It has been a wild few months in wrestling and the world, but with Japan opening back up to some extent, the return of Japanese wrestling has given us some sense of normalcy (perhaps at the expense of the Japanese people). We’ve had the New Japan Cup, and now it is time for DDT’s annual single-elimination tournament, the King of DDT. The tournament has–in some form–been around for nearly two decades at this point. King of DDT is a competition of the promotion’s finest with the winner receiving a shot at the KO-D Openweight Title. In this case, that will come at DDT’s now annual Ultimate Party show. KO-D Champion Tetsuya Endo will also be taking part in this tournament and will get to pick his challenger at Ultimate Party should he win, which he has said would be AEW star Kenny Omega. Omega appeared at last year’s Ultimate Party and was rumored to be featured on DDT’s Wrestle Peter Pan show in Saitama Super Arena before it was moved to an empty arena. This potential Endo-Omega showdown will add a twist, one that we’ve never seen before.
A longtime 16-man tournament, the event was expanded to 32 competitors back in 2018, before dropping down to 14 men last year. This year it is expanding back nearly to 2018’s high with 28 competitors taking part. There will be seven pods of four men, producing seven quarterfinalists; the eighth and final quarterfinalist will be decided in the “Dramatic Challenge.” Think of it as similar to the second chance battle royal that Dragongate often does in their single-elimination tournaments. The Dramatic Challenge idea debuted just last year in 2019, where it was won by HARASHIMA, who ultimately lost to Soma Takao in the semifinals.
Past Results
Let’s start our preview of the 2020 King of DDT tournament by looking back at the past. Who won each year? What did they go on to do with the title shot they earned?
2001 – In 2001, DDT ran a one-day 16-man tournament at Kitazawa Town Hall titled “Take The ROYAL.” The prize was a crown and the tournament was won by MIKAMI, who defeated Poison Sawada JULIE in the finals to do so.
2003 – A two-day tournament at Kitazawa Town Hall in 2003 was the first under the King of DDT name. It was also won by MIKAMI, but there is very little else known about this tournament.
2004 – The 2004 tournament included two play-in matches. It was ultimately won by Poison Sawada JULIE, who defeated HERO! in the finals.
2005 – The 2005 King of DDT was the first to be held partially out of Tokyo. It was also the smallest tournament with just eight competitors, ten if you count the 3-way qualifying match. The tournament finals was won by KUDO, who defeated Daichi Kakimoto to win the crown.
2009 – In 2009, after four years off, DDT brought back the tournament under the name “KO-D Openweight Title Contendership Tournament 2009” (not very catchy, I know). As the name implies, it was the first to grant the winner a shot at the KO-D Openweight Title. DDT drew 394 fans to a one-match show which saw Kota Ibushi defeat Sanshiro Takagi to win the tournament. Ibushi would go on to defeat HARASHIMA at Wrestle Peter Pan in front of nearly 9,000 people to win the KO-D Title for the first time.
2010 – The 2010 tournament was won by HARASHIMA, who defeated MIKAMI in the finals. HARASHIMA won his KO-D title shot at Peter Pan against Daisuke Sekimoto, his fourth of ten reigns with the belt.
2011 – The 2011 tournament saw KUDO defeat HARASHIMA in the finals. KUDO went on to defeat Shuji Ishikawa for the title at Peter Pan, making King of DDT winners three-for-three in their challenges at this point.
2012 – The 2012 tournament was won by a man that may be integral to how this tournament plays out, despite not even being in the country: Kenny Omega. Omega became the first King of DDT winner to lose his title challenge, failing to dethrone Kota Ibushi at Peter Pan 2012 in a legendary match. Omega would go on to win the title five months later.
2o13 – HARASHIMA stopped Kenny Omega’s dream of becoming the first person to win the tournament in successive years in an excellent finals match. After winning the tournament, HARASHIMA defeated Shingehiro Irie at Peter Pan to bring King of DDT winners to a 4-1 record challenging for the belt.
2014 – The 2014 King of DDT tournament included three qualifying matches and was also the first to feature the finals at Korakuen Hall. The tournament was won by Isami Kodaka, who defeated KUDO in the finals. After a match on DDT’s Road to Ryogoku show between KO-D Champion HARASHIMA and Kenny Omega ended in a double KO, the Peter Pan match became a three-way, where HARASHIMA successfully defended his belt against both Kodaka and Omega.
