Judgement 2026

Background

Judgement is an event held annually around March by DDT Pro-Wrestling since 1997. It has been marking the anniversary of the promotion since the very first official event produced by DDT on March 25, 1997. Over the years, Judgement would become the biggest show of the year until 2009 when Peter Pan became the flagship event series.

Storylines

Judgement 2026 featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.^[3]

At Hybrid Performer 2026 on February 22, Kazuma Sumi defeated Takeshi Masada in the final of the D Generations Cup, thus earning a DDT Universal Championship match against Daisuke Sasaki.^[4]

At the same Hybrid Performer event, it was announced that Kazuki Hirata would be seconded by John Robinson [ja], a Japan-based Irish DJ, for his special singles match against Konosuke Takeshita.^[5] Robinson produced the 1994 Avex Trax single "Tokyo, Go!," which was first used as an entrance theme by Magnum Tokyo, and is now used by Hirata.

Event

The event started with the singles confrontation between Hinata Kasai and Yuni, solded with the victory of the latter. Next up, Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling's Himawari, Haru Kazashiro and Chika Nanase picked up a victory over Toga, Ren Konatsu and Shion Kanzaki. The third bout saw Jun Akiyama outmatch Rukiya in singles competition. Next up, Yuki Iino and Yukio Naya defeated Evil Uno and Akito in tag team competition. In the fifth bout, Viento Maligno and Kumadori picked up a victory over the teams of MJ Paul and Ilusion, and Makoto Oishi and Masami Inahata. Next up, Mao outmatched Shunma Katsumata in singles competition. The seventh bout saw Chris Brookes and Harashima defeat Shinya Aoki and Junta Miyawaki to become the number one contenders for the KO-D Tag Team Championship.

Next up, Hideki Okatani defeated To-y in a special stipulation hardcore bout to win the DDT Extreme Championship, ending the latter's reign at 280 days and seven defenses. After the bout concluded, Okatani was challenged by Yukio Naya. Next up, the six-on-one handicap match in which Minoru Suzuki defended the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship was won by Hisaya Imabayashi's glasses by simply pinning Suzuki. Antonio Honda won the title moments after by breaking the pair of glasses. In the tenth bout, Takeshi Masada, Yuya Koroku and Daichi Satoh defeated Naomi Yoshimura, Ryota Nakatsu and Yuki Ishida to secure the first successful defense of the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship in that respective reign. Next up, Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuki Hirata faced each other in three different bouts. After beating Hirata twice in quick fashion, their third match had the stipulation that Takeshita needed a 20-count for the win while Hirata only needed a 2-count. The latter won all three bouts. In the semi main event, Kazuma Sumi defeated Daisuke Sasaki to win the DDT Universal Championship, ending the latter's reign at 56 days and no defenses.

In the main event, Yuki Ueno defeated Kanon to secure the sixth consecutive defense of the KO-D Openweight Championship in that respective reign. After the bout concluded, Ueno was challenged by Yuki Iino.^[6]