Rising HAYATO vs. Ryoma Tsukamoto
Since the last time I checked in with All Japan, young Rising HAYATO seems to have mastered wrestling’s greatest secret. Yes, I am of course referring to what is known by the true insiders as Working The Leg. The knee dropkick cut-offs were on point, and so was Tsukamoto’s contagious energy. This pint-sized little bruiser is already working the crowd like a pro. Bless him. **1/4
Takao Omori, Black Menso-re, Isami Kodaka & TAMURA vs. Yoshitatsu, Seigo Tachibana, Rei Saito & Baliyan Akki
On top of being a solid mish-mash of midcard randomosity, this was a welcome progress update on Rei Saito. Having an all-time clunker with Suwama in the Oudou tournament seems to have straightened up the big boy. He looked a lot more natural than in the past few months and comfortably chopped the soul out of old man Omori for YOUR viewing pleasure. **1/2
Kento Miyahara vs. Ryuki Honda
Not to get too hyperbolic, but Honda’s pissed off forearm barrage here reminded me a lot of those great Nomura/Kento matches from 2019. AJPW might have something special with this big lad and judging by how much of the match he gave him, Miyahara knows this. Whenever he wasn’t trolling referee Kambayashi, Kento let Honda run wild on him and it led to some pretty juicy moments including a Zen Nihon-worthy lariat of pure white-hot death. Also, I can’t overstate how much I appreciate Miyahara bringing back the Snake Limit as a secondary finisher. It was used really well here and the crowd went nuts when Honda teased powering his way out of it. Good stuff. ***1/4
Suwama, Shotaro Ashino & Dan Tamura vs. Kaz Hayashi, Koji Iwamoto & Jun Saito
This was essentially guest star Kaz Hayashi playing babyface in peril to solidify the AJPW/GLEAT relationship. That’s how this BUSINESS works, kids. Not much else to write home about other than the truly spectacular SUMO CHOP WAR between Saito/Suwama that wrapped up the match. **1/2
Jake Lee, TAJIRI & Hokuto Omori vs. Zeus, Izanagi & UTAMARO
Rough times for the most part, but I was weirdly fascinated by Jake/Zeus somehow salvaging an awkward bit of miscommunication with a brutal kick/chop war that had Korakuen clapping their heart out. President Zeus getting a final shot at the Triple Crown before he heads off for Osaka Pro would be a classy move from AJPW. *3/4
T-Hawk & El Lindaman © vs. Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi – All-Asia Tag Team Titles
What started off as a straight-forward Southern tag eventually turned into a vintage Strong Hearts burner thanks to an action-packed second half and Kento Miyahara losing his mind on commentary. The Aoyagi Bros’ dynamic is a fun inversion of the classic Kento/Yuma team, as Big Brother Yuma plays the hot tag receiver and Lil’ Brother Atsuki eats the beatdown. Both played good babyface counterparts to T-Hawk’s heelish mean streak and Linda’s comedic stooging. Atsuki’s flipping and bumping were a great asset to the ending stretch, as the Strong Hearts double-teams came flying fast and furious. Hoping to see more from the Aoyagi Bros in the future, even if they lost here. Can’t let that t-shirt go to waste. ***1/2
Shuji Ishikawa © vs. Shigehiro Irie – GAORA TV Title
An ugly, headbutt-centric affair that saw Ishikawa pass the torch to a former DDT rival and officially cement the GAORA TV title as All Japan’s meathead belt. We’re a long way from Yoshitatsu’s reign of terror. As is often the case with 2021 broken-down Shooj matches, the flow was a bit weird and the execution wasn’t always there, but Irie was willing to die a thousand deaths to make it work and it ended up working. The dude broke his back on the missed apron tope con hilo bump, got concussed about a dozen times and nearly died on that top-rope slip-up. Not an easy watch, but all the accumulated damage turned the teddy bear bruiser into a compelling babyface and worthy new champion. ***1/4