2015 – The 2015 tournament saw Konosuke Takeshita make his first of just two King of DDT tournament finals in a losing effort to Yukio Sakaguchi, who went on to beat KUDO for the KO-D Title at Peter Pan in what would be his only reign with the belt.
2016 – The 2016 tournament featured a qualifying match between two wrestlers from the DNA sub-brand and was won by Shuji Ishikawa, who defeated the current KO-D champ, Tetsuya Endo, in the finals. Ishikawa would go on to defeat Konosuke Takeshita at Peter Pan for the belt, bringing challengers to a 6-2 record in their title challenges.
2017 – Tetsuya Endo defeated HARASHIMA to win the 2017 edition of the tournament. He would go on to lose to KO-D Champion Konosuke Takeshita at Peter Pan in what is widely considered one of the best matches in the promotion’s history and one that cemented the two as generational rivals.
2018 – The 2018 tournament expanded to 32, making it the biggest ever. Tetsuya Endo made the finals for the third straight year but lost to Daisuke Sasaki. Sasaki defeated then-KO-D Champion Danshoku Dieno at Peter Pan for the belt.
2019 – The 2019 tournament was one of the smallest ever at 14 participants and was also the first to feature the Dramatic Challenge/2nd chance battle royal that we will also see this year. The tournament was won by Konosuke Takeshita, who defeated Tetsuya Endo at Peter Pan in what was perhaps the best match of 2019.
So there you have it, the history of the tournament. Since the winner began receiving title shots in 2009, winners are 8-3 in those opportunities, so chances are we will see a new champion. This year’s tournament is unique in that it is the first to feature 28 participants, and it will be the first where the winner does not receive their title shot at Peter Pan; rather it will be granted at the Ultimate Party show. I suspect the tournament probably would have preceded Peter Pan this year under normal circumstances but was forced to be delayed due to COVID.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the bracket and break down the field! Credit to DDT English Update on twitter for the beautiful graphic.
Yuki Ueno
Affiliation:Â DISASTER BOX
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Tanomusaku Toba (2018), Lost in First Round to Konosuke Takeshita (2019); Career Record: 0-2
1st Round Opponent:Â Nobuhiro Shimatani
Potential 2nd Round Opponents:Â Antonio Honda/Danshoku Dieno
Yuki Ueno has seen a bit of an elevation this year. After winning the tag team titles with partner Naomi Yoshimura on January 3rd against longtime champions Daisuke Sasaki and Soma Takao, Ueno and Yoshimura (known as Nautilus) have run roughshod over DDT’s tag team division. The two have racked up defense after defense and are strong contenders for tag team of the year. The pair earned a semi-main event slot at Peter Pan this year against STRONGHEARTS, and Ueno went on to have not one but two challenges for the KO-D Openweight Title after the big event, the second being in the main event of DDT’s return to Korakuen Hall. It is clear that DDT wants Ueno to be a future star, so he’ll make a strong run and is almost a lock to reach the quarterfinals. However, given that he’s challenged Endo twice already and lost both times, it seems unlikely he would earn a third shot, so I would put his chances of actually winning the tournament very low.
Nobuhiro Shimatani
Affiliation:Â DAMNATION
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Mike Bailey (2018); Career Record: 0-1
1st Round Opponent:Â Yuki Ueno
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Antonio Honda/Danshoku Dieno
Nobuhiro Shimatani is a guy who I’m a massive fan of, but never really seems to get the opportunities he deserves. A fiery, athletic young guy, Shimatani has shined as someone with incredible potential since his feud with STRONGHEARTS’ El Lindaman back in 2018/2019. Almost two years later, El Lindaman semi-main evented Peter Pan while Shimatani is still DAMNATION’s fall guy. He deserves better. Shimatani did pick up a singles win recently, however, besting Seigo Tachibana on day one of this year’s Peter Pan. Unfortunately for Shimatani–and there’s probably no way around it–he’s eating a WR from Ueno here.
