All Japan Pro Wrestling: Excite Series February 9th 2025

All Japan’s adventures continue as we are thoroughly into the Saito era. We’re in Korakuen Hall and have 1250+ in the building and we’re ready to rock and roll.

Seiki Yoshioka & Taishin Nagao vs. Saito Brothers (“Mr. Saito” Naruki Doi & Senor Saito)

Background: Seiki is our veteran babyface junior who goes very fast, Taishin is the newest rookie scrambling up the ranks, these Saito Brothers are the heel junior minions of the top tag-team in the company. Seiki has been butting heads with Doi for a while now in a variety of matches. Taishin is is green trunks, Seiki ins silver tights, Senor in baggy red shorts and a shirt and a mask, and Doi in red and black trunks.

The Match: Nagao and Senor Saito start and we get a lockup that the vet wins and immediately goes to something dirty in the ropes but the ref blocks it. Taishin actually wins the next bit of grappling but Senor gets the ropes instantly more standing grappling and Senor Saito actually gets a wrestling move with a scoop rib breaker and we get a double-tag as Seiki comes in to face Doi. And both of them of course go VERY fast and Seiki wins an exchange with a flying boot and does some taunting before bringing in Nagao and the rookie tries one bodyslam before Doi elbows out and gets his own slam. Senor in to do the veteran low-impact abuse with a double arm stretch and some stomping. Nagao sells big and Senor Saito does basic stuff. And then the Saitos actually do some fancy stuff with a quasi-MCMG offensive series before Senor Saito goes back to complaining and stomping. Nagao finally fights back and gets an international into a dropkick and Seiki tags in to deliver some running kicks to Senor Saito, but the masked wrestlers uses skullduggery to gets a choke into a facebuster and Doi tags in with a running somersault senton and some preening before his hotdogging lets Seiki recover and they trade reversals and Nagao tags back in and gets a missile dropkick before the babyfaces isolate Doi and Taishin gets a nearfall with a northern light’s suplex. Seiki cuts off Senor Saito and the rookie goes 1v1 with Doi and even gets some nearfalls before Doi gets a back elbow and a brainbuster for 2.9 with a weak cover and then cranks in a Crab for a while, Nagao makes the ropes but Doi just cranks in a Camel Clutch instead and that’s a tap.

*¾

I feel like I’ve seen this match a million times, and while it’s normally fine and not nothing more, this match had Senor Saito in 70% of the time and this ain’t no spoiler, but he is NOT any good at all. I dunno, I’m not offended but this was poor.

Dan Tamura, Kento Miyahara & Ryo Inoue vs. Hokuto-gun (Aizawa NO. 1, Hokuto Omori & Jack Kennedy)

Background: So Kento Miyahara who is the old ace of the company and still might be is trying to find a place as he’s sorta outside a lot of the babyface stables, so he’s got two youngsters with him and trying to prove he belongs. Miyahara, who has added a LOT more black to his red and gold outfit is preening as always, and is with Ryo, a junior who is definitely stealing some KENTA mannerisms as a cocky kickboxer and is rocking a leather jack and shades, Tamura is another rookie, who is either an undersized heavyweight or a supersized junior and he’s a solidly constructed guy with a weak beard and shaggy hair who just clubbers guys. Hokuto-Gun is just a classic random freak group lead by Hokuto Omori, an ex-MMA guy who is now doing an evil generalissimo gimmick with a jacket, his goons today are Aizawa who dresses like an anime villain with a butterfly mask and long blonde hair, and tall, schlubby white guy Jack Kennedy, whose attributes are uh, being a tall white guy in Japan.

The Match: Tamura and Kennedy start after Dan slaps Kento out of the ring. They lockup and the American wins before chopping away in the ropes and Dan asks for more before getting demolished. Tamura eventually gets a kick wham headlock and they do the headlock takeover kickout deal (weakly) before they get a double tag and Kento is still salty towards Tamura. Omori and Ryo in next and we get a lockup that Hokuto wins…and then he blows a kiss that Inoue is disgusted at so he struts in response and does the c’mon hand gesture…and then Omori struts and does the c’mon gesture…and Ryo kicks some butt in response. Omori gets a dirty takedown and calls in his army and they clear the apron and set up an Aizawa NO. 1 missile dropkick and then we get some extended brawling on the outside. We eventually reset to Kennedy abusing Ryo as the rookie flops around beautifully. Inoue eventually fights back and after a strike exchange gets a spinning jump kick and then it’s a double tag to Tamura and Omori and the Wolf Moon of Rebellion gets a Complete Shot and some corner offense and a disrespectful slap..before Tamura slaps his way back and Hoktuo wilts. Kento begs for a tag and he’s finally given one via Tamura slap and then Miyahara gets thes comeback sequence and poses and sells his chek. Aizawa trips him up though and Hoktuo-Gun triple team him and Kento sells big as he’s demolished. The heels set up a tower of doom but the babyfaces grab Kento’s legs so the heels just powerbomb Hokuto (okay the flub the spot but that was the plan). Kento goes for the Shutdown German, but Omori slips free and they trade strikes before Hokuto gets a German suplex…but Kento gets a pair of Blackout Knees and then the Shutdown German suplex gets 3.

**½

Just a fine match but the floppiness of a few workers was matched by the excellence of the Best of the Best, Breakheart, Kento…MIYAHARAAAAAAA! Fun character stuff too.

