Hokuto Omori & Ryuki Honda vs. Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO
Gotta love when the opening match crew tries as hard as humanly possible to steal the entire card. These boys got time (19 minutes!) and used it well. They gave the Sapporo fateful an exciting look at the Future of AJPW – all four guys putting their best foot forward and delivering high-energy performances.
The Hometown Boy Hokuto story gave the match a fun Bizzaro World structure (Total Eclipse eating the beatdown) that somehow worked thanks to a legit-incredible hot tag from the SUMMER BEAST himself Ryuki Honda.
Insane chemistry between him and Atsuki – combustible Power vs. Flippery-type dynamic. HAYATO and Omori showed similar promise during the ending stretch – all 2.99 near-falls and fiery striking. Yeah, let’s get that All-Asia tag feud going ASAP. ***1/2
TAJIRI & Brute Issei vs. Shigeyuki Kawahara & Ryo Inoue
Weirdly-solid for such a randomly thrown-together undercard tag. Local boy and Sho Funaki Dojo alumni Kawahara had fun bouncing off Brute Issei’s large frame and TAJIRI gave young Inoue a crash course in lucha libre (complete with Piledriver rudo finish). **1/4
Izanagi & Black Menso-re vs. Tomoya & Noriyuki Yoshida
The Hokkaido LEGENDS have come back to terrorize the masked goofballs of All Japan Pro-Wrestling. Tomoya showed some pretty wide-ranging offense that went from Mil Mascaras-tribute submissions to what one might describe as ‘Ass Headbutts’. Interesting. The commentary team also made reference to Izanagi going into Serious Mode for a minute. That’s confirmation that this match was Good. **1/2
Jake Lee vs. Yoshitatsu
Two of the most controversial combatants on Puro Twitter finally locking horns. A battle for the ages. It wasn’t great, but mostly painless. Bit of matwork. Bit of Testing of the Strenght. Bit of Jake Lee Laughter. This is how one prepares for the G1 Climax. Get ready, Shin Nihon Puroresu… **1/4
Shuji Ishikawa, Kohei Sato & Takao Omori vs. Suwama, Shotaro Ashino & Dan Tamura
We’ve officially reached the end of the road for Runaway Suplex. Big Wama has had enough of this shit and wants sole custody of Daniel Tamura. Welp, in the realm of undercard 6-man tag matches tasked with selling a team breakup – this bad boy ticked all the boxes.
Meaty wrestling was had while Ashino and Wama subtweeted each other from across the turnbuckle. God bless. PS – No one enjoys anything as much as Twin Towers enjoy beating the shit out of Dan Tamura. ***
Hikaru Sato © vs. Yusuke Kodama – AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title
There are three critical rules to follow when it comes to Yusuke Kodama. First, you cannot feed him after midnight. Secondly, never expose him to water. Third and most important of all – put him in a big match spot and he will always deliver. This was no exception.
They threw Kodama’s gremlin tropes in a blender with Hikaru’s razor-sharp arm work and the result was a savory TITLE MATCH SMOOTHIE. I immediately regret this sentence, but the sentiment is real. Top-level performances from two dudes who were able to milk a mega near-fall out of Kodama’s under-the-ring shenaniganz. That’s high art.
It really feels like Hikaru’s going for an all-timer reign – every match landing in banger territory. The ‘’4’’ in Tiger Mask 4 is about to stand for 4 STARS. ***3/4
Kento Miyahara © vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Triple Crown
MOTYB (Match of the Year, Bitch). Not only a significant improvement on their Champ Carnival outing, but literally the best match these two have ever had together. They cut down the filler, maximized the drama and made Yuma look like the definitive heir to the throne.
As someone who sometimes Complains About Wrestling, I’ve always had the inkling that Kento and Yuma had not fully figured out the long version of their match. UNTIL NOW! Those 30 minutes flew by thanks to masterful pacing and Aoyagi’s new affinity for dragon-system offense (Fact: dragon screws make any match better).
All the Big Match Kento hallmarks were there: the classic AJPW apron spots, the high-tech strike dodging craziness, the inevitability of the Shutdown struggle. And it all felt fresher than ever thanks to Aoyagi’s recent elevation. On par with his performance in the CC finals – Yuma again put it all together here and delivered high-stakes main event thrills.
There’s been a recurring spot in Aoyagi’s last few matches where he fakes his own death and then boobytraps his opponent in the Endgame. Miyahara used a similar trick during his epic 2018-2019 reign, so Yuma doing it to him here felt like a real Full Circle Moment.
More than ever, I’m convinced that Kento will ‘make’ Yuma, like Suwama made Kento in the previous era. Through repeated great wrestling and an eventual passing of the torch. It might be at this year’s Budokan show or it might not, but one thing’s for sure – we are on the road to Triple Crown Champion Yuma Aoyagi. ****1/2