Antonio Honda
Affiliation:Â Unaffiliated
King of DDT History: Lost in Second Round to Kota Ibushi (2009), Lost in First Round to MIKAMI (2010), Lost in First Round to Seiya Morohashi (2011), Lost in First Round to KUDO (2012), Lost in Second Round to Yukio Sakaguchi (2013), Lost in Second Round to Shigehiro Irie (2014), Lost To Konosuke Takeshita in First Round (2015), Lost to KENSO in First Round (2016), Lost to Daisuke Sasaki in Second Round (2018); Career Record: 4-9
1st Round Opponent: Danshoku Dieno
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Yuki Ueno/Nobuhiro Shimatani
Honda, who first appeared in this tournament all the way back in 2009, hasn’t had much success in the King of DDT. His furthest appearances have been four trips to the second round and he’s been taken out in round one five times. He faces perennial rival Danshoku Dieno in the first round here. Dieno bested him for the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Title back in June on DDT’s TV Show after the two traded the belt back and forth for a while, so Honda will be looking for revenge here. In the 14 matches the two have had together over their careers, Honda’s record is just 4-8-2. I think Honda has a decent chance of beating Dieno in round one, but whoever emerges from that contest is looking up at the lights against Yuki Ueno.
Danshoku Dieno
Affiliation:Â Unaffiliated
King of DDT History: Lost in Semifinals to Poison Sawada JULIE (2004), Lost in First Round to Kota Ibushi (2009), Lost in Finals to Kenny Omega (2012), Lost in First Round to Yukio Sakaguchi (2013), Lost in First Round to Masahiro Takanashi (2014), Lost in First Round to Keisuke Ishii (2017) Career Record: 5-6
1st Round Opponent: Antonio Honda
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Yuki Ueno/Nobuhiro Shimatani
Dieno is the only one in the first quadrant with some level of success in the King of DDT. He made it to the semifinals back in 2004 and also took Kenny Omega to the limit in the finals back in 2012. However, Dieno has seen three first-round exits in a row since that surprise run to the finals. I don’t really enjoy Dieno’s schtick (especially in the modern era where it can get a little uncomfortable to watch at times), but I’d expect at worst we must sit through two Dieno matches. Yuki Ueno is almost certain to be the one to walk out of this pod, even if Dieno can get past Honda in round one.
T-Hawk
Affiliation:Â STRONGHEARTS
King of DDT History: First Appearance
1st Round Opponent: Kazuki Hirata
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Makoto Oishi/Chris Brookes
T-Hawk and the STRONGHEARTS have been a joy in DDT, tearing it up in the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship scene and also putting in a great challenge for the KO-D tag straps at Peter Pan. T-Hawk now tries his hand at receiving a shot for a singles title, the KO-D Openweight Championship. There are a lot of different directions where this could go: We could have T-Hawk pin Yuki Ueno in the quarterfinals to set up a future tag title rematch; we could have him pin Chris Brookes to set up a Universal Title match; or he could put over someone DDT is clearly trying to elevate right now, Makoto Oishi. We have a variety of avenues here, but for now, I’d pick T-Hawk as the favorite to advance out of this pod.
Kazuki Hirata
Affiliation:Â DISASTER BOX
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Kota Ibushi (2015), Lost in Second Round to Tetsuya Endo (2016), Lost in First Round to Masahiro Takanashi (2017), Lost in Quarterfinals to Tetsuya Endo (2018), Lost in First Round to Naomi Yoshimura (2019);Â Career Record: 3-5
1st Round Opponent: T-Hawk
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Makoto Oishi/Chris Brookes
Save for a run to the quarterfinals in 2018 (where he beat young boy Naomi Yoshimura and Tanomusaku Toba), Hirata has had limited success in past King of DDT tournaments. A career lower card guy destined to hold only the Ironman Heavymetalweight belt, Hirata can work when he gets the chance, but on a roster as stacked as DDT’s, he doesn’t get that chance very often. He’s another guy who could really benefit from going under the wing of Jun Akiyama, seeing what that has done for Mizuki Watase’s fire and energy. Anyway, Hirata will eat a pin to T-Hawk here and go back to dancing on the undercard.
