Tag: DDT

DDT announced today that, while not happening yet, the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship will soon be VACANT. Current champions Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani will give up the titles on 11/12 because Akai will retire that day and no more defenses are scheduled before then. Determination tournament to crown new champions will be held on 11/16.

More as it becomes available.

(Side note: They also hold the All-Japan 6-Man Tag Team Championship and are scheduled to defend that title Saturday)

DDT continued the GOD BLESS DDT 2023 Tour today with the second half of their weekend doubleheader in Hokkaido.

Today’s event was held at Sapporo E-One Arena in Hokkaido and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (likely Wednesday). There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 284, a full house/near sellout.

During the opening announcements, they announced the return dates to Sapporo will be 4/28 & 4/29 at Sapporo Sunplaza Kanae-ma.

Match 1: Yusuke Okada beat Danshoku Dieno.

Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Yukio Naya & Yuya Koroku. KANON pinned Koroku after Vietnam Driver 2.

Match 3: Takaaki Iwasaki & MAO beat HARASHIMA & Rukiya. Iwasaki beat Rukiya with a Texas Cloverleaf.

Match 4: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama & Takashi Yoshida (Dragon Gate) beat Kazuki Hirata, Totake-yu (? That unknown guy from yesterday) & Kazuma Sumo. Yoshida pinned Sumi after Authorized Lightning Leg Lariat.

Match 5: KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani beat Sanshiro Takagi, Makoto Oishi & Akito to retain the titles. Sakaguchi pinned Akito after God’s Right Knee. V5 for the champs.

Main Event: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada beat Kazusada Higuchi & Toi Kojima. Brookes pinned Kojima after Praying Mantis Bomb.

During the post-main event winners promo to end the show…

MAO beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Takeshi Masada to win the title. MAO becomes the 1581st Champion.

The next event is…but wait, about 25 minutes later after all the fans had left and the ring was taken down, and during some backstage video filming…

Takeshi Masada beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion MAO to win the title. Masada becomes the 1582nd Champion. One of the reasons I love DDT-the 24/7 nature of the title. As long as a referee is present, anyone-or anything-can win it!

The next event is GOD BLESS DDT 2023 on 10/22 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET, but this is subject to change-it may be moved up because there is a pre-show dark match on the card. Live results are scheduled. The card is subject to change if Masada loses the Iron Man Championship again as he is to defend against DDT Extreme Champion Kazuki Hirata in a match for both titles. If Masada loses the belt beforehand, the match will only be for the Extreme Championship.

DDT continued the GOD BLESS DDT 2023 Tour today with the first part of a weekend doubleheader in Hokkaido.

Today’s event was held at Sapporo E-One Arena in Hokkaido and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (likely Tuesday). There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 233.

There were some last-minute changes to the card due to no Yuki Ueno. Fever. Also out tomorrow.

Match 1: Akito beat Danshoku Dieno.

Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Takuya Tou (?) & Yusuke Okada. Sasaki beat Okada with a crossface.

Match 3: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani beat Sanshiro Takagi, Makoto Oishi & Kazuma Sumi. Sakaguchi beat Oishi with a modified triangle choke.

Match 4: Kazusada Higuchi & Takeshi Masada beat TakaakI Iwasaki & Rukiya. Higuchi pinned Rukiya after Doctor Bomb.

Match 5: Tetsuya Endo & Takashi Yoshida (Dragon Gate) beat Jun Akiyama & Yuya Koroku. Endo pinned Koroku after Burning Star Press.

Main Event: Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata beat MAO, Yukio Naya & Toi Kojima. Brookes pinned Kojima after Praying Mantis Bomb.

The next event is tomorrow with a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship match. There will be no live broadcast.

There is still something going around Japan when it comes to illnesses/injuries, and it has DDT’d DDT again as they announced Yuki Ueno is now on the sidelines. Fever. Out this weekend (2 events). Shouldn’t miss time beyond that but it’s not good timing as he’s next up for KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes.

More as it becomes available.

DDT ran 2 events yesterday and today, continuing the GOD BLESS DDT 2023 Tour yesterday and following up with a free mini-event today.

Yesterday’s event was held at Sanjo City Welfare Hall in Niigata and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 253, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Yusuke Okada beat Rukiya.

Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi. KANON pinned Sumi after Sleepy Hollow.

Match 3: Super Sasadango Machine beat Danshoku DIeno & Kazuki Hirata in a 3-way by pinning Dieno. Sanjo City Mayor Ryo Takizawa, in attendance for the event, interfered to help Machine win. Machine headbutted the Mayor then and demanded a match, which did not happen.

Match 4: Yukio Naya beat MJ Paul.

Match 5: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani beat Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku. Okatani pinned Koroku with a double arm suplex.

Match 6: All-Asia Tag Team Champions Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki beat Takao Omori & Yoshitatsu (All-Japan) to retain the titles. Akiyama pinned Omori after a wrist-clutch Exploder. V1 for the champs. Next up: Sakaguchi & Okatani. That match will happen on 11/3 at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and will be held under PWF (All-Japan) Rules.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima beat HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Akito. Ueno pinned Akito after WR.

Today’s event was held at Akos Event Square in Saitama and should be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The attendance was not announced because this was a free event. It was also an outdoor event.

Match 1: Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai & Hideki Okatani beat Kazuki Hirata, Danshoku Dieno & Kazuma Sumi. Okatani pinned Sumi with a double arm suplex.

Match 2: Tetsuya Endo, Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Akito, Yukio Naya, Takeshi Masada & Rukiya. Endo pinned Rukiya after a swiveling torture rack bomb.

