same time).

DDT Pro Wrestling wraps up the 2022 KING OF DDT Tournament today with the Semifinals and Finals, and the stakes are as high as they can be in the annual singles tournament. Not only will the winner claim the KING OF DDT title and a 1 million yen bonus prize (about $7400 US), but also will become the new KO-D Openweight Champion after Tetsuya Endo had to vacate the title due to a concussion suffered at CyberFight Festival ’22. Endo will be in attendance and address the crowd so it will be interesting to hear what he has to say. And when.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. Additionally, two pre-show matches and the first main card match will be streamed FOR FREE on YouTube.

Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani vs. Toru Owashi, Takao Soma & Toui Kojima
Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & KANON vs. Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida

Main show:
Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari vs. Akito, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata
KING OF DDT Semifinals:
Yuki Ueno vs. Naomi Yoshimura
Kazusada Higuchi vs. Jun Akiyama
Masa Takanashi & HARASHIMA vs. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku
MAO & Shunma Katsumata vs. Chris Brookes & Andrew Everett
KING OF DDT Finals for the vacant KO-D Openweight Championship
Tetsuya Endo will appear and speak to the fans

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest updates.

Updates below will begin at 9:45 PM ET/6:45 PM PT. The live stream begins at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT.

9:45 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates start now.
Waiting for the live stream to go to the venue, which should happen shortly. The first match should begin in about 15 minutes.
9:53 PM ET UPDATE: We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Or were for a moment. Stand by.
9:57 PM ET UPDATE: Take 2…We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your Japanese hosts are Ken Kato & Sayoko Mita. Your English hosts are Baliyan Akki & Christelle Ciari.
Pre-show:
Match 1: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani vs. Toru Owashi, Takao Soma & Toui Kojima. 10 minute time limit
Result: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani beat Toru Owashi, Takao Soma & Toui Kojima. Okatani pinned Kojima after a double arm suplex.
Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & KANON vs. Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida. 10 minute time limit
Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & KANON beat Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida. KANON pinned Ishida after a brainbuster.
The main show will begin at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT. During the pre-event announcements they bring in Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling stars Yuki Aino & Raku and Ganbare Pro star Ken Ohka to promote their respective major events next weekend at Ota City General Gym. The main show broadcast begins during Okha’s promo.
New Japan Pro Wrestling stars Yuji Nagata & Yoshinobu Kanemaru are announced for the Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Event on 9/18.
Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima come out to promote their Super Hardcore Girls event on 7/14, where they will transform into hardcore schoolgirls to take on members of Prominence. They lead the opening call to start the event.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Looks like a near-sellout/full house.

Main Show:
Sanahiro Takagi (reluctantly) joins Japanese commentary.
Match 1: Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari vs. Akito, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari beat Akito, Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata. Iino beat Akito.
Tetsuya Endo comes out. With microphone. He apologizes to the fans for worrying them following his injury (concussion) at CyberFight Festival. He announces he was just cleared to resume training and will return on 7/24 at Korakuen.

The YouTube broadcast ends here.
Match 2: KING OF DDT Semifinals: Yuki Ueno vs. Naomi Yoshimura. No time limit
Result; Naomi Yoshimura beat Yuk Ueno. As a result, Yoshimura advances to the Final to face the winner of the next match.

Match 3: KING OF DDT Semifinals: Kazusada Higuchi vs. Jun Akiyama. No time limit
Result: Kazusada Higuchi beat Jun Akiyama. As a result, Higuchi advances to the Finals to face Naomi Yoshimura for the KO-D Openweight Championship in the main event.

Quick break for ring cleaning.
Match 4: Masa Takanashi & HARASHIMA vs. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Masa Takanashi & HARASHIMA. Okada pinned Takanashi. Afterwards, Okada with microphone. He challenged Takanashi for the DDT Universal Championship.

