Tag: DDT

DDT held a special mini-event today in Tokyo, setting up inside a train station exit in Shinjuku for the third straight year.

Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Takashimaya 1st Floor JR Exit Special Venue in Tokyo and may be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The paid attendance was not announced but there also were free activities.

Match 1: KANON won a 7 man battle royal, last eliminating Poision Sawada JULIE. As a result, KANON but to be publicity ambassador for the day. After this…
Poison Sawada JULIE beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Pocotan’s Head to win the title. JULIE becomes the 1748th Champion. Yes, a costumed wrestler’s head. Afterwards, JULIE announced a new belt for the title will be revealed on 6/29 at Korakuen Hall, which ironically is the 25th anniversary of the title.

Match 2: Kazusada Higuchi, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato beat Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul. Higuchi pinned Paul after a lariat.

A talk show event was held with Yuki Iino, who is currently out due to injury, and former wrestler Saki Akai making a special appearance.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y beat Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada. Ueno pinned Masada after Everyone’s Madmax. Naturally this event finished like these events usually do-with a Heatwave WER!!

The next event is tomorrow at Chunichi Hall in Nagoya with a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship match. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

And an interesting one at that-according to social media posts in Japanese & English by DDT, and subsequent reactions from fellow wrestlers, wrestling’s newest married couple is a really interesting pairing-Yuka Sakazaki & Konosuke Takeshita have tied the knot. Neither has posted about it but both shared posts from DDT’s Japanese account and Takeshita replied to comments by fellow DDT wrestler Jun Akiyama sending congratulations to the new couple. Both currently are in All Elite Wrestling but Takeshita also continues to compete in New Japan and occasionally DDT. It’s not yet known how long they were together before tying the knot.

Congratulations and best wishes to the new couple for a long and happy life together, both inside and outside the ring. Now to think of cleverly bad tag team names for them…and hope the Magical Girl stays out of the clutches of The Callous Hand Of Don too…

UPDATE: Japanese wrestling news site Puroresu Today has posted an article that includes Instagram posts from both Takeshita and Sakazaki announcing their marriage. Each posted a different photo of them together with Takeshita’s (I think) pet dog and the same photo of them making handprints in wet sand on the beach. Check out the article below (in Japanese):

KONOSUKE TAKESHITAが坂崎ユカとの結婚を報告

DDT wraps up the annual KING OF DDT Tournament today with the Semifinals and Finals. The first of DDT’s 2 annual single tournaments, this one is single-elimination and is down to the Final 4, which this year are Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ueno, KANON & Hideki Okatani. They’ll face off early today in the Semifinals then the winners will meet in the main event for a KO-D Openweight Championship shot. The undercard is highlighted by a DDT Universal Championship match as Minoru Suzuki defends against Danshoku Dieno.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. Comedian Layla Ikeda will be a guest on commentary. Since the tournament matches are no time limit and with the title match this will probably run a little longer than a normal Korakuen event so I’ll predict the running time will be about 3 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada vs. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Illusion
KING OF DDT Semifinals:
Kazusada Higuchi vs. Yuki Ueno
Hideki Okatani vs. KANON
HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata vs. Akito & Yuya Koroku, Toru Owashi & Yuki Ishida and Yuni & Kazuma Sumi in a 4-way
Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Daichi Sato vs. Shinya Aoki, Shunma Katsumata & To-y
DDT Universal Champion Minoru Suzuki vs. Danshoku Dieno for the title
KING OF DDT Finals (Higuchi/Ueno vs. Okatani/KANON)

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET. The live stream is scheduled to begin 25 minutes before the event (the broadcast from the venue will probably begin 10 minutes before the event).

7:05 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in about 15 minutes.

7:15 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.

We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Satoshi Dairaku, Kagehiro Osano & Layla Ikeda. We should be joined later by Haruo Murata.

The paid attendance will not be announced after the event as DDT stopped doing that at the beginning of the year. Late-arriving crowd and it didn’t seem too affected by sumo (the final day of the May Tournament is in progress) so my guess is the attendance would’ve been around 1000).

