Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori & Ryo Inoue vs. Masanobu Fuchi, Yoshitatsu & Izanagi
THE FOOCH has returned to Korakuen Hall. It’s been a while and the old man made the most of this rare showcase with a riveting performance – notably Backdropping the big dog himself Shuji Ishikawa. Laughs, efficient professional wrestling and a well-deseved Omori win followed. The very definition of fun for the whole family. **1/2
Cyrus vs. Black Menso-re
Ever since the disappearance of Joe Doering, AJPW’s been missing a lead gaijin brute. Will the man known as Cyrus be able to fill that void? I don’t know, but the crowd ate up his monster offense and Special Guest Commentator Kyohei Wada put him over huge with Vader comparisons. To be continued.
Kento Miyahara & Rising HAYATO vs. Yuji Nagata & Hikaru Sato
Miyahara ascended to a higher plane of comedy as soon as Nagata stepped foot in All Japan. The non-stop salutes, the parody spots – absolutely unhinged. This means that young HAYATO gets to be the real star of these tags and the dude is looking like a million bucks. Here, he played babyface in peril like a consummate professional and got a ton of shine during the finish with Mr. IWGP. Terrific rope-running and an even better overhand chop. Is the heir to Masato Yoshino secretly hiding in AJPW!? ***1/4
Hokuto Omori & Yusuke Kodama © vs. Minoru Tanaka & Toshizo – All-Asia Tag Team Titles
A very good wrasslin’ match to end this very good Hokuto/Kodama All-Asia tag reign. Minoru and Toshizo (aka. the BattlARTS branch of Voodoo Murders) already have an enticing team dynamic – Tanaka supplying the smooth as silk in-ring content, Hijikata delivering the heel ass whoopings.
I loved Hokuto and Kodama as straight-up babyfaces. Resident gremlin boy Kodama seemed particularly energized by the role reversal, busting out some rarely-seen offense. He partook in a wild ending stretch featuring all the tasty 2.99 near-falls and Big Match Minoru high spots that YOU crave. It is now time to send Hokuto playing with the big boyz. ***1/2
Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Seigo Tachibana vs. T-Hawk, Shigehiro Irie & El Lindaman
I don’t need much convincing when it comes to the inevitable awesomeness of the upcoming tag title match, but this somehow brought the hype up another notch. Part Strong Hearts banger, part Ashino/Honda double team practice session – this thing delivered buckets of satisfactory undercard wrestling. Ashino’s surprise German suplex on Lindaman has to be on the short list of very best spots of the year and the assisted pop-up German wasn’t too far behind. Hook it all to my veins. ***1/4
Tiger Mask © vs. Dan Tamura – AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title
Thanks to a spirited performance from young Daniel Tamura, this felt a lot livelier than Tiger Mask’s title win against Hikaru. The rice farmer’s been powering up in the last few months, repeatedly going through the ancient ritual known as ‘Suwama beating the shit out of you’. He put his best foot forward here, delivering big match thrills reminiscent of his 2020 title shot against Koji Iwamoto.
Tiger Mask was also more engaging than in the Sato match – kicking harder and bringing the arm-based punishment. The botched top-rope suplex deflated the crowd before the finish, but the match still held together as something that could be described as GOOD by wrestling analysts the world over. Yes. ***1/4
Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Naoya Nomura & Mizuki Watase
One of my favorite things about modern All Japan is their ability to never take themselves too seriously. There’s a wholesome feel up and down the card with midcarders and main eventers alike both unafraid to embrace comedy to entertain the crowd. That being said, few things in wrestling get the job done like two guys straight-up hating each other.
The Nomura Return storyline is bringing back that classic pro-wrestling tension to AJPW. His reintroduction match with Hokuto Omori at Champions Night 4 hinted at great things and this tag took everything to another level. Piss and vinegar all over the place, Atsuki treating the more experienced Watase like a mere rookie, people booting each other off the apron like they’ve been watching 90’s Kawada all day long. Yeah, this is the good shit.
Seemingly aware that all eyes would be on former partners Nomura/Yuma, Atsuki once again decided to steal the show and put in an unreal performance – kicking the crap out of Watase one minute and then going full Cirque du Soleil the next. That kid is the real deal. Can’t wait to see where this all goes next! ***3/4
Jake Lee © vs. Suwama – Triple Crown
As you might be aware, this match caused quite a stir on the brain-neutering social network known as ‘’Twitter’’. To be fair, it had a lot going against it. Jake might be hanging with the Aoyagi Bros nowadays, but this was essentially a Heel vs. Heel match, in presentation at least. It was also chock-full of RAW is GEDO tropes and ended with an admittedly fucky result that casts a lot of doubt over the upcoming Budokan main event.
Despite all of this, I didn’t completely hate it? In between the Voodoo Murders screwiness, there were good chunks of the kind of solid wrasslin’ you’d expect from a regular Jake/Wama match. The inferference spots babyfaced Lee to the max and he was smart enough to carry himself as Tragic Hero Jake Lee rather than Vampiric Joker Jake Lee.
Don’t pretend you didn’t pop for that table spot, you nerds. There was more good shit in the ending stretch, including the blessed Suwama Title Match Dropkick and some gutsy last-nano second kickouts from the Dark Gentleman Jake Lee. Not on the level of the Kento title defenses from the first half of 2022, but also not as catastrophic as you might’ve been led to believe. ***1/2
