It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that weight classes became standard in combat, so until then I think the little guys just lost all the time. Over a century later, it was different. Some were pro wrestlers. Some traveled the world and returned to Japan where they engineered a new style of wrestling that cycled back to influence the rest of the world. All were called “juniors.”
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi invited juniors from over 20 companies in Japan to Korakuen Hall, where instead of using a tournament format like past junior-only shows (J Cups, J Crown, Differ Cups) he booked the show like he just kept finding random guys in the backstage area and had to send them to the ring. This was the All Star Jr. Festival.
0. Giveaway Match: YOH, Soma Watanabe & Kazuma Sumi vs. Fuminori Abe, Akira Jumonji & Ryo Hoshino
The pre-show alone had talent from six companies: New Japan! GLEAT! DDT! BASARA! JTO! ZERO-ONE! The connections were loose but the wrestling was fun, with Soma (handsome, nice dropkick) and Abe (charismatic, good dragon screw leg whip) standing out. ***
The greatest junior heavyweight ever Jushin Thunder Liger opened the show and introduced Tatsumi Fujinami, who could have been the greatest if the prospect of keeping up with Tiger Mask didn’t scare him into bulking up to heavyweight in 1981. We write facts sometimes.
1. Hiromu Takahashi, AMAKUSA & Fujita “Jr.” Hayato vs. Kazuki Hashimoto, HAYATA & YAMATO
Hiromu booked himself in the opener because he is selfless or maybe unorganized. It was him, AMAKUSA (NOAH’s GHC Jr. Champion) and Hayato (Michinoku Pro) against Hashimoto (BJW), HAYATA (NOAH) and YAMATO (Dragon Gate). Everyone contributed but Hayato (who returned to wrestling after a 4-year absence last year) gave the match a heart and soul, the skinniest guy who insisted on elbow exchanges he probably couldn’t win then refused to quit on them long after that became apparent. The end came after he headbutted Hashimoto (who dominated all match) and collapsed like a deflating inflatable on the lariat Hash threw in retaliation, only to catch Hash in a choke shortly after to win. God bless. ***1/2
2. Isami Kodaka & MAO vs. SHO & Onryo
Onryo was a cult legend 20 years ago and here he was at the Hall playing all his hits, fun cursed ghost wrestler nostalgia if you’re familiar or a fun introduction if not. He respects paranormal kayfabe too, which is why you haven’t seen the Onryo one-man show or been asked to sign-up for an Onryo Patreon subscription. He tagged with SHO (NJPW) against Kodaka (Basara) and MAO (DDT), and MAO just popped: over with the crowd, big springboard plancha, fun exchanges with SHO — and SHO kind of sucks! **3/4
3. Keep it up! Shinjiro Otani 10-Man Tag Match: Tatsuhito Takaiwa, TAKA Michinoku, Minoru Tanaka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Jun Kasai vs. MUSASHI, LEONA, Kota Sekifuda, Shoki Kitamura & Chicharito Shoki
Shinjiro Otani was one of the best New Japan junior heavyweights of the 90s before he joined the heavyweight division in 2001, leaving soon after with Shinya Hashimoto to start ZERO-ONE, where he’s been president since 2007. He continued to wrestle until 2022, when he suffered a spinal injury during a match that left him paralyzed from the neck down. So that’s why this match is called what it’s called. Get well, Shinjiro.
Jun Kasai, who I never really considered a junior but as Korakuen royalty can do what he wants (also he weighs 194 pounds), teamed with four guys who all arguably spent their primes in other places but at some point had a solid run in New Japan (Kanemaru is still having his). They faced five guys from other places: MUSASHI (Michinoku Pro), LEONA (Fujinami’s kid from Dradition), Sekifuda (Big Japan’s Jr. Champ), Kitamura (Z1) and Shoki (2AW).
