Tag: ddtpro

DDT continued the Judgment 2024 Tour today with an event in Tokyo.

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

The announced paid attendance was 303, a full house/near sellout.

There were late changes to the card due to Yukio Naya & Rukiya being off the event. Flu. They missed last weekend due to fever.

Match 1: To-y &Yuni beat Chris Brookes & Illusion. To-y pinned Illusion after Kojima Impact.

Match 2: Makoto Oishi & Shishamo Power beat Yoshitatsu & Antonio Honda. Power pinned Honda after Shishamo Of Yamada. Post-match, Oishi turned on Power and this led to what seems like a comedy match to happen on 4/14.

Match 3: Kazuki Hirata 14th Anniversary Match-in a match where each wrestler’s comedy gimmick could not be used, Kazuki Hirata beat Danshoku Dieno by DQ. That meant no “sodomy” by Dieno and no dancing by Hirata. Dieno DQ’d for sodomy.

Match 4: Jun Akiyama, Kazusada Higuchi & Takao Soma beat Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul. Higuchi pinned Paul with a Brain Claw press.

Match 5: Ryuki Honda, Yuma Anzai & Ryo Inoue (All-Japan) beat Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Honda pinned Matsunaga after Final Vent.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata beat HARASHIMA, Takeshi Masada & Hideki Okatani by ref stoppage (TKO). Ueno beat HARASHIMA with a blackout sleeper hold.

The next event is Sunday at Osaka Azalea Taisho in Osaka. There will be no live broadcast.

DDT ran a standalone Toi Kojima hometown event today, as he took a break from his recent (and silly-sounding) name changes for one more event under his original/given name.

Today’s event was held at Naraha Sky Arena in Fukushima and is scheduled to be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Thursday. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 820, a super full house/very near sellout.

There were several changes to the card because Yukio Naya, Rukiya and then, last-minute, Takeshi Masada were all pulled from the event in the hours before. Fever. DDT’s health & injury woes continue.

During opening ceremonies, Kojima joined in on a performance with a shovel shamisen (an odd take on the traditional Japanese string guitar-like instrument) and even took a good-natured chop from Naraha City Deputy Mayor Hideki Matsumoto, who was in attendance.

Match 1; Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino beat Kazuki Hirata & Tomomitsu Matsunaga. Iino pinned Hirata after a spear. Matsunaga was a late replacement for the absent wrestlers-he hardly appears in matches because he primarily works as a trainer for the promotion.

Match 2: Chris Brookes & Yuzutaro beat Sanshiro Takagi & Danshoku Dieno. Yuzutaro pinned Dieno after Yuzu Death Drop. Yuzutaro is/was some kind of giant headed mascot and this clearly was a comedy match. Another of the last-minute changes. Afterwards, with Yuzutaro victorious in its debut match, Brookes demanded a single match when they return in the future.

Match 3: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat Akito & Illusion. KANON pinned Illusion after Sleepy Hollow.

Match 4: HARASHIMA & Jun Akiyama beat Yuki Ueno & Takao Soma. HARASHIMA pinned Soma after Blue Sword.

Main Event: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima beat Kazusada Higuchi, Makoto Oishi & Hideki Okatani. Kojima pinned Oishi after Kojima Impact. In an emotional post-match promo, Kojima vowed to return to compete in his home town again next year.

The next event is Wednesday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo to kick off the March tour, Judgment 2024. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.

Ugh. DDT just can’t stay healthy whether it’s for an event or for a long time. 2 more have gone down, today it’s Yukio Naya & Rukiya. Fever. Out tomorrow as a precaution. Takao Soma & Tomomitsu Matsunaga are the replacements.

Tomorrow’s event (tonight US time) is scheduled to be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Thursday. There is no live broadcast.

UPDATE: Make it a Triple DDT as Takeshi Masada is now out as well. Fever.

UPDATE 2 (3/5/24): Naya & Rukiya are off tomorrow (3:6). Flu.