The matches should begin in about 25 minutes.

NwA Jr. comes out 5 minutes before start time for their opening performance.

The matches begin at 7:37 PM PT/10:37 PM ET.

Match 1: Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada vs. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Illusion. 30 minute time limit
Match 1: Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada beat Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Illusion. Honda pinned Illusion with a Japanese leg roll clutch hold.

Match 2: KING OF DDT Semifinals: Kazusada Higuchi vs. Yuki Ueno. No time limit
Result: Kazusada Higuchi beat Yuki Ueno. As a result, Higuchi advances to the Finals.

Match 3: KING OF DDT Semifinals: Hideki Okatani vs. KANON. No time limit
Result: KANON beat Hideki Okatani. As a result, KANON advances to the Finals.

This means the Finals (main event) will be Higuchi vs. KANON.

Your new host is Haruo Murata, taking over for Satoshi Dairaku.

Match 4: HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata vs. Akito & Yuya Koroku, Toru Owashi & Yuki Ishida and Yuni & Kazuma Sumi in a 4-way. 30 minute time limit
Result: Akito & Yuya Koroku beat HARASHIMA & Kazuki Hirata, Toru Owashi & Yuki Ishida and Yuni & Kazuma Sumi in a 4-way when Koroku beat Sumi.

Haruto Sakuraba promo (pre-recorded video). He next competes on 7/13 and it sounds like he wants KANON.

Match 5: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Daichi Sato vs. Shinya Aoki, Shunma Katsumata & To-y. 30 minute time limit
Result: Shinya Aoki, Shunma Katsumata & To-y beat Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Daichi Sato. Aoki pinned Sato.

Match 6: DDT Universal Champion Minoru Suzuki vs. Danshoku Dieno for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: DDT Universal Champion Minoru Suzuki beat Danshoku Dieno to retain the title. V2 for Suzuki. Next up: Pass the throat lozenges…Aoki. Cauliflower ear and all which I noticed his left ear is when the camera got close up. GM Imabayashi makes it official. That match will happen on 6/28 at the next Korakuen (not counting the New Japan-DDT Toru Yano vs. Super Sasadango Machine crossover PPV on 6/8.

Main Event: KING OF DDT Finals: Kazusada Higuchi vs. KANON. No time limit
Result: Kazusada Higuchi beat KANON to win the tournament. As a result, Higuchi will get a KO-D Openweight Championship shot in the future. But no hints dropped as to when as it wasn’t mentioned and no Brookes appearance during the Higuchi promo.

The next event is a BBQ Street Pro Wrestling mini-event Wednesday at Kirana Garden Toyosu in Tokyo. This event is weather permitting due to being outdoors. There will be no live broadcast. That will be followed by a special free mini-event/variety event on 5/31 at a JR Train Station stop in Tokyo including a special talk show event with Saki Akai.

The next “actual” event is 6/1 at Chunichi Hall in Nagoya with a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship match. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET.

UPDATE: Correction to Suzuki-Aoki note above: That match will actually happen on 7/13, not 6/28. 7/13 is also at Korakuen.
After their win in the 4-way, Koroku issues a KO-D Tag Team Championship challenge on behalf of himself & Akito. They got it. That match will happen on 6/7 at Club eX in Shinagawa Prince Hotel when they face champions Takuya Nomura & Fuminori Abe for the titles.

UPDATE 2: Brookes-Higuchi for the title is now official. That match will happen on 6/29.

DDT has finally provided an update on Masa Takanashi after he suffered what appeared to be a serious injury in his last match against Chris Brookes-he remains hospitalized but is now out of intensive care and is starting rehab. DDT posted this statement from Takanashi, translated into English:

“I’m sorry to have made you all worry due to my situation.

I have now been moved to the general ward and I just started on rehabilitation. Right now I am at the stage where I am just moving the tips of my toes, but I hope that I will be able to meet you all again one day as I continue to work on my recovery.

As someone of this industry, I take all critical comments and encouragements as I face up to my current situation.

