All Japan Pro Wrestling Summer Action Series July 13th 2024

Welcome guys, it’s been a while since I’ve done an All Japan show and we have a nice little one for us here with not one, not two, but THREE title matches. Wow, that’s very exciting for all of us. A not super impressive 958 gate but they’re in Osaka so maybe that’s mitigating? I dunno, I won’t pretend to understand the puro market. Well, enough jibber jabber, let’s get down to it!

Hideki Suzuki & Hikaru Sato vs. Dan Tamura & Ryo Inoue

Background: So Hideki, who just lost a title match to Anzai in the last big show, is teaming with fellow old shooter guy Hikaru Sato against Dan Tamura, who is now rocking a kimono after a visit to his home city in a prior show, and now Ryo, who has modified his KENTA-inspired look with a leather jacket, an earring, longer hair, and a cool goatee. Tamura is technically a stable mate with Hideki and Hikaru, but Evolution is pretty cool with in-fighting.

The Match: Loud reaction for Tamura as he faces off with regular tag-partner Sato. They go to the mat immediately with the stronger Tamura getting the advantage but Hikaru almost gets an armbar. They transition to standup with Sato throwing some kicks but Tamura grounds him again with a headlock. Dan works it for a spell before shooting Hikaru off and getting the shoulder. Hikaru gets an armbar OUTTA NOWHERE though but Tamura overpowers the guy to escape it. Slugfest that Sato wins with a jump kick and in comes Hideki to work an armlock. Oh boy. Ryo immediately pops in to kick Suzuki in the face though and he is just stealing so many of KENTA’s mannerisms it’s hilarious. The distraction lets Dan get a flying shoulder and in comes Ryo to hammer away on Hideki in the corner, get the anticipation dropkick, and then dance his way across the ring afterwards. More styling as Ryo gets a fakeout kick to punk out Suzuki but eventually the vets size is too much and Inoue gets whipped into the corner and caught with a rolling fireman’s carry in a very unconventional move for Hideki. They slug it out and Suzuki wins with a series of body shots with Ryo’s arm trapped. Grounded abdominal stretch is next and Suzuki gets the win.

**

Kind of a weird and self-defeating ending, but Ryo is showing a lot of fire, I mean yeah he’s just stealing KENTA mannerisms, but it turns out arrogant, handsome bad boy who takes it to bigger guys with zero fear is a solid gimmick! Hideki gets the dominant win and we also establish Dan is his tag-partners physical superior. Effective match!

Super Delfin & Super W vs. Flying Penguin & Hirakata Nii-san

Background: So I do know of Super Delfin but I don’t know how much I’ve seen him wrestle, I do know he’s from Osaka however so methinks this is a thing where AJPW uses local indie guys/legends to juice up the show for a local crowd. Hirakata is a small guy with black and pink tights. Penguin is a lady and has a penguin outfit on with a mask and a microphone and I think she has a singing gimmick though the entrance is muted for copyright. Delfin is an older dude with a black mask and a blue robe, W is a younger lady with a weird half and half gear that is a green skirt on one side and white tights on the other. Folks, I am not optimistic about this one.

The Match: W and Hirakata start and do a lockup into a headlock. W gets some weak strikes but one Hirakata shoulder takes her down. More bully heel stuff from Hirakata but W gets a running crossbody. It’s Penguin and Delfin next and we get a headlock and Delfin gets a shoulder and then a lariat out of an international and he’s moving pretty well for an old-guy. Penguin gets a diving crossbody and dropkicks Delfin out of the ring. W can’t stand for this though and runs in to attack Penguin and I guess we have lucha rules here as she’s legal? Or it’s men versus men and women versus women. W stomps on Penguin in the corner and Delfin is back in, snap suplex gets Penguin bouncing across the ring and Delfin follows with a backbreaker and a crab so I guess it isn’t just gender vs. gender. Ropebreak and it’s back in to W and Penguin and Penguin is selling heavily or totally gassed. A nice dropkick off the second turnbuckle by Penguin though lets Hirakata come back in and enzuigiri Delfin and I guess it IS men vs. men? I dunno. Hirakata gets some more kicks and a bulldog to keep up the speed. And then a rock bottom but W breaks it up with a top-rope missile dropkick on Hirakata. Penguin in and she gets a cutter on W and then it all breaks down and Delfin gets a tornado DDT to set up the Delfin Clutch but Hirakata breaks it up…but W gets a diving splash on Penguin for 3 anyway.

