The KO-D Openweight Championship is the top singles championship in DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT) promotion. "KO-D" is the acronym of DDT's governing body, the King of DDT. The title was introduced on April 19, 2000, after Masao Orihara defeated Sanshiro Takagi to become the first champion.
The championship has been represented by two different belts. The current second version belt was introduced in January 2005. When the title was first created, all title matches had no time limit established but DDT eventually changed the rule over to a more traditional 60 minute time limit. Since 2009, DDT established the Right to Challenge Anytime, Anywhere, with wrestlers being granted a title shot at anytime and anywhere, with the title defenses being labeled as a "Cash In" match. Otherwise, the usage of the rule was scheduled in advance and is treated as a regular title match.
History[]
In April 2000, DDT commissioner Exciting Yoshida announced the creation of DDT's first championship the DDT Openweight championship, as a way to celebrate the promotion's first event in the Korakuen Hall, in December 1999. Since there wasn’t much money in the company at the time, the belt was made as cheaply as possible.
Throughout the history of the championship, the title was vacated twice. The first time was after Nosawa was stripped of the title by the DDT Commissioner for not being appropriate as a champion. The second time was when Dick Togo suffered a tailbone injury. Antonio Honda then became the provisional champion. Togo then defeated Honda in a unification match to become the undisputed champion. When the title was first created, all title matches had no time limit established but DDT eventually changed the rule over to a more traditional 60 minute time limit.
Overall, there have been 62 reigns shared among 30 wrestlers. Title changes happen at DDT-promoted events. Two non-Japanese wrestlers have held the title. The inaugural champion was Masao Orihara winning the title on April 19, 2000. Over his 9 reigns, HARASHIMA successfully defended the title 28 times, the most of any champion. The youngest champion is Konosuke Takeshita with 22 years old, while also being the only champion with most successful title defenses with 12 title defenses and also the longest reign as champion with 405 days.
In August 2018, Shigehiro Irie defended the title outside of Japan for the first on Dayton, Ohio, United States at Rockstar Pro Wrestling event Amped losing the title to Sami Callihan in a three-way match also involving Trey Miguel, while also becoming the first title change outside of Japan, before regaining it eight days later. On August 28, Meiko Satomura became the first female to become the KO-D Openweight Champion. On March 26, 2022, DDT announced a new version of the KO-D Openweight Championship, featuring the new logo of the promotion.
Championshgip Belt design[]
The first KO-D Openweight Championship belt had five plates on a black leather strap. The rounded center plate featured a globe centered on the Greenwich meridian. Three banners above the globe read, from top to bottom, "Professional Wrestling", "D²T" and "Dramatic Dream Team". The lower banner at the bottom of the globe read "Wrestling Champion". Each side plate featured the name and flag of a country with a rich tradition in professional wrestling. From left to right, those countries were Mexico, the United States and Canada. This inexpensive belt deteriorated quickly and a new belt was introduced in December 2005.
The second belt had a central plate that featured a globe centered on the International Date Line with the second "D²T" logo on top in red enamel. The banner above the globe read "Professional Wrestling" and above the banner were two wrestlers grappling. The two banners below the globe read "Dramatic Dream Team" and "KOD Open-Weight Champion". The belt had four side plates similar to the previous version but with Canada and Mexico having swapped places. This belt was retired on March 27, 2022, at Day Dream Believer where a third belt was unveiled and given to then champion Tetsuya Endo.
The third and current belt has a central plate that features the current DDT logo. A banner above the logo reads "Dramatic-Dream Team". The words "KO-D Open-Weight Champion" are written along the bottom edge of the central plate. The two inner side plates both feature a globe; the one on the left plate is centered on America, while the one on the right is centered on Japan. The two outer side plates both feature the DDT logo. All plates have red gems in their corners and the central plate also has white gems along its vertical edges.
