All Japan Pro Wrestling: Fierce Battle! Summer Action Wars August 3rd 2024

We got 1500 people in Sendai for a Triple Crown match and some advancing undercard stuff, nothing major but a world title match is a world title match.

Seiki Yoshioka & Shotaro Ashino vs. Dan Tamura & Ryo Inoue

Background: Mostly a juniors showcase, but of course the presence of main-event heavyweight Shotaro is interesting here. All guys are dressed in the regular.

The Match: The two beefy boys of Shotaro and Dan start with a lockup and it’s a bit of a stalemate before Shotaro cranks on a headlock. International and some shoulders and in come the fast guys…to crank on a headlock, but we get the international and some kicks from both dudes. Ryo knocks down Seiki and struts and that fires up the vet who knocks Inoue down and does his own strut. Shotaro then comes in and chops Ryo and…WOOOOs? Are they doing a Flair bit? Double-teams from Seiki/Shotaro follow as they abuse the rookie. Shotaro grinds out a bodyscissors on Ryo. Ropebreak and Ryo reverses a whip into a missile dropkick and brings in Tamura who hits Shotaro with some stuff before Ashino comes back with a gutrwench, and then Tamura gets a gutwrench of his own and they trade clubbering strikes and Shotaro brings in Yoshioka who gets the rapid kicks. Tamura catches Seiki and gets a fireman’s carry slam though and Ryo comes in for the doublees. Nice tandem offense from Seiki/Shotaro as they get Seiki tornado DDTing Tamura while kicking Ryo to set up Shotaro’s German Suplex. Seiki’s floating axe kick gets 2 on Tamura next and the cruiser signals for a Made in Japan but Tamura breaks and they slug it out. Tamura gets a lariat to cut off a Seiki flurry but Yoshioka gets a rana out of a powerbomb, but Ryo shows up for the assist and Tamura gets another powerbomb for 3.

**½

Perfectly fine TV sorta match to set up a title shot against Seiki who is All Asia tag champ. 1-2-3 stuff works fine here.

And indeed post-match Dan talks a bit and Seiki seems to agree to the title match.

Aizawa NO. 1, Cyrus, Hartley Jackson, Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi (w/Jack Kennedy) vs. Fuminori Abe, Hideki Suzuki, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Seigo Tachibana & Yuma Aoyagi

Background: so this is a match. Hokuto Omori is running a generalissimo gimmick with his parade of monsters. Cyrus is a big bulky American, Hartley a big bulky Australian, Kuma a big bulky Japanese guy, and Aizawa looks like a j-rock musician. The faces are a rag-tag group. Abe beat Seigo for the GAORA TV title, Suzuki doesn’t like anybody, Kuroshio just ended a feud with Yuma, and none of them are in the same stable or team other than Seigo and KTJ. Oh, and while it isn’t official yet, match graphics are referring to Omori’s group as Hokuto-Gun. Oh, and the pre-match video makes it seem like Aizawa is disappointing the heels with his losses.

The Match: We start with a big brawl as Hokuto-Gun drag the faces out into the crowd and they all have little sequence before we get Kuroshio and Hokuto in the ring together. Omori gets a chinlock and then brings in Aizawa who is dressed absolutely ridiculously today and gets a whacky elbow drop that Kuroshio does a seizure sell for. The heels all come in and toss KTJ around as Hokuto conducts it. The rest of the heels stomp on KTJ one by one as they build heat and Kuroshio flops and goofs around. Kuroshio finally dodges a Kuma senton and in comes Yuma who is absolutely electric as he takes out Arashi with a forearm and then the entire heel collection on the apron. Abe provides backup and they double Kuma with a drop toehold/elbow drop as Yuma steals Abe’s taunts. Kuma wipes them both out with a crossbody though and in comes Cyrus. The big American shrugs off the babyfaces offense and he tosses them down with ease. We get a double avalanche in the corner and then a cannonball to Abe as Cyrus is in total control. The faces toss Seigo at him and he’s snatched out of the air and splattered as Omori comes in to pick the bones. The heels get taken out and Aizawa is stuck in to get abused by the faces as he eats a piledriver from Hideki and twitches to sell it. Then the faces do the “toss opponent up into the air bit” on Aizawa. Fun callback. Seigo and Hokuto start slugging it out over Aizawa’s body and they run Irish Whip spots OVER Aizawa’s body in a pretty funny spot. Seigo picks up Aizawa to continue beating on him but the tiny, ridiculous man lariats the other tiny ridiculous man in response. Aizawa gets a superkick to set up a cutter from Omori, and then Aizawa’s back suplex powerbomb is followed by Omori’s Frog Splash and that’s 3.

