PREVIOUSLY ON ALL JAPAN TV!
- The Gentleman Shooter Jake Lee is once again gunning for Kento Miyahara’s Triple Crown after pinning him during the RWTL. Meanwhile, the champ’s looking to make it past another pesky challenger to get closer to breaking Toshiaki Kawada’s 11 title defense record. (Kento’s currently at V8 as I type these words)
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The Violence Giants won the RWTL and therefore earned a shot at regaining their tag belts from the very random pairing of Actual Olympian Zeus and Offspring fanatic Ryouji Sai.
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We’re in the middle of a Dragon Gate-heavy tournament to crown a new junior heavyweight champion due to the tragic passing of Atsushi Aoki. It’s been a hell of a good time.
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Something’s brewing in the depths of the undercard. Local prankster Atsushi Maruyama, now known as the masked Izanagi, seems to be forming some kind of new heel faction (Kami No Gundan?) with indie scum refugee UTAMARO and strong hearted beef enthusiast Shigehiro Irie.
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In other show-opening news, the hunt for the Bullet Club is finally over: Yoshitatsu has officially signed a contract with AJPW. Looks like your favorite promotion just got a little more WORLD FAMOUS.
Yusuke Okada, Dan Tamura & Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Rising HAYATO, Akira Francesco & Danny Jones
This felt super rushed and I’m not sure anyone actually got enough time to look any good, but what they did with Okada and everyone’s favorite prepubescent Italian Japanese junior warrior Akira Francesco for the finish was an interesting surprise. I can’t hide my doubts about Akira and some of his wonky indie-ass offense, but there’s no denying the kid has struck a chord with the All Japan fans. **
Jake Lee, Naoya Nomura & Fuminori Abe vs. Jun Akiyama, Takao Omori & Black Menso-re
I’m always down for Akiyama and Omori wrestling non Fuchi-centric comedy matches, but this one was weirdly sidetracked by Menso-re blowing his CHA rope-walk twice in a row and never fully recovered. The only real upside was TRIPLE CROWN CHALLENGER Jake Lee looking like a killer by kicking the shit out of Menso-re and drawing actual gasps of horror from the crowd. **1/4
Masanobu Fuchi, TAJIRI & Great Sasuke vs. Great Kojika, Abdullah Koabayashi & Frank Atsushi
The world is a strange and mysterious place. Sasuke and Kobayashi redefining the laws of metaphysics by wrestling with their spirit projections, Frank Atsushi’s unleashing the full power of the SAUSAGE SWORD and Masanobu Fuchi body slamming fellow human beings. There is beauty all around us and it is time that we embrace it. *
New Year’s Battle Royal
You knew what you were getting into with this one. Always a big fan of the Human Centipede bit. I was a bit surprised to see they went all the way with this Danny Jones kid. To be continued?
Kento Miyahara, Yuma Aoyagi, Yoshitatsu & Hokuto Omori vs. Izanagi, Shigehiro Irie, UTAMARO & Lucas Steele
Kami no Gundan are obviously still coming together as a unit but I’m loving he idea of a new heel group in All Japan. UTAMARO needs to get himself some black gear in order to fully embrace the darkside. Kento being reluctant to work with Yoshitatsu due to him previously turning on him to challenge for the Triple Crown was great stuff. Lucas Steele seems like a big dude that can move pretty well and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do. **3/4
Hikaru Sato vs. Kagetora – AJPW Jr Heavyweight Title Tournament (Semi-Finals)
The blessed Atsushi Aoki Memorial junior tournament has been an extremely-reliable source of compact, fun pro-wrestling and this match was no exception. They went for the time-tested story of Hikaru Sato Fucking Up Someone’s Arm and sometimes that’s all you need in life. Kagetora not only sold the injury like a true seasoned vet but also supplied all of the ridiculously-explosive comebacks that YOU crave. Best flying lariat in the game, baby. The crowd were completely invested in this by the end, and by ‘’this’’ I mean Kagetora trying to fend off Sato’s cross armbreaker onslaught with his high-speed TORYUMON X skill-set. More Kagetora in AJPW please. ***3/4
Koji Iwamoto vs. Susumu Yokosuka – AJPW Jr Heavyweight Title Tournament (Semi-Finals)
I liked a lot of things about this match but my favorite bit might’ve been Susumu casually busting out the Hansen/Kobashi top turnbuckle lariat a few seconds after the announce team put him over as a big All Japan nerd. Cannot overstate how cool it is to see this man become a fixture in AJPW’s junior heavyweight division. Him and Iwamoto went together like your two favorite condiments and packed a ton of flawlessly-executed, high-octane action in this 10 minute banger. Iwamoto just unloading on Yokosuka at some point with back-to-back STO’s had strong Masahito Kakihara energy and I can’t think of a higher compliment. Audibly marked out for the multiple JUDO THROW MURDERS and head-ripping Jumbo No Kachis. Total blast. ***3/4
Zeus & Ryouji Sai © vs. Suwama & Shuji Ishikawa – AJPW Tag-Team Titles
Even before the abruptly thrown finish, this bad boy was having a real hard time gaining any kind of momentum. There’s something about the Zeus/Sai team that just feels completely flat, like there’s no chemistry between the two or even any reason for them to be together. Love Zeus with all my heart but Sai was actively dragging this thing down whenever he was in, what with the rest holds and dead-end sequences with Big Shuj. People were concerned for Zeus after the sudden KO finish, but I’m pretty sure Wada threw the whole thing together because of Suwama being fucked up, not Zeus. Dude was holding his hip and missing his cues for most of the second half of the match. Hope he’s okay and that all these guys can move on to bigger and better things! **3/4