Title History[]
| # | Wrestler | Reign | Date | Location | Length | Defenses | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masao Orihara | 1 | April 19, 2000 | Tokyo | 98 Days | 0 | Live Event | Defeated Sanshiro Takagi to become the first champion. |
| 2 | Koichiro Kimura | 1 | July 26, 2000 | Tokyo | 77 Days | 1 | Live Event | |
| 3 | Poison Sawada Julie | 1 | October 11, 2000 | Tokyo | 64 Days | 1 | Live Event | |
| 4 | Sanshiro Takagi | 1 | December 14, 2000 | Osaka | 104 Days | 2 | Never Mind
(2000) |
Defeated Poison Sawada Julie, Tomohiko Hashimoto, and Super Uchuu Power in a four-way match. |
| 5 | Exciting Yoshida | 1 | March 28, 2001 | Tokyo | 93 Days | 2 | Judgement 5 | |
| 6 | Nosawa | 1 | June 29, 2001 | Tokyo | 146 Days | 0 | No Reason, No Future | Nosawa won a three-way match also including Super Uchuu Power. |
| — | Vacated | — | N/A | — | N/A | — | — | Nosawa was stripped of the title by the DDT Commissioner for "not being appropriate as a champion. |
| 7 | Super Uchuu Power | 2 | November 30, 2001 | Tokyo | 57 Days | 1 | DDT My love | Defeated Poison Sawada Julie and Sanshiro Takagi in a three-way match to become the new champion. Power was formerly known as Koichiro Kimura. |
| 8 | MIKAMI | 1 | January 26, 2002 | Tokyo | 11 Days | 1 | Dark Horse 2002 | Mikami with Takashi Sasaki won a triple title match defeating reigning champion Super Uchuu Power and Ironman Heavymetalweight champion Asian Cooger and retaining their KO-D Tag Team Championship. |
| 9 | Super Uchuu Power | 2 | February 6, 2002 | Tokyo | 86 Days | 0 | Non-Fix 2/6 | |
| 10 | Sanshiro Takagi | 2 | May 3, 2002 | Tokyo | 28 Days | 0 | Turning Point
(2002) |
This match was also contested for Takagi's Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship. |
| 11 | Kintaro Kanemura | 1 | May 31, 2002 | Tokyo | 99 Days | 1 | Max Bump (2002) | This match was also contested for Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship. |
| 12 | Sanshiro Takagi | 3 | September 7, 2002 | Chiba | 83 Days | 1 | The Ring | |
| 13 | GENTARO | 1 | November 29, 2002 | Tokyo | 23 Days | 0 | God Bless DDT | |
| 14 | MIKAMI | 2 | December 22, 2002 | Tokyo | 208 Days | 2 | Never Mind (2002) | Defeated GENTARO, Tomohiko Hashimoto, and Sanshiro Takagi in a four-way match. |
| 15 | Takashi Sasaki | 1 | July 18, 2003 | Tokyo | 100
Days |
2 | Audience (2003) | |
| 16 | Shoichi Ichimiya | 1 | October 26, 2003 | Tokyo | 108 Days | 0 | Dead or Alive (2003) | This was a chain deathmatch. |
| 17 | Poison Sawada Julie | 1 | February 11, 2004 | Tokyo | 196 Days | 4 | Future Port (2004) | Defeated Shoichi Ichimiya, Sanshiro Takagi and Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion Danshoku Dino in a four-way no DQ match to win both titles. |
| 18 | MIKAMI | 3 | November 2, 2004 | Tokyo | 89 Days | 1 | Day Dream Believer (2004) | |
| 19 | Dick Togo | 1 | January 30, 2005 | Tokyo | 94 Days | 2 | Into The Fight (2005) | |
| 20 | Sanshiro Takagi | 4 | May 4, 2005 | Tokyo | 172 Days | 1 | Max Bump (2005) | |
| 21 | Danshoku Dino | 1 | October 23, 2005 | Tokyo | 191 Days | 1 | Day Dream Believer (2005) | |
| 22 | Toru Owashi | 1 | May 2, 2006 | Tokyo | 241 Days | 2 | King of DDT (2006) | |
| 23 | HARASHIMA | 1 | December 29, 2006 | Tokyo | 186
Days |
3 | Never Mind (2006) | |
| 24 | Koo | 1 | July 3, 2007 | Tokyo | 110
Days |
2 | Dramatic Style (2007) | |
| 25 | HARASHIMA | 2 | October 21, 2007 | Tokyo | 198 Days | 2 | Day Dream Believer (2007) | |
| 26 | Dick Togo | 2 | May 6, 2008 | Tokyo | 145 Days | 2 | Max Bump (2008) | |
| 27 | Sanshiro Takagi | 5 | September 28, 2008 | Tokyo | 218 Days | 5 | Who's gonna top?
