All Japan Pro Wrestling Super Power Series May 29th 2024

Welcome back to All Japan and we have one heck of a treat for you as we’re going to get the Champion Carnival winner (Kento Miyahara) challenging Yuma Anzai for the Triple Crown Title. Additionally we’re going to get some NWA crossover action as we’re getting an EC3 title defense and a World Tag Title match as well. I can’t wait to see the fantastic talent of Billy Corgan in action.

Natsuki & Nagisa Shiotsuki vs. Marino Saihara & Yui Tenshoku

Background: So these are more AWG wrestlers (the ones Rossy didn’t poach) and they do a pre-match dance and are going to wrestle a bit. Yui is wearing green shorts and a black top with some unnecessary straps between the two, her dyed hair is up in some buns that look kinda like ears, she seems chipper. Marino is shorter, and has shorter hair that’s a much brighter blonde than Yui, she’s wearing red and blue gear with gold tassels on it, she seems chipper. Nagisa is wearing various shades of blue and has one white pant-let and a frilly pseudo-skirt, long brown hair, she seems chipper. Natsuki is wearing peach and white and has black hair in a bob cut, she seems chipper.

The Match: Lockup by Marino and Natsuki that Saihara wins. Natsuki uses speed with a springboard into an armdrag and some dropkicks. Nagisa comes in the Na-Crew pose on the ropes with their opponents in submissions. More double-teams as Natsuki and Nagisa get a legsweep and a nice double elbow drop to keep the pace up. Marino eventually uses her power to throw the more waifish Natsuki around but she gets cocky and Nagisa gets tagged in. Codebreaker from Shiotsuki and some corner chops but more power stuff from Marino and Yui finally comes in. Yui gets some shaky bodyslams as she’s keeping it simple. The Na-Team take over with speed, double teams, and frequent tags. Yui and Natsuki slug it out and call spots until Yui gets an inverted Gory Special (like a Vertebreaker set up) and then Marino gets a backbreaker rack on Nagisa to get the double submission attempt and then Marino slamming Shiotsuki and Yui flipping Natsuki onto her. Yui then throws Natsuki off the top and hits a Falcon Arrow that Nagisa has to break up. Reset to Natsuki and Yui who slug it out but Yui eats a nice high kick coming off the ropes and Natsuki gets a Cutie Special for 3.

**

Not bad at all! Natsuki is clearly the most competent of them all but Marino showed some promise as well. Yui needed her hand held but this wasn’t bad. Yeah it was too choreographed looking and sloppy but they moved at a nice pace.

Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi vs. Shotaro Ashino & Ren Ayabe

Background: So these are three also-rans in the Champion Carnival, and barbarian bear freelance guy Kuma Arashi is here to add some bulk. Hokuto is a scumbag dick-kicking heel, Shotaro and Ren are erstwhile babyface. Omori still has his alternate colored minion ringside in the horse mask.

The Match: Shotaro and Kuma start the match, and apparently they were tag-champs in Wrestle-1 back in the day, huh. Shotaro takes it to the mat and has success there but Kuma tosses him around before Shotaro tries to cover Kuma’s mouth as he roars, this brings in Ayabe who tells Ashino to calm down. Kuma tags in Hokuto and we have a Champion Carnival rematch. Ayabe easily backs Hokuto into the ropes who fires back with strikes, but he goes up, gets caught, and Ayabe press slams Omori across the ring. Shotaro comes in to grind it out, and more quick tags from Ren and Shotaro keep the heat. Ayabe with slams, Ashino with submissions. Omori finally gets a reverse STO to bring in Kuma who hits a big senton and does his roar taunt that Ashino tries to counter with an illegal choke. I’ll be honest this ‘gag’ isn’t really working for me at all. Fun spot as Kuma racks Shotaro and when Ayabe comes to break it up, Kuma tosses Shotaro at Ren. Kuma misses the diving senton though and an European Uppercut and gutwrench suplex let Shotaro tag in Ren who gets the running boots and the flying clothesline. Kuma gets a running crossbody however and in comes Hokuto. Slugfest between Ayabe and Hokuto until Omori reverses Ayabe’s Falcon Arrow attempt to a brainbuster. Kuma and Hokuto put Ren on top for an assisted superplex, but it ends with just Hokuto being powerbombed by Kuma and then Shotaro wrecks Kuma with a big German, full nelson slam and a dropkick from Ren get 2.9 on Omori, and then the spinning Falcon Arrow seals the deal for Ren.