And to Chris and the fans everywhere, I hope you can all carry on with your lives without worry.”

DDT and Chocolate Pro Wrestling, a small independent promotion started by longtime women’s wrestler Emi Sakura (who also competes in All Elite Wrestling) are preparing new merchandise and online stores which presumably will serve as fundraisers for his medical treatment. Further details on this TBA.

More as it becomes available.

With everyone who went the US for The Collective now back in Japan, DDT headed to Hokkaido for a weekend doubleheader starting today.

Today’s event was held at Sapporo Sun Plaza in Hokkaido and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Tuesday. There was no live broadcast.

The paid attendance was not announced.

Match 1: Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani & Illusion beat KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Shunma Katsumata, Kazuma Sumi & Yuni to win the titles. Sasaki, Okatani & Illusion become the 58th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Illusion pinned Yuni.

Match 2: In the first half of a Sapporo Marathon Style Death Match, Akito vs. Kazuki Hirata went to a 4-4 draw after 10 minutes. Scoring was 1 point for pinfalls, submissions or countouts, 1 point for putting on Hirata’s signature sunglasses, 5 points for doing the whole dance wearing said glasses and -2 points for a DQ. The second half of the match is tomorrow. Most points after that wins.

Match 3: Jun Akiyama, Koji Yoshida & Daichi Sato beat Kazusada Higuchi, Koji Doi & Yuki Ishida. Akiyama pinned Ishida after Exploder.

Match 4: MAO & KANON beat Yukio Naya & Yuya Koroku. KANON pinned Koroku after a deformed face buster.

Match 5: Danshoku Dieno beat HARASHIMA.

Main Event: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada beat Yuki Ueno & To-y. Brookes pinned To-y after Praying Mantis Bomb.

The next event is tomorrow (tonight US time). Daisuke Sasaki is off this event due to participation in an event at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo There will be no live broadcast.

DDT ran their latest midweek outdoor event today in Tokyo, which featured the last match for Keigo Nakamura before he goes on an indefinite training excursion.

Today’s event was held at Ueno Park Outdoor Stage in Tokyo and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Saturday. There was no live broadcast.

The paid attendance was not announced.

Match 1: Daisuke Sadaki, Hideki Okatani & Illusion beat Yukio Naya, Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Yuya Koroku. Sadaki beat Matsunaga with a crossface.

Match 2: Antonio Honda beat DDT O-40 Champion Toru Owashi to win the title. Honda becomes the 7th DDT O-40 Champion.

Match 3: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada beat Jun Akiyama & Daichi Sato. Masada pinned Sato.

Match 4: MAO & KANON won a 6-team elimination battle royal, last eliminating Shunma Katsumata & Yuni.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno beat Keigo Nakamura. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Shinya Aoki beat Keigo Nakamura in 71 seconds by ref stoppage (TKO).

The next event is a doubleheader Saturday at Sapporo Sun Plaza in Hokkaido. There will be no live broadcasts.

Also, a change for the 5/25/25 event at Korakuen Hall (KING OF DDT Finals) was announced-the previously announced Minoru Suzuki vs. Danshoku Dieno match will now be for the DDT Universal Championship held by Suzuki

Emergency Decision! I just noticed today’s DDT Japan event is a live broadcast so while there’s time and since WrestleMania 41 Night 1 is finished live results will be below.

Today’s event will be held at Kanda Myojin Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. There will be no commentary except for the main event, which will have commentary from special guest Sumire Uesaka, a voice actress. There are only 5 matches scheduled and although the main event has not ime limit this event probably won’t run more than 2 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Kazusada Higuchi vs. Takao Soma
Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul vs. KANON & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
Danshoku Dieno vs. Toru Owashi & Yuki Ishida in a 3-way
HARASHIMA vs. Keigo Nakamura
7 man battle royal

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. The live stream has already begun.

9 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.

We are LIVE from Kanda Myojin Hall in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.

The paid attendance will not be announced.

