Shotaro Ashino vs. Dan Tamura – Royal Road Tournament (Round 1)
Life’s been hard for Daniel Tamura. Ever since he was disowned by Suwama, your favorite rice farmer’s been on a steady diet of Voodoo Murders ass whippings. Despite his struggles, Dan made it to the prestigious Oudou tournament and faced his greatest challenge yet: Selling The Leg. Every wrestler must eventually go through this rite of passage. Tamura actually did JUST FINE!
They worked a fairly-typical Ashino leg match and Dan got a lot of shine, including a chance to hit his brand spanking new Death Valley Bomb. He seems to be heading towards a Tatsuhito Takaiwa-type move-set, which is a great philosophical approach. Just needs to add more murderous intent behind his lariats. ***
Takao Omori vs. Ryuki Honda – Royal Road Tournament (Round 1)
As part of his current tag title run with Ashino, Honda’s been exploring every facet of the Babyface in Peril. By this, I mean that people beat the shit out of him. This match saw him go back to the heel patterns of his Total Eclipse days. Lots of stomping and referee trolling. Omori eventually took this in a more straight-forward power fight-type direction and a pleasant-but-slightly-forgettable-time was had by all. **3/4
Suwama, KONO & Toshizo vs. Hikaru Sato, Black Menso-re & Ryo Inoue
An efficient little 6-man where the courageous Ryo Inoue was voodoo murdered for your viewing pleasure. Strong babyface performance from this purple-clad warrior – always eager to dropkick his way into your heart. After all these years, KONO remains a total blank slate of a wrestler, but he gets the job done in these low-stakes undercard settings. **3/4
Kento Miyahara, Rising HAYATO & Oji Shiba vs. Jake Lee, Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi
Completely batshit midcard crowd pleaser. There’s literally no reason this should’ve been this good, yet here we are. Both Kento and Yuma were on high-minded intellectual crusades – Miyahara stubbornly working for the sole purpose of entertaining a single child in the front row, Aoyagi taking his recent habit of Fake Grumpy Antics (!?) to new heights. Meanwhile, HAYATO, Atsuki and Oji just went out and casually had a banger. In the midst of all this chaos, the recent Kento/HAYATO tension was played off in hugely satisfying fashion. Love the wrestling. ***1/2
Tiger Mask © vs. Hokuto Omori – AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title
Hokuto has new print on his tights that says WOLF MOON OF REBELLION. Lots to think about. As for the match, it wasn’t the most… accessible experience? Half of it was essentially a 3-way with extreme Wada involvement/dementia and Hokuto gremlin heel antics. I’m not sure if the casual wrestling fan is ready for such a controversial art display. The latter half did have some very acceptable wrasslin’ and a few pretty suplexes. **1/2
Shuji Ishikawa vs. Cyrus – Royal Road Tournament (Round 1)
This didn’t reinvent the wheel, but it went a long way in establishing Cyrus as a gaijin force of nature. Big Shuj spent the majority of the match on defense – bumping, selling and acknowledging the presence of a Bigger Dawg in the yard. I won’t pretend All Japan have the next Vader on deck with this Cyrus fellow, but the guy understands the logistics of super heavyweight wrasslin’. Also, the man is extremely over. Clearly, the fans have been starving for an oversized gaijin to throw their favorites around. For now, Cyrus could be that guy. ***
Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshitatsu – Royal Road Tournament (Round 1)
A New Japan collision years in the making between ‘’Mr. IWGP’’ Yuji Nagata and world-famous young lion NAOFUMI YAMAMOTO aka. NaoYama aka. The Bullet Club Hunter Yoshitatsu. Parts of the match were a bit rough around the edges, but the core story worked. Nagata’s always been great at playing up the cranky sempai angle and this was no exception. The best moments all came when both guys lit each other up – forearms, soccer kicks and fun for the whole family. Loved the shocked reaction from the crowd when Tatsu decided to end his own life on that Backdrop bump. ***1/4
