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.