In a breaking press conference just streamed on their YouTube channel, DDT wrestler Yusuke Okada made a surprise announcement, the timing of which had me thinking perhaps he was going to leave the promotion. Not that, but it was perhaps worse news-Okada has cancer. He recently had surgery to remove a malignant tumor from his lower abdomen and it was determined to be cancerous. Okada is in good physical health post-surgery but after consulting with doctors will begin drug treatments for cancer and, as a result, will be out indefinitely but likely an extended period of time. However, Okada has vowed to return upon completion of treatment.

I join DDT and others in sending best wishes and support to Okada as he begins this major battle and hope he can be successful in putting cancer fown for the 3 count like Kenta Kobashi was many years ago.

More as it becomes available.

DDT has provided an update on the status of injured wrestler Kazuma Sumi, who missed the 2/23 & 2/25 events with a left knee injury-it’s not worst case and doesn’t sound too bad following further examination. Partially torn MCL. Expected to be out 2-3 weeks and is currently scheduled to return on 3/17.

More as it becomes available.

DDT has their monthly Tokyo tour-ending event, Into The Fight 2024, on tap today, featuring the debut of Kaisei Takechi. I don’t know anything about him but it seems like he’s a big deal in Japan (sounds like he either is/was a musician or actor) and this is getting a lot of attention and the promotion has really gone out of their way to cater to what seems like a lot of new fans he is bringing in. They have put out a lot of information to “beginners” to help them enjoy and understand DDT and pro wrestling, on a scale I’ve never seen before. It probably helps that he’s teaming with The37Kamiina in his debut match, which will be the main event. There’s one title match before that as MAO defends the DDT Universal Championship against Hikaru Machida.

There have been last-second changes to the card today because, unfortunately, the injury/illness bug continues to be relentless in affecting them and because of it HARASHIMA is now off. Coronavirus. Out indefinitely but, depending on how serious it is or isn’t, probably around a week. The next event is about a week away so he may not miss any more events after today. He was to have faced To-y (Toi Kojima). MJ Paul is the replacement. The 4th & 5th matches on the original lineup have had their positions swapped as a result so Paul vs. To-y will go off 4th (it originally was 5th) and Paul likely won’t be in the corner of DAMNATION T.A. in Match 2.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube. The event is a legit advance sellout. Riki Matsui, a member of a group called “BALLISTIK BOYZ”, will be a special guest on commentary. As part of their outreach efforts for new fans they’ve already announced today’s event is expected to run 2 1/2 hours, so that’s already settled. Makes planning my time easier too.
There is also a special PPV Support Package available on WRESTLE UNIVERSE that will include special camera angles for the main event, digital gifts and a chance to win a signed photo. It can be ordered now for 3500 Japanese yen (around $23 US) and is scheduled to premiere Tuesday at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET. You can buy it until early on 3/2 then can watch it on demand until the end of April. Note that you must buy it via the WRESTLE UNIVERSE website via a browser, you can’t buy it on the mobile app.

Today’s lineup (currently after HARASHIMA absence updates):
Chris Brookes, Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda vs. Yuki Iino, Yuni & Illusion
Daisuke Sasaki & KANON vs. Akito & Takao Soma
Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Toru Owashi vs. Kazuki Hirata, Naruki Doi & Shinya Aoki
MJ Paul vs. To-y
Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshitatsu vs. Yukio Naya & Rukiya
DDT Universal Champion MAO vs. Hikaru Machida for the title
Kaisei Takechi Debut Match: Kaisei Takechi, Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata vs. Tetsuya Endo, Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET. The YouTube broadcast is scheduled to begin 10 minutes before the event. The WRESTLE UNIVERSE livestream is scheduled to begin 30 minutes before the event.

6 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. We should be going to the venue in 20-25 minutes.

6:15 PM PT UPDATE: The YouTube broadcast has begun. Expecting to go to the venue in about 5 minutes.

6:20 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…

We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Oasno & special guest Riki Matsui.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It is a legit advance sellout and it looks like close to the current full capacity setup, so it should be somewhere between 1300-1550 depending on the setup. (From what I saw at start time I think it will be closer to 1300) (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1600. I dod see a handful of empty seats in spots as the event went on despite the sellout)

The matches should begin in 15-20 minutes.

The matches begin at 6:35 PM PT/9:35 PM ET.