*

Well uh…it was not what I expected and maybe it should have been more comedy nonsense than what we got. Delfin moves pretty well for a 57 year old cruiser at least, but the two ladies weren’t great and Hirakata was just there. I honestly would have preferred a comedy match instead of a bizarre half-speed cruiser bout.

Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, MUSASHI, Seigo Tachibana & Seiki Yoshioka vs. Cyrus, Hokuto Omori, Jack Kennedy & Kuma Arashi

Background: So Kuroshio is back to being all babyface again after his Yuma Aoyagi hardcore match. He’s wearing a red jacket with peacock designs and a gigantic novelty orange tie. Seigo is his goofy buddy, but he’s wearing yellow instead of red, but at least has a giant red novelty tie, just like Kuro. MUSASHI and Seiki are All Asia Tag Champs right now and they have silver and white gear plus all their other belts they’re adorned with. Their opponents are a team of monsters, Cyrus the big fat bald American, Kuma, the bear themed Japanese barbarian with the mohawk and the constant screaming of HOOOOOOO that I find tremendously irritating, and Jack Kennedy, a kinda pudgy tall white guy, and they’re lead by their commander, Hokuto Omori, a Japanese KO artist with floppy hair and black military style jacket on as he’s going full HUSTLE Nobuhiko Takada. This might be wacky.

The Match: As Kuroshio does his elaborate entrance he runs across the monsters doing their own entrance…and they surround and stomp on him and we get a big brawl to start in the crowd that just has guys ambling around but it does get over the chaos. Kuma and Cyrus work over Kuroshio and Cyrus threatens the ref who is appalled at this behavior. The heels all grab a limb of Kuro and pick him up in the air and slam him down as we have our ikemen in peril as Jack works him over with chops. We get full Shawn vs. Hogan selling as Kuroshio takes a chop, hits the ground, and then pops up and falls down again.Jack gets a blockbuster slam into the corner and Kuro immediately scrambles away from Cyrus. Kuroshio’s selling is absurdly over the top here as the American does basic stuff on him. KJT dodges the big fat elbow drop though and unleashes the jacket punches! Cyrus stymies him with a big fat belly-to-belly suplex though. Seigo tries to break it up but the babyfaces are still mostly selling fear at the monster opponents. Kuma gets the heat on Kuro but when he goes for a fishhook Kuro gets his own and makes a comeback with a jump kick and a discus jacket punch and in comes MUSASHI with rapid kicks. Seiki comes in for backup when Jack shows up and the Japanese duo get some stereo kicks and do a do-si-do spot and then a double suplex on Kuma. Kuma gets a double clothesline though and in comes Hokuto and Seigo. Seigo gets an inverted atomic drop and some posing as he fires up the crowd. The babyfaces isolate Omori and everybody gets a running move against him but Seigo’s spear is broken up by the monsters. Comedy stuff as Seigo attacks Cyrus who just bellows in response. All the faces fail dropkicks until Seigo’s crossbody is caught and they triple dropkick him to knock over Cyrus. Cute. Kuma wipes them out with a crossbody though and Jack Kennedy gets a shoulderblock. THis lets Omori fly in to attack a weakened Seigo with a brainbuster and then foils more offense with a low blow. Cyrus gets a scoop powerbomb and Hokuto’s frog splash steals the win.

**½

Well it was a lot of comedy nonsense but I thought the comedy was funny. Plus they’re actually establishing this pack of monsters is a real threat with Omori as their wormy leader.

