Izanagi, Black Menso-re & Oji Shiiba vs. Takao Omori, Yoshitatsu & TAJIRI
We are within the blessed confines of Korakuen Hall and this card is actually packed with two parallel tournaments. With so much freakin’ WRESTLING to get to, the undercard wizards of All Japan only got 3 minutes to tell their story (eye pokes). Did they succeed despite the restrictions? Yes, they did. *1/2
Dan Tamura vs. Ryo Inoue – Junior Battle of Glory
Ryo Inoue hit up Toshiaki Kawada’s ramen shop once and now he’s a kickpad guy. Dangerous K is a persuasive man. Or is it the broth!? The new FOOT FOCUS from young Inoue already feels like a perfectly natural fit – this match allowing him to use Daniel Tamura for target practice. Beyond the impressive kickage, they stuck to the basics and delivered a solid two and half stars worth of pro-wrestling. **1/2
Hokuto Omori vs. Rising HAYATO – Junior Battle of Glory
These two had a pretty slick match back in June and this felt like another step in the right direction. They already had razor-sharp chemistry five months ago, but now the extra layer of Rising HAYATO photogenic e-boy visuals has added a whole new dimension to their dynamic. Both used the occasion to try out some new tricks (Hokuto with the Flatliner into cranked headlock THING, HAYATO with the sweet-as-hell-top-rope-springboard-Moonsault-finish) and it all looked like a million bucks. The sky’s the limit when it comes to these fine gentlemen. ***1/4
Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Hikaru Sato – Junior Battle of Glory
Another rematch from summer 2022 – an important time in All Japan house show workrate lore. With Atsuki now holding junior gold, the roles were reversed but the storyline stayed the same. Yes, I am referring to the high flyer vs. arm-obsessed shooter match template. I’m convinced these guys have a much better match in them, but the tournament’s new 10-minute time limit twist added some spice to this one. Hikaru’s one of the best at slapping on submissions from unexpected angles and he made good use of that skill here. ***1/4
Jun Saito & Rei Saito vs. Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi – Real World Tag League
The Saitos are in a pretty bad spot. Coming back from excursion, they showed that they now had all the necessary tools to provide no-nonsense powerhouse tag wrestling to the masses. The tag league would’ve been the ideal platform to let them grow in their monster roles, but since the recent VM turn – half of their matches have been drowning in TARU-ISM. All of the straight-forward wrasslin’ sections here worked so well too, making the forced shenaniganz all the more annoying. **1/2
Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda vs. Yuji Nagata & Yuma Anzai – Real World Tag League
If you enjoyed the Ashino/Nagata match from Royal Road as much as I did, this was a worthy sequel. Piss and vinegar were the condiments of the day, Ashino unloading all of his NJPW-dojo-refusal frustrations on old man Nagata and his savant sidekick.
Meanwhile, Anzai took everything he learnt from the recent interpromotional young lion battle and put it to great use here, fitting in seamlessly in all the BACHI BACHI ass whipping. The kid already has insane levels of confidence. Thanks to a bizzarro incident which caused Honda to lose a gallon of blood from his hand, the ending stretch gave me flashbacks to Nagata’s horror classics with Kensuke and Makabe. Badass, crimson-colored wrestling. ***1/2
Jake Lee & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Shuji Ishikawa & Cyrus – Real World Tag League
Not the most convincing tournament start for the Jake/Yuma duo, but a fun time was had nonetheless. Big Shuj and Cyrus are already absurdly effective as a team, leaning hard into the MONSTER INC tropes and manhandling puny humans. Poor Jake and Yuma came off as bumbling goofballs in comparison, but they did manage a super well-orchestrated team sequence that gave me hope for their tag league run. Fashion update: the Jakester is now sporting very cool Tekken gloves. Just needs to add some red patterns to his tights and the man is set. ***
Suwama & KONO vs. Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura – Real World Tag League
Looking at this through the scope of the Comically Mismatched Team Battling Adversity subgenre, this worked a lot better than the last match. They could’ve strictly coasted on the strenuous Kento/Takuya friendship and mined plenty of comedy gold, but NO. This also featured a bunch of compelling main event wrasslin’ and some actually satisfying payoffs to the Kento/Takuya tomfoolery.
Nomura finally accepting the Miyahara clapping pattern, Kento’s excited puppy reaction and the subsequent unveiling of the Follow Back – all great stuff! Add to this some Triple Crown-level sequences between Kento/Wama and you’ve got yourself a pretty darn good wrestling match. ***1/2
