All Japan Pro Wrestling: Summer Action Series 7-20-24

Welcome back! I’m going to be pretty busy with NOAH reviews soon but I wanted to leave us with another All Japan review before we left, we’re in Korakuen Hall with 1341 in the building, which is honestly pretty dang good for them and I’m excited. We have a title match and a number one contender match for the Triple Crown as well so it’s going to be exciting times indeed.

We start with some of the AWG talent coming out to the ring to dance and I will say while most of their workers are uh…not good, they mostly seem to be pretty decent dancers and I don’t mind this as a sort of cheerleading introduction to a wrestling card, it’s creative at least. That said, Act Yasukawa seems pretty dang checked out through the whole process which I guess fits the gimmick.

Kyoka Iwai & Yufa vs. Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki

Background: Yufa has pangs and a ponytail braided with a blue rope or something, she has glitter on her cheeks and a pretty wild entrance getup that involves a psychedelic looking robe, her gear is a sort of raver getup with fishnets and a black skirt and a half shirt in a rainbow tie-dye style. Kyoka has platinum hair and a half-demon mask and more traditional looking robes, her gear is red pants with asymmetrical black leggings and a black top. Shiotsuki is wearing the blue and white half-pants getup and is as chipper as ever, Natsuki is in the peach and white with a skirt and a black bob and is also chipper, though less than Nagisa.

The Match: Yufa and Natsuki start and Yufa taunts Nagisa on the apron to establish she’s the heel and they do a wristlock sequence into a hammerlock as they are very much keeping it simple here. Headscissors from Yufa who taunts and poses while Natsuki writhes in pain but Yufa is so invested in her posing that she misses that Natsuki slips out and the raver gets bodyslammed. Babyfaces do some double-teams that are pretty basic, the two of them pose while choking Yufa in the corner and then Kyoka strolls in to break it up and gets a double-stunner and now the heels work Natsuki over in the corner with, yet again, simple stuff. Kyoka grinds Natsuki’s face across the ropes and gets a bulldog but the orange assassin (no idea if that’s her nickname but I’m spitballing here) dropkicks her and then Nagisa comes in and immediately attempts a…sasori-gatame? That gets broken up but she continues to whoop on Iwai with a dropkick and then a backstabber. Kyoka eventually recovers with a headlock but they then do an awkward whip reversal sequence and the heels get Shiotsuki in the corner and work her over. Nagisa comes back with a…double chop and that’s enough for a Natsuki hot tag. Dropkick! Corner knee! Shoot kicks to the back! But Kyoka just tanks it and throws her down as I realized she’s supposed to be some sort of monster heel. Russian legsweep from Kyoka but Natsuki gets a keylock STO into a bridging armbar choke thing but it gets broken up. Another jumping knee from Natsuki gets 2.8. Kyoka no-sells it all though and gets a loose Death Valley Driver and in comes Yufa to get a series of springboard stomps in the corner and then some body slams as she continues to pose and taunt after every move. Yufa goes up but Natsuki takes her down but gets caught on the ropes as Kyoka takes out her knee. Yufa comes in with a…straitjacket Bubba Bomb? She had the straitjacket choke on and then sat down, which I guess drove Natsuki down onto her butt but it just looked like somebody sitting down. Anyway Natsuki gets a Blizzard Suplex next but that only gets 2.7 and in comes Nagisa. Weak forearm battle and then some bad chops next and they trade dropkicks. This match has thoroughly gone past the peak now. Shiotsuki maneuvers Yufa into a really sloppy sasori-gatame but Kyoka breaks it up as this match must continue. Yufa gets a horrible rollup next and they trade pin attempts. Shiotsuki gets a codebreaker and then a La Magistral bomb but that doesn’t finish as this match can’t end. Now Yufa hits the straitjacket bomb as its supposed to be hit as Nagisa goes down for a back bump but Natsuki breaks that up, Kyoka gets a stunner, Natsuki gets a high kick and hangs Yufa in the ropes for a diving double chop from Shiotsuki to set up a Blue Thunder Bomb for 3.