**

Too long but a fine house show goof-off match. And Aizawa proved his worth!

Post-match it seems that they’re cool with Aizawa now and then they toss him up into the air a few times…but catch him as opposed to normal.

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

Background: MUSHASHI wanted a title shot so he asked for one and got it. He’s a pretty clean-cut generic babyface despite his death metal theme and Naruki is the new champion and as Mister Saito, a new member to the Saito Bros stable. MUSASHI is in white tights and Doi is in black and red trunks.

The Match: They do some standing switch wristlock trading to no advantage as they’re both wrestling conservatively so far. That lasts for approximately 15 more seconds before we get a float-over, armdrag, and rana from MUSASHI but when he goes for a tope Doi cuts him off and then gets a running somersault senton. Doi stomps on the challenger a bit and then gets a neckbreaker as this has been deliberate. A spinebuster cuts off another flurry from MUSASHI and Doi cranks on an arm-trap armbar thing. Ropebreak as MUSASHI is in trouble. MUSASHI gets space with an exploder suplex and then hits the somersault plancha. Back in and an enzuigiri from the challenger sets up an arm-trap crab. Doi hides in the corner to set up an eye gouge but misses the Bakatare Sliding Kick and they slug it out. Superkick from MUSASHI is cut off by a brainbuster by Doi, but MUSASHI gets a Fireman’s carry drop into a low thrust kick and it’s a double-down. Another exploder sets up a falcon arrow but when MUSASHI goes for the frog splash he hits knees and Doi gets a la majistral and a low DDT. The champ follows with the fireman’s carry into the Bakatare kick but that’s only enough for 2.8. Doi goes up with MUSASHI on his shoulder but the challenger slips out and we get the running leg-catch Emerald Flowsion for a delayed pin and a foot on the ropes. Nice! They fight over a full-nelson and MUSASHI gets a facebuster, low kick, and German suplex to land the Frog Splash and Doi barely kicks out at 2.99. Another try at the Flowsion from MUSASHI follows but Doi slips out and after a few desperate rollups gets the cazadora victory roll for 3.

**¾

I don’t love either guy but it was a smart, hard-worked match with some good character moments and they played their roles well. Good stuff.

Post-match Ryo Inoue comes out full of swagger and challenges for the junior belt. Doi seems to accept and when he shakes Ryo’s hand the rookie gets a jump kick and dances with the belt a bit.

Hikaru Sato, Kento Miyahara & Suwama vs. ELPIDA (Ren Ayabe, Rising HAYATO & Ryuki Honda)

Background: So we continue this Old vs. New feud with the babyfaces as Kento and Suwama (both former aces) team with eternally gross-looking weirdo shoot-boxer Hikaru Sato. They’re facing ELPIDA, the hot young babyface stable. Previously Kento had wrestled and beaten HAYATO as they worked out their differences as former stablemates, but there is still awkwardness as the vets are definitely portrayed as more heelish. Additionally Suwam and Sato are stablemates in Evolution and Kento is now a solo guy who has feuded extensively with Suwama in the past.

