DDT runs what may be their last super blowout event of the year today, ULTIMATE PARTY 2023, and it will be just that with 12 matches planned, several major title matches including a main event of KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes vs. Yuki Ueno for the title, New Japan’s Hiromu Takahashi returning to face Kazuki Hirata-if Takahashi makes it there from New Japan’s event in Aichi today as DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion-which is still an if-it’ll be for the title in an epic comedy match-and also a farewell as we say goodbye to Saki Akai, who is retiring after her final match today. She celebrated her 10th anniversary in wrestling earlier this year and although she is still very healthy and only 35, she made the decision to walk away while she was still in excellent physical condition and not stay until she was a “wilting flower”and potentially injured & unable to compete at her best. She’s set herself up to do very well post-wrestling with a beauty salon/spa, a line of skin care products for women & men, her own autobiography (and recently doing the obligatory photobooks and sexy photoshoots for the Japanese idol magazines) and today wraps up her retirement tour that also took her through Tokyo Joshi Pro and Ganbare Pro as well as All-Japan Pro Wrestling, and she leaves as a champion as Akai, Yukio Sakatuchi & Hideki Okatani are the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions but they will vacate the titles after today. DDT has done a masterful job of putting Akai over as the theme of her final match today: Strong, Noble, Beautiful. All perfectly describe Saki and then some. She will be dearly missed.
It’s also been announced that a PPV featuring backstage footage of Akai from today’s event and more will be available on WRESTLE UNIVERSE later this month. It will premiere on 11/28 (scheduled for 3 AM PT/6 AM ET) and will feature behind the scenes footage from today and more exclusive benefits: You’ll also receive digital photos of the event, a digital photograph signed by Akai, the opportunity to write a special message to Akai (they will be delivered to her personally at a later date), and a chance to win goods with handwritten autographs (no word on if that is limited only to fans in Japan). The PPV can be pre-purchased now on WRESTLE UNIVERSE for 4000 yen (currently around $27 US) and you will be able to watch the program until January 30, 2024. You can buy it until December 4 at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
Today’s event will be held at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. The Japanese commentary will include 2 special guests-voice actor Toru Inada and SKE48 member (and semi-regular UNIVERSE special guest) Marika Tani. The English commentary team will be Hiroshi Arai, Christelle Ciari & Ash Mann. You can also watch the first 2 matches in Japanese FOR FREE on YouTube. There is no pre-show but given the ULTIMATE PARTY theme, this is going to be a long marathon party of an event. Plan on an all-night party depending on where you are as I expect the event’s running time to be at least 4 hours, maybe pushing 5 hours.
There was a last-minute change to the lineup at yesterday’s pre-event final press conference and public contract signings for the title matches: At the request of MAO, the DDT Universal Championship match between Matt Cardona & MAO is now a No DQ match.
Today’s lineup (in order):
KO-D Tag Team Champions Takao Soma & Shota vs. Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda for the titles
5 team staggered entry tag team battle royal. Participating teams: MJ Paul & KANON, Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku, Toi Kojima & Yuki Ishida, Yuni & Rukiya
Tokyo Joshi Pro Provided Match: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki vs. Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara
Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu vs. Yoshitatsu (All-Japan), Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine
Kuroshio TOKYO Japan (Jiro Kuroshio/Ikemen Jiro) vs. Takeshi Masada
Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya vs. Jun & Rei Saito & Toshizo (All-Japan)
Daisuke Sasaki vs. Tetsuya Endo
Saki Akai Retirement Match-Strong, Noble, Beautiful-Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani vs. Miyu Yamashita (Tokyo Joshi Pro), Naomichi Marufuji (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Kazusada Higuchi
Saki Akai Retirement Ceremony. Streamers/paper tape throwing by fans will be allowed only at the end of this segment
DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kazuki Hirata in a Fun Death Match for the title if Takahashi is still champion. The match happens either way. The match will be held using rounds and a roulette system to determine the rules for each round. The winner will receive a 10 year supply of Nivea Water Retention Body Wash as a prize from sponsor Nivea Kao Co. Ltd.
DDT Universal Champion Matt Cardona vs. MAO in a No DQ match for the title
Chris Jericho vs. Konosuke Takeshita
KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes vs. Yuki Ueno for the title
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 9 PM PT/midnight ET. The live stream is expected to begin 10 minutes before the event.
7 PM PT UPDATE: Matufuji just tried to win the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship from Hiromu Takahashi but there was no referee present. Denied!
8:30 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has started. We should be going to the venue in about 20 minutes. Updates will begin then.