¾*

Man Yufa had some idea how to play an arrogant raver but she was so horrible in the ring it was unbelievable, stumbling through rollups and barely being able to stand upright. Natsuki I think might be okay and Nagisa is fine on a relative level, but man this was rough. Kyoka I think is super green so I don’t want to be too harsh on her but she had no idea of what her character was. Is she a monster who no-sells, a brawler, just a generic cheating heel? No sense of what her gimmick was. Bad, bad, bad match that also went on WAY too long.

MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka (c) vs. “Mister Saito” Naruki Doi & “Senor Saito” MAZADA – All Asia Tag Team Championship

Background: MUSASHI and Seiki are the high-flying, classical junior champions of the belts who just won them. Naruki is of course the new member of the Saito Brothers who just won the AJPW Junior Heavyweight Championship and now he’s bringing in hardcore, deathmatch ‘legend’ MAZADA as Mister Saito to win some more gold for the Saito Family. MUSASHI has his cool white and black woodblock patterned tights, Seiki is wearing his silver pants while being VERY jacked, and the heels are Doi in dark red trunks and MAZADA in a mask, red shorts, and long stringy hair.

The Match: Doi and Seiki start the match, they circle and then we get the lockup that Seiki wins, and Yoshioka wins the standing switch and headlock takeover deal as well. Seiki tags in MUSASHI but Noi distracts the ref and Senor Saito whips him with a cord and the heels take over, MUSASHI fires back forearms but Senor takes a flat bump off of one…and moves his leg up which lets him get an inadvertently intentional low blow that the ref warns him about. Hrm, that’s half-clever. We get a bit more testicular torture and then Senor Saito does some rope choking that is very slow. Doi comes in to move the pace from glacial and we get some simple double-teams as Seiki is chomping at the bit on the apron. MUSASHI misses an enzuigiri but comes back with a dropkick and we get the…not as hot as I’d hope tag for Seiki. Yoshioka does the “run the ropes super fast into a kick” spot and then fires away with a flurry of kicks on Doi. Mister Saito tries to get a deep schoolboy to buy time but that just sets up a lightning fast Seiki enzuigiri, the axe kick is avoided with a Naruki fireman’s carry facebuster but Seiki pops up and gets the axe kick and they both tag out and now it’s Senor Saito and MUSASHI! MUSASHI gets his own, slower kick combo and an exploder suplex but MAZADA blocks a whip by hooking his arm around the rope as the crowd laughs. We do get a whip spot after MAZADA whines about his mask being pulled and he gets a back elbow into a DDT that almost looks good. A MAZADA armdrag sets up a chinlock into a twisting reverse STO and then a lariat as he’s kinda eating up MUSASHI here. Doi comes in and then both Saito’s do eye gouges as they take forever to set up a “whip both opponents at each other” spot, with the first time MUSASHI and Seiki doing a combat roll/leapfrog, but when the babyfaces reverse it Doi and MAZADA just walk slowly at each other and give a thumb’s up. I uh…do not know why this match has this much comedy in it. On a second try however the Saito’s get whipped and belly bump each other. Faces work over MAZADA with an attempt at speedy doubles but Senor Saito is moving in quicksand here. MUSASHI goes up and gets his splash cutoff, but hits it after a delay while MAZADA gets the knees up. Senton bomb from Doi! Fireman’s facebuste from Doi! German Suplex from MAZADA while Doi kicks MUSASHI! Sloppy, sloppy Fisherman’s Driver from MAZADA on MUSASHI but Doi breaks it up. Argentine Rack Facebuster from MAZADA and that only gets 2.9! The heels double Seiki but he breaks it up and gets a tornado DDT on Doi while kicking MAZADA in the face! Lifting knee strike on MAZADA! Running elbow from MUSASHI into a double low thrust kick, into two separate superkicks, into a double superkick on MAZADA before MUSASHI gets the Falcon Arrow…for 2.9. MUSASHI gets the over-the-shoulder running Emerald Flowsion, Asai Moonsault from Seiki on Doi and MUSASHI gets a frog splash for the win.