**½

Omori continues to be everybody’s punching bag and Ren did fine. Just a solid if unspectacular tag match with competent work and some cute spots.

Suwama, Mayumi Ozaki, & Maya Yukihi (c) vs. Hideki Suzuki, ZONES, & Chi Chi – AJPW TV Six-Man Tag Team Championship

Background: Yes AJPW has a trios title, no it isn’t very important, yes Suwama is champion along with joshi legend Mayumi Ozaki and freelance troublemaker Maya Yukihi (who are in the same stable in Mayumi’s Oz Academy). Hideki Suzuki is Suwama’s long-time frenemy/tag partner, and ZONES and Chi Chi are part of the Evolution Joshi Pro-Wrestling company that Suwama I believe is connected to. Chi Chi is wearing a pink cowgirl outfit with a sparkling hat and has long blonde hair, ZONES has a nice perm and for the life of me looks like a budget Hiroyo Matsumoto. ZONES has a nice perm and fishnets with a dark singlet/shorts combo. This entrance does give us the incredible visual of grumpy old Hideki Suzuki making his way to the ring as Aqua’s Barbie Girl blasts over the speakers, just marvelous. Mayumi makes her way to the ring with some evil Latin chanting, looking like the mistress of hell herself with a great Karen haircut and a chain in her hand. Maya has black and gold ring gear and has a whip with her.

The Match: The babyface squad discuss who should start the match and the heels jump them so we get Suwama and Suzuki just kind of staring at each other while Ozaki-Gun maul Chi Chi and ZONES outside. Eventually we get Hideki getting Suwama in a manji-gatame and then Chi Chi gets the same on Maya…but Mayumi just walks up and blasts them with a chain to break it. Simple but effective. ZONES and Suwama end up facing each other but the crowd boos heavily when Suwama gets ready to forearm her…so he goes for a powerbomb instead and ZONES backdrops out of it to a big reaction. The faces triple team Suwama for a bit but then Maya comes in to whip them. Chi Chi tags in and boots Suwama around and slaps him until a single Suwama kick knocks her out to massive boos but Ozaki-Gun congratulates him. Ozaki comes in to beat Chi Chi with the chain and stomp her out…and when Suwama contributes the crowd boos like crazy again. Hideki tries to interfere and Ozaki kicks him low and then hangs him with a chain outside the ring. Chi Chi gets a suplex on Mayumi though and we ZONES and Maya in, ZONES uses her power to take over. ZONES gets caught going up though and tossed off the top and Maya’s wicked strikes slow the powerhouse down. Maya goes for a suplex on ZONES and when Mayumi interferes to help she accidentally blasts Maya in the face with the chain instead! The heel miscommunication follows when Suwama gets blasted with Ozaki’s poison mist! Chi Chi gets a missile dropkick! Hideki gets a dropkick! ZONES running lariat on Yukihi! But Maya gets a big kick, uses the ref to dodge a ZONES lariat, and a rolling cradle gets 3.

**¼

I mean, I’m not a huge fan of the intergender stuff but it avoided most of the bad and had some decent things in there.

Post-match Suwama falls over still selling the mist and Chi Chi attacks him.

Kuroshio TOKYO Japan vs. Yuma Aoyagi

Background: So Yuma beat KJT in the Champion Carnival after mocking his entrance and tying him underneath the ring to win by countout and it pissed him off tremendously. Yuma is wearing white trunks and a space themed blazer, Yuma is dressed in the regular, not wearing a blazer to mock Kuro.