Makoto Oishi
Affiliation:Â Junretsu
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Kenny Omega (2011), Lost in First Round to Yasu Urano (2012), Lost in First Round to Antonio Honda (2013), Lost in Second Round to Yukio Sakaguchi (2015); Career Record: 1-4
1st Round Opponent: Chris Brookes
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: T-Hawk/Mizuki Watase
Oishi, 41, is finally getting his fair shake. Diehard DDT fans know what Oishi is capable of, with great matches against Kenny Omega in the past as well as a tremendous KO-D Openweight Title challenge with Tetsuya Endo last year that flirted with MOTY territory. Despite that, Oishi has been a comedy guy his whole career… until now. Jun Akiyama took Oishi under his wing and appointed him as the leader of the new Junretsu group, which has been tearing it up in tag matches on every recent DDT show. Oishi is finally getting his chance to shine under the tutelage of Akiyama, and I think he could surprise some people. Oishi over Brookes, earning Oishi a DDT Universal Title shot, is one of my favorite potential upset picks of the first round.
Chris Brookes
Affiliation:Â Calamari Drunken Kings
King of DDT History: First Appearance
1st Round Opponent: Makoto Oishi
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: T-Hawk/Mizuki Watase
Chris Brookes has been a revelation ever since he came to DDT. Brookes, a guy I was not a big fan of on the European indies, has reinvented himself and fits in perfectly with the amazing cast of characters that DDT offers. Brookes is currently in his second reign as DDT Universal Champion and he seems to be having the time of his life in the promotion; meanwhile the company seems to really be behind him as a potential future ace. While I do think there is good upset potential for Oishi in the first round, Brookes winning could make his path very clear to a potential run to the semifinals, where he could face a plethora of possible interesting opponents. Even if he does lose to Oishi, Brookes would be a favorite to emerge from the second chance battle royal victorious. I expect his first King of DDT tournament to be a good one for the “Calamari Catch King.”
Tomomitsu Matsunaga
Affiliation:Â Unaffiliated
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Yasu Urano (2009), Lost in First Round to Hikaru Sato (2011), Lost in First Round to Masahiro Takanashi (2012), Lost in Second Round to KUDO (2014), Lost in First Round to Kazusada Higuchi (2015), Lost in First Round to Kazusada Higuchi (2018);Â Career Record: 1-6
1st Round Opponent: Daisuke Sasaki
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Shinya Aoki/Yuki Iino
Tomomitsu Matsunaga has been little more than a bit player in King of DDT history, his only win coming in a shock upset against Kenny Omega back in 2014. Matsunaga has slowed down his wrestling in recent years–only having wrestled 12 matches in 2020–and generally being an undercard guy. A veteran of the promotion, he deserves a spot in this tournament, but I’d expect Daisuke Sasaki to dispose of him quickly. Another shock upset isn’t out of the question, though, as DDT seems to be telling a “slump” story with Sasaki.
Daisuke Sasaki
Affiliation:Â DAMNATION
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Toru Owashi 52010), Lost in First Round to Super Shit Machine (2011), Lost in First Round to Kenny Omega (2012), Lost in Second Round to Kenny Omega (2013), Lost in First Round to Konosuke Takeshita (2014), Lost in Semifinals to Konosuke Takeshita (2015), Lost in First Round to Akito (2017), Won Tournament (2018), Lost in Second Round to HARASHIMA (2019); Career Record: 9-8
1st Round Opponent: Tomomitsu Matsunaga
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Shinya Aoki/Yuki Iino
Since Peter Pan, it has been rough going for Daisuke Sasaki. He had to watch his stablemate Tetsuya Endo win the KO-D Title, he lost his Universal Title back to Chris Brookes; it’s been tough. However, the 2018 King of DDT winner has a very interesting path to a second victory. An intra-faction match of Sasaki vs. Endo–with the victor winning not only the KO-D Openweight Title but also being crowned leader of DAMNATION–feels like an incredibly intriguing Ultimate Party main event. He will have to get past a tough test of either Shinya Aoki or Yuki Iino to get to a potential preview match in the quarterfinals. Nonetheless, Sasaki enters as one of the favorites to win the tournament.
Shinya Aoki
Affiliation:Â Unaffiliated
King of DDT History: First Appearance
1st Round Opponent: Yuki Iino
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Tomomitsu Matsunaga/Daisuke Sasaki
Legit shoot fighter Shinya Aoki has had an interesting DDT career. He’s had some awesome matches that play into his background, but he’s also had some dreadful comedy matches. Luckily, with Yuki Iino in the first round, we should get the serious version of Aoki. Whoever wins the match will almost certainly lose to Sasaki in the next round, but I hope they give the two young guys some time on what will be a 14-match show. If they tried, they could have a truly excellent match. Where does Aoki go from here? I’m not sure, but I’ll say that Iino probably pins the current Extreme Champion to set up a future title match.