(2008) |
This match was also contested for Takagi's DDT Extreme Division Championship and the match was a steel cage deathmatch. |
| 28 | HARASHIMA | 3 | May 4, 2009 | Tokyo | 111 Days | 2 | Max Bump (2009) | |
| 29 | Kota Ibushi | 1 | August 23, 2009 | Tokyo | 98 Days | 2 | Ryogoku Peter Pan
(2009) |
|
| 30 | Shuji Ishikawa | 2 | November 29, 2009 | Tokyo | 91 Days | 4 | DDT Special (2009) | Ishikawa was formerly known as Koo. |
| 31 | Daisuke Sekimoto | 1 | February 28, 2010 | Tokyo | 147 Days | 4 | Union Pro live event | |
| 32 | HARASHIMA | 4 | July 25, 2010 | Tokyo | 112 Days | 2 | Ryogoku Peter Pan (2010) | |
| 33 | Hikaru Sato | 1 | November 14, 2010 | Tokyo | 14 Days | 0 | Osaka Bay Blues Special | |
| 34 | Dick Togo | 3 | November 28, 2010 | Tokyo | 31 Days | 0 | God Bless DDT (2010) | |
| — | Vacated | — | December 26, 2010 | — | N/A | — | — | Vacated due to Togo suffering a tailbone injury. |
| — | Antonio Honda | Provisional
|
December 26, 2010 | Tokyo | 37
Days |
0 | Never Mind (2010) | Defeated GENTARO to become the provisional champion. |
| 35 | Dick Togo | 4 | January 30, 2011 | Tokyo | 95 Days | 2 | Sweat Dreams (2010) | |
| 36 | Shuji Ishikawa | 3 | May 4, 2011 | Tokyo | 81 Days | 2 | Max Bump (2011) | |
| 37 | Kudo | 1 | July 24, 2011 | Tokyo | 189 Days | 5 | Ryogoku Peter Pan (2011) | |
| 38 | Danshoku Dino | 2 | January 29, 2012 | Tokyo | 63 Days | 2 | Sweet Dreams! (2012) | |
| 39 | Sanshiro Takagi | 6 | April 1, 2012 | Tokyo | 0
Days |
0 | April Fool (2012) | |
| 40 | Masa Takanashi | 1 | April 1, 2012 | Tokyo | 33 Days | 0 | April Fool (2012) | Takanashi cashed in his "Right to Challenge Anytime, Anywhere" contract. |
| 41 | Yuji Hino | 1 | May 4, 2012 | Tokyo | 51 Days | 1 | Max Bump (2012) | |
| 42 | Kota Ibushi | 2 | June 24, 2012 | Tokyo | 98 Days | 2 | What Are You Doing (2012) | |
| 43 | El Generico | 1 | September 30, 2012 | Tokyo | 84 Days | 3 | Who's Gonna Top? (2012) | |
| 44 | Kenny Omega | 1 | December 23, 2012 | Tokyo | 87 Days | 3 | Never Mind (2012) | |
| 45 | Shigehiro Irie | 1 | March 20, 2013 | Tokyo | 151 Days | 8 | Judgement (2013) | |
| 46 | HARASHIMA | 5 | August 18, 2013 | Tokyo | 215 Days | 6 | Ryogoku Peter Pan (2013) | |
| 47 | Kudo | 2 | March 21, 2014 | Tokyo | 65 Days | 2 | Judgement (2014) | |
| 48 | HARASHIMA | 6 | May 25, 2014 | Nagoya | 266 Days | 7 | Friendship, Effort, Victory!
