Takao Omori, Osamu Nishimura & Ryuji Hijikata vs. Jun Saito, Rei Saito & Ryoma Tsukamoto
This was Tsukamoto’s debut, so here’s a few notes on the lad. First of all, he has Akira Taue’s color scheme, so I already love him. Secondly, he was blessed with some Animal Hamaguchi Gym pre-training before hitting up the AJPW dojo, which gives him an unfair advantage over the Saito twins. Nishimura welcomed him to the world of professional wrestling by unloading about 128 European uppercuts on his ass and it was beautiful. There’s a likeable energy to the kid and he can throw a dropkick. That’s all you need at this stage. **
Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO vs. Ryuki Honda & Dan Tamura
Something’s happening with big-boned youngster Ryuki Honda. He’s been getting more spotlight than usual throughout this tour and picked up a clean win over rising star Aoyagi in this very pleasant midcard wrasslin’ match. With all of the heavyweight gaijin stars disappearing and Violence Giants getting increasingly banged up, All Japan need to refill their plate of chunky power fighters. If given the right push, Honda could be the guy to fill this void. He has the size and a Daisuke Sekimoto-esque deadlift German suplex to achieve beefy success. **3/4
TAJIRI, Yusuke Kodama & Hokuto Omori © vs. Yoshitatsu, Seigo Tachibana & Carbell Ito – AJPW 6-Man Tag Team Titles
Not much to write home about, but Tachibana taking center stage and scoring the upset was pretty cool. This guy’s sleazy schtick never fails to crack me up and his presence alone raises the world famous Yoshitatsu Kingdom to a whole new level. There was a fun dynamic between him and Hokuto here, young Omori leaning into the dickishness and Tachibana playing a competent babyface in peril. **1/4
Zeus & Izanagi © vs. El Lindaman & Issei Onitsuka – All-Asia Tag Team Titles
As much as I was looking forward to T-Hawk working with Zeus, his replacement sure made the most of the opportunity. Onitsuka showed up with his usual over-the-top energy and absolute balls of steel, getting into the Z-Man’s face right off the bat. Retribution was swift but the Strong Hearts spitfire still made some converts in Korakuen Hall thanks to his tenacity/stupidity. Although the match lost a bit of steam when the challengers went to work on Izanagi, the action picked right back up for the finish and ended things on a solid note. ***1/4
Kento Miyahara vs. Koji Iwamoto
Another rock-solid outing in Iwamoto’s current openweight graduation storyline. They essentially took the core interactions from the 2020 RWTL finals and built a singles match around them. Kento was in his usual cocky asshole mode and Iwamoto portrayed the pissed off underdog that will crush your face if you test his patience. Lots of no-selling dickery to fuel the fire. As with all Iwamoto babyface performances, you’re always left wanting a bit more emoting and personality – the kind of stuff that could truly elevate him in his war with heavyweights. That being said, the wrestling was on point and I dug the Shutdown German vs. Koko No Geijutsu battle that wrapped up the match. ***1/2
Suwama, King Tany & Hikaru Sato vs. Yuma Aoyagi, SUSHI & Takuya Wada – Atsuki Aoki Memorial Match
I never get tired of Big Wama stiffing the be-jeezus out of SUSHI. These two came up together during the Muto/AJPW era and even joined forces as the young boy team of the 2005 RWTL. Today, one of them is a multiple time Triple Crown champion and the company’s most respected star. The other is SUSHI. Anyway, making most of the match about King Tany’s new Funky Express schtick was a perplexing choice, but it did give us some hilarious Yuma reactions, so I won’t complain too much. **1/4
Francesco Akira © vs. SUGI – AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title
One hell of a high-flying showdown between two guys who can flip with the best of ‘em. SUGI was able to bounce off Akira’s natural babyface energy by leaning into a more heelish, veteran energy. The tiny masked terror doesn’t look like much, but he was pasting the champ with some hard shots during the early sections of the match. Let’s not pretend the match was a character-based masterpiece though – this was all about the spots and the spots looked tremendous. When it comes to aerial wackiness, Akira keeps raising the bar in every new match and he did a lot of cool new shit here (looking at you: springboard plancha of white-hot death). I would’ve cut a reverse Frankensteiner or two, but otherwise the ending stretch brought the excitement and SUGI was game enough to indulge all of the Italian Warrior’s Child nutty Spanish Fly fantasies. ***3/4
Jake Lee © vs. Shotaro Ashino
When Jake turned heel and started getting the big push, this is exactly the kind of match I was hoping he would have as Triple Crown champ. He took the laser focus of his 2020 Arm-Work Jake Lee gimmick and mashed it up with the present-day Dark Knight Jake Lee tropes to great effect. Putting the wrestling aside, he just feels like a different guy now – in the best possible way. From the gloomy tyrant entrance to the Castlevania villain outbursts, his character is on a whole new level.
Ashino was the perfect dance partner for this type of limb-heavy scenario. Ever the consummate babyface, he sold like a pro and once again won the crowd over with valiant comebacks. I rarely break out the FORENSIC ANALYSIS KIT when it comes to limb matches, but Ashino’s attention to detail truly deserves all the praise. The guy really went out of his way to only use the non-damaged arm and it added a ton of drama to their story.
The galaxy-brained moments came fast and furious during the back end of the match. Ashino eating a high kick but snatching on the ankle lock on the way down + Jake getting a massive near-fall off an ARM-TRAPPED Backdrop both popped the hell out of me. Whip-smart wrestling and satisfying character work all over the place. Here’s to a long rivalry between these two. ****