Yuki Iino
Affiliation:Â ALL OUT
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Soma Takao (2018);Â Career Record: 0-1
1st Round Opponent: Shinya Aoki
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Tomomitsu Matsunaga/Daisuke Sasaki
Yuki Iino is one of the highest upside guys in DDT right now. I haven’t loved his comedy work, but the young wrestler gives off Tomohiro Ishii vibes when he’s serious, which he should be here against Shinya Aoki. A multi-time KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champion, Iino has yet to hold a singles title. While I think he gets a tough draw here with Daisuke Sasaki in the second round, I’d wager that he has a good shot at upsetting DDT Extreme Title Shinya Aoki in the first round to set up a title match between the two at a later date.
Toru Owashi
Affiliation:Â DISASTER BOX
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Masahiro Takanashi (2009), Lost in Semifinals to MIKAMI (2010), Lost in Second Round to HARASHIMA (2018); Career Record: 3-3
1st Round Opponent: Seigo Tachibana
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Akito/Tetsuya Endo
DDT veteran Toru Owashi has been floundering on the lower card for a few years now and wasn’t even included in many of the recent King of DDT tournaments. He finally reappeared in 2018 when the field was expanded to 32 for one time only. I enjoy Owashi’s schtick, but it feels like he’s probably just here to give a win to a guy desperate for one: Seigo Tachibana.
Seigo Tachibana
Affiliation:Â Unaffiliated
King of DDT History: First Appearance
1st Round Opponent: Toru Owashi
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Akito/Tetsuya Endo
Ever since WRESTLE-1 folded, eccentric star Seigo Tachibana has floundered from promotion to promotion, racking up five singles losses (no wins) and losing a hair vs hair match in All Japan. DDT, however, seems to have taken a liking to him. After his Peter Pan defeat to Nobuhiro Shimatani, Danshoku Dieno appeared to take Tachibana under his wing. I’d be happy if the talented Tachibana got a real shot in DDT. Him being set up with a lower card veteran like Toru Owashi feels like the perfect opportunity for a win, and I think he would have a terrific match with either Akito or Tetsuya Endo in the next round.
Akito
Affiliation:Â ALL OUT
King of DDT History:Â Lost in First Round to Danshoku Dieno (2012), Lost in First Round to Hikaru Sato (2013), Lost in First Round to Masahiro Takanashi (2015), Lost in Semifinals to Tetsuya Endo (2017), Lost in Second Round to Keisuke Ishii (2018), Lost in Second Round to Soma Takao (2019); Career Record: 4-6
1st Round Opponent: Tetsuya Endo
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Toru Owashi/Seigo Tachibana
Akito has deserved an elevation for a while now. He’s 33 years old and an amazing worker, yet he’s received just two KO-D Title matches in his career and none in the past three years. As a guy who has torn it up in the KO-D Tag Title scene and the 6-Man Tag Title scene, the member of ALL OUT has been wanting a one-on-one match with Tetsuya Endo for a while; he’ll get it here in the main event of the opening show of the tournament. I’d like to say that he’ll win, I really would, and I would love to see Akito in the KO-D Title picture… I just don’t see it happening. DDT is clearly going to try and tell a story teasing the Endo-Omega match, and Akito is a casualty of that story. The first round match should be excellent, though.
Tetsuya Endo
Affiliation:Â DAMNATION
King of DDT History: Lost in Finals to Shuji Ishikawa (2016), Won Tournament (2017) Lost in Finals to Daisuke Sasaki (2018); Career Record: 11-2
1st Round Opponent: Akito
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Toru Owashi/Seigo Tachibana
Tetsuya Endo is a master of the King of DDT tournament. With a career record of 11-2, Endo has made the finals every time he has appeared in the tournament. He sat out the 2019 edition as the KO-D Champion, but this year he enters it despite holding the title, claiming that he will win the tournament and name Kenny Omega as his challenger for Ultimate Party. I don’t doubt that that was the plan at some point, but right now it seems highly unlikely that Omega would even be able to get into the country to have that match. Nonetheless, I expect Endo to make a deep run in the tournament to at least tease that Omega could show up as the challenger.