(2014) |
|
| 49 | Kota Ibushi | 3 | February 15, 2015 | Saitama | 73 Days | 1 | Saitama Super DDT (2015) | |
| 50 | HARASHIMA | 7 | April 29, 2015 | Tokyo | 32 Days | 1 | Max Bump (2015) | |
| 51 | Kudo | 3 | May 31, 2015 | Tokyo | 28
Days |
0 | Audience (2015) | |
| 52 | Ken Ohka | 1 | June 28, 2015 | Tokyo | 0
Days |
0 | King Of DDT (2015) Tokyo | This was a three-way match, also involving Yasu Urano. Both Ohka and Urano cashed in their "Right to Challenge Anytime, Anywhere" contracts. |
| 53 | Kudo | 4 | June 28, 2015 | Tokyo | 56
Days |
0 | King Of DDT (2015) Tokyo | Kudo cashed in his "Right to Challenge Anytime Anywhere" contract. |
| 54 | Yukio Sakaguchi | 1 | August 23, 2015 | Tokyo | 97
Days |
2 | Ryogoku Peter Pan (2015) | |
| 55 | Isami Kodaka | 1 | November 28, 2015 | Osaka | 114
Days |
3 | Osaka Octopus (2015) | |
| 56 | HARASHIMA | 8 | March 21, 2016 | Tokyo | 34
Days |
2 | Judgement (2016) | |
| 57 | Daisuke Sasaki | 1 | April 24, 2016 | Tokyo | 35
Days |
1 | Max Bump (2016) | Sasaki cashed in his "Right to Challenge Anytime Anywhere" contract. |
| 58 | Konosuke Takeshita | 1 | May 29, 2016 | Tokyo | 91
Days |
3 | Audience (2016) | |
| 59 | Shuji Ishikawa | 4 | August 28, 2016 | Tokyo | 98
Days |
2 | Ryogoku Peter Pan (2016) | |
| 60 | HARASHIMA | 9 | December 4, 2016 | Osaka | 106
Days |
3 | Osaka Octopus (2016) | |
| 61 | Konosuke Takeshita | 2 | March 20, 2017 | Saitama | 405
Days |
11 | Judgment (2017) | |
| 62 | Shigehiro Irie | 2 | April 29, 2018 | Tokyo | 95 Days | 3 | Max Bump (2018) | |
| 63 | Sami Callihan | 1 | August 1, 2018 | Dayton, Ohio | 7 Days | 0 | Rockstar Pro Wrestling Amped | This was a three-way match also involving Trey Miguel. |
| 64 | Shigehiro Irie | 3 | August 8, 2018 | Dayton, Ohio | 6 Days | 0 | Rockstar Pro Wrestling Amped | |
| 65 | Danshoku Dino | 3 | August 14, 2018 | Tokyo | 15 Days | 0 | DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #14 | Dino cashed in his "Right to Challenge Anytime Anywhere" contract. |
| 66 | Meiko Satomura | 1 | August 28, 2018 | Tokyo | 26 Days | 0 | DDT LIVE! MAJI MANJI #15 | Satomura cashed in her "Right to Challenge Anytime Anywhere" contract. Satomura became the first female champion. |
| 67 | Danshoku Dino | 4 | September 23, 2018 | Tokyo | 27 Days | 0 | Road to Ryogoku 2018 | This was a three-way match also involving Shigehiro Irie. |
| 68 | Daisuke Sasaki | 2 | October 21, 2018 | Tokyo | 119 Days | 1 | Ryogoku Peter Pan | |
| 69 | Konosuke Takeshita | 3 | February 17, 2019 | Tokyo | 46 Days | 1 | Judgment (2019) | |
| 70 | Daisuke Sasaki | 3 | April 4, 2019 | New York City, New York | 0 Days | 0 | DDT Is Coming to America | |
| 71 | Tetsuya Endo | 1 | April 4, 2019 | New York City, New York | 102 Days | 2 | DDT Is Coming to America | Endo cashed in his "Right to Challenge Anytime Anywhere" contract. |