There was a lot going on here: Kasai and MUSASHI trading headbutts, Tanaka stabbing people with forks and bamboo skewers and his kip-up still having IT. Old man Takaiwa powered through yet another uncomfortable and gratifying finish too, a brainbuster and lariat for 2 then another lariat for 2 and finally a Death Valley Bomb for 3. ***1/4
4. Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikaru Sato & Yumehito Imanari vs. The Great Sasuke, Tigers Mask & Batten x Burabura
Great Sasuke the legend teamed with a guy named Batten x Burabura (DDT) and Tigers Mask, who recently returned to Osaka Pro after wrestling there in the early 2000s in a baseball uniform. Their opponents were Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW), Hikaru Sato (MMA then All Japan), and Yumehito Imanari (Ganbare and DDT). The match… they wrestled with silly jokes. About butts. And crotches. Team Taguchi wore cardigan rompers to the ring, Inamari wrestled in a thong, and eventually Sato got it together to put Batten in a cross armbreaker for the win. **
Rocky Romero showed up on the big screen to announce he was bringing a Jr. Festival show to the United States! Will Batten x Burabura make it to the big show??
5. 3-Way Match: Volador Jr. & El Desperado vs. Yuki Ueno & El Lindaman vs. DOUKI & HANAOKA
Messy, exciting match featuring talent from CMLL, NJPW (twice), DDT, GLEAT and a company called Secret Base. Volador delivered a headscissors takeover so well that it made caused people in the crowd to whistle. Everyone but HANAOKA did a tope, then he lost. ***1/4
6. Fukumen 8-Man Tag Match: Mistico, Gurukun Mask, Billy Ken Kid & Alejandro vs. Atlantis Jr., BUSHI, Black Menso~re & Dragon Kid
Wearing a mask was all you needed to get in this party featuring complex and colorful wrestling masks, lucharesu sequences and career trajectories. Mistico is Mistico, Gurukun Mask owns Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling, Billy Ken Kid was the man in Osaka Pro 20 years ago, Alejando is from NOAH and originally Wrestle-1, Atlantis Jr. is from CMLL the NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Champion, BUSHI is LIJ’s sixth man, Black Menso is from All Japan and a 4x GAORA TV Champion, and Dragon Kid is Dragon Kid. Fun wrestling (they did the row boat spot!) but the journey of this cast of characters alone kept this engaging or at least endearing. ***1/2
7. CIMA vs. Kazuki Hirata
CIMA is a junior heavyweight legend – for achievement, influence, and straight-up hustling. He started with Toryumon, made cameos in peak WCW and evolved with Dragon Gate before becoming an ever-present wrestling power broker who as of this writing is in charge of GLEAT. Korakuen Hall welcomed him with an adulation that had trouble sticking around as he wrestled a very basic match with DDT’s Hirata, though it did rebound when he greeted Magnum TOKYO and Milano Collection AT at ringside and relented on joining the TOKYO dance. Hirata seems pretty good. ***
8. 5-Way Match: Taiji Ishimori vs. Shun Skywalker vs. YO-HEY vs. Ninja Mack vs. Soberano Jr.
Taiji Ishimori found success in NJPW after years of experience in Mexico and NOAH, Shun Skywalker is a big deal in Dragon Gate, YO-HEY and Ninja Mack are from NOAH, and Sobernaro Jr. is from CMLL. Such a mix of wrestling styles in a 5-way match could’ve been a problem, but the match flowed really well and had the most “spots” on a show of junior heavyweights, who usually stand out with their spots. Ninja Mack’s Ninja Special is a special thing. ***1/4
9. Master Wato vs. Atsuki Aoyagi
Wato is New Japan’s blue-haired work-in-progress who trained with the New Japan Dojo, in a secluded forest, and with Hiroyoshi Tenzan. He’s finally – finally!! – putting it together, but still ended up feeling like a side character to the more expressive and pink-haired Atsushi Aoyaki of All Japan, who beat Tiger Mask IV for AJPW’s Jr. Title before dropping it last week to Naruki Doi – probably because he was losing here.
They exchanged elbows and attitude early on before Aoyagi showed off with a handspring backflip out of an Irish whip followed by a high dropkick and Orihara moonsault. He clicked the most though when he mocked Wato’s dumb pose before putting his blue-haired ass in a basic crab hold. Wato eventually rallied into a run of his signature offense, which isn’t great but has improved so so so so SO much since he first returned from excursion a few years ago, wearing blue blue and throwing soft karate kicks amid a pandemic. Good match. Solid main event. Could’ve been better. ***1/2
Happy Thoughts: Similar to the New Japan-adjacent JTO shows in September and December, this was a great time at Korakuen Hall with a bunch of good matches made better with the hot crowd and insane variety surrounding them. 3.75 / 5.0
