DDT ROCK IN RING 2025 Preview (7/13/25)

DDT will emanate once again at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo for their ROCK IN RING show. The show will stream live on Wrestle Universe, kicking off on July 13 at 11:30 a.m. JST/ July 12, 10:30 p.m. ET. Headlining the card is the first defense of the new KO-D Openweight Champion crowned two weeks ago and the much-anticipated clash for the Universal Championship.

DDT ROCK IN RING 2025 Full Match Card

• KO-D Openweight Championship: Kazusada Higuchi (c) vs. HARASHIMA
• DDT Universal Championship: Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Shinya Aoki
• Special Six-Man Tag Team Match: Yuki Ueno & Akito & Takeshi Kaisei vs. Daisuke Sasaki & Hideki Okatani & Mj Paul
• Special Six-Man Tag Team Match: Masashi Takeda & Ilusion & Haruto Sakuraba vs MAO & KANON & Kazuma Sumi
• Special Tag Team Match: Kosei Fujita & Takeshi Masada vs To-y & Yuya Koroku
• Six-Man Tag Team Match: Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida vs Chris Brookes & Jun Akiyama & Daichi Satoh
• 3-Way Match: Danshoku Dieno vs Super Sasadango Machine vs Kazuki Hirata
• Dark Match: Naomi Yoshimura & Antonio Honda vs Soma Takao & Yuni

Higuchi Faces a Familiar Foe for First Title Defense

Two weeks ago, Kazusada Higuchi won the KO-D Openweight title for the second time in his career at Korakuen Hall after defeating Chris Brookes. After the post-match beers, Harashima came to congratulate and challenge the new champ to a title match, which Higuchi accepted.

These two men are no strangers to one another, as they’ve wrestled five times before, with the champion winning four times. All four wins by Higuchi were in the D-Oh Grand Prix and the King of DDT tournaments. Harashima’s sole victory over him was in a match also for the Openweight title back in 2016, which he will look to repeat to further his own record to 11 reigns.

Big First-Time Ever Match for the Universal Title

For the first time ever, Minoru Suzuki and Shinya Aoki will fight in a pro-wrestling match. It’s not just an ordinary singles match because the DDT Universal Championship will be on the line, which Suzuki won at Judgement last March 20.

Aoki is a legend of Asian MMA who made his DDT debut in 2018. He will look to capture his third singles title with the promotion against a living legend in his own right in Suzuki, who was also an MMA fighter. This match is expected to be hotly contested and could very well be DDT’s match of the year.

Kosei Fujita Steps into the DDT Ring for the First Time

In another first, NJPW’s Kosei Fujita will make his first appearance in DDT. He will team up with Schadenfreude International’s Takeshi Masada to take on DDT Extreme Champion To-y and Yuya Koroku.

Schadenfreude International and Fujita’s unit TMDK have ties, as their respective leaders, Chris Brookes and Zack Sabre Jr., have teamed together in DDT last year. This will be another exciting cross-promotional team-up, this time between its two up-and-coming young stars in Masada and Fujita.

Kaisei Takechi and Haruto Sakuraba in Action

Two Japanese celebrities, Kaisei Takechi and Haruto Sakuraba, decided to step into the world of pro-wrestling via DDT last year, but they have never been on the same card. That will all change at ROCK IN RING, as they will be competing in separate tag matches.

For the third time, Takechi will team with Yuki Ueno, and joining them is Akito, to take on the Damnation T.A. trio of Daisuke Sasaki, Hideki Okatani, and MJ Paul. This marks the 27-year-old’s fourth match ever, all of which have been as part of a tag team.

Meanwhile, Sakuraba will wrestle only his second match after debuting at Ultimate Party last December as the newest member of Damnation T.A.. He will team with freelancer Masashi Takeda and Ilusion against Strange Love Connection’s MAO and KANON, partnering with Kazuma Sumi.