DDT “KING OF DDT 2026 1ST ROUND”, 04/05/2026
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
??? Fans – Unannounced
0. Dark Match: Jun Akiyama, Yuni, Yuki Ishida & Rukiya defeated Naomi Yoshimura, Viento Maligno (w/ KIMIHIRO), Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Masami Inahata when Rukiya pinned Maligno with the R. Fisherman Buster (6:50).
0. Dark Match ~ 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & Shunma Katsumata defeated Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul and Antonio Honda & Hinata Kasai when Ueno submitted Kasai with a Crab Hold (6:03).
1. King Of DDT – Round 1: Hideki Okatani defeated Yuya Koroku with the Skewered Claymore (11:21).
2. King Of DDT – Round 1: Takeshi Masada defeated To-y with the Masada No Chikara KOBU Mukimuki (8:47).
3. King Of DDT – Round 1: Chris Brookes defeated Junta Miyawaki with the Praying Mantis Bomb (11:51)
4. King Of DDT – Round 1: HARASHIMA defeated Daichi Sato with the Somato (7:48).
5. King Of DDT – Round 1: Shinya Aoki defeated KANON with the European Clutch (12:31).
6. King Of DDT – Round 1: Minoru Suzuki defeated Yukio Naya with the Gotch-Style Piledriver (16:17).
7. King Of DDT – Round 1: Danshoku Dieno defeated Kazuki Hirata with the Gotch-Style Danshoku Driver (11:26).
8. King Of DDT – Round 1: MAO defeated Kazuma Sumi with the Rock Killer (21:12).
Round 1 of this year’s King Of DDT tournament is in the books, headlined with a match between two wrestlers who see each other as brothers. MAO defeated his “little brother” Kazuma Sumi but the gap between them is starting to close. MAO pulled out the rare Ultra Big Tone that Sumi almost exclusively takes in the small amount of times it’s been used. However this time Sumi landed on his feet and escaped the move unscathed. Sumi relied on the School Boy to try and win the match, using it from several different directions. MAO couldn’t be beat though and he got Sumi trapped in the Just Face Lock. When Sumi was close to fighting out of it, MAO switched it over to the Crossjacket version of the move called the Rock Killer. Sumi couldn’t escape that and had no choice but to give up. MAO told Sumi he was amazing after the match and he had a reward for him. Sumi will be going to France with MAO later this month to wrestle on a BZW Vs GCW show. Not only that but Sumi will be defending the DDT Universal Title against Gringo Loco and French wrestler Leedz Lewis in a 3 Way Match!
The disappearance of Kaisei Takechi from the tournament may end up causing a butterfly effect that ends with Danshoku Dieno finally becoming King Of DDT for the first time! Takechi couldn’t compete because he had appendicitis so Kazuki Hirata was convinced to take his place. An honest Hirata didn’t expect to beat Dieno but still fought as hard as he could by using the Hirata GO! glasses to power up and also reverse the effects of Lip Lock back onto Dieno. However the Miracle One Shot Cradle wasn’t as effective and Hirata was worn down with Brainbusters, the Danshoku Driver and also a Moonsault. As much as Hirata tried to stay in the fight, he was finally put away with the Gotch-Style Danshoku Driver. Since Dieno advanced in the tournament, he had a reason after the match to turn down Super Sasadango Machine’s request to join his team for the upcoming DDT Vs New Japan team challenge against Toru Yano. Dieno is now carrying the dreams of both Takechi and Hirata on his back so he cannot afford to be distracted from the tournament right now.
That was the second match in a row to end with a Gotch-Style Piledriver. Match #6 saw Minoru Suzuki use his version of the move to defeat Yukio Naya. He countered Naya’s size by attacking him with chairs outside the ring. Naya fought back by using The World’s Best Back Drop, Knee Lifts and the Choke Slam. Suzuki withstood those attacks to choke out Naya with a Front Neck Lock and drop him with the Piledriver to advance into Round 2. Suzuki was pleased with the match, telling everyone that DDT is not all about silly wrestling. He understands that when you step inside you can find a lot of strong wrestlers around. Suzuki now looks forward to fighting even stronger opponents as the tournament progresses until he gets all the way to claiming the KO-D Openweight Title for himself.