The Match: So KJT grabs a chair and tries to ambush Yuma during his entrance but Aoyagi dodges it and beats on Kuroshio outside the ring and gets a DDT on the ring mats and some hard whips into the barricades. Kuro fights back with a boot and slams Yuma’s arm on the barricade and swings a door into it. Well we have a weak point now. They get in the ring now and Kuroshio is just blasting hard kick after hard kick into Yuma’s arm and he is 100% business here, no joking, no smiling, just slamming his opponent’s arm around and going for repeated pinfalls to wear Yuma out. KJT kicks the ropes as he’s angry and fired up, trash talk against Yuma follows as the crowd gets behind The Insidious Fighter. KJT attempts a keylock but can’t lock it in so he tosses Aoyagi outside who milks a 9 count before rolling back in. Back in and it’s more Kuroshio with jacket punches and kicks, but he gets cocky off of an Irish whip and Yuma fires back with the flying forearm. Diving crossbody and an attempt at the End Game follow but KJT makes the ropes. Yuma goes for a German but that opens up his arm to KJT who attacks it again. They trade strikes but Yuma takes over with a backdrop suplex, the Rock Bottom, and a diving elbow, but KJT reverses the pinfall into a cross armbar. Buzzsaw kick from KJT and a wicked smirk sets up another buzzsaw kick and Kuro is just preening here as Yuma is dead on his feet. Low superkick only gets 2 however. But when Yuma comes back he accidentally nails the ref with a dropkick and KJT takes that time to grab a chair, Yuma snatches it but refuses to use it. He then, like an IDIOT, turns back to the ref and we get Kuroshio with a low blow and then he blasts Yuma with the chair and we have a great visual with the seat popping out and Aoyagi being collared by the chair. Kuroshio hides the evidence, he wakes up the ref and we get a running enzuigiri for the win.

***½

Well that was pretty great. Kuroshio was irked by his loss in the tournament and went full bitter heel jerk and brutalized an overconfident Yuma. I imagine this is going to lead to a feud and it’s a good way to keep both these guys busy and expand who they are. Yuma’s been the too-cool-for-school popular kid who jokes around that seeing him get angry and fired up and want vengeance could really help him develop as a performer.

Post-match Kuroshio gets a fired up promo and I don’t understand much but I do hear the words “no DQ” so uh…that’s where we’re going next? Yuma I think accepts.

All Asia Tag Team Championship Prelude: Dan Tamura, Hikaru Sato, Naruki Doi, & Fuminori Abe vs. Rising HAYATO, Seigo Tachibana, MUSASHI, & Seiki Yoshioka

Background: As the title says, I assume this is a prelude for an upcoming All Asia Tag Team Championship (held by Dan and Hikaru) match. Seigo recently beat Dan so I assume he’s one of the challengers but I have no idea who his partner is. The rest are the regular lower-card/junior guys. Hikaru has new gray and black pants that are still disturbingly tight. Oh, and Fuminori Abe is a Big Japan guy who usually teams with the excellent Takuya Nomura in Astronauts. Abe is a hard-edged brawler with black shorts and a buzzcut.

The Match: Dan and MUSASHI lockup to start and MUSASHI wins and gives the clean break. MUSASHI crows for a while before Dan takes him out with a shoulderblock and Seiki comes in against Doi. Seiki uses his super speed for a second but Doi gets a spinebuster and bring in Abe but the double-team gets reversed by Seiki who plays to the crowd before tagging in Seigo. Tachibana hits his gimmick stuff against Abe but Fuminori reverses and now it’s Dan back in to stomp on Seigo. Backbreaker and crab from Tamura but Seigo reaches the ropes but Dan tags in Sato. HIkaru gets some kicks and judo stuff as Tachibana is our aniki in peril. Dan and Hikaru get their double-teams reversed by Seigo though and now it’s Abe and HAYATO in. Slugfest as both guys trade chunky strikes but HAYATO’s advantage sets up his backflip taunt that gets wiped out by Dan…which brings in Seigo to take him out. But Seigo’s tope is tripped up by Doi who double-teams MUSASHI…who reverses that double-team and hits his own tope. Whew. Seiki gets an Asai Moonsualt and then HAYATO comes in with a pescado to wipe everybody out. Double whew. Springboard legdrop bulldog from HAYATO and he mopes before going for the moonsault so Abe dodges it and we get the stiff off. Leg-hook back suplex! Baseball punch! Manji-gatame…with a keylock and HAYATO taps.