We have an intermission here, so let’s all go to the lobby, let’s all go to the lobby, let’s all go to the lobby, to get ourselves a treat.

Shotaro Ashino & The Bodyguard vs. Ren Ayabe & Ryuki Honda

Background: So Shotaro is a stumpy suplex machine babyface, the Bodyguard is a roided out, bald, tatted dude with sunglasses and baggy pants, he’s y’know…a bodyguard. Ren and Ryuki are both in the new ELPIDA stable where Ren is the super tall dude and Ryuki is a chunky brawler. Theoretically this is face vs. face.

The Match: Bodyguard and Ren start with a lockup that Ayabe wins and gives a clean break before mussing up Bodyguard’s…uh well not hair, but he rubs the dome in a mocking fashion. Bodyguard gets a headlock in response and they work a rather glacial international and Bodyguard gets a spear and Ren a shoulder and we tag out. Ryuki and Ashino work some standing technical stuff and then Honda throws a strike out of a break as this is very…subdued. Shotaro bails to escape the rope choke from Ryuki and they fight on the outside a bit before Honda gets the 1-2-3-4 choke on the barricade as he’s fired up. Back in and Ryuki does more basic stuff and I’m always impressed by how perfect Ashino’s hair is. Ayabe tags in and they slug it out with Shotaro doing a pretty good wobble-leg sell after some forearms as Ren very, very slowly hits his routine and then gets a chinlock. Shotaro makes the ropes though and low dropkick and a corkscrew uppercut lets Bodyguard tag in and he does some kick punchy stuff in the corner. Bodyguard is not exactly a graceful man but Ren at least does a nice bump for a thrust kick as the big guy has his boots on tonight, honestly he might be too generous a bumper. Double shoulderblock from Bodyguard and Ashino into a handshake double-elbow drop but Ayabe gets a body slam OUTTA NOWHERE and now Ryuki is in and he picks the bones with some corner charges but Shotaro gets a standing switch into a German and the ankle lock but Ren breaks it up. A decent double by the ELPIDA guys as Ren gets a Yakuza kick and then whips Shotaro into a Honda spinebuster, and when Bodyguard tries to guard Shotaro’s body we get a nice standing dropkick from Ayabe to take him out. Reset to Honda and Ashino with Ryuki going for the Final Vent, Ashino slipping out and ankle lock attempt, Honda gets a spear and a running lariat for 2.9 though and the Final Vent gets 3.

**¼

Man this match was not a lot of fun, technically fine but just sorta lazy and plodding. Decent finish though with Honda winning clean over a semi-protected talent in Ashino.

Rising HAYATO (c) vs. Naruki Doi – AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship

Background: HAYATO is our noble alternative babyface with his purple flannel outfit, tattoos, gauges, and punk rock attitude. Naruki is an older guy, former Dragongate talent that is now hanging out with the Saito Brothers as Mr. Saito, their adopted cousin I guess. He’s wearing black and red trunks and has a big shiny robe. HAYATO is pretty muscular for a junior and Doi is in good shape too, just smaller but very tan.

