DDT “KING OF DDT ~20TH ANNIVERSARY~ 1ST ROUND”, 05/05/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
0. Dark Match: Yuni, Keigo Nakamura & Yuya Koroku Vs Ilusion, Kazuma Sumi & Rukiya
0. Dark Match: Shunma Katsumata, Akito & Kazuki Hirata Vs Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
1. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1A: MAO Vs Poison Sawada JULIE
2. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1B: KANON Vs To-y
3. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1C: Yuki Ueno Vs Sanshiro Takagi
4. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1D: Yuki Iino Vs Daisuke Sasaki
5. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1E: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Yukio Naya
6. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1F: HARASHIMA Vs Shuji Ishikawa
7. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1G: Tetsuya Endo Vs Danshoku Dieno
8. King Of DDT 20th Anniversary – Round 1H: Chris Brookes Vs Takeshi Masada
A press conference was held at yesterday’s DDT fanfest featuring 14 of the 16 entrants in this year’s King Of DDT tournament. Takeshi Masada could not be there due to university commitments but sent in a message. The message said Masada does not want to get knocked out in the first round like he did last year. He will be in the main event against his stablemate Chris Brookes. Masada has learned a lot from being in SCHADENFREUDE International and sees this match as a challenge to surpass his friend. Brookes is last year’s winner and he brought the trophy with him. He is motivated to win the tournament again and go all the way to winning back the KO-D Openweight Title. However he admits he felt a little aimless after he lost the KO-D Title last year. He’s still motivated but felt something was missing.
Elsewhere Tetsuya Endo’s match against Danshoku Dieno has more meaning to it than you would think. Endo’s recent luck in King Of DDT hasn’t been good but he feels he has gotten into shape after winning the New Year’s Eve trios tournament and raching the final of the D-Oh Grand Prix. However Dieno means so much to DDT that Endo admits he is not as good of a pro wrestler as Dieno is. He thinks Dieno does not realize that though and for that reason Endo is confident he will win. Dieno said he is only concentrating on this match and has done a lot of studying for it. His entire game plan is going to be based around Endo using the Burning Star Press. He knows how to avoid it and also how to counter it. The percentage of him succeeding is low but if Dieno can nail the timing of the Burning Star Press being used against him, he can find a way to exploit it and beat Endo.
It’s been a while since a HARASHIMA Vs Shuji Ishikawa match has happened. HARASHIMA is well aware of his big and strong Ishikawa is. He is also a believer that tomorrow is when a person will reach their peak so he will be stronger too. Both of them are evolving so he does not expect the match to be identical to their previous fights against each other. Ishikawa understands it takes a lot of training at his age to keep fit and HARASHIMA is older than he is. He had seen Yuki Ueno wrestle at Korkauen Hall last month and it made him realise all of DDT’s champions right now are young. He intends to last forever though. He also feels emotional about the tournament because he missed so many of them due to his affiliation with Union Pro at the time. When he finally got to have a proper go it was as an independant wrestler in 2016 and he won it that year. His hope is he will face Poison Sawada JULIE in the final.
An illness prevented Kazusada Higuchi from being at the event but he had a message written out for everyone. His thought process is the same, he will take it one match at a time. His 1st Round opponent is Yukio Naya so he will be focused the most on beating him. Naya is trying to repeat his success from the D-Oh Grand Prix so he can get another shot at the KO-D Title. He believes his momentum began when he beat Higuchi at the 2022 D-Oh GP. He wants to beat him again to take his place as the center of DDT’s heavyweight division.
There is a lot going on is Daisuke Sasaki’s mind. He knows if Yuki Iino hits him with the Spear in Round 1 it will be all over for him. However Sasaki realized some of the best wrestlers in the world right now like Jon Moxley, Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns are all 38 years old. He is 38 years old so that means he is going to win! Iino has never beaten Sasaki in a singles match but is confident he can do it because of the Spear. He doesn’t know what direction it will come from but he will hit it. Also if age is a factor then Iino at 29 is the same as Shohei Ohtani and Yuzuru Hanyu. That means he is going to win, not Sasaki!
Sanshiro Takagi’s entry into the tournament has caught the attention of the wrestling press because of his age and also who he is facing in Round 1. The 54 year old is taking on the KO-D Champion Yuki Ueno! He told Ueno that when he was his age it was a year into DDT’s existence and he worked as hard as he could to keep the company from collapsing. He wants to fight Ueno like he is 28 again. In order to do that he is thinking about visiting beauty salons and saunas to build up his stamina for a possible 60 minute long match. He also wants to keep his promise to Konosuke Takeshita. The promise is Takagi wins the KO-D Title one more time, Takeshita wins a singles title in AEW and the two of them will have a champion versus champion match together. Takeshita recently showing intentions to challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title has only made Takagi’s wish become stronger. Ueno’s entire reign as champion has been about him proving he is the ace of DDT. Fighting the company president continues that story and will provide a look into DDT’s future. He will be in the main event of next week’s “ALL TOGETHER” show and wants to convey the fun that DDT brings to wrestling at that event.
It is To-y’s dream to win the KO-D Title so he is all revved up to be in the King Of DDT. KANON was unusually serious when he talked about looking forward to the match. He offered a handshake but To-y didn’t trust him. That caused KANON to burst into tears and claim he was told by Hideki Okatani to win the tournament. He then flipped out and attacked To-y putting him in the Cobra Twist. To-y promised to get revenge afterward.
There is a lot of nostalgia surrounding this year’s tournament because it is the 20th anniversary of the first one. The very first winner Poison Sawada JULIE is not feeling that nostalgia. He knows just how clever and tricky MAO is to fight. He is going to be careful but is confident he will win because of his magic spells. MAO said this year’s tournament is the turning point of DDT and he is that turning point. He has a counter for Sawada’s spells and that is to point somewhere so Sawada loses attention and then punch him in the face. Sawada sees the funny side of MAO’s idea and suggested the entire match just be them casting spells at each other.
Dramatic DDT 