Yukio SakaguchiÂ
Affiliation:Â Eruption
King of DDT History: Lost in Semifinals to Kenny Omega (2013), Lost in First Round to Isami Kodaka (2014), Won Tournament (2015), Lost in First Round to Shigehiro Irie (2016), Lost in Second Round to HARASHIMA (2017), Lost in Quarterfinals to HARASHIMA (2018), Lost in First Round to Daisuke Sasaki (2019); Career Record: 9-6
1st Round Opponent: Shunma Katsumata
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Soma Takao/Minoru Tanaka
Yukio Sakaguchi is one of the baddest MFers in Japanese wrestling. His kicks look brutal, his submissions look painful, and… oh my god… he’s 47 years old?? You wouldn’t know it from his wrestling. He had a tremendous KO-D Title match earlier this year against Masato Tanaka on DDT’s TV Show, and the Eruption tags have been some of the most enjoyable stuff in wrestling this year. I’d love to see a Sakaguchi vs Endo match, although Sakaguchi is getting to the age where his primary role is to elevate others. The question is, who is he putting over in this tournament? I don’t think it’ll be Shunma Katsumata for reasons I’ll get into in the next blurb.
Shunma Katsumata
Affiliation:Â ALL OUT
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Kazuki Hirata (2016), Lost in First Round to Yukio Sakaguchi (2017), Lost in Second Round to Mike Bailey (2018); Career Record: 1-3
1st Round Opponent: Yukio Sakaguchi
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Soma Takao/Minoru Tanaka
I love Shunma Katsumata; his death-defying, hardcore attitude in his matches is a joy to watch. Heck, he carried a doll in an empty arena to a near **** match just because he was willing to do a bunch of crazy shit. It’s starting to become clear that DDT does not love Shunma. He’s been consistently positioned as his group’s pin-eater, and the promotion seems content to slowly let him drift away towards Big Japan (where he is awesome, by the way), which is a real shame because he is a great wrestler. I’ve gotten my hopes up on Shunma too many times, so he’s getting his head kicked off in the first round here.
Soma Takao
Affiliation:Â DAMNATION
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Daisuke Sasaki (2013), Lost in First Round to Shigehiro Irie (2014), Lost in Second Round to Shuji Ishikawa (2016), Lost in First Round to KUDO (2017), Lost in Second Round to Yukio Sakaguchi (2018), Lost in Finals to Konosuke Takeshita (2019); Career Record: 5-6
1st Round Opponent:Â Minoru Tanaka
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Yukio Sakaguchi/Shunma Katsumata
2019 was a year of elevation for Soma Takao. A career mid-card guy, he ran the gamut in that year’s King of DDT tournament, beating Mike Bailey, Akito, and HARASHIMA before ultimately falling to Konosuke Takeshita in the finals. Takao followed that up with a brilliant tag title reign teaming with Daisuke Sasaki, but after Sasaki and Takao lost the tag titles on January 3rd, Takao has been floundering and found himself relegated to a young boys match on Peter Pan after semi-main eventing the year prior. Takao’s path looks well-suited for a run to the quarterfinals, where he’ll face the winner of the Dramatic Challenge (my pick being Chris Brookes).
Minoru Tanaka
Affiliation:Â Unaffiliated
King of DDT History:Â First Appearance
1st Round Opponent:Â Soma Takao
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Yukio Sakaguchi/Shunma Katsumata
Rarely does DDT bring in outsiders for the King of DDT tournament, but this is an exception. Tanaka is normally a NOAH wrestler and hasn’t even appeared in DDT this year; in fact, he’s only wrestled two matches in the past four months. In my opinion, the 47-year-old Tanaka isn’t a big enough name to bring in and have a deep run, so I see him putting over Soma Takao. I love Tanaka though, and that match has a chance to be the best of the first round.