The Match: Standing technical stuff to start with both guys being cautious and working a hammerlock before they do some headlock takeover business. HAYATO decides he’s had enough faffing about though and we get a chop and then a headscissors takedown and Noi bails to set up a HAYATO dive but he does the backflip taunt instead. Noi charges in on the kneeling HAYATO but eats a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker as this has been all champ. Doi finally gets something going by getting a low dropkick on HAYATO’s knee during a rope-running sequence and we have our weakspot. Doi works over HAYATO’s knee outside the ring for a bit and then inside the ring with simple stuff, tying the leg in the ropes and dropkicking it. We do get a dragonscrew and then a whacky lucha kneebar thing to keep it going. HAYATO fights off a whip attempt and rolls to set up a dropkick but his bad leg means he can’t take advantage immediately, but a second dropkick and a bulldog sets up a pescado and HAYATO uses the barricade and then the ropes to climb back inside but he misses a springboard and Naruki rolls into a calf-slicer. HAYATO makes the ropes and uses a drop toehold to set up a slingshot DDT and HAYATO can only get offense using the ropes to fling his body around/hold him up it seems. And we get a springboard leg drop next to hammer that home. HAYTO goes for the springboard moonsault but Doi throws him off the ropes in a German suplex/schoolboy combo sorta thing and then they slug it out in the middle of the ring. HAYATO slips out of a fireman’s carry and gets a thrust kick and a leg lariat but Doi fires back with a sloppy Falcon Arrow (he almost dropped him as HAYATO is a good bit bigger than Doi). Doi kicks the knee more and gets a DDT on a kneeling HAYATO to set up the Fireman’s Carry Facebuster into the sliding kick but HAYATO gets another thrust kick and then his own Falcon Arrow, but the bad knee means HAYATO takes too long on the moonsault attempt and Doi gets his knees up and then a la magistral for 2.999 in a great nearfall. Doi gets a brainbuster for 2.8 to follow and Mr. Saito is a bit peeved now. Fireman’s Facebuster and then Doi lands the Bakatare Sliding Kick and that gets 2.999 as Naruki paces around and HAYATO is dead on the ground. Doi pulls the ref off of HAYATO and the young scamp was goldbricking as he gets his Cradle Driver…ro 2.9. That might have been HAYATO’s last trick as he crawls to the ropes and fights to his feet in a pretty marvelous bit of selling, but once again the bad leg has him take too much time on the moonsault and Doi rolls away as HAYATO crashes and burns. Mr. Saito goes in for a figure four and HAYATO small packages him for 2.99! Doi is freaking out but he loads up the Muscular Bomb and HAYATO reverses into a cazadora but that only gets 2.9! HAYATO goes for the B-Driver but Doi gets a sunset flip and the 3!

***¼

I do wish HAYATO sold the knee a bit better at the end of the match, but him needing the ropes to get anything going was a nice story. I do wish the ending was a bit cleaner as Doi takes the B-Driver before he just sunset flips HAYATO but it was a good match. And now the Saitos can potentially have ALL THE GOLD if they retain tonight (well some of the gold). Not super excited about Doi as champion but he’s absolutely, totally fine and he can transition to…somebody.

The Saito Brothers (Jun Saito & Rei Saito) (c) vs. Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi – AJPW World Tag Team Championships

Background: So the Saito Brothers have added Naruki Doi as Mr. Saito who just won the juniors title and are looking to continue their domination. As further history, the Saito Bros actually won their first tag championships FROM Kento and Yuma back when they were in Zen Nisshin Jidai, which is a stable I’m not sure still exists as the babyfaces broke off to form ELPIDA, so I’m just going to call them Kento and Yuma. Anyway, you have the heel bruiser tag-team versus the venerated and prestigious babyface vets who have won the titles many times. Kento and Yuma also beat the Saito Brothers in the World’s Strongest Tag Determination League so we have beef. Also Kento and Jun met in the Champion Carnival finals with Kento winning so yeah, beef is officially the meal of the day.