The Match: Suwama and Sato let Kento start the match alone as they’re on the outside. HAYATO starts for ELPIDA and the crowd is HOT for the young high-flyer. Lockup and Kento is rough with it, really pushing the smaller guy around and then working a wristlock with real aggression and hatred before HAYATO gets one overhand chop and Kento immediately flies back and curls up and winces, and then HAYATO gets the flying headscissors and Miyahara powders and we get the fakeout dive…and that infuriates the Best of the Best who runs back in and gets all heated up…and then realizes this is beneath him and he tags in Suwama after chanting his name a bit to send in the grumpy vet. HAYATO brings in Honda and we get some pear-shaped hotheads screaming at each other and trading shoulders. Honda wins this and chokes Suwama against the ropes before the vet has enough of this and just chops down the punk kid and all the vets run in to stomp on the redhead. Kento screws up a kick though and the faces try to jump Suwama…who beats them all up solo and then lariats Kento who pops in to celebrate. Ha. More stomping on Ryuki follows from Sato and Suwama. Kento eventually tags himself back in and he works over Honda while also talking trash at Suwama. More abuse on Honda follows as the vets aren’t exactly working 100% here but they’re displaying so much personality you don’t really care. Belly-to-belly by Suwama follows and Kento leads a chant for him that just irks the big guy and Honda hits a spear out of the distraction. HAYATO with a poetry in motion off of Suwama’s back to knock down Kento and Hikaru and then a low-bridge to send Suwama outside and HAYATO gets the springboard plancha to wipe out the vets. Back in and HAYATO gets a bulldog but Suwama reverses a brainbuster and then tags in Kento by slapping him. Miyahara gets his paired dropkick combo and is feeling it until HAYATO’s falcon arrow. Honda in with a corner lariat and a spinebuster before cranking on a camel clutch. Kento gets a ropebreak and Honda goes for the Final Vent but Miyahara slips out and attempts the Shutdown German which Honda breaks…and Kento gets a Blackout Knee which knocks Ryuki back for a rebound lariat and we get a double down. Now we bring in…Ren and Sato for the first real sequence of the match as Sato gets some shoot kicks and Ayabe gets the Yakuza kick but his attempt at a dragon suplex is broken up by Suwama. Kento runs in like a lunatic and screams and sets up his entire team for triple powerbombs/piledrivers but ELPIDA all get backdrops in a sequence and we reset to Ren and HIkaru. Sato ducks the Yakuza kick this time and gets a jump kick in the apron but Ayabe then lands a big boot and everybody runs in to hit big moves on each other and we once again reset to Ayabe/Sato as Hikaru gets a trio of jump kicks and then reverses some stuff into an anklelock. That’s broken and Sato gets more kicks as Ren doesn’t seem to know quite how to sell this. Honda runs in with a lariat and the Final Vent on Sato, and then HAYATO gets the springboard moonsault and Ayabe gets the Death Roulette and that’s 3.

**¾

I was on pace for higher but when Ren and Sato finally tagged in I remember why I preferred when this match was effectively a Ryuki/HAYATO vs. Suwama/Kento tag match. Still, deranged weirdo Kento Miyahara being a total nut while Suwama rolled his eyes at him and Honda and HAYATO gave us two flavors of scrappy babyface underdog. It was a lot of fun for most of the match and just kinda okay for the last part.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Jun Saito

Background: So it’s Davey Boy Smith Jr. coming back after his time in the Champion Carnival and being announced by AJPW as a pretty big signing and Kento himself previously talking about him in a “we gotta team up way” (I assume) so obviously they’re hyping him up. He’s still disgustingly roided and has weird looking white, blue and red tights whose design really makes it look like he’s wearing a diaper as I think the tights go over trunks, they also have a gold bedazzled bulldog on the side and a vest that is red, white, and blue with an Union Jack on the back and an American style star on the front…so I guess he’s repping the UK and America here, which is kinda odd since he’s Canadian and the pre-match promo indicates he sounds just like every other Hart. Jun is of course one-half of the tag champs and a very over ‘cool’ heel with his ponytail, big body, pleather pants, red leather jacket, chinstrap beard, and of course, sunglasses.