**¼

Well the finish was pretty nice, but man it had a lot of weird, dumb comedy before then. I gather MAZADA can’t do much, but it was totally incongruous with a traditional tag match (and the structure was there, cheating heels working over MUSASHI until Seiki can be the spark plug and fire up the match with his offense) but the heat was undercut but the weird comedy. Still, three outta four guys are fine to very good so the match wasn’t totally bad, just…why MAZADA, why?

Post-match the babyfaces hug and jump into each others arms and they all talk some noise and I think MUSASHI wants to challenge Doi for the Junior title and I think some guy approves it.

Aizawa NO. 1, Cyrus, Hokuto Omori, Jack Kennedy & Kuma Arashi vs. Hideki Suzuki, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Ryo Inoue, Seigo Tachibana & Shotaro Ashino

Background: Oh boy we got a lot here. So the heel squad is Omori (who is now dressed as Nobuhiko Takada in HUSTLE) who has created some monster army for himself. The monsters are portly bear-themed barbarian man Kuma Arashi, tall, kinda flabby white guy Jack Kennedy, big, bald, fat tattooed Cyrus the Destroyer, and Aizawa NO. 1, who I have seen before but I can’t remember besides him dressing like an anime character and having ridiculous hair. The faces are grumpy, tall, Billy Robinson disciple Hideki Suzuki, eternal bundle of energy Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, in a yellow blazer and matching trunks who dances through the crowd to start his matches, his long-suffering mobster tag-team partner, Seigo Tachibana, burly suplex machine Shotaro Ashino, and rookie junior Ryo Inoue, who recently got his first hard rock album and has grown a goatee and gotten a stud in his ear to accompany his leather jacket as he’s a tough guy now, MOM!

The Match: In a funny spot, the heels pop out of the crowd during KJT’s entrance dance and surround him while Kuro gets increasingly nervous before they beat him down, and Aizawa is demolishing a bottle of champagne while Hokuto brawls with KJT and the rest of it all breaks down in the crowd. Cyrus slowly sneaks up behind a worried Seigo who is waiting in the ring, and KJT yells out a warning to him that he of course does not heed, Seigo does some pretty classic vaudeville bits where he looks behind him, see Cyrus and then looks ahead so he can keep ignoring him, but afterwards The Destroyer uh…does something violent and aggressive in a non-constructive manner to Seigo (we need a pithier word for that). Cyrus gets three military presses before dropping Tachibana and buttdrops him off the ropes. Cyrus drags Seigo to the ropes and Jack Kennedy comes in with a fallaway slam and the heels wipe out the babyface corner. The four monsters grab a limb of Seigo and Omoro conducts them into lifting and slamming them before they all salute him. Kuma Arashi in next but he misses a senton and in comes Shotaro to Karelin lift Kuma. Shotaro can’t get the German suplex though and everybody runs in and does a headlock on each other…with Hideki running in to headlock his own partner but Cyrus knocks everybody down…and Kuma tries a diving senton on everybody but they all roll away. Ryo vs. Aizawa as Inoue styles and profiles but gets tripped by Omori as Aizawa has literally done no offense in this match. Hokuto is stuck on the top rope and Seigo/KJT try to superplex him but Cyrus gets a double powerbomb…and Hokuto still hasn’t left the top rope until he does a double missile dropkick on Shotaro and Hideki. Ryo is the punching bag now as all the members of uh…Omori-Gun demolish him in the corner. Aizawa finally gets offense when he loads up a running lariat on Ryo but the faces break it up.Aizawa can’t get a backdrop suplex, but he does get a superkick…but Ryo gets a gamengiri and a rolling savate kick to set up a leg-hook backdrop suplex for 3.

**

Well, this was mostly all silly nonsense that I am fine with, but there also just isn’t very much match to this match, I actually was liking it more than the first match but the ending just wasn’t substantial enough for me to recommend. Still, it was an enjoyable enough time and I’m enjoying Hokuto Omori’s monster army getting more and more elaborate in their team offense.