The Match: Jun and Kento start and the crowd chants for Saito and Miyahara looks miffed and Jun looks smug. Lockup, Jun wins but Kento reverses him into the ropes and gives a very reluctant clean break…and then Jun throws a dirty knee off the ropes and we do an international into a Kento big boot and we reset back to a staring contest. Another clash of titans lockup and Jun takes Kento to the ropes and gives a dirty shot in the ropes again but Kento takes him down with a drop toehold and in comes Yuma for a double team. Aoyagi takes over a bit with some run and gun stuff but we get Jun with a drop toehold (?!) and Rei with a cheap shot on the outside and now we’re in full brawl mode as they whip each other into the barricade and all that hoopla. Kento takes a monster bump as he somersaults over the barricade on a whip and it’s back in for Jun to beat on Yuma as Kento acts like his insides got turned into mush on the outside. Rei finally comes in and does some rabbit punches on Yuma in the corner and then a big fat body slam on Yuma. More simple heel stuff as Jun steps on Yuma and uses the ropes to increase the pressure, and then Rei does the same! My goodness Yuma is getting squashed like a bug! Yuma tries to fight back but the Saito Brothers beat on him in the corner as Kento is stuck arguing with the ref about the cheating! But Yuma ducks a double team and the Saito Bros run into each other and in comes Kento! Dropkick combo and a pose on Jun. It doesn’t last long though cause Jun outbrawls Kento and takes him down a boot and in comes Rei to do the corner chops and he licks his hand and then hits the machinegun chops in the corner after a bit of Kento goofiness. Rei loads up a piledriver and they get a good thirty seconds fighting over that before Kento backdrops out, but Miyahara is exhausted and can’t take advantage so they slug it out with Rei getting some gorgeous sounding chops on Kento’s chest. Kento gets the Blackout Knee! But a running crossbody from Rei leads to a doubledown and we get the hot tag. Jun and Yuma slug it out with Jun getting a few shoulders and then a Yakuza Kick to set up a delayed brainbuster and then Jun…unleashes the ponytail to a big pop. Jun loads up the chokeslam but Yuma escapes and dropkicks the big guy, Kento comes in and the babyfaces double-team Jun with quick moves and a Yuma diving crossbody gets 2.8 before Rei comes in to knock everybody down and load up the Doomsday Device but Yuma slips out dropkicks Rei out of the ring and tries to superplex Jun…who knocks Yuma off the top but Kento pops up to complete the move. Rei back in to wreck shop but we get a Rock Bottom from Aoyagi to put the wildman down. Reset to a Yuma/Jun slugfest and Yuma reverses a brainbuster into the End Game choke but Jun fights out with rabbit punches and we get a double chokeslam on Yuma for 2.9. That was a nice sequence. Rei picks up Yuma again for the Doomsday Device but Yuma ducks the flying lariat and German Suplexes Rei! Jun gets wiped out with a Blackout Knee from Kento and now Miyahara is desperately trying to fire up his partner, even slapping the man across the face to get that fighting spirit up and going. And Yuma/Kento manage their spin kick/Blackout Knee combo for 2. Rockstar Buster for 2.9! But Yuma can’t get The Fool to land and Rei gets a goozle slap to set up a Jun lariat! Kento with the Blackout Knee but Rei gets the Pig Knuckle! This has broken down and it’s a lot of fun. Rei goes for the Doomsday Device again and this time they land it and the pin is academic on Yuma.

****

Just a really fun classic tag-team match with plenty of goofiness and a rock solid formula. I know the slow pacing isn’t for everybody but it setting the stage to ramp up to a chaotic finish is wild as the Saito Brothers prove that they run the tag-division right now. This isn’t the BEST AJPW tag-match but if you want a demonstration of why I like the company so much this is a great introduction to some of their bigger stars.

Post-match Saito Brothers pose and cut a promo while Naruki Doi comes out with a grocery bag and he hands them goodies. Rei demolishes a beer while Jun eats some sorta pastry I think. All is good in Saito Land though as they celebrate in the ring.

Yuma Anzai (c) vs. Suwama – Triple Crown Championship

Background: Yuma is the new ace of All Japan, the handsome, tall, amateur wrestling prodigy who came from the prestigious Chuo University, the same university that Jumbo Tsuruta went to, and the same university Suwama went to. Suwama has been a mentor, trainer, and role model for Yuma outside of the ring and this is a pretty clear passing the torch moment. Meanwhile, while Suwama does have his legit wrestling background, he also has spent a lot of time as a gnarly, cheating, heel jerk, so there’s also the undercurrent that maybe Suwama pulls back and digs into his bag of evil tricks to put the young upstart in his place. Suwama is a big burly guy with half his hair dyed blonde and black trunks with blue lettering on them. Yuma is leaner but around as tall and has black tights that look like they’re cut from strips of different materials and great, classic movie star hair. Suwama has also had a meta-story where he’s continually being outshined by younger, stronger, fitter opponents, so facing a guy who is a younger version of himself allows the man to grapple with his own mortality…and suplex the bejesus out of it.