Match 5: MAO & Shunma Katsumata vs. Chris Brookes & Andrew Everett. 30 minute time limit
Result; Chris Brookes & Andrew Everett beat MAO & Shunma Katsumata. Everett pinned Katsumata after a moonsault chokeslam off the top rope. Note that while Everett calls himself “The Giant”, he really is no bigger than Brookes. By no means is he 7 feet, 300+ pounds.

Konosuke Takeshita, who is on an excursion to All Elite Wrestling in the US, appears in a recorded promo. He may be coming back for WRESTLE PETER PAN.

Main Event: KING OF DDT Finals: Naomi Yoshimura vs. Kazusada Higuchi for the vacant KO-D Openweight Championship. No time limit
Result: Kazusada Higuchi beat Naomi Yoshimura to win the tournament and the title. Higuchi becomes the 79th KO-D Openweight Champion.

The next event is Thursday at Shinjuku Face, which is this month’s DDT FREE event. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

Post-show news/updates:
The announced paid attendance was 703.
The DDT Universal Championship match hinted at will happen on 7/24. Whoever wins will defend vs. TBA on 8/20.
First up for Higuchi: TBA. That will be on 8/20 at WRESTLE PETER PAN, but Higuchi stated he wants to wait for Endo.
Joey Janela vs. Shunma Katsumata in a Hardcore match was announced for 8/20, as was Shinichiro Kawamatsu, Sanshiro Takagi & Takao Soma vs. Osamu Nishimura, Makoto Oishi & Akito.
Atsushi Onita participation in an explosion death match was announced for 9/4 at Nagoya Congress Center.
For the DDT Extreme Championship match on 7/16, which is Yuki Iino defending vs. Akito, the rule is a 3 vs. 1 handicap match of Pheromons vs. Akito. If any of the Pheromons get a pinfall or submission, Iino retains the title. But if Akito gets a pinfall or submission on any of the Pheromons, even if it’s not Iino, Akito wins the title.
For the Jun Akiyama 30th Anniversary Event on 9/18 at Korakuen, it will be set up where vocal cheering will be allowed in one section of the venue but not in another section, and the vocal section will be at 50% capacity.

DDT took a break from the KING OF DDT Tournament today to continue the DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR 2022 with a house show in Yokohama. A KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Championship match headlined the event.

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 195, a legit sellout.

Match 1: Yuji Hino & Yukio Naya beat HARASHIMA & Hideki Okatani. Naya pinned Okatani after a backdrop.

Match 2: In a No Touch Rule match, Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Akito beat Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata & Takao Soma. Iino pinned Hirata. Afterwards, Akito issued a DDT Extreme Championship challenge to Iino and defected from Pheromons. He got it and paid for it.

Match 3: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Chris Brookes & Antonio Honda. KANON beat Honda with Medusa.

Andrew Everett is announced for the 7/3 & 7/7 events.

Match 4: Naomi Yoshimura beat Yuya Koroku,

Match 5: Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Sakaguchi beat Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada. Higuchi pinned Okada after Brain Claw Slam.

Main Event: MAO, Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata, Toui Kojima & Shinya Aoki beat KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions Poison Sawada JULIE, Takashi Sasaki, GENTARO, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba to win the titles. MAO, Ueno, Katsumata, Kojima & Aoki become the 8th KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions. Kojima beat Toba with a triangle choke.

The next event is 7/3 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo with the KING OF DDT Semifinals and Finals. The winner becomes the new KO-D Openweight Champion. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin on 7/2 at 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET.

DDT ran 2 separate events today-first was the KING OF DDT Quarterfinals, second was a mini-event co-sponsored by DDT owner CyberFight Group.

First up, the KING OF DDT event, which was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 430.

Pre-show: Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari beat Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata. Dieno pinned Hirata.

Match 1: MJ Pawl & KANON vs. Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani went to a double countout.

Match 2: In a THE KICKBOXING MATCH 2022 match with 3 5-minute rounds, Hikaru Machida & Gota Ihashi beat Shinya Aoki & Toui Kojima at 1:42 of round 3. Ihashi pinned Kojima after a moonsault press.