The one result in Round 1 that could be called an upset was last year’s finalist KANON losing to Shinya Aoki. While KANON had the power advantage to beat Aoki while standing, his ground game proved to be his undoing. Aoki got to take him down to the mat, apply some submissions and then flip himself on top of KANON with the European Clutch to get the three count.
A war of kicks broke out between HARASHIMA and Daichi Sato during their 1st Round match. Middle Kicks to the chest were thrown back and forth between them until HARASHIMA got Sato with a High Kick to the head. Sato fired back with a German Suplex and got some other strikes in until HARASHIMA cut him off to hit two Somatos for the win.
Junta Miyawaki jumped Chris Brookes before the bell by Dropkicking him out of the ring and then diving off the top turnbuckle to the floor. The tactic quickly backfired when Brookes reversed an Irish Whip at ringside that flung Miyawaki into the front rows of chairs. There were some close calls back in the ring with Brookes almost being pinned with the Sunshine Clutch and a German Suplex. Miyawaki also had a last gasp with trying to roll Brookes up as a counter to the Praying Mantis Bomb. Brookes cut him off with a Lariat though and used his finisher to knock Miyawaki out of the tournament.
It seemed that To-y in fact did not get over having Takeshi Masada’s two fingers stuck down his throat because he reactively started to gag whenever Masada raised his fingers towards him. He eventually got over his fear midway through the match but it wasn’t enough of a difference maker to actually make him win. Instead Masada countered the Kojima Impact and pinned his opponent with the Masada No Chikara KOBU Mukimuki to advance.
Round 1 opened up with one champion eliminating another. Hideki Okatani bested Yuya Koroku in an almost entirely clean manner. When Koroku had him in an Armlock, Okatani tried stomping his way out of the move. Koroku swapped over to the Triangle Lancer but Okatani struggled back to his feet and then forcefully pulled on the back of Koroku’s collar to free himself from the hold while choking his opponent. That opened up some space for Okatani to hit a Spinning Back Elbow. Koroku went for the Triangle Lancer once more but Okatani countered it into a Vertical Drop Brainbuster. When that didn’t end the match, Okatani then hit the Skewered Claymore to get the three count.
There were two dark matches on the card featuring the rest of the DDT roster that were not taking part in the tournament. The 37KAMIINA beat DAMNATION T.A and FANTÔMES DRAMATIC in a 3 Way Tag Match. MJ Paul almost took out all of the opposition by himself. Daisuke Sasaki tried to pick up the pieces by putting Yuki Ueno in the Crossface Lock but Shunma Katsumata was there to break it up. Antonio Honda charged up the Shining Gongitsune only for Ueno to deflect it back into him. Hinata Kasai then saw his chance to try and win but Ueno cut him off pretty easily and made him tap out to a Crab Hold.
The other dark match began with former members of Harimao facing each other. Yuki Ishida and Naomi Yoshimura started off with their collisions turning into something out of sumo. Yuni and Viento Maligno then tried to out-do each other on the high flying front. Yuni was then caught by Tomomitsu Matsunaga & Masami Inahata so the two of them could baseball chop him. Jun Akiyama evened the odds when he tagged in and his team scored the win all thanks to Rukiya using a modified Fisherman Buster to pin Maligno. Rukiya grabbed Maligno’s leg by the inside of his thigh instead of the outside like you would normally do, which is what makes the R. Fisherman Buster his own unique take on the move.
The King Of DDT 2nd Round matches being held on 9th May are Danshoku Dieno Vs Takeshi Masada, Minoru Suzuki Vs Chris Brookes, HARASHIMA Vs Shinya Aoki and Hideki Okatani Vs MAO. All eight wrestlers were brought down to the ring at the end of the show to briefly interact with their next opponents.
Dramatic DDT 