**¾

Well it was super fast and everybody did something but I could have stood to have seen more from each. Ultimately this is just about setting up a new challenger for HAYATO though and Abe is great for that.

EC3 (c) vs. Ryuki Honda – NWA World Heavyweight Championship

Background: So EC3 is the NWA champion. I’ll be honest I haven’t seen him in probably a decade but here he is, he’s roided to hell and has some norse style runic tattoos and a blonde frizz on top, he has white trunks with red symbols on them . Ryuki Honda is out with a new theme and his lightning trunks and leather studded vest and if he’s on roids he should sue his dealer. I don’t have much background here cause I have no idea why this match is happening, at all.

The Match: Ryuki and EC3 shake hands and then Ryuki wins the lockup and…we get EC3 smiling like a creep and clapping. Second lockup that EC3 wins and a clean break. Ryuki headlock sets up a Ryuki shoulderblock and EC3 claps again and is that his thing cause it sucks. More clapping but Honda wins the international and shoulder blocks EC3 outside and we get a slow brawl. Ryuki does the truncated version of his illegal choke but when we go back inside EC3 begs off and gets a terrible sneak attack, some terrible corner charges and he’s even messing up stomps but he claps more. Okay, so EC3 is terrible. Bad fistdrop and bad chinlock follow from EC3. Bad backdrop suplex sets up another bad chinlock and this is dreadful. Ryuki gets a backdrop driver and a three bump comeback with some forearms. Bad thesz press from EC3 sets up a bad headlock driver but Ryuki counters with a bad spear. Lariat gets a .75 Jannetty from EC3 and Ryuki sets up the Final Vent but EC3 gets a terrible jump kick. Stiff German from Ryuki, and I mean stiff as in EC3 isn’t very flexible, not that it was hard-hitting. Ryuki rolls EC3 back in and he eats a draping DDT for his idiotic troubles. EC3 sets up a backdrop but he responds with a lariat and then the One Percenter gets only 2.9. A bad double-arm piledriver gets 3 however.

½*

That’s probably even too high. There was no story, EC3 can’t do moves well and Ryuki looked absolutely lazy in the whole process. Just terrible work from all involved and an embarrassing endeavor. I like Honda but my word, he did not try at all here, or if he did try. Eesh.

Saito Brothers (Jun Saito & Rei Saito) (c) vs. The End (Odinson & Parrow) – World Tag Team Championship

Background: Our second NWA crossover as we get the Saito Brothers facing The End. Odisnon has a bleached beard and some white residue around his nose. He has a tattoo on his chest and is a bit more cut than Parrow, who is bigger and has more hair on his head but his beard isn’t as impressive. Saito Brothers remain our beautiful pudgy ex-Sumo cheating gods, wearing leather jackets, draining Japanese craft beer and rocking out to Dokken as they arrogantly come out to the ring and play to the crowd. Jun with the tight chinstrap and Rei with the wild tongue and untamed beard. We got some big boys in this one.

The Match: The End take the Saito Brothers outside and brawl in the crowd. Back inside with Rei and Odinson and a trip from Parrow let the son of Odin take control with knee drops and uppercuts. More double teams from The End follow as Parrow is tossed by Odinson onto Rei. Parrow gets some more stuff and an ugly fallaway slam on Rei as the Saito Brothers are getting mugged. Rei comes back with chops that Parrow responds in turn but Parrow gets a twisting clothesline but the chokeslam is countered and Rei’s goozle slap lets Jun get a cheap shot in and we go to Odinson and Jun who duke it out for a bit before Jun’s spear puts him on top. Jun gets a drop toehold to let Rei get a shot on the apron and then a jackhammer, Jun unleashes the hair and we get Rei in to whomp on Odinson with assisted corner avalanches and a double hiptoss. The End breakup the Doomsday Device however and get a Super Collider to set up their own Doomsday Device on Jun. Rei breaks it up and they double chokeslam Parrow. Goozle slap and lariat from the Brothers lets them set up the Device and the win.