| 72 | Konosuke Takeshita | 4 | July 15, 2019 | Tokyo | 111 Days | 2 | Wrestle Peter Pan 2019 | |
| 73 | HARASHIMA | 10 | November 3, 2019 | Tokyo | 84 Days | 1 | Ultimate Party 2019 | This was a "Winner takes all" match also for the DDT Extreme Division Championship. |
| 74 | Masato Tanaka | 1 | January 26, 2020 | Tokyo | 133 Days | 4 | Sweet Dreams! 2020 | |
| 75 | Tetsuya Endo | 2 | June 7, 2020 | Tokyo | 252 Days | 2 | Wrestle Peter Pan 2020 | Endo cashed in his "Saitama Super Arena Sword" contract. |
| 76 | Jun Akiyama | 1 | February 14, 2021 | Tokyo | 188 Days | 3 | Kawasaki Strong 2021 | |
| 77 | Konosuke Takeshita | 5 | August 21, 2021 | Kawasaki, Kanagawa | 211 Days | 2 | Wrestle Peter Pan 2021 | |
| 78 | Tetsuya Endo | 3 | March 20, 2022 | Tokyo | 86 Days | 1 | Judgment (2022) | |
| — | Vacated | — | June 14, 2022 | — | — | — | — | Endo vacated the title after he suffered a concussion on June 12, at CyberFight Festival 2022. |
| 79 | Kazusada Higuchi | 1 | July 3, 2022 | Tokyo | 210 Days | 5 | King of DDT 2022 Final!! | Defeated Naomi Yoshimura in the finals of the 2022 King of DDT tournament to win the vacant title. |
| 80 | Yuji Hino | 2 | January 29, 2023 | Tokyo | 175 Days | 2 | DDT Sweet Dreams! 2023 | |
| 81 | Chris Brookes | 1 | July 23, 2023 | Tokyo | 112 Days | 2 | Wrestle Peter Pan (2023) | |
| 82 | Yuki Ueno | 1 | November 12, 2023 | Tokyo | 435+ | 1 | Ultimate Party (2023) |
List of combined reigns[]
| † | Indicates the current champions |
| Rank | Wrestler | # of reigns |
Combined days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HARASHIMA | 10 | 1314 |
| 2 | Konosuke Takeshita | 4 | 863 |
| 3 | Sanshiro Takagi | 6 | 605 |
| 4 | Tetsuya Endo | 3 | 440 |
| 5 | Shuji Ishikawa/Koo | 4 | 410 |
| 6 | Dick/Francesco Togo | 3 | 365 |
| 7 | Kudo | 4 | 338 |
| 8 | Poison Sawada Julie | 2 | 329 |
| 9 | MIKAMI | 3 | 307 |
| 10 | Toru Owashi | 1 | 271 |
| 11 | Kota Ibushi | 3 | 269 |
| 12 | Shigehiro Irie | 254 | |
| 13 | Danshoku Dino | 4 | 267 |
| 14 | Yuji Hino | 2 | 226 |
| 15 | Koichiro Kimura/Super Uchuu Power | 3 | 220 |
| 16 | Kazusada Higuchi | 1 | 210 |
| 17 | Jun Akiyama | 188 | |
| 18 | Daisuke Sasaki | 2 | 152 |
| 19 | Daisuke Sekimoto | 1 | 147 |
| 20 | Nosawa | 146 | |
| 21 | Masato Tanaka | 133 | |
| 22 | Isami Kodaka | 114 | |
| 23 | Chris Brookes | 112 | |
| 24 | Shoichi Ichimiya | 108 | |
| 25 | Takashi Sasaki | 101 | |
| 26 | Kintaro Kanemura | 99 | |
| 27 | Masao Orihara | 98 | |
| 28 | Yukio Sakaguchi | 97 | |
| 29 | Exciting Yoshida | 93 | |
| 30 | Kenny Omega | 87 | |
| 31 | El Generico | 84 | |
| 32 | Masa Takanashi | 33 | |
| 33 | Meiko Satomura | 26 | |
| 34 | GENTARO | 23 | |
| 35 | Hikaru Sato | 14 | |
| 36 | Sami Callihan | 7 | |
| 37 | Yuki Ueno † | 435+ | |
| 38 | Ken Ohka | <1 |
Gallery[]
