Shotaro Ashino, Izanagi & Black Menso-re vs. Takao Omori, Ryuji Hijikata & Ryo Inoue
Ashino was in a mood here. Understandably salty over Suwama backdropping his ass, this man took out his frustrations on poor Inoue and former WRESTLE-1 sempai Hijikata. Episodic storytelling, baby. That’s how it’s done. Everyone else delivered perfectly competent Opening Match Wrestling performances – all I ask from wrestlers performing in an opening match. **1/4
Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura vs. Hokuto Omori & TAJIRI
Although Hokuto showed top-tier mastery of wrestling’s most advanced techniques (punching people in the dick), this was a bit on the dry side. Essentially a long heel beatdown without much payoff. Yes, all house show undercard wrestling matches must be judged this harshly. *3/4
Yuma Aoyagi vs. Ryuki Honda
Wrestled like the Champ Carnival match they never had, aka. Very Solid. Yuma’s ‘pose mimicry’ gimmick went up a new level here when he mirrored the HONDA EVIL SMIRK in the opening. Few people can withstand such powerful mind games. Anyway, these two have a pretty organic dynamic – Aoyagi’s comedic babyface act blending well with Honda’s Heel In Training schtick. I could see them becoming natural rivals if Honda keeps improving and becomes less reliant on 24/7 stomping. ***
Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Ayabe vs. Kuma Arashi & Koji Doi
Both a rock-solid preview for the upcoming tag title match and Ayabe’s best AJPW showcase yet. On most of his undercard appearances so far, Big Ren was tasked with standing around and Being Tall. Here, he actually got to do stuff and it looked highly promising. The Giant Baba-style running neckbreaker drop comeback means that this guy simply gets it and belongs in All Japan – the land of giants. In other good news, KumaDoi seem to have upped their double-team game and wrestled like proper championship challengers. Loved that sandwich dropkick. ***1/4
Suwama vs. Jake Lee
Holy shit, RAW is ZEN NIHON. Not only a great Piece of Business, but a super efficient wrasslin’ match that saw Voodoo Murders Wama beat the shit out of the Dark Gentleman Jake Lee. In terms of WORLD BUILDING, this really hit all the right notes. Wama breaking Dan’s heart, Aoyagi getting the super babyface rescue rub in the post-match, Ashino forming the Anti-Voodoo Murders Squad with Hikaru and Tamura – all great stuff. 2022 AJPW has been truly unafraid to dump a truckload of quality wrestling on us and now it looks like they’re about to match the workrate with big status quo shakeups. ***
Kento Miyahara, Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO vs. T-Hawk, Shigehiro Irie & Issei Onitsuka
This Kento/T-Hawk title program perfectly illustrates the 2022 AJPW booking philosophy. A philosophy that one might describe as ‘’Here’s a bunch of awesome wrestling matches”. Tasty Triple Crown matches deserve tasty preview tags and this more than did the job. Nextream hilarity clashed with Stronghearts 6-man efficiency and the result was 3 and half stars worth of pro-wrestling.
T-Hawk’s not winning gold any time soon, but he still came off as a killer here – chopping the be-jeezus out of everything in sight and working Dragon Gate magic with Atsuki. Meanwhile, the Kento/HAYATO love-hate relationship remains the most entertaining comedy subplot in All Japan. Good vibes only. ***1/2