The Match: Jun immediately preens and Davey offers a handshake…which Saito accepts. How bout it. Lockup follows and DBSJ wins and gives a clean break. Another test of strength is won by Jun who gives an all-timer quote as he steps away and says “clean break~u.” Davey with a headlock next and they work that for a spell before a takeover and some more matwork. Davey easily is the better off and they reset to another lock-up and…Davey throws the first strike out of it? Like…why would the guy who is winning the grapple do that, bad psychology. Both throw shots and they do a double leg-catch into a setting it down spot and it’s Davey who attacks Jun out of that and I’m really weirded out by the match flow. They roll outside and brawl a bit and Davey no-sells a lot of stuff and flexes. Davey then gets a suplex onto the mats and I realize they have not given Saito ANYTHING this match. He’s not more technical, stronger, more cutthroat and he can’t even out-brawl his opponent so far. Davey is superior across multiple realms of wrestling here. Jun rolls back in to get stomped on as Jun is trying his best to sell underdog. Bodyslam from Davey follows and we get a chinlock for a while. Roprebreak and Davey punches Jun which the ref admonishes and we slug it out, and yes, Davey wins it and gets a camel clutch. Ropebreak and commentary mentions it’s been 10 minutes and I realize that Jun has been a punching bag the entire time. Jun FINALLY reverses a powerbomb attempt into a backdrop and he strikes away at Davey. Saito gets some offense and even a big fat elbow drop, and that sets up the most dangerous move in wrestling, unleashing the hair. They slug it out some more and Davey gets the scoop powerslam, but when he puts Jun on the top rope Saito knocks the Canadian down, gets a diving clothesline and then a spear as one-half of the tag-champs finally gets two moves of offense in a row. It ain’t three though cause Davey counters a Psycho Break with a DDT. Davey gets a powerslam out of the corner but he hurts his knee (?!) and a delayed cover gets only 2.8. DBSJ sets up a powerbomb but Jun attacks the leg some more, but a chokeslam by the champ gets blocked (why not!) and it takes a reverse Bomaye and then a jackhammer by Jun to get the win.

*

This was not good, at all. It was fifteen minutes of Davey Boy shrugging off everything until he hurt his knee out of nowhere and then Jun wins. I’m sure there’s a way to tell the story of this match right, but with 15+ minutes of action they did not do it. Jun looks like a total fluke and it just took way too long to tell this story. Jun isn’t a terrible seller but he’s not a super interesting one, and it being this one-sided for this long with that bad of a finish is…they didn’t screw up moves or mess up the execution of what they were doing, they’re both at least competent, but the actual story and purpose of this match was a mess. I’m giving * for effort and 0 for anything else.

Yuma Anzai (c) vs. Rei Saito – Triple Crown Championship

Background: Yes Rei is Jun’s brother and he is the other half the tag champions. So this match is built pretty simply. Rei beat Yuma during the Champion Carnival and Yuma is rapidly moving through challengers besides that, there is a clear clash in styles, Rei is a big, burly, ugly, brawling, monster, bearded, long-haired, he wears a t-shirt and tights and has limited technique and athleticism but is full of flash and energy and snarling charisma. Yuma is the clean-cut, tall but lean, handsome amateur wrestling standout babyface ace with a perfect coif and a clean-chin. He wears trunks and is an athletic prodigy with real wrestling chops. He’s perhaps a bit of a generic babyface champion type.