***

This might be a mite high, but we got some clubbering and even some big meaty hoss psychology of sorts, plus the finish with both teams fighting over the Doomsday Device was nice stuff.

Post-match Naruki Doi comes out and seems to join them. Alright then.

Yuma Anzai (c) vs. Kento Miyahara – Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship

Background: The ace of the future, Yuma, versus the ace of the last 10 years, Kento. Miyahara has basically every record for the Triple Crown…except the youngest champion, which Kento was until Yuma won the belt at his crazy young age. This seems to be about Kento proving that he’s still the top dog, he won the Champion Carnival and is the ace of All Japan. Their first 1v1 matchup was a win by Kento but this match has actual stakes and they’ve wrestled a fair amount of tags against each other.

The Match: Ferocious lockup that Yuma eventually wins and gives a reluctant break for. Some standing grappling as they trade headlocks and hammerlocks before a headlock takeover gets the usual and we have a staredown. Kento gets Yuma in the ropes and slaps him out of a break and Anzai fires up, tossing the vet outside and hitting a jumping knee of the apron while clapping with the fans. Yuma gets not much of anything on the outside and eventually eats a whip reversal as he’s tossed into the barricade, and when trying to springboard back eats a boot from Kento who gloats and gets his headbutts and a DDT and Yuma is D-E-D. Back inside and the double low dropkicks keep Kento in control, but Yuma reverses a headbutt into a belly-to-belly and then is off. Corner charge and a double-arm suplex and Yuma goes up…and Kento boots him to the floor. Miyahara can’t get the apron piledriver and Anzai gets an apron Dragon suplex to do a countout tease. Kento struggles to his feet using the ropes and Anzai stalks him…but when Yuma gets the corner strike Kento backs him into the ropes, brushing off Yuma’s strikes and then slugging it out. Eventually we get the punch-drunk selling from Kento and they throw more hands. Yuma drops and Kento starts stomping on him and that lets Anzai fire back and both guys trade suplexes as they rest for the crowd to chant for them both. Kento puts Yuma up top and they fight over a superplex with Yuma teasing a butterfly superplex to the floor. Kento manages to work it though and we get the superplex and then a Blackout Knee in the ropes…but Yuma backflips out of a lariat and gets the standing chinlock (I really wish that submission looked good). Luckily Kento is selling it like he’s being choked out by an anaconda and Miyahara turns purple as he naps in Yuma’s arms. Kento gets the ropebreak and when Yuma goes for the kill Miyahara gets the Kensuke-styled lariat to set up the Shutdown German. Yuma breaks and gets a few jumping knees and the bridging German for 2. Yuma sets up his Gimlet powerbomb but Kento slips out and gets a Blackout and both guys are just laying about while the crowd goes nuts for them. Yuma fires up after a Blackout but still can’t get to his feet and Kento gets another Blackout. The Shutdown is once again blocked and they both knee each other in response in a cute spot. Yuma goes for the GImlet again but Kento slips out and goes for the Shutdown German, Yuma breaks it, gets his own Shutdown German, another knee and the Gimlet for 3.

***¾

Man I wish I thought this was great, but both guys were working squeaky clean babyface and they just ran through their stuff. It was still really good, but I can’t call it great. Even still, Yuma beat the biggest act in All Japan clean as a sheet, so yeah, his era is now. I’m still not sold on Yuma at all, he is good, but I have yet to see him really display that spark of pure potential that tells me he is a top guy that is worthy of all of this outside of his hair, his looks, his school, and his amateur credibility. We’ll see.

And to put a capper on it, we get Ryuki, HAYATO, and Ayabe coming out post-match to pose with Yuma and that seems to be his generational stable.

All in all I wish this show escalated quality throughout the card, but other than EC3, nothing was bad. See you for the next show whenever that is and I hope you all have a wonderful day.