King of DDT Tournament

On April 29, 2001, Mikami won the Take The Royal Tournament that ran over the two DDT Golden Jack events held on that day. For his victory, he was awarded a crown by Commissioner Yamamo, symbolically crowning him "King of DDT". This precursor tournament was acknowledged in the build-up to the inaugural King of DDT Tournament in 2004. After the first two editions in 2004 and 2005, DDT produced four annual King of DDT events from 2006 to 2009 which featured no tournament. The tournament returned in 2009 as the KO-D Openweight Championship Contendership Tournament, held over two Dramatic Next Door events on June 7 and one final event on July 10. In 2010, the tournament was held over two King of DDT 2010 events held on May 23 and May 30, in Osaka and Tokyo respectively. In 2011, the tournament reverted to its original name. Until 2020, the KO-D Openweight Champion at the time of the tournament did not participate and, since 2018, neither do the Right to Challenge Anytime Anywhere Contract holders. In 2022, champion Tetsuya Endo had to vacate the title two days before the start of the tournament after he suffered a legitimate concussion. It was then announced that, instead of receiving a shot at the title, the winner of this edition would be directly crowned champion. ==Tournament finals==

2004 The 2004 King of DDT Tournament was held from May 29 to May 30. 2005 The 2005 King of DDT Tournament was held from May 22 to May 29 and featured only eight participants. On the first day of the tournament, Yusuke Inokuma defeated Jun Inomata and Yoshihiko in a qualifying match to earn a spot in the tournament. 2009 The 2009 KO-D Openweight Championship Contendership Tournament ran from June 7 to July 10. Kota Ibushi, the winner of the tournament, went on to defeat Harashima for the championship on August 23, beginning his first reign with the title. He was replaced by Shunma Katsumata who defeated Kouki Iwasaki in a qualifying match on June 4. Shuji Ishikawa, the winner of the tournament went on to defeat Konosuke Takeshita for the championship on August 28, beginning his fourth reign. 2018 The 2018 King of DDT Tournament ran from July 31 to August 26. Instead of the usual 16 participants, this edition featured 32 participants. On July 23, it was announced a lottery would shuffle the final eight into new matches. Three days later, it was announced that Daiki Shimomura would be pulled out of the tournament after injuring his left MCL; he was replaced by Saki Akai. Six days later, Konosuke Takeshita pulled out of the tournament after suffering a shoulder injury and was replaced by Kazuki Hirata. Daisuke Sasaki, the winner of the tournament went on to defeat Danshoku Dino for the championship on October 21. 2019 The 2019 King of DDT Tournament ran from April 29 to May 19. This edition featured 14 participants and a battle royale between six of the seven first round losers was held on the second day with the winner getting a bye to the second round. Konosuke Takeshita, the winner of the tournament went on to defeat Tetsuya Endo for the championship on July 15, beginning his fourth reign with the title. Endo became the third two-time winner and received a 1 million yen prize from Blackout, the tournament sponsor. He went on to name Daisuke Sasaki as his challenger and then defeated him to retain the title on November 3, at Ultimate Party 2020. Konosuke Takeshita became a two-time winner and went on to defeat Jun Akiyama at Wrestle Peter Pan 2021 to win the KO-D Openweight Championship. Hideki Okatani and Kanon made their first appearance in the tournament. Tetsuya Endo had to forfeit the tournament and vacate the KO-D Openweight Championship after having suffered a concussion at CyberFight Festival 2022. It was then announced that the winner of the tournament would be crowned champion. Kazusada Higuchi won the tournament for the first time and thus became the 79th KO-D Openweight Champion. Naruki Doi, Kotaro Suzuki, Takeshi Masada and Yusuke Okada made their first appearance in the tournament. Yukio Naya was originally scheduled to participate but he suffered a broken ankle on the March 28 DDT event and was then replaced by Okada. Chris Brookes became the first European-born wrestler to win the King of DDT Tournament and went on to defeat Yuji Hino at Wrestle Peter Pan 2023 to win the KO-D Openweight Championship. 2024 The 2024 King of DDT Tournament was a special edition celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the tournament. It ran from May 5 to May 26 with 16 participants, nine of which were previous King of DDT winners or finalists. Participants included inaugural winner Poison Sawada Julie, 2009 finalist Sanshiro Takagi, 2012 finalist Danshoku Dino, 2010 and 2013 winner Harashima, 2016 winner Shuji Ishikawa, 2017 and 2020 winner Tetsuya Endo, 2018 winner Daisuke Sasaki, 2022 winner Kazusada Higuchi, and previous year winner Chris Brookes. Takeshi Masada qualified for the tournament by virtue of winning the 2024 D Generations Cup. 2025 The 2025 King of DDT Tournament ran from May 6 to May 25 with 16 participants. Kazusada Higuchi became a two-time winner. 2026 The 2026 King of DDT Tournament will run from May 4 to May 31 with 16 participants. Kaisei Takechi was scheduled to participate, but he had to withdraw days prior due to appendicitis. He was replaced by Kazuki Hirata. ==See also==