When the event begins there is a promo featuring the current DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion/s and special guest ambassador Tetsu Inada. But suddenly…ambush! Which led to…
Kazuki Hirata beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Masanori Kishikawa & Mizuki Takashima to win the title. Hirata becomes the 1745th Champion.

The matches-the scheduled ones anyway-begin at 9:04 PM PT/12:04 AM ET.

Match 1: Kazusada Higuchi vs. Takao Soma. 30 minute time limit
Result: Kazusada Higuchi beat Takao Soma

Match 2: Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul vs. KANON & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. 30 minute time limit
Result: Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul beat KANON & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Okatani pinned Matsunaga.

Quick break for GM Imabayashi & Tetsu Inada announcements.

Match 3: Danshoku Dieno vs. Toru Owashi & Yuki Ishida in a 3-way. 30 minute time limit
Result: Danshoku Dieno beat Toru Owashi & Yuki Ishida in a 3-way by beating Ishida. Comedy match of course which didn’t go well for GM Imabayashi.

Match 4: HARASHIMA vs. Keigo Nakamura. 30 minute time limit
Result: HARASHIMA beat Keigo Nakamura

Intermission. The main event will follow afterwards (probably 10-15 minutes).

The event resumes at 10:21 PM PT/1:21 AM ET. There will be commentary for the final match.

Main event: 7 man battle royal. Apparently all participants have their hair done like the idol girls that are guests. No time limit
Order of elimination: Akito (pinfall), Chris Brookes (over the top rope), Takeshi Masada (over the top rope), Yuki Ueno (pinfall), Yuya Koroku (over the top rope), To-y (pinfall).
Result: Kazuki Hirata won. The winner’s prize was a matching idol outfit the guests wear. He even put it on to for photo ops. As it seemed to be wrapping up though, Pocotan came out. He attacked Hirata but Inada tossed the head away sending Pocotan scurrying away. Which led to…
Sumire Uesaka beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Kazuki Hirata to win the title. Uesaka becomes the 1746th Champion.

The event ended with Hirata still laid out in the ring, not coming to until the feed cut away.

After WrestleMania Night 1 wrapped up and felt like a bit of a letdown for the most part, this was the classic DDT comedy we needed. A perfect way to wrap up another full day-and week-of wrestling.

The next event is Wednesday at Ueno Park Outdoor Stage. There will be no live broadcast.

Like Tokyo Joshi Pro did earlier today, DDT also ran an event in Japan with the roster members who did not travel to the USA for The Collective.

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

The paid attendance was not announced.

Match 1: KANON beat Yuki Ishida.

Match 2: Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul beat Toru Owashi & Tomomitsu Matsynaga. Okatani pinned Matsunaga after a swivel-type Claymore.

A presser for a DDT Extreme Championship match later in the event was held. After which…

Pocotan beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Kazuki Hirata to win the title. Pocotan becomes the 1743rd Champion. Which led to…
Masanori Kishikawa & Mizuki Takashima beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Pocotan to win the titles. Kishikawa & Takashima become the 1744th Champion. Giant life-size mascots.

Match 3: Kazusada Higuchi & Akito beat Yuya Koroku & Keigo Nakamura. Higuchi beat Nakamura with a Canadian backbreaker.

Match 4: Mikoshi Debut Match: Yuki Ueno, To-y & Mikoshi beat Danshboku Dieno, Isami Kodaka (Independent/Freelancer) & Takao Soma. Mikoshi pinned Soma after Myojin Splash. Mikoshi is basically a giant castle-shaped mascot.

Match 5: In a Myojin-Shiki Death Match, where the first to bite something specific 3 times wins, DDT Extreme Champion Super Sasadango Machine beat Kazuki Hirata to retain the title. V1 for Machine. Next up: If Machine has his way, Toru Yano at the New Japan-DDT One Match PPV between them on 6/9 at Korakuen Hall.

Main Event: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada beat HARASHIMA & Daichi Sato. Brookes beat Sato with a ground octopus stretch.

The next event is a joint event with Tokyo Joshi Pro & Game Changer Wrestling today in Las Vegas, NV. Live streaming on TrillerTV/FITE with a Triller+ subscription will begin at 2 PM PT/5 PM ET.