Post-match they squabble and Cyrus kidnaps a young boy and slams him on outside mats as Omori stares down Ryo. Speaking of, Ryo has a pretty incredible Van Halen-ripoff shrieking guitar theme.

Dan Tamura, Suwama & Takao Omori vs. Saito Brothers (Jun Saito & Rei Saito) & Masanobu Fuchi – Kyohei Wada 50th Anniversary Commemorative Match

Background: Suwama is a big burly guy who is coming off a loss to the champ and seems to be finding his footing, Tamura is his burly but much smaller stablemate in Evolution, and Omori is another big guy but he’s past his prime and mostly doing spots in six-mans like this. Saito Brothers are the top heels in the company and current tag champs, and Masanobu Fuchi is the 70 year old guy who still wrestles once in a while for important moments, and this moment is important as it is the 50th anniversary for long-time ref Kyohei Wada, bald, cantankerous, and absolutely willing to shut down cheating heels when he sees it, he’s been in AJPW FOREVER and it’s nice to see him get a bit of love from the company.

The Match: Omori and Jun start and the crowd is hot for Omori. International to start and Jun wins the shoulderblock war and both guys miss elbow drops. Tamura and Rei in next and Dan cranks in a headlock and then gets some elbows to Rei’s head before Suwama comes in with his own shoulders that go nowhere so he throws a lariat instead. Rei gets him off the ropes though and in comes Fuchi with a dropkick! Masanobu attempts a backdrop driver but Suwama breaks and gets his choke sleeper to MASSIVE boos. But Suwam’s positioning slips and it stops being a blood choke and Wada demands the hold be broken! Suwama tries his own backdrop driver on Fuchi and the Saito Brothers keep trying to break it up. Fuchi gets an eye gouge though as Wada conveniently looks away and then a bodyslam on Suwama! And a second one! Tamura comes in and Fuchi gets the headlock punch! And then Omori comes in and Fuchi gets the headlock punch! And a tremendous time was had by all. Saito Brothers hold Omori in position though for a Fuchi dropkick and I think the vet might be gassed. Tamura in next and he’s flying around the ring at Rei, trying to knock the big guy off his feet, Dan eventually backdrops out of a piledriver attempt and hammers away but Rei gets the goozle slap and Jun comes in for some double teams. And Fuchi, who is literally sitting on the apron he’s so tired gets beckoned to come inside…and gets a backdrop driver on Tamura! Babyfaces break up the pin but Rei gets a chokeslam anyway and that’s it.

**½

Just a match but the Fuchi spots and the crowd being crazy for him was super, super fun, plus the tag champs dominantly won a tag match against a guy in a different weight class.

Post-match the Saito Bros shake Fuchi’s hand and seem super geeked to be teaming with him. And then they play Take My Breath Away for Kyohei Wada as they come out and give him his flowers. Also I realized that Fuchi’s theme song was Danger Zone so I guess Top Gun was a very influential movie for the 80s All Japan locker room. And we get Masao Inoue here who looks absolutely horrible as he limps to the ring. We get some people talking and thanking Wada (I assume!) and it’s all very sweet and wholesome.

Yuma Aoyagi vs. Ren Ayabe – Triple Crown Championship #1 Contendership Match

Background: Yuma and Ren are both babyfaces without any specific beef with each other, but Ren is part of the new ELPIDA stable of young guns and Yuma is in the prior generation, they’ve wrestled but there’s nothing heated here other than trying to prove if it’s their time (Ren) or his run as champ wasn’t a flash in the pan (Yuma).

