Takao Omori, Shuji Ishikawa, Izanagi & Hokuto Omori vs. Yoshitatsu, TAJIRI, Jun Saito & Rei Saito
The art of the opening match. These men understand it. To pay homage to the recently passed Antonio Inoki, Yoshitatsu revived the TOUKON TATSU persona of his 2021 feud with Suwama. Cobra twists and Octopus holds were firmly locked in, the World Famous One once again confirming he is the true heir to strong style. There is simply no denying this. Hokuto trying to out-sumo the Saito Bros was also very good. **1/2
Toshizo © vs. Dan Tamura – GAORA TV Title
Fresh off his feel-good All Asia tag title win at the Budokan, Daniel Tamura tried to kick his career up another notch by becoming double champ. Spoiler: he did not succeed, but he got a pretty solid match out of old Tosh’ in the process. Beside a weird middle section where a belt spot seemed to go overtime, these guys delivered an acceptable amount of no non-sense GAORA TV wrasslin’. As always, Toshizo knows how to dish a mean heel beatdown and Dan can certainly play the role of babyface protagonist. ***
Toru Yano vs. Black Menso-re
There we have it. The full YTR cinematic experience inside the blessed Zen Nihon ring. This isn’t something that should be repeated too often, but Menso-re was the ideal dance partner for Yano. The match peaked early when they tried to out-grift each other with their various merch offerings and business cards.
Jake Lee & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Suwama & KONO
Absolutely stacked episode of RAW is ZEN NIHON. Not only did this continue the #1 blood feud of 2022 (Kyohei Wada vs. Voodoo Murders), but it also featured a shocking Saito Bros heel turn – the 36-year-old super rookies pivoting to the dark side to aid Suwama and TARU in their quest for global domination. Can you believe this shit? The wrestling before the angle hinted at a fun Jake/Aoyagi dynamic for the RWTL, with Yuma playing babyface in peril, Jake supplying the hot tag and the two uniting for wacky double teams. **1/4
Kento Miyahara, Takuya Nomura, Ryo Inoue & Yuma Anzai vs. Yuji Nagata, Yuto Nakashima, Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa
Japanese interpromotional warfare is where humanity peaked when it comes to arts and crafts. I’m all for variety in wrestling tropes, but ‘angsty young men defending their dojo system by bashing each other’s brains out’ is extremely hard to beat. Anzai experiencing this chaotic scenario in his only third match ever was pretty wild. And he did great! The super rookie stood up to resident NJPW young lion monster bully Nakashima, unleashing as many forearms as he received.
This was actually my first time seeing New Japan’s latest batch of youngsters (most commonly known as Noojies) and let me tell you – the future looks bright for Gedo and friends. Oiwa already has Ace-level handsomeness, Nakashima looks ready to fill Togi Makabe’s furry shoes and Fujita was very adept at beating up Ryo Inoue.
The hate-meter stayed in the red for all tense 14 minutes, Korakuen time-traveling back to the pre-pandemic era and lapping up all the bloodlust. Nomura’s inclusion was the icing on the cake. Who better than this man when it’s time to slap some sense into an insubordinate brat? WRESTLING. ****
Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda © vs. Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi – AJPW Tag Team Titles
If the use of U2’s Where The Streets Have No Name in the intro package didn’t make it obvious enough – this match was WRESTLE-1: The Movie. Four big-boned lads who came up in Keiji Muto’s wrasslin’ factory, battling it out for tag team gold. It didn’t reach the heights of GOA’s best defenses, but the action was as solid as you’d expect.
I’m not sure if DoiKuma have ever hit that ill-advised stacked samoan drop properly? Unless it happened in non-AJPW territory, I have yet to see this miracle. Other than the challenger’s overly ambitious double-team schemes, the wrestling stayed simple and hard-hitting. Honda is clearly positioned as the main character in this Gungnir tag reign and it’s a good look for him. Really dug those clubbing lariats near the end.
Another highlight here was Ashino’s insane bump for the DoiKuma double dropkick, which felt like the perfect metaphor for this match. As much as I enjoy them, DoiKuma never quite feel like world tag caliber, but the former Enfants Terribles crew always do their best to make it seem like they are. ***1/2
Atsuki Aoyagi © vs. Rising HAYATO – AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title
This was the first AJPW junior title match to main event Korakuen Hall in a billion years and it ripped. The rarity of such an occasion clearly wasn’t lost on these kids. They used the platform to showcase their vision to the fullest. Far-removed from the more technical approach of junior division stalwarts like Hikaru Sato, this felt more in line with something from Dragon Gate or a high-stakes AEW bombs-fest.
Both Aoyagi and HAYATO are still super young, so there’s room for improvement – but the SCOPE of what they went for here has to be commended. They played the familiarity card to the max, constantly one-upping each other and raising the high spot difficulty level as the match went on. Self-sacrificing dives, graceful high-flying and Kento Miyahara losing his shit on commentary – it all felt big.
Some of the reverse frankensteinering near the end bordered on Too Much, but HAYATO’s heart and the sheer ‘Can they actually pull this off’ vibe of it all kept things in balance. For anyone still doubting HAYATO’s new gimmick – this is the match that should put all concerns to rest. He looked and wrestled like a star – a perfect long-term rival for Atsuki. ****
