Oji Shiiba & Takuro Niki vs. Black Mensore & Kaji Tomato
We are live from the intimate Chiba 2AW Square, home of ACTIVE ADVANCE PRO-WRESTLING! Formerly part of Kaientai Dojo, the children of TAKA Michinoku decided to start fresh when their mentor evaporated in a blaze of adultery. One of them is a human/tomato hybrid and the other has red hair. Very interesting specimens. They had a harmless 10-minute draw with two of your favorite AJPW undercard warriors and warmed up the crowd with great success. **1/2
Ryuki Honda & Yusuke Kodama vs. Yuma Anzai & Ryo Inoue
There are two types of wrestling on All Japan undercards. Masked weirdos and old men going on adventures. Youngsters putting on 8-minute bangers. This fell into the latter category and it kicked all kinds of ass. Everyone seems extremely aware that Ryo Inoue is turning into a god damned Freak of Wrestling, so they just let him run wild now. Here he worked both the babyface in peril segment and the action-packed finale with Honda, kicking the shit out of all living things before succumbing to Honda’s marshmallow-infused power. Tremendous. ***
Naruki Doi vs. Dan Tamura
Doi’s freelance run is already shaping up to be a 2023 highlight. Carrying his brand-new DDT Universal strap, the Doister worked midcard wonders with young Danny Tamura. They had a breezy Power vs. Technique showdown, Doi doing his best to babyface the living hell out of Tamura. To his credit, Dan was a rock-solid counterpoint to Doi’s veteran heel shtick – keeping up with his Dragon Gate speed and supplying a whole truckload of killer lariats. No offense to the respectable Kaz Hayashi, but if we’re headed towards an Outsider Junior Champion storyline, Doi should be the one to grab the belt from Atsuki. ***1/4
Shuji Ishikawa, Yoshitatsu & Takao Omori vs. Suwama, Jun Saito & Rei Saito
One of the better chapters in the Voodoo Murders Implosion Saga!? There was a lot of actual wrestling here and most of it was of the good kind. The Saito Bros getting into full-on slug fests with Big Shuj is exactly what I want from these Middle-Aged Upstarts. Lots of top-tier Voodoo dissolution hilarity for the finish, including Rei screaming JUN YAMERO (DON’T DO IT JUN) when Suwama offered his brother The Evil Handshake. We must appreciate the remaining days of the RAW is ZEN NIHON era for all their worth. **3/4
Hikaru Sato vs. Hokuto Omori
AJPW are pulling the trigger on WOLF MOON OF REBELLION Hokuto Omori and it’s a beautiful thing. Sato’s always been a landmark opponent for him, so this felt like an important piece of the Heavyweight Transition Puzzle. There was a considerable amount of Wada Dementia early on that kept the action from reaching the heights of their best matches, but the story still worked. Omori brought the physicality, survived Sato’s arm entrapment and looked ready to go play with the big boyz. ***
Kento Miyahara, Kotaro Suzuki & Rising HAYATO vs. Yuma Aoyagi, Naoya Nomura & Atsuki Aoyagi
We last saw Kotaro in 2019, when he worked the JBOG and had a mini-program with then-junior champion Koji Iwamoto. Today, he reunited with former XCEED pal Kento and helped raise the workrate-meter for the now-traditional AJPW House Show 6-Man Banger. Folks, this thing packed an immense quantity of radness. From the world-class Kento/Nomura exchanges to the intergenerational junior clash of Kotaro/Atsuki – working boots were firmly on and Beast Mode was activated. Shoutout to HAYATO’s horrifying German suplex bump during his wicked ending sprint with Yuma. Loved all of this wrestling. ***1/2
