DDT runs their monthly signature Tokyo event today, “Mission In Battle-New Year”. A very unique main event headlines today as it’s a double title match involving KO-D Openweight & DDT Universal Champion Yuki Ueno defending the titles against Daisuke Sasaki & Chris Brookes in a 3-way…actually it’s matches because it’s a double 3-way match of sorts. The first wrestler to get a win will become the DDT Universal Champion, then the match continues with the second wrestler to get a win becoming the KO-D Openweight Champion so Ueno could retain both titles or could easily lose both. A KO-D Tag Team Championship match precedes that as MAO & KANON defend against Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya, who lost the titles to the champs in a 4-way without getting pinned or submitted. And further down…what’s this? The return of our GOD…Yoshihiko!!!
There have been last-minute changes to the event because, unfortunately for the ladies, Kaisei Takechi is now off the event. Infectious conjunctivitis. Refunds are being offered to anyone who bought tickets after 12/21, which is when Takechi was announced for the event.
Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. Japanese comedy duo Elf will be the special guests on commentary. There are the usual 7 matches but the first 4 matches will have shorter time limits than usual, but this still should wind up being a “standard” Korakuen event running 2 1/2-3 hours, but not more than about 3 1/2 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Shinya Aoki vs. Junta Miyawaki
Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku, Yuni, Rukiya & Hinata Kasai vs. Ryoma Tsukamoto*, Daichi Sato, Yuki Ishida, Illusion & Kazuma Sumi
Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul vs.Naomi Yoshimura & O-MENZ Kumadori
Minoru Suzuki, Danshoku Dieno & Yoshihiko vs. Super Sasadango Machine, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda
Konosuke Takeshita & Jun Akiyama vs. HARASHIMA & To-y**
KO-D Tag Team Champions MAO & KANON vs. Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya for the titles
KO-D Openweight & DDT Universal Champion Yuki Ueno vs. Daisuke Sasaki & Chris Brookes in a 2 Falls 3-way for the titles. The first fall will be for the DDT Universal Championship. The second fall will be for the KO-D Openweight Championship.
*-This was to have been To-y but he was pulled to replace Takechi. Tsukamoto is the replacement.
**-This was to have been Takechi pre-removal. To-y is the replacement.
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET. The live stream is scheduled to begin 20 minutes before the event.
6:10 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in 10-15 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 Osano & special guests Arakawa & Haru, aka Japanese comedy duo Elf. Arakawa has quite the press-on nails and ponytails that make her look like she could pass for Harley Quinn. Looks the part too.
The paid attendance will not be announced after the event but it’s hard to say how accurate it may have been due to refunds. (Based on what I saw later in the event, either not a lot of refunds or they were re-sold as the venue looked at least 95% full)
The matches should begin in 15-20 minutes. NwA Jr. live begins 5 minutes before the scheduled start time, catching the guests on commentary off guard as it was maybe a few seconds early.
The matches begin at 6:35 PM PT/9:35 PM ET.
Match 1: Shinya Aoki vs. Junta Miyawaki. 15 minute time limit
Result: Time Limit Draw
Your new host for now is Satoshi Dairaku.
Match 2: Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku, Yuni, Rukiya & Hinata Kasai vs. Ryoma Tsukamoto, Daichi Sato, Yuki Ishida, Illusion & Kazuma Sumi. 15 minute time limit
Result: Ryoma Tsukamoto, Daichi Sato, Yuki Ishida, Illusion & Kazuma Sumi beat Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku, Yuni, Rukiya & Hinata Kasai. Sato pinned Masada.
Match 3: Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul vs.Naomi Yoshimura & O-MENZ Kumadori. 15 minute time limit
Result: Naomi Yoshimura & O-MENZ Kumadori beat Hideki Okatani & MJ Paul. Yoshimura pinned Paul after an over shoulder slam.
Haruo Murata returns as host now.
Match 4: Minoru Suzuki, Danshoku Dieno & Yoshihiko vs. Super Sasadango Machine, Kazuki Hirata & (a surprisingly gray-bearded!) Antonio Honda. 30 minute time limit
Result: Minoru Suzuki, Danshoku Dieno & Yoshihiko beat Super Sasadango Machine, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda before Suzuki even got to the ring. Dieno pinned Hirata. GM Imabayashi immediately rushed to the rung EN FUEGO. Suzuki didn’t even get to KAZE NI NARE!!! Which led to…
Match 4 (again): Minoru Suzuki, Danshoku Dieno & Yoshihiko vs. Super Sasadango Machine, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda. 30 minute time limit
Result: Minoru Suzuki, Danshoku Dieno & Yoshihiko beat Super Sasadango Machine, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda almost immediately. Suzuki beat Machine with an armbar. Yoshihiko never made it out. GM Imabayashi EN FUEGO AGAIN. Which led to…
Match 4 (again): Minoru Suzuki, Danshoku Dieno & Yoshihiko vs. Super Sasadango Machine, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda. 30 minute time limit
Result: Minoru Suzuki, Danshoku Dieno & Yoshihiko beat Super Sasadango Machine, Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda. Yoshihiko pinned Hirata after a huracanrana.
Afterwards, GM Imabayashi called Hirata back to the ring. He announced that on 3/22 at Korakuen Hirata would face Konosuke Takeshita.
The comedy girls take a break from commentary for the next match.
Match 5: Konosuke Takeshita & Jun Akiyama vs. HARASHIMA & To-y. 30 minute time limit
Result: Konosuke Takeshita & Jun Akiyama beat HARASHIMA & To-y. Takeshita pinned To-y.
Satoshi Dairaku takes over as host once again. Sanshiro Takagi is now a guest on commentary so apparently the comedy duo is either done or will be back for the main event.
Match 6: KO-D Tag Team Champions MAO & KANON vs. Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: KO-D Tag Team Champions MAO & KANON beat Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya to retain the titles. KANON pinned Iino. V3 for the champs. Afterwqards, it appears Iino & Naya aligned themselves with Strange Love Connection. The winners wqere also seconded by Yuzuki Hoshimoto, who provided eye candy and a whip she thankfully didn’t have to use.
Haruo Murata returns as host for the main event. Akito is now a guest on commentary, replacing Takagi. The comedy girls are done for the day.
Main Event: KO-D Openweight & DDT Universal Champion Yuki Ueno vs. Daisuke Sasaki & Chris Brookes in a 2 match 3-way for the titles. The first match will be for the DDT Universal Championship. The second match will be for the KO-D Openweight Championship. 1 Hour time limit
Part 1 (DDT Universal Championship): Daisuke Sasaki beat DDT Universal Champion Yuki Ueno & Chris Brookes by beating Brookes to win the title. Sasaki becomes the 20th DDT Universal Champion.
Part 2 (KO-D Openweight Championship): KO-D Openweight Champion Yuki Ueno beat Daisuke Sasaki & Chris Brookes by pinning Sasaki to retain the title. V5 for Ueno. Keeps one title but loses the other. Sasaki still is Universal Champion. GM Imabayashi to the ring to set up the next challenger announcement before KIMIHIRO takes over. Next up: KANON. That match will happen on 3/21 at the annual anniversary event (it can’t be the next Korakuen on 2/21 because Ueno vs. Kaisei Takechi has already been announced).
The next event is 2/4 at Shinjuku Face. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.