8:50 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. Your Japanese hosts are Haruo Murata & Marika Tani (SKE48). Kagehiro Osano was on commentary at the All-Japan Pro Wrestling event at Korakuen Hall that is just wrapping up. Your English hosts are Hiroshi Arai, Christelle Ciari & Ash (Mann).
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s hard to predict here based on advance ticket sales and because they don’t use full capacity for the venue (the lower level box seats/mass seats that hold 4-6 people for sumo are only used for up to 2 people here) so I can only hope they do a good number, which for an event like this I feel will be at least 4000. The venue’s full capacity for sumo and-when used as such-wrestling is 15,000. Based on how empty the upper level looked at the start, I think a more realistic estimate right now is around 2500. The All-Japan event right before this probably isn’t helping. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 4785, a full house/near sellout. A great number for mostly using only the lower level and just the front 2-3 rows of the second level)
The matches will begin in about 15 minutes.
The matches begin at 9:07 PM PT. The crowd really popped during the card rundown for Jericho-Takeshita. Could we get a Japanese Judas Sing-Along? MAYBE!
Match 1: KO-D Tag Team Champions Takao Soma & Shota vs. Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda for the titles. 1 Hour time limit
Result: KO-D Tag Team Champions Takao Soma & Shota beat Masa Takanashi & Antonio Honda to retain the titles. Soma pinned Honda after Gin & Tonic. V1 for the champs.
Shunma Katsumata joins the broadcast as a special guest on Japanese commentary.
Match 2: 5 team staggered entry tag team battle royal. Participating teams: MJ Paul & KANON, Naruki Doi & Kazuma Sumi, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku, Toi Kojima & Yuki Ishida, Yuni & Rukiya. Eliminations by pinfall, submission or over the top rope. A team is eliminated when one member is eliminated. No time limit
Result: Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku won, last eliminating MJ Paul & KANON.. Order of entry: Ishida/Kojima, Yuni/Rukiya, Okada/Koroku, Doi/Sumi, Paul/KANON. Order of elimination: Yuni by Doi (Bakatare Sliding Kick. Yuni/Rukiya OUT), Kojima by Paul (body splash. Kojima/Ishida OUT), Doi by Koroku (over the top rope. Doi/Sumi OUT), Paul by Koroku (leg roll clutch hold. Paul?KANON OUT).
The YouTube broadcast ends here.
Match 3: Tokyo Joshi Pro Provided Match: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki vs. Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki beat Suzume, Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara. Arai pinned Uehara after Finally.
Your new host for now is Ken Kato with Toru Owashi joining as a guest on Japanese commentary replacing Katsumata. Haruo Murata presumably will be back later. Marika Tani remains on commentary.
Match 4: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu vs. Yoshitatsu (All-Japan), Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yoshitatsu, Yoshihiko, Danshoku Dieno & Super Sasadango Machine beat Sanshiro Takagi, Akito, Makoto Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu. They changed the rules backstage before the match, so I didn’t understand it but this of course was a ridiculous comedy match. (Update: The rule was the first to be made to kneel & apologize, which was Takagi, lost)
Match 5: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan vs. Takeshi Masada. 30 minute time limit
Result: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan beat Takeshi Masada. Mostly a comedy match. Kuroshio’s entrance lasted almost as long as the match as he kept running into the crowd in the lower level and posing for photos along with other antics. He barely has come back to Japan since leaving WWE and is already insane over.
Match 6: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya vs. Jun & Rei Saito & Toshizo (All-Japan). 30 minute time limit
Result: Jun Akiyama, HARASHIMA & Yukio Naya beat Jun & Rei Saito & Toshizo. Naya pinned Toshizo after a backdrop.
A video reveals the blocks for the upcoming D KING GP (participants were previously announced before). After this, Yuki Iino appears in the ring. With microphone. This is his first appearance since Pheromones had to disband last month. He’s in the tournament. The tournament starts on 11/26 and ends on 1/3/24. They announce the 11/26 matches, which will have 5 tournament matches, 2 from Block A and 3 from Block B.
Haruo Murata returns as your host now. Kagehiro Osano has made it over from Korakuen Hall and also joins commentary.
Match 7: Daisuke Sasaki vs. Tetsuya Endo. 30 minute time limit
Result: Daisuke Sasaki beat Tetsuya Endo by ref stoppage (technical submission)
Announced for July 21, 2024 at Ryogoku is WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024, their biggest annual event.
