Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi vs. Izanagi & Black Menso-re
HAAAAAAAAAA! That’s the sound of DoiKuma returning to Korakuen Hall. Literally. The boys were in top form, squashing the life out of your favorite masked icons before announcing their re-entry in the tag title picture. Powerful stuff.
Atsuki Aoyagi, Christopher Daniels & Cyrus vs. Yoshitatsu, TAJIRI & Rising HAYATO
Considering the sheer randomness of the lineup, this was better than it had any right to be. CD brought a fun vibe to the action, from his early rocking out to Atsuki’s theme to the Moonsault comedy bit – he had the crowd in the palm of his hand and the crew seemed eager to work with him. HAYATO/Aoyagi did a bunch of Cool Shit and Cyrus once again popped the crowd with some wild oversized spots. Also, TAJIRI almost brought back the Tarantula!? That’s worth all the stars, bro. ***
Tiger Mask vs. Black Tiger
Well. This wasn’t exactly Sayama taking on Rollerball Mark. You might know Tatsuhito Takaiwa as a no non-sense powerhouse, but the Black Tiger gimmick finally allows him to explore the finer points of pro-wrestling. Yes, I am referring to psychologically-advanced techniques such as Kicking People in the Balls. *3/4
Yuji Nagata & Dan Tamura vs. Takao Omori & Ryo Inoue
Let me tell you something important. Ryo Inoue is showing more natural ability and confidence than both Dan and Hokuto when they were at his current experience level. The kid just ripped through his traditional young boy offense with ease and looked like a million bucks overwhelming Tamura with rollups during the finish. The whole match was pure midcard bliss – Dan responding to Ryo’s preternatural skills by taking his head clean off. **3/4
Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuma Anzai
A lot more one-sided than Anzai’s match with Nagata, but the super rookie still held his own. MiSu stretched the living crap out of him and Yuma tried his best to power through. Non-stop joint manipulation with the occasional babyface comeback from the ace prospect. The crowd really wanted him to survive all the stomach-turning submissions, so that’s a good sign. **1/2
Jake Lee, Shuji Ishikawa, Yuma Aoyagi & Hokuto Omori vs. Suwama, TARU, Minoru & Toshizo
Another chapter in the long-term Jake Lee babyfication story. This time around, his new pals in Hontai 2.0 helped him out with a 4-man corner finger gun. Outstanding. Unless they’re planning to torpedo this entire saga by going full Russo and turning Lee back heel, now would be a good time to get the man out of the Total Eclipse gear. Elsewhere, the Voodoos were showing signs of potential implosion. Is this the end of the Internet’s favorite heel stable or are these guys simply awful people!? **3/4
Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda © vs. Jun Saito & Rei Saito – AJPW Tag Team Titles
Their Budokan return match hinted at great things. This was the full confirmation. The world’s oldest young boys have improved a lot while on their American meat-eating excursion. While I did appreciate the throwback clunkiness of their early days, there’s no denying that this newly-acquired ring polish makes them feel like a bigger deal.
It also helped that GOA treated them like actual monsters and made their offense look like dynamite. Super generous performance from the champs – staying on defense for most of the match and letting the crowd familiarize themselves with the Saito’s skyscraper-sized playbook. Note-perfect example of looking strong in defeat – Jun and Rei are made men in the tag division after this one. ***1/2
Kento Miyahara © vs. Naoya Nomura – Triple Crown
Weight belt enthusiast Naoya Nomura has been tearing through the All Japan roster ever since returning from his self-imposed exodus. It might’ve been a weird proposition at first, but his new outsider’s edge (R.I.P. Scott Hall) is now allowing him to stand out from his former Nextream friends and rivals. The shy but ultra-promising young hope of yesteryears has been replaced by a black-clad, pissed-off wrestling machine. Real Blood 4 life, brother.
One thing that hasn’t changed for Hollywood Nomura 2.0 is his unreal chemistry with Kento Miyahara. Their last matches occurred during Kento’s 2018-2020 monster reign and were among the best from that era. Fast forward to 2022 and we get this banger – a timely reminder of what these two can do together, with the added twist of Nomura’s newfound PART-TIMER GRIT.
Through out the years, the former Nextream guys all struggled with matching Kento’s larger-than-life charisma and each had to find different strategies to assert themselves when sharing the ring with him. For Nomura, the gameplan’s always been crystal clear: Ruthless freakin’ Aggression. This latest chapter of the Kento/Nomura story stayed the course – Naoya absolutely nuking the champ from start to finish and smartly cutting off his well-worn signature spots.
In a poetic callback to their second match of 2019, Nomura once again found himself one super finisher away from getting the big win. In that previous meeting, they hinted that the fabled Spinning Maximum would’ve sealed the deal and the same thing happened here with the Infinity (basically an inverted Maximum) – Kento escaping it at the last second to steal the victory.
A top 3 AJPW match for 2022 (up there with Kento/Yuma and the CC finals) with all the hallmarks of a classic Miyahara title defense. They made the most out of everything – from the early spear rollup panic to the raging strike-fests and closing mega near-falls. It all landed. More than anything, this once again underlined how important Naoya Nomura is to All Japan. You are legally obligated to watch this wrestling match. ****1/2