The Match: Lockup and Yuma wins and gives a clean break and then a scrambling mat series that ends in a draw but Yuma looks a bit stronger in. Another lockup takes Suwama into the ropes and Yuma gets the cheapshot! And Suwma is like “lets get it on” and they slug it out. Suwama then…gets an enzuigiri (?!) and a DDT as the old vet has learned a few new tricks. They go outside and Suwama whoops on him a bit before Yuma vaults over the barricade and comes back with a springboard forearm. Back inside with Yuma in control but Suwama ducks a flying knee and gets his choke sleeper for a bit and Anzai is weakened. Yuma is placed in the tree of woe and choked there, and Suwama works over the back of Yuma’s head with some knee drops, even using the ropes to get some elevation. Yuma fires back a bit but a double chop drops the rookie and we get a nice jumping elbowdrop as Suwama really is trying out some new stuff here. Suwama works a guillotine next as he’s zeroing in on the champ’s neck and we add some bodyscissors so we can choke out Anzai on the mat. Back to standing and Suwama gets a crisp clothesline and some chops as Anzai is rubber-legged and needs the ropes to stand. Belly-to-belly by Suwama and this heat segment is definitely…methodical. Yuma finally comes back with a missile dropkick, corner splash, and his own belly-to-belly to set up a dropkick but Suwama ducks a clothesline and gets a leaping shoulderblock and loads up the powerbomb. Yuma backdrops out and they reset to a slugfest that Suwama wins and gets a German Suplex…but then Yuma gets his own German suplex and they both pop up and trade Germans before they collapse and we have a double down. They slowly go to their feet and continue the slugfest with Suwama dropping to his knees but when Yuma goes for a knee strike Suwama catches it and gets an Exploder on the champ and then a German suplex to set up a spinning lariat for 2.8. Yuma gets a knee to counter a backdrop driver and this his double-arm suplex sets up his kneeling crossface (that beat Suwama in the Carnival so points for continuity!). Suwama makes the ropes but Yuma wipes him out with the jumping knee and then a gorgeous bridging German and then he cranks the chinlock back on. Suwama doesn’t tap but he almost passes out and Yuma gets two pin attempts on him but the veteran still can kick out. Yuma loads up the Gimlet powerbomb but Suwama slips out and gets the backdrop driver and after regaining his breath Suwama gets a monster lariat and another backdrop driver…and then ANOTHER backdrop driver, and Suwama signals for a third but it still only gets 2.99. Suwama sets up the Last Ride but Yuma hops out and counters a lariat with a knee and then lands a German and another knee but that’s still not enough. Four knees, with the last one having Yuma expose the kneecap sets up Yuma’s own backdrop driver and THAT finishes Suwama.

***½

Well basically a perfect passing the torch moment and as clean of a win as you can get. Yuma uses the Jumbo Knee and then a backdrop driver to be the new inheritor of Jumbo’s legacy, the new champion of Chuo University. This is Yuma’s world now, and Suwama’s time seems finally over.

Post-match Yuma poses and cuts a promo and we get Ryuki Honda coming out to the ring. Honda is not only a stablemate of Yuma in ELPIDA but they’re also pretty long-time tag partners so this has some meat behind it. It is also important to remember that Honda beat Yuma in the Champion Carnival so this isn’t just “I want to wrestle my friend for the belt” there is a loss to set it up. We get some talking and the match seems to be on with no aggression shown between them.

Overall this was a very solid show and the youth movement of All Japan continues to be strong and notable, with no faces being elevated, they’re not getting rid of all their vets, but it’s clear that the future is now for them. If you want to check out the show the link for it is here.