HARASHIMA
Affiliation:Â DISASTER BOX
King of DDT History: Won Tournament (2010), Lost in Finals to KUDO (2011), Lost in Semifinals to Kenny Omega (2012), Won Tournament (2013), Lost in Semifinals to Tetsuya Endo (2016), Lost in Finals to Tetsuya Endo (2017), Lost in Semifinals to Daisuke Sasaki (2018), Lost in Semifinals to Soma Takao (2019); Career Record: 23-6
1st Round Opponent: Mad Paulie
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Mizuki Watase/Kazusada Higuchi
The ace emeritus of DDT and the all-time best performer in King of DDT Tournaments is, of course, HARASHIMA. In eight tournament appearances, HARASHIMA has won two and never not made the semifinals. I think this is the year that statistic changes, as he finds himself in the same quadrant as Konosuke Takeshita. In fact, I don’t think he even gets to the teased match with his perennial rival. He will meet Kazusada Higuchi in the second round, someone that has been on the edge of an elevation for a while. HARASHIMA is always a danger to win, but I think his rough year–losing both the KO-D Openweight and KO-D Extreme Championship after winning the double belts at Ultimate Party 2019–will continue.
Mad Paulie
Affiliation:Â DAMNATION
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Tetsuya Endo (2016), Lost in First Round to Shigehiro Irie (2017), Lost in First Round to HARASHIMA (2018); Career Record: 0-3
1st Round Opponent: HARASHIMA
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Mizuki Watase/Kazusada Higuchi
Mad Paulie is a career fall guy who has never won a match in King of DDT. He is mostly here just to be a body and to put over HARASHIMA, leading to HARASHIMA’s showdown with Kazusada Higuchi in the second round.
Mizuki Watase
Affiliation:Â Junretsu
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Toru Owashi (2018); Career Record: 0-1
1st Round Opponent: Kazusada Higuchi
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: HARASHIMA/Mad Paulie
Mizuki Watase has been a career lower card guy, but ever since being inducted into Jun Akiyama’s new Junretsu group, Watase has shown real fire and potential that the 29-year-old has been lacking for years. I don’t think he is beating established veteran and leader of Eruption Kazusada Higuchi, but Watase will give Higuchi a run for his money in the first round and continue his story of improvement since Jun took him under his wing.
Kazusada Higuchi
Affiliation:Â Eruption
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Yukio Sakaguchi (2015), Lost in Second Round to Shigehiro Irie (2016), Lost in First Round to HARASHIMA (2017), Lost in Second Round to Tetsuya Endo (2018), Lost in Semifinals to Konosuke Takeshita (2019); Career Record: 4-5
1st Round Opponent: Mizuki Watase
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: HARASHIMA/Mad Paulie
Kazusada Higuchi has felt like he’s been just on the cusp of being a real DDT main event player for a while now. He gets a title shot every year and he’s involved in the upper midcard all the time. When DDT gave him a new faction to lead, it seemed like the elevation was finally here, but strangely nothing happened. Of course COVID likely threw DDT’s plans all out of whack, but if you’re ever going to elevate Higuchi, now is the time. There is a built-in story with Endo, the two are 1-1 this year, and you don’t have to worry about Higuchi’s lack of proven drawing record with the COVID restrictions. I say it’s time to try it. Higuchi will be one of the favorites in the tournament.
Yukio Naya
Affiliation:Â Unaffiliated
King of DDT History: First Appearance
1st Round Opponent: El Lindaman
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Naomi Yoshimura/Konosuke Takeshita
I’m a big fan of DDT’s development system. They’ve pumped out some amazing prospects over the past few years like Yuki Ueno, Naomi Yoshimura, Kota Umeda, and Yuki Iino (just to name a few), but Yukio Naya just isn’t there. To be fair, Naya isn’t a DDT homegrown guy because he’s originally from Real Japan, but I just don’t feel it with him. The work is fine, yet there is nothing there. He’ll likely beat El Lindaman in the first round before losing to Takeshita, but someone needs to light a fire under this guy.
El Lindaman
Affiliation:Â STRONGHEARTS
King of DDT History: First Appearance
1st Round Opponent: Yukio Naya
Potential 2nd Round Opponents: Naomi Yoshimura/Konosuke Takeshita
El Lindaman is one of the best in the world at such a young age; he needs to just pick a place and stick with it. The STRONGHEARTS gimmick is great, but he will always be the fall guy of the main trio of him, CIMA, and T-Hawk. It’s clear that plenty of companies love him: Big Japan gave him a big junior title match, ZERO1 took him to the finals of their junior tournament, DDT had him in the semi-main event of Peter Pan, but all were in losing efforts because he and the STRONGHEARTS don’t have a commitment to anywhere. I think he loses to Naya in the first round here, but I’m cheering for a win so we get Lindaman vs Takeshita, which would be incredible.