Match 3: HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Antonio Honda beat Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima. HARASHIMA pinned Kojima after Blue Sword. HARASHIMA was presented with a special sponsor prize afterwards for being the winner.

The next event is Saturday at Sapporo E-One Arena in Hokkaido for a weekend doubleheader. There will be no live broadcasts.

DDT has announced the full card for their 11/12 blowout event at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, which is also the Saki Akai Retirement Event. Akai’s final match will be a loaded trios match as she teams with Eruption factionmates Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani to face a CyberFight all-star trio of Naomichi Marufuji from Pro Wresting NOAH, Miyu Yamashita from Tokyo Joshi Pro, and Kazusada Higuchi.

The full card:
KANON & MJ Paul vs. Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku, Toi Kojima & Yuki Ishida and Takeshi Masada & Rukiya in a 5-way
Tokyo Joshi Pro 6-woman tag match. Participants will be announced at 10/9 TJPW event
Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu vs. Yoshitatsu, Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine
Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya vs. Toshizo, Jun & Rei Saito (All-Japan)
Daisuke Sasaki vs. Tetsuya Endo
Hiromu Takahashi (New Japan) vs. Kazuki Hirata
KO-D Tag Team Champions Takao Soma & Shota vs. Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda for the titles
DDT Universal Champion Matt Cardona vs. MAO for the title
Saki Akai Retirement Match-“Strong, Noble, Beautiful”-Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani vs. Naomichi Marufuji, Miyu Yamashita & Kazusada Higuchi
Chris Jericho (All Elite Wrestling) vs. Konosuke Takeshita
KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes vs. Yuki Ueno for the title

DDT began the GOD BLESS SDT 2023 Tour today with what was billed as the farewell event for the Pheromones as they had to disband after today. Whether or not that’s good is up to you.

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

The announced paid attendance was 436, a super full house/very near sellout.

The main event was changed from an 8-man tag to a handicap match ahead of time because of a Koju Takeda injury.

Match 1: Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumo beat Kazuki Hirata & Makoto Oishi, with Masada pinning Hirata to win the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship. Masada becomes the 1580th Champion. This set up a double title match on 10/22.

Match 2: Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku beat Hideki Okatani, Yukio Naya & Rukiya. Okada pinned Rukiya after Sudden Death.

Match 3: Tetsuya Endo & Kazusada Higuchi beat Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul. Higuchi pinned Paul after Brain Claw Slam.

Match 4: Yukio Sakaguchi & Saki Akai beat HARASHIMA & Gota Ihashi. Sakaguchi pinned Ihashi after New Face Award. Afterwards, Akai chose Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Makoto Oishi to get the next KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship match. That match will happen on 10/15 in Hokkaido.

Match 5: Takao Soma & Shota beat KO-D Tag Team Champions Minoru Fujita & KANON to win the titles. Soma & Shota become the 80th KO-D Tag Team Champions. Shota beat Fujita with Gannosuke Clutch. Next up: Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda. That match will happen on 11/12 at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Main Event: Pheromones Final-In a Handicap Match, Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno & Yumehito Imanari vs. Akito, Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toi Kojima went to a no contest. GM Imabayashi stoppage. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Yuki Iino beat GM Imabayashi by submission in 58 seconds. This may not be the end of those deplorable Pheromons as Akito declared a “Pheromone Trial” will begin at midnight tonight (8 AM PT/11 AM ET today). Check the YouTube and the socials…may be the end, may not be…

The next event is Saturday at Sanjo City Welfare Hall in Niigata. There will be no live broadcast.

In a post he made on Japanese micro-blogging service Note, which I loosely translated after DDT shared it on social media, Yumehito Imanari says he is leaving CyberFight Corporation, the owner of DDT, Ganbare Pro, Tokyo Joshi Pro and Pro Wrestling NOAH. However, his post suggests he is only stepping away from backstage & production roles he held and will still be part of Ganbare as a wrestler (where he was not one of those deplorable Pheromones like in DDT).

Imanari noted he would like to work as a freelance video artist & director (he did a lot of that with DDT after joining them in 2010) but was also considering taking a break from work and wrestling, which would only be in Ganbare for now. Imanari was seen on this week’s All Elite Wrestling “AEW Dynamite” program when he & Kota Ibushi were attacked at Ibushi’s dojo in Japan by Don Callis & Konosuke Takeshita ahead of Ibushi appearing Sunday at the WrestleDream event.

Imanari has at least one more match ahead in DDT, the final Pheromones match Wednesday before they must disband (the group was Imanari, Yuki Iino, Danshoku Dieno and, more recently on occasion, Koju Takeda, who is from the 666 promotion).

DDT and its sub-promotions just can’t seem to shake the injury bug recently, and now word comes of ANOTHER wrestler down temporarily-this time it’s Sanshiro Takagi. Keratoconjunctivis. In simpler terms, dry eye or possibly pinkeye. Out at least this weekend. This comes just after word that Chris Brookes will be out 2 weeks with a shoulder injury that won’t affect his wrestlinf.

A potentially major DDT injury item is coming out of this past weekend today, potentially major because it’s KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes. Right shoulder. Out at least 1 week and possibly longer, we may know more Friday after a medical exam. This would suggest it happened Sunday when he beat Saki Akai by submission to retain the title.

More as it becomes available.

9/28 UPDATE: DDT announced the exam results-some shoulder damage but won’t interfere with wrestling. Out 2 weeks and will return on 10/14. He was to have challenged for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship this weekend. HARASHIMA is the replacement.