Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda vs. Hikaru Sato & Ryo Inoue
The tournament multiverse COLLIDES. Now, there were a few concurring subplots here (namely The Juniors Can’t Get Along), but the main story was once again Kickboy Ryo Inoue 2.0 being really fucking good. In record time, the Purple Menace has developed the necessary skills to boss Hikaru Sato around and then have a banging ending stretch with the sunglasses squad. There is already a well-thought-out balance between his full-force shooter kicks and the leg-slap assisted ninja footwork. God bless. ***
Jun Saito & Rei Saito vs. Atsuki Aoyagi & Hokuto Omori
More tournament crossover booking from your good pals at All Japan Pro-Wrestling. The size difference angle was more pronounced here, what with the Saitos playing competent monsters and throwing the hontai juniors around. Hokuto’s constantly-growing personality was a bonus, adding some laughs to old-school David/Goliath tropes. I also need to praise the Saitos’ ogre-like grunting. That shit sounds great. **1/2
Dan Tamura vs. Rising HAYATO – Junior Battle of Glory
What a sick match between Good Boy Dan and the absolute stud Rising HAYATO. HAYATO is standing out from the pack in the best way possible right now, not just because of his narcissist makeover but also thanks to the wild GIF-ication of his wrestling style. The guy’s offense looks spectacular as fuck and he puts it all together with AJPW-like common sense, which adds to the spreadsheet-ready mystique of it all. Dan’s always been a perfect opponent for him and this was no exception. Dude was there at the right place and time for all the Cool Shit, while also being truly unafraid to go Takaiwa Mode on your new favorite wrestler. I’ve been harping on this poor kid’s lariats for ages and he finally shut me up here. Love the wrestling. ***1/2
Takao Omori, Black Menso-re & ATM vs. Yoshitatsu, TAJIRI & Aizawa No. 1
Oddly-competitive for a match involving ATM and Michinoku Pro/FREEDOMS part-timer Aizawa No.1. Then again, who am I to doubt the fierce warriors of the All-Asia tag scene? **1/4
Kento Miyahara & Takuya Nomura vs. Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi – Real World Tag League
The Miyaken To Takuya odyssey continues with this very-very good three and a half star wrestling match. Just the right dosage of effort and Kento comedy madness. They leaned into the always reliable Southern tag structure for most of this, Miyahara playing the world’s most unhinged Ricky Morton to Nomura’s Robert Gibson. DoiKuma looked in fine form, leaving behind the trainwreck double-teams and focusing on the meat and potatoes. Lots of simple but effective moments in the last few minutes – most notably Kento milking a Superplex with Hogan-like fervor and the crowd popping huge for Kuma’s senton bomb setup. ***1/2
Suwama & KONO vs. Jake Lee & Yuma Aoyagi – Real World Tag League
If the Suwama/KONO tag at Shin Kiba showed the most fun version of voodoo murdering, this was the complete opposite. Yes folks, I am referring to the bad kind of voodoo murdering. After about 3 hours of crowd brawling, the match settled on its central theme – the Voodoo Murders vs. Kyohei Wada blood feud. As you may have guessed, it was not enough to save this controversial art display. Neither was the double countout. Let us all join hands and form a circle of sadness. *3/4
Shuji Ishikawa & Cyrus vs. Yuji Nagata & Yuma Anzai – Real World Tag League
An occasionally thrilling main event divided between bang average Cyrus/Nagata encounters and blood-pumping Anzai/Ishikawa segments. Anzai’s already been exposed to some crazy shit in his young career, but Big Shuj clearly was his most daunting challenge yet. Parts of the ending stretch were down right hard to watch – the super rookie getting torn to shreds by Ishikawa’s nuclear-charged forearms. Even if the full match didn’t live up to those peaks, it did make me very excited for all future meetings between Anzai and the big dawg. ***