Marika Tani & Toru Owashi rejoin Japanese commentary
And now the moment I have been sadly not wanting to come…
Match 8: Saki Akai Retirement Match-Strong, Noble, Beautiful-Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani vs. Miyu Yamashita (Tokyo Joshi Pro), Naomichi Marufuji (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Kazusada Higuchi. 30 minute time limit
Result: Miyu Yamashita, Naomichi Marufuji & Kazusada Higuchi beat Saki Akai, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani. Yamashita pinned Akai after Skull Kick. Before the end, everyone else cleared out of the ring to let Yamashita & Akai have the final moments alone.
Saki Akai Retirement Ceremony.
A graphic noted she competed in 662 matches in her career, winning 414, losing 239, 9 other matches were draws or no contests. She won 6 championships in her career. Recorded congratulatory messages from New Japan’s Hiroshi Tanahashi and Togi Makabe were also played. Okatani & Sakaguchi then returned to join Akai in the ring and present her with the customary flower bouquets and pose one last time as Eruption for the ringside photographers. The next guest was hardcore icon and Game Changer Wrestling star Rina Yamashita along with Takumi Iroha, who debuted 10 years ago when Stardom’s Yuzuki Aikawa, a former idol/pinup model-turned-wrestler, retired at Ryogoku. Next up was Sanshiro Takagi, former owner and current President of DDT. After the flowers, Takagi with microphone to deliver thanks and words of encouragement as well as share some memories from her 10 years in DDT. He also offered Akai a behind-the-scenes position with DDT effective immediately. Audio muted after this…when unmuted a few seconds later, commentary noted it was a message from WWE superstar Shinsuke Nakamura. Akai then read from prepared comments. Then…the final 10 bell salute. And the final introduction announcement…Strong, Noble, Beautiful…SAKI AKAI! As Murata said before she walked off…Arigato, Akai Saki! And thanks to Takagi this hopefully isn’t goodbye and she will remain part DDT backstage going forward.
Match 9: DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi (New Japan) vs. Kazuki Hirata in a Fun Death Match for the title. The match will be held using rounds and a roulette system to determine the rules for each round. The winner will receive a 10 year supply of Nivea Water Retention Body Wash as a prize from sponsor Nivea Kao Co. Ltd..
Result: DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi beat Kazuki Hirata to retain the title. I won’t even try to explain the match beyond ridiculous comedy. Which led to…
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi to win the title. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship becomes the 1590th Champion. Which led to…
Kazuki Hirata beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to win the title. Hirata becomes the 1591st Champion. Takahashi tried to win it back but the referee didn’t get in position to make the count in time. As Takahashi left, Danshoku Dieno came out and kissed him the rest of the way to the back. Classic DDT.
Ken Kato returns to host commentary and we are now joined by special guest Tetsu Inada.
Match 10: DDT Universal Champion Matt Cardona vs. MAO in a No DQ match for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: MAO beat DDT Universal Champion Matt Cardona to win the title. MAO becomes the 12th DDT Universal Champion. At one point after a ref bump Yoshihiko was brought in as a second referee.
Quick break for ring cleaning. Your host the rest of the way is Haruo Murata.
Match 11 (Main Event 1): Chris Jericho vs. Konosuke Takeshita. 30 minute time limit. A little bit of Judas Sing-Along in English from the crowd for Jericho! Intros for both were in English only.
Result: Chris Jericho beat Konosuke Takeshita by submission. Crowd very much American-like in terms of noise & chants/shouts. Incredibly unusual for Japanese fans. Afterwards, Jericho offered a handshake to Takeshita. Accepted. After Jericho left, Takeshita with microphone. He said something quick in Japanese before leaving.
Main Event (2): KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes vs. Yuki Ueno for the title. 1 Hour time limit
Result: Yuki Ueno beat KO-D Openweight Champion Chris Brookes to win the title. Ueno becomes the 82nd KO-D Openweight Champion. This went almost 30 minutes, but if you looked at Brookes’ face during his entrance, that sent one clear message-he was losing. But a rematch could happen early next year if he wins the D KING GP. It also means Ueno can probably look forward to at least 2 months as champion before his first defense.
The whole event went an all-night party length of 5 1/2 hours.
The next event is Thursday at Shinjuku Face with a one-day tournament to crown new KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions and DDT Extreme Champion Kazuki Hirata vs. MIKAMI for the title. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
UPDATE: After the event, in the dressing room backstage Ueno presented flowers to Akai for her retirement, Takeshita hugged Ueno in a surprise moment between the former The37Kamiina stablemates, (more given Takeshita is now a heel), and attempts were made to win the Iron Man Title from Hirata but were unsuccessful.