The Match: Lockup is won by Rei who gives a clean break and seems to regret it. Second lockup is won by Rei…and he chops the champ in the ropes and they immediately slug it out, Yuma gets a dropkick, but Rei’s shoulderblock sends Anzai outside and we get the young champion bouncing off barricades and into chairs. We even get the fantastic spot where Rei chokes Yuma with a cheer towel taken from a fan, and then he neatly folds it and returns it to the fan, yes he’s a big ugly brawler but he’s not rude to fans! Rei keeps up the abuse with a hanging choke against the ring-post on Yuma, and then a running shoulder into the same post. Back inside and we get Yuma wimpy fighting back, but Rei’s ugly yet simple offense (corner clothesline, bodyslam, elbow drop!) keeps the challenger in control. Rope-assisted stomp and the young guy is coughing and flailing his legs as he’s selling his butt off here. Yuma finally gets his knee up out of a corner charge and then a missile dropkick, and that finally sets up a belly-to-belly out of the corner, and another dropkick keeps Rei down. The Gimlet is blocked by Rei’s girth, but the champion eventually gets a German that Rei shrugs off and responds with a chokeslam. Rei goes up though and Yuma cuts him off with a pop-up knee and a superplex…and Rei bounces up for a lariat before a double-down. Crowd is absolutely piping hot here as they scream in support for Yuma. When they return to their feet they slug it out and Rei easily wins and chops down Yuma in the corner with the lick chop and his howling offense, but when the challenger gets arrogant and starts hotdogging we get a defiant response from Anzai, but when he leaps up for a missile dropkick he gets shoved to the outside and takes a nasty spill off the top. Rei loads up devastation on the apron with a piledriver but Yuma slips out and teases a brainbuster…and Rei counters that with a chokeslam! My goodness. Yuma is selling like he’s dead here. Anzai rolls into the ring only to eat a brainbuster and Rei smells victory, Yuma collapses as Saito sets up a move and the ref checks on him. Rei decides to run-in anyway and goes for a piledriver and Yuma backdrops out of it, hits the jumping knee and a German suplex for 2. A few more jumping knees gets 2.1 and we get the standing chinlock and the crowd is electric for the champ. Rei counters the hold into a backdrop driver and they reset, Yuma gets a dropkick but another jumping knee is countered with a chokeslam and then Rei gets a standing powerbomb for 2.99. Rei loads up his Pig Knuckle palm thrust but Yuma gets another German and a running knee to put the big guy down. Yuma’s second Gimlet attempt fails and we get a slugfest…Rei gets the goozle slap, but the champ fires off some headbutts, Rei responds with a crossbody and Anzai gets a backdrop driver but the Pig Knuckle from Rei gets one heck of a backflip bump from Yuma and a 2.9999 kickout as well and now Rei is looking frustrated. Rei plops Yuma on the top rope and sets up a superplex of his own, but Yuma fires off some headbutts and gets a sunset flip into the third Gimlet attempt and Yuma FINALLY lands it for 3.

****¼

Man that was incredible and perhaps my favorite singles match from both guys I’ve seen so far. They work so well as opposites and we got the best of Yuma as the clean-cut, underdog ace babyface Yuma as he faced the horrifying monstrous power of Rei. Nothing is pretty about Rei Saito, and he worked his ugly (but charismatic) fat monster offense to the peak with his howls, chops, strikes, size, bodyslams and overall presence. Really, really fun match that just flew by. I’m a bit giddy and I think this match uncorked something really special for the both of them, Rei I think does have the presence and offense to carry a heat segment and this is the match that showed maybe what Yuma can do as an underdog getting spurts of offense to keep hope alive as a crowd became unglued for his comebacks. Four for the match, and a quarter star cause the crowd was banana for the whole enterprise and it was firing me up.

Post-match Yuma gets on the mic and I think he compliments Rei, and then Rei gets on the mic and seems to return the favor, both guys being respectful towards each other and Rei calling for some beer, and Rei opens a bottle for Yuma…and Yuma opens a bottle for Rei and they clink and drink and shake hands. And now we get the big staredown as the other Yuma, Yuma Aoyagi comes out as he’s the next challenger for Anzai and this has real big fight feel vibes here. Aoyagi goes for a handshake…and then slips out of it as he’s heeling it up a bit. And as Anzai leaves the ring he slaps hands with the fans and my goodness these young ladies are absolutely electric for him.

Man, the card was overall not fantastic but the final match and the post-match sequence was awesome and I’m absolutely hyped for the match as Aoyagi is a super credible challenger for the title and the first guy who I think could legitimately beat Anzai for it. Awesome main-event, so-so everything else, and that Davey Boy Smith Jr. match was wretched.