Match 3: MAO, Shunma Katsumata, Yusuke Okada & Tuya Koroku beat Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya, Chris Brookes & Yuki Ishida. Katsumata pinned Ishida after Our Straight Line.

KING OF DDT Quarterfinals:
Match 4: Kazusada Higuchi beat Masa Takanashi.
Match 5: Jun Akiyama beat Yuki Iino.
Match 6: Yuki Ueno beat Daisuke Sasaki.
Main Event: Naomi Yoshimura beat HARASHIMA. Definite upset.
A lottery was held afterwards to determine the Semifinals matches, they will be Ueno vs. Yoshimura and Higuchi vs. Akiyama. The tournament winner becomes the new KO-D Openweight Champion and also wins a 1 million yen bonus sponsor prize (about $8,000 US). The Semifinals and Finals will be on 7/3 (7/2 start in the US).

The second event was held at a specially installed Zelby Land in Machida GION Stadium in Tokyo. There was no live broadcast.

The attendance was not announced.

Match 1: Shuichiro Katsumura & Shinichiro Tominaga beat Mizuki Watase & Zhao Yun Dragon. Katsumura beat Dragon with a “combined joint technique for which names are being recruited”.

Match 2: Saki Akai & Akito beat Cherry & Antonio Honda. Akai pinned Honda after New Face Award.

Main Event: Shiro Koshinaka & Keisuke Ishii beat Ken Ohka & Shota. Koshinaka pinned Shota after a powerbomb.

The next event is Saturday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. The only match announced so far is a KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Championship match. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Friday at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT.

In other post-event news, the following was annonunced for WRESTLE PETER PAN on 8/20, DDT’s biggest event of the year:
Joey Janela (All Elite Wrestling) vs. Shunma Katsumata in a Hardcore Match
Shinichiro Kawamatsu Debut Match
DDT Universal Champion vs. TBA for the title
KO-D Openweight Champion vs. TBA for the title
Dick Togo participation (formerly of DDT, now with New Japan Pro Wrestling)

DDT ran their monthly DDT FREE event today (on the weekly schedule post I incorrectly said it was yesterday, DDT’s website is kinda wacky with event date/time listings), which kicked off their annual KING OF DDT Tournament. This year’s tournament takes on much greater significance because with KO-D Openweight Champion Tetsuya Endo out and forced to vacate the title because of a concussion suffered at CyberFight Festival ’22, the tournament winner also becomes the new champion.

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

The announced attendance was 444. All tickets were free and this was billed as a legit sellout. In reality this was extremely close to legit full capacity for the venue, maybe 6 short of 100% (normal capacity for wrestling at the venue is 450, maybe 500).

Before the matches began, Makoto Oishi announced he will return at the 7/24 event. He has been out for a year due to injuries.

Dark Match: Masa Takanashi & Toui Kojima vs. Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku went to a 10 minute time limit draw. Takanashi was to have faced Endo in the tournament but got a free pass to the Quarterfinals due to Endo being out, and this match was added to the event as a result.

All main show matches were KING OF DDT Tournament matches, no time limit.
Match 1: HARASHIMA beat Hideki Okatani.
Match 2: Naomi Yoshimura beat Chris Brookes.
Match 3: Yuki Ueno beat KANON.
Match 4: Daisuke Sasaki beat Yuji Hino.
Match 5: Yuki Iino beat MAO.
Match 6: Jun Akiyama beat Yukio Sakaguchi.
Main Event: Kazusada Higuchi beat Yukio Naya.