Match 1: Chris Brookes, Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda vs. Yuki Iino, Yuni & Illusion. 30 minute time limit
Result: Chris Brookes, Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda beat Yuki Iino, Yuni & Illusion. Brookes pinned Yuni.
Post-match, Brookes with microphone. He brought out New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Zack Sabre Jr. Promo in Japanese, rarely heard from Sabre who usually speaks English. Brookes soon had Yuki Ueno & MAO come out. Then it was announced they would face each other in a tag match-Ueno & MAO vs. Brookes & Sabre-on 4/7.

Match 2: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON vs. Akito & Takao Soma. 30 minute time limit
Result: Daisuke Saaki & KANON beat Akito & Takao Soma. KANON pinned Soma after a Sasaki diving elbow drop.

The YouTube broadcast ends here.

Match 3: Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Toru Owashi vs. Kazuki Hirata, Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) & Shinya Aoki. 30 minute time limit
Result: Kazuki HIrata, Naruki Doi & Shinya Aoki beat Danshoku Dieno, Makoto Oishi & Toru Owashi. Doi pinned Oishi. Post-match, Doi with microphone. It sounds like he issued a KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Challenge to Oishi. (Jun Akiyama is not there today because he is in the US for All Elite Wrestling) GM Imabayashi makes it official for Korakuen, but I didn’t catch when. Probably either next month for the 27th Anniversary event or 4/7. (It will be on 3/17)

WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024, DDT’s annual biggest event, is announced for 7/21 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. Announced for the event are Konosuke Takeshita and Sanshiro Takagi’s final match before he steps back from regular competition. Advance tickets will go on sale next week for WRESTLE UNIVERSE members. GM Imabayashi’s normally opening announcements follow, led off by the announcement of the WRESTLE UNIVERSE changes coming next month-prices are going up about $2.50/month but they are adding lots more content. Also announced for 3/6 at Shinjuku Face are Danshoku Dieno vs. Kazuki Hirata and a DDT vs. All-Japan 6-man tag match. Also announced for Sumida City Gym in Tokyo on 4/26 is the Yuki Ueno-HARASHIMA 3/17 winner vs. TBA for the KO-D Openweight Championhip.

Match 4: MJ Paul vs. To-y. 30 minute time limit
Result: To-y beat MJ Paul. Shunma Katsumata interference to counter KANON interference with a chair after a ref bump set it up.

Match 5: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshitatsu vs. Yukio Naya & Rukiya. 30 minute time limit
Result: Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshitatsu beat Yukio Naya & Rukiya. Higuchi pinned Rukiya after Brain Claw Slam.

Match 5: DDT Universal Champion MAO vs. Hikaru Machida for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: DDT Universal Champion MAO beat Hikaru Machida to retain the title. V5 for MAO. Post-match, MAO with microphone. It sounded like he was talking about the US and Sabre but…next up: Takeshi Masada, who came out for the challenge. Quickly made official by GM Imabayashi, likely for 3/17. (It will be 3/17) Also, MAO has now set the all-time record for most successful defenses in a reign. The prior record which he shared with Daisuke Sasaki was 4.

Main Event: Kaisei Takechi Debut Match: Kaisei Takechi, Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata vs. Tetsuya Endo, Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada. 30 minute time limit (the promo graphic on stream said 1 Hour but it’s 30 minutes) (Side note: Per a quick web search I did, Takechi is a 24-year-old actor & musician with THE RAMPAGE, a sub-group of a larger group/agency called EXILE TRIBE)
Result: Kaisei Takechi, Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata beat Tetsuya Endo, Hideki Okatani & Takeshi Masada. Ueno pinned Masada after BME. You could certainly tell and hear all the (likely younger) female fans Takechi brought in for this event, it was VERY LOUD. Afterwards, the winners with microphone to talk Takechi’s debut, put him over and send the crowd home happy.

