Hayato Tamura vs. Jun Saito – Royal Road (Round 1)
Rock-solid exploration of the Dumb Meathead subgenre, better known to wrestling scientists as the Slug Festival. When it comes to All Japan booking outsiders, GLEAT beefcake Hayato Tamura might be one of the most natural fits in a very long time. We are talking about an explosively large man who just bulldozes through people with lariats and shoulderblocks. Brother Jun was a lovely dinner party guest for this fine display of meat consumption, leaning into the savagery and throwing some of the stiffest shots I’ve seen from him. To no one’s surprise, Shin Kiba ate all of this with two spoons, once again confirming its status as the most underappreciated venue in wrestling. ***1/2
Suwama vs. Fuminori Abe – Royal Road (Round 1)
Let’s not pretend like Suwama ending this with the Jumbo Tsuruta dropkick wasn’t one of the greatest finishes of all time, but I still would’ve preferred an actual match here. Considering the quality of Wammer’s Carnival match with fellow Astronaut Takuya Nomura last year, they surely could have cooked up something special.
Kento Miyahara vs. Atsuki Aoyagi – Royal Road (Round 1)
For an Ace vs. Junior Ace match randomly tossed together in the first round of the second biggest tournament of the year, this totally did the trick. Years of 6-man tags and dojo practice sharpened their chemistry to an extremely high degree and now they can probably slap up a match like this in their sleep. The result was never in doubt, but Atsuki’s flippy antics added a spring in the step of Kento’s time-tested formula. After Aoyagi survived a manic beatdown, both guys started breaking the mold and the counters came fast and furious – the highlight being Kento cutting off Atsuki’s signature rollup rampage by deadlifting him into a German suplex. Good stuff. ***1/2
Yuma Aoyagi vs. Ryuki Honda – Royal Road (Round 1)
If you were looking for the perfect encapsulation of the 2023 AJPW house style, then look no further than this match. A well-dosed blend of hilarity and spectacular workrate that further cemented Playground Terror Ryuki Honda as a player in the heavyweight scene. As non-sensical as it seemed on paper, the Honda/Nagata alliance helped your favorite Counting Enthusiast move away from his half-baked heel schtick and brought him back into robust power fighting territory.
Him and Yuma improved on their promising Champ Carnival match in every way, gifting Shin Kiba with a true banger. The pace was frantic, the reversals were ingenious and the ending stretch contained just the right amount of lariat murder. Backed by his new Osamu Suzuki scene and a string of billion-star matches, Honda finally looks primed and ready to reach the end of the Royal Road. ****