The next event is Sunday at Korakuen Hall with the Quarterfinals and more non-tournament matches. The Quarterfinals will be Takanashi-Higuchi, Akiyama-Iino, Sasaki-Ueno and HARASHIMA-Yoshimura. After that, the Semifinals will be determined by lottery. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Sunday at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

More CyberFight Festival fallout-the KO-D Openweight Championship is now VACANT. Previous champion Tetsuya Endo has vacated the title due to injury-he suffered a concussion Sunday and is out indefinitely. The winner of the KING OF DDT Tournament, which starts tomorrow, will become the new champion. Endo’s first opponent, Masa Takanashi, will get a win by forfeit and advance to the next round

DDT ran the final event before CyberFight Festival today, another standalone “ONLY WE” event that is held when they visit Chiba Prefecture.

Today’s event was held at 2AW Square 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 123, a super full house.

Match 1: Toui Kojima vs. Yuya Koroku went to a 15 minute time limit draw.

Match 2: Takao Soma & Kazuki Hirata beat Toru Owashi & Antonio Honda. Soma pinned Honda after Mad Splash.

Match 3: Kaji Tomato & Naomi Yoshimura beat Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata. Yoshimura pinned Katsumata after Harai Goshi.

Match 4: Masa Takanashi & HARASHIMA beat MAO & Yusuke Okada. HARASHIMA pinned Okada after Blue Sword.

Match 5: Daisuke Sasaki beat Hiroshi Yamato by submission.

Match 6: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Kazusada Higuchi beat Yukio Sakaguchi, Hideki Okatani & Yuki Ishida. Higuchi pinned Ishida after Brain Claw Slam.

Main Event: Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Quiet Storm beat Shogun Okamoto, Kenichiro Arai & Hoshitango. Hino pinned Hoshitango after Muscle Splash on a chair.

The next event is CyberFight Festival ’22 on 6/12 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 8:30 PM PT/11:30 PM ET with the first match scheduled to begin at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. LIVE results will be posted here.

DDT ran their last big event before CyberFight Festival, “What Are You Doing ’22”, today which served as most of the final build to the 6/12 blowout event for the CyberFight group’s collection of promotions.

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

The announced paid attendance was 490.

Pre-show dark match: Yusuke Okada vs. Yuya Koroku went to a 10 minute time limit draw.

Match 1: Danshoku Dieno, Yumehito Imanari & Akito beat Sanshiro Takagi, Shinya Aoki & Yuki Ishida. Akito beat Ishida with a chicken wing. Afterwards, Akito apparently turned on DDT and joined Pheromons after initial refusal to do so and will now be known as Nishikigi “Cochin” Akito. Kendo Ka Shin & Yumiko Hotta also were involved in all this.

Match 2: A DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship Battle Royal went as follows: 1-Champion Shinichiro Kawamatsu beat Pocatan to retain the title. 2-Kazuki Hirata beat Tanomusaku Toba. 3-Kazuki Hirata beat Shinichiro Kawamatsu to win the title. Hirata becomes the 1549th champion. 4-Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda went to a double pinfall. As a result, Toru Owashi wins as the last person standing and becomes the 1550th champion.

It is announced that a cheering event, where fans can cheer audibly again, albeit with masks still required, will be held on 8/14 at Korakuen. Opening round King Of DDT matches are also announced.

Match 3: Asuka (Veny), Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Maya Yukihi beat Saki Akai, Yukio Salaguchi, Hideki Okatani & Hiroshi Yamato. Naya pinned Okatani after a backdrop.

Match 4: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Pawl & KANON beat Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & Toui Kojima. Sasaki beat Kojima with a crossface.

Match 5: In a Sexy Movie Star Rule Match, DDT Extrene Champion Yuki Iino beat AKIRA to retain the title. V2 for Iino.

Match 6: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Kazusada Higuchi beat HARASHIMA, Takao Soma & Naomi Yoshimura. Higuchi pinned Soma after a brain claw slam.

Main Event: Masa Takanashi beat DDT Universal Champion MAO to win the title. Takanashi becomes the 7th DDT Universal Champion.

The next event is Sunday at 2AW Square in Chiba (Saturday night in the US). There is no live broadcast scheduled. It should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE by the middle of next week. This is the final event before CyberFight Festival.