The Match: Lockup and Ren wins but gives the clean if disrespectful break. Repeat it and Ayabe musses the hair so Yuma gets a boot and loads up the international and eats a shoulder. Ayabe keeps up the dominance when he counters a Yuma missile dropkick attempt with his own dropkick (hitting the top turnbuckle, impressive!) and Aoyagi takes a spill to the outside, Ren follows and tosses Yuma around, throwing him into barricades and slamming him on the apron as the ELPIDA guy plays to the crowd. Ren gets one last whip into the barricades on Yuma and then relaxes in the ring as he goes for the countout. Ayabe is wrestling VERY heelish here and he shrugs off Yuma’s offense as the vet tries to fire back. Ren gets a huge back body drop and then a crab as he keeps the abuse going. Ropebreak and Yuma again tries to get his missile dropkick out of the corner but Ren sidesteps it and waves it off. Flying forearm from Yuma gets him a bit of space though and Aoyagi gets a diving crossbody into the End Game choke but Ayabe uses his long legs to get the break. Yuma goes up AGAIN and Ayabe cuts him off and does the Flair toss off the top and then a Yakuza kick. Flying clothesline from Ren cuts off another rally and he loads up the full nelson but Yuma slips out into a victory roll but Ren escapes and gets another big boot…but Yuma gets the Rock Bottom and he limps to the corner, they fight over a brainbuster and Yuma transitions to an inside cradle…and then back to the End Game but Ren fights is way out only to end up right back in it. But this time Ren breaks it with a brainbuster and then gets a standing dropkick. Bridging dragon suplex by Ren who signals for the end with his Tornado Crusher but Yuma rolls through and goes BACK to the End Game and Ren tries to break it again but can’t and he’s out.

***

Well this is definitely one of the better Ren matches and a good demonstration of what he can do, namely use his size in an interesting and dominant way, and of course Yuma is a really versatile and interesting worker who can beat guys in a bunch of different ways depending on what makes the most sense for the match, just a really versatile and engaging talent to watch.

Kento Miyahara vs. Rising HAYATO – NEXTREAM Goodbye Match

Background: So NEXTREAM was the big babyface stable before ELPIDA that was run by Kento and had Rising HAYATO in it. HAYATO eventually left to do his own thing and has subsequently teamed with Kento again, but I guess now that HAYATO is in the new hot young babyface stable Kento is feeling some sorta way and wants to have that graduation moment with Rising to resolve whatever was in the past. Kento of course is the Best of the Best and HAYATO is a punk rock junior with tattoos and dyed hair.

The Match: Lockup to start with Kento getting the advantage and giving a clean break. Some standing technical stuff next but HAYATO has had enough and gets the overhand chop and a tilt-a-whirl headscissors to send Kento outside and we get the fakeout dive into the backflip taunt. But Kento dodges the pescado and HAYATO kersplats on the mats outside and Miyahara whips him into the barricade and then drops him rib first on the same. Headbutts follow from Kento as he mouths at the crowd and the ref and that lets HAYATO get some more chops but Kento gets another headbutt to put the junior down. Back in and Kento uses the ring post to abuse HAYATO some more. HAYATO tries to fire back up again but Kento gets the roll into the low dropkick and then the standing dropkick as I’m always amazed how he can use his routine to play babyface or heel without really changing much at all. HAYATO finally comes back with his own combat roll into a running dropkick, and then a John Woo into the corner and a bulldog to set up a springboard plancha. Back in and HAYATO tries a springboard…and Kento just boots him out of mid-air. Blackout into the ropes but HAYATO gets a drop toehold on a second one, slingshot DDT, and then the springboard leg drop. The lionsault is missed though as Kento rolls away and gets another knee but HAYATO reverses a suplex into a falcon arrow…but his second moonsault attempt is cutoff and HAYATO is suplexed back into the ring. Kento goes for the Shutdown German but HAYATO slips out and gets a dropkick but Kento’s Blakcout shuts down that flurry. Second Shutdown German attempt but HAYATO gets a victory roll and then a pair of thrust kicks, another Kento Blackout breaks that up but HAYATO comes back with his cradle tombstone. Third moonsault attempt eats knees and Kento gets a quick O’Connor Roll into the reverse Japanese cradle and that’s enough for 3.

***½

Not as good as it could have been with more time, but Kento playing bully heel but still being flummoxed by HAYATO’s speed and resilience, and it was Kento’s veteran savvy that squeezed out a win and not just him ragdolling a smaller guy.