Naomi Yoshimura
Affiliation:Â DISASTER BOX
King of DDT History: Lost in First Round to Kazuki Hirata (2018), Lost in Second Round to Konosuke Takeshita (2019);Â Career Record: 1-2
1st Round Opponent: Konosuke Takeshita
Potential 2nd Round Opponents:Â Yukio Naya/El Lindaman
After Konosuke Takeshita and Yuki Ueno’s King of DDT match in 2019, it was clear Ueno was going to be a player. Ueno’s tag partner now gets a shot at the same type of elevation. Yoshimura is a fiery young wrestler who has put in tremendous work as one-half of the 2020 tag team of the year, Nautilus. Still, we’ve never really seen him shine in singles action, and who better to be a test in that capacity than Konosuke Takeshita. I feel it’s probably quite unlikely Yoshimura pulls the upset, but I expect Takeshita to give him a lot of offense and put him over strong before eventually putting him away.
Konosuke Takeshita
Affiliation:Â ALL OUT
King of DDT History: Lost in Semifinals to HARASHIMA (2013), Lost in Second Round to Isami Kodaka (2014), Lost in Finals to Yukio Sakaguchi (2015), Won Tournament (2019); Career Record: 10-3
1st Round Opponent: Naomi Yoshimura
Potential 2nd Round Opponents:Â Yukio Naya/El Lindaman
The leader of ALL OUT and current ace of DDT is always a danger to win these tournaments, but he feels oddly directionless this year. He lost the Universal Title decision match to Chris Brookes, he lost a KO-D Openweight Title challenge to Masato Tanaka, and then he had a feud with a doll. If anything, based on recent shows, Takeshita looks poised to feud with Akiyama rather than chase the KO-D belt. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve said Takeshita will lose before and he always seems to find a way to get it done, but this doesn’t feel like his tournament. He should easily glide to the quarterfinals. After that, I think he eats a Doctor Bomb from Higuchi, with the Eruption leader avenging the loss from last year’s King of DDT Finals show.
Schedule and Predictions
You can watch all shows on Wrestle Universe
August 8th, Kanda Myojin Hall – First Round
Streaming Live at 5 PM JST/4 AM EST/9 AM BST
Yuki Ueno def. Nobuhiro Shimatani
Antonio Honda def. Danshoku Dieno
T-Hawk def. Kazuki Hirata
Makoto Oishi def. Chris Brookes
Daisuke Sasaki def. Tomomitsu Matsunaga
Yuki Iino def. Shinya Aoki
Seigo Tachibana def. Toru Owashi
Tetsuya Endo def. Akito
Yukio Sakaguchi def. Shunma Katsumata
Soma Takao def. Minoru Tanaka
HARASHIMA def. Mad Paulie
Kazusada Higuchi def. Mizuki Watase
Yukio Naya def. El Lindaman
Konosuke Takeshita def. Naomi Yoshimura
August 9th, Kanda Myojin Hall – Second Round + Loser Revival Battle Royal
Streaming Live at 5 PM JST/4 AM EST/9 AM BST
Yuki Ueno def. Antonio Honda
T-Hawk def. Makoto Oishi
Daisuke Sasaki def. Yuki Iino
Tetsuya Endo def. Seigo Tachibana
Soma Takao def. Yukio Sakaguchi
Kazusada Higuchi def. HARASHIMA
Konosuke Takeshita def. Yukio Naya
Chris Brookes wins “Dramatic Chance” Loser Revival Battle Royal
August 10th, Kanda Myojin Hall – Quarterfinals
Streaming Live at 5 PM JST/4 AM EST/9 AM BST
Yuki Ueno def. T-Hawk
Daisuke Sasaki def. Tetsuya Endo
Chris Brookes def. Soma Takao
Kazusada Higuchi def. Konosuke Takeshita
August 23rd, Korakuen Hall – Semifinals + Finals
Streaming Live at 11:30 AM JST/10:30 PM July 22nd EST/3:30 AM BST
*Note* Semifinalist matchups are shuffled
Daisuke Sasaki def. Chris Brookes
Kazusada Higuchi def. Yuki Ueno
Kazusada Higuchi def. Daisuke Sasaki to win King of DDT 2020
And that’s that. Follow me on twitter @rasslinratings and enjoy the tournament!