Added to 3/17 Tsubasa Suzuki Debut Match-Tsubasa Suzuki vs. Takao Soma, To-y/Illusion/Rukiya vs. Yuni/Yuya Koroku/Kazuma Sumi, Toru Owashi & Gorgeous Matsuno vs. Akito & Shinichiro Kawamatsu, Chris Brookes/Antonio Honda/Masa Takanashi vs. Daisuke Sasaki/MJ Paul/KANON, Kazusada Higuchi & Yukio Naya vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Yoshitatsu, Sanshiro Takagi vs. Ken Ohka, KO-D Tag Team Champions Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino vs. Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai (All-Japan) for the titles Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yuma Aoyagi (All-Japan). That along with the other title matches as part of the 5 HOUR DDT 27th Anniversary Event.

The next event is 3/3 at Naraha Sky Arena in Fukushima, possibly a Toi Kojima hometown event. This is a free event. There will be no live broadcast.

DDT ran the penultimate event of the INTO THE FIGHT 2034 Your today.

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 281, a super full house/very near sellout.

Match 1: Daisuke Sasaki & KANON beat MAO & Kazuki Hirata. KANON beat Hirata with a cobra twist.

Match 2: Danshoku Dieno beat Rukiya.

Match 3: Yoshitatsu beat Takao Soma.

Match 4: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino beat Kazusada Higuchi & Makoto Oishi. Iino pinned Oishi after a spear.

Match 5: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y (Toi Kojima) beat HARASHIMA, Yukio Naya & Hideki Olatani. Katsumata pinned Okatani after a foot stomp.

Main Event: KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Champions Chris Brookes, Masa Takanashi, Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Mecha Mummy beat Maya Yukihi, Ram Kaichow, Rina Yamashita, Sanshiro Takagi & Akito to retain the titles. Honda pinned Akito with a Japanese leg roll clutch hold. V1 for the champs.

The next event is INTO THE FIGHT 2024 Sunday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, headlined by the debut match of Kaisei Takechi. This must be a really big deal because the event is already a legit advance sellout and a special PPV support package (to be streamed after the event) is being offered and DDT has put together a special beginner’s guide to wrestling for fans. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET and the first 2 matches will also be available live FOR FREE on YouTube. Live results are scheduled. T

he PPV is scheduled to premiere on 2/27 at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET and will feature special camera angles/footage of the main event focused on Takechi, a digitally signed smartphone wallpaper and a chance to win a signed photo. It can be pre-ordered now on the WRESTLE UNIVERSE website (not on the mobile app) for 3500 Japanese yen (around $23.25 US) and is available for purchase until 3/3 at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET and can then be watched on demand until 4/30. The digital gift will be delivered on 3/4 after the premiere.

Still no breaks for DDT on the injury front as another one was added to the body count over the weekend-the latest casualty is young wrestler Kazuma Sumi. Left knee. Out at least this next week and will miss the next 2 events on Friday and Sunday, beyond that is uncertain.

More as it becomes available.

In a posy on their website in Japanese and English, DDT announced ring announcer/WRESTLE UNIVERSE commentator Ken Kato has been fired by the promotion effective today. Apparently he made what the promotion deemed inappropriate comments on social media/SNS (I have not seen these comments yet) and showed no remorse when approached about it. So his contract was terminated. Kato was heard on pre-show matches on WRESTLE UNIVERSE and occasionally relieved regular host/commentator Haruo Murata on longer DDT live broadcasts.

DDT continued the Into The Fight 2024 Tour today with their half of a weekend doubleheader with Tokyo Joshi Pro.

Today’s event was held at Duo Cerezo 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 230.

Match 1: Toru Owashi beat Kazuma Sumi.

Match 2: To-y (Toi Kojima) beat Kazuki Hirata.

Match 3: Daisuke Sasaki & LANON beat Yuki Iino & Rukiya. KANON beat Rukiya with Just Cobra Twist.

Match 4: Jun Akiyama & Yoshitatsu beat Tetsuya Endo & Makoto Oishi. Akiyama pinned Oishi after Deformed Sternness Dust Alpha.

Match 5: Danshoku Dieno vs. Super Sasadango Machine went to a Double Fall. Both fell asleep.

Match 6: HARASHIMA & Akito beat Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada. HARASHIMA pinned Masada after Blue Sword.

Main Event: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katusmata beat Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani. Katusmata pinned Okatani after Our Mad Max.

The next event is Friday at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at midnight PT/3 AM ET.