DDT makes their US return today for their first of 2 events as part of The Collective, the first one being their spotlight event ahead of a joint event with Tokyo Joshi Pro and event host Game Changer Wrestling. The matches mainly will consist of DDT wrestlers facing various GCW and independent wrestlers plus there are 2 title matches: The first one was a late add as a previously announced match between Yukio Naya and 1 Called Manders will now be for the wXw (Germany) Unified World Championship held by Manders, while the second one is what we’re all here for as DDT Universal Champion Minoru Suzuki defends the title against the WRESTLING GOD Yoshihiko. Viva DDT!

Today’s event will be held at The Pearl Theater at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV and can be watched LIVE on TrillerTV/FITE with a Triller+ subscription ($7.99/month or $71.99/year, new subscribers get a 1 week free trial) in English. It will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably in 2-3 months). This is the second of 4 events at the venue today so while the matches have no time limits the event will and probably won’t go more than 2 1/2 hours as a result.

Today’s lineup (match order TBA):
Yuni vs. Starboy Charlie
Daisuke Sasaki & Illusion vs. Shota & Mizuki Watase and Dan The Dad & Kody Lane in a 3-way
Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi vs. Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman
Antonio Honda vs. Santana Jackson
Shinya Aoki vs. Timothy Thatcher
Konosuke Takeshita vs. MAO
wXw Unified World Champion 1 Called Manders vs. Yukio Naya for the title
DDT Universal Champion Minoru Suzuki vs. Yoshihiko for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 3 PM PT/6 PM ET.

3 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.

We are LIVE from The Pearl Theater at The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV. Your hosts are Dave Prazak, Nick Knowledge & Jordan Castle.

Since this is how DDT does it now, the paid attendance will not be announced after the event.

The matches start right away after the GCW ring announcer’s welcome.

Match 1: Yuni vs. Starboy Charlie
Result: Starboy Charlie beat Yuni. There was a botched finish where the ref appeared to count 3 near the end and the bell rang but the ref immediately waved it off.

Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki & Illusion vs. Shota & Mizuki Watase and Dan The Dad & Kody Lane in a 3-way
Result: Daisuke Sasaki & Illusion beat Shota & Mizuki Watase and Dan The Dad & Kody Lane in a 3-way when Sasaki beat Dad.

Match 3: Antonio Honda vs. Santana Jackson (if you’ve never seen him and/or don’t follow GCW closely, Jackson is a wrestling Michael Jackson impersonator)
Result: Santana Jackson beat Antonio Honda. Comedy match where Jackson showed he would be very well-suited for DDT.

Match 4: wXw Unified World Champion 1 Called Manders vs. Yukio Naya for the title
Result: wXw Unified World Champion 1 Called Manders beat Yukio Naya to retain the title.

Match 5: Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi vs. Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman
Result: Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma SUmi beat Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman. Wayne pinned Bateman after Wayne’s World.

Match 6: Shinya Aoki vs. Timothy Thatcher
Result: Shinya Aoki beat Timothy Thatcher

Match 7: DDT Universal Champion Minoru Suzuki vs. Yoshihiko for the title
Result: DDT Universal Champion Minoru Suzuki beat Yoshihiko to retain the title. V1 for Suzuki. This match of course RULED. Awesomeness from start to finish.

Main Event: Konosuke Takeshita vs. MAO
Result: Konosuke Takeshita beat MAO

Overall this was another fun event that again nicely showcased both DDT’s signature product and the indies quite well. My one complaint was that the audio on the feed was notably ahead of the video and it was evident when pinfalls were being counted. May have just been my Bluetooth headphones but it was notable. Also, at the end the feed cut out immediately so no post-match promo from Takeshita, just for the live crowds.

End Show.

The next event is a joint event with Tokyo Joshi Pro & Game Changer Wrestling tomorrow. Live streaming on TrillerTV/FITE with a Triller+ subscription will begin at 2 PM PT/5 PM ET.