Post-match and HAYATO thanks Kento for the match and promises to be a champion again. Kento seems a bit put off by this and he unveils his new shirt…which is just a generic All Japan Pro Wrestling shirt and given he yells out Hontai I think he’s given up on stables and is just going to be a devoted AJPW roster member. He also yells out Davey Boy Smith Jr. a lot, so that’s either a match or a tag-team coming up.

Yuma Anzai (c) vs. Ryuki Honda – Triple Crown Championship

Background: Best friends, tag-team partners, stablemates, total stylistic opposites. Yuma Anzai, champion, current ace, the Prince of Ring, he’s a clean amateur wrestler with babyface fire and movie star looks, Ryuki Honda is a chubby brawler with wild hair, metal spikes on his gear, and is apparently Alive A Life (dunno what that means) but Honda will cheat, brawl, and beg to the refs. This came about not just because they’re friends and Yuma wants to give him a title shot, but because Honda actually pinned Anzai in the Champion Carnival and he needs to avenge that loss (he only has one left to avenge after this one with Rei Saito).

The Match: Ryuki Honda debuts a new look here, with red gear and dyed red hair and a silver half-skull mask. Lockup that Ryuki wins and he breaks with no drama. Little standing grappling next and we get a standstill. They slam into each other and slug it out a bit before Honda wins the shoulderblock war and then gets a lariat to force Yuma to powder. Slugfest on the floor but Yuma vaults a barricade on a whip and comes back with a springboard forearm but Ryuki catches it and gets an exploder on the mats outside. Nice! Back inside and we get Ryuki’s 1-2-3-4 rope choke and Wada is staring him down and giving him the business. We get a slow count from Wada next. This lets Anzai gets a low-bridge to send Honda outside and a knee off the apron. Yuma gets the better of Honda outside and gets another knee to Honda who is hanging off the ring apron that the camera completely exposes as missing his head. Thanks guys. Belly-to-belly out of the corner and then Yuma cranks on a chinlock. Honda manages to reverse a brainbuster though and both guys are selling. Honda gets a spinebuster and a camel clutch, Yuma breaks and gets a dropkick before going up…but Honda fires up and cuts him off and we fight on the top turnbuckle a little bit and both fall off. Yuma tries a springboard though and Honda cuts him off again and Anzai crashes and burns on the outside. They tease a count out but Yuma goes back and they duke it out on the apron with Honda going for a German…but Yuma reverses and gets a Dragon Suplex that seems to wipe both of them out. Back in and they fight more with them trading suplexes and popping up afterwards a few times but when they go for strikes they just collapse in stereo, okay that’s a better payoff than general to that spot. Both guys get back to their feet as they’re dripping sweat here. Slow slugfest but Honda goes for a lariat…and Yuma flips over it to set up his butterfly suplex but Honda breaks that and lariats down the champ anyway. Running lariat from Ryuki gets 2.99! Honda sets up the Final Vent but Yuma slips out, knees Ryuki in the back of the head and gets a Dragon Suplex and then another jumping knee! Honda can’t make his feet as Yuma stalks his friend for the kill. Honda falls out of the Gimlet and can’t even run for a whip but when Yuma goes in for a flying knee Honda catches him for the Final Vent for a very close 2.999. Second Final Vent is attempted and evaded, Yuma’s knee is dodged, Yuma gets a German though but Honda pops up for a lariat! Yuma fires back with a knee and Honda kicks out at 1. A bridging German from Yuma does a little better but Honda muscles out. Yuma attempts another GImlet but Honda fires back with slaps, but Anzai gets a headbutt and then he lands the Gimlet and that’s 3.

***¾

The final stretch really helped the match, with Honda showing a ton of fire and Yuma showing some grit that he’s somewhat lacked in his title run by needing to use a headbutt to put down his partner, a man who he overmatches in talent but perhaps not heart. I’m still not sure either are great workers but they’re both still so young and I think they’ll get there.

Post-match Yuma shows love to Ryuki and then Rei Saito comes out as the next guy to challenge for the belt as he beat Yuma in the Carnival and hasn’t gotten his payback yet.

Well, not a fantastic show and it had a pretty weak undercard but the last half was all at least pretty decent. Thumbs slightly up for this one.