Post-match the babyfaces celebrate and Dan Tamura slaps Kento again. I think it’s all just silly stuff as Tamura picks him up to raise his hand, but maybe something down the line.

MUSASHI (c) vs. Hikaru Sato – World Junior Heavyweight Championship

Background: MUSASHI just won the belt and is making his first defense, he’s a sorta scrappy veteran guy who does a few high-flying moves but is more in that old-school New Japan-style “a junior is just a more technically grounded wrestler” thing. He’s got the woodblock print pants and he’s facing perennial JTTS, Hikaru Sato of the combat sports background and his way too tight black and blue tights.

The Match: Handshake of respect to start and then some slow grappling as they trade wristlocks. They break and stare each other down and then work a headlock spot before doing an international with the champ doing his taunt and tossing Sato to the floor to set up a dive but Hikaru cuts it off with a kick and then works over the champ’s arms in the ropes. Back in and Sato kicks and chops MUSASHI down. More chops, more kicks, Sato gets a backdrop driver and goes for a juji-gatame, MUSASHI fights it for a while but it’s eventually in and the champ scrambles for the ropes. After WAY too long in the hold MUSASHI finally makes the ropes but his arm is injured badly and Hikaru loads up a powerbomb but MUSASHI backdrops him over the ropes and finally gets his big dive. Back in and MUSASHI gets a slingshot stomp (with his bad arm) and then an exploder (with his bad arm) for 2. He at least holds his arm afterwards. He sets up his big arm-capture Boston Crab, but Sato turns that into an ankle lock before MUSASHI does the “roll forward to send them flying” spot and Sato eats turnbuckle. A bunch of flying knees gets 2 for MUSASHI before he climbs up for a Frog Splash…and ends right in a pair of knees and then a kimura from Hikaru. MUSASHI breaks free only to fall into a jump kick from Hikaru and then another armbar before the ex-MMA man loads up an ankle lock but just sorta stops doing it before getting a backdrop driver for 2.5 and then back to the armbar…and then back to the anklelock but MUSASHI finally gets an enzuigiri before Sato goes BACK to the armbar again. Another kick combo by the champ sets up a falcon arrow for 2.9. Frog splash follows for 2.99, but MUSASHI gets the Emerald Flowsion out of the corner and that’s 3.

*½

Dear lord but Sato was carrying this? But man, Hikaru’s offense was exposed for just being super repetitive, which isn’t always a problem but he was working the exact same sequences in the same way. And MUSASHI was off here, just not selling the arm at all and his kicks whiffing really bad. Just a poor match in general but I did dig Sato’s…strategy of sorts.

Respect shown post-match and Sato puts the belt on MUSASHI. And then Seiki Yoshioka comes down and has a mic and is that the next challenger? Instead it looks like Seigo Tachibana is the next challenger instead.

Now we get Champion Carnival stuff for this year.

A Block

Kento Miyahara
Jun Saito
Hideki Suzuki
Shotaro Ashino
Kuma Arashi
Kengo Mashimo
XYON
Cyrus the Destroyer
Davey Boy Smith Jr

B Block

Yuma Aoyagi
Rei Saito
Hokuto Omori
Ryuki Honda
Yuma Anzai
Ren Ayabe
Mike D Vecchio
Aigle Blanc
Madoka Kikuta

That is a WILD group of guys.

ELPIDA (Ren Ayabe, Rising HAYATO, Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai) vs. Baka No Jidai (Fuminori Abe, Hideki Suzuki & Suwama) & Takuya Nomura

Background: So ELPIDA is the hot new cool babyface stable and Baka no Jidai are the former tough guy tweener real fighter stable that’s now embraced being kinda old goofs. It also has Takuya Nomura here who is a long-time partner with Abe in Astronauts but is mostly a Big Japan guy and is tremendously talented despite looking like a total nerd. Suwama is also Anzai’s mentor of sorts so there’s some beef between sides.

The Match: We got HAYATO and Abe starting with pretty intense grappling before Abe just boots HAYATO across the jaw, but a backdrop and chop set up HAYATO’s backflip taunt and Abe is NOT IMPRESSED. Back in and we have Nomura and Anzai and they’re trading holds and it’s snug, Anzai gets Takuya in the ropes and delivers a dirty break but Abe pops in and we get a flurry from Astronauts as they kick the religion out of Anzai for a bit. Yuma finally gets a big dropkick though and HAYATO is in to work over the Big Japan star…and immediately gets slapped and tossed outside so Suwama can brutalize the junior. Back inside and Hideki and Suwama land some double-teams and it actually goes smoothly here. Mexican Surfboard by Hideki on HAYATO and Ren breaks by just…walking into the ring and picking HAYATO up, and posing in La Pieta with his tag partner, I laughed. Hideki knocks Ren, but HAYATO uses Ren’s back as a launch pad for Poetry In Motion and clears Suzuki out and how Ryuki gets the rope choke a few times as the ref has very little patience for it. Ayabe with a brainbuster and Ryuki with an elbow drop and Hideki is almost selling and as I say that he gets a backbreaker on Ryuki and we have a double-tag of Takuya and Anzai and they just rip each other apart with the Big Japan man gets a suplex…but Anzai blocks the PK and it’s back to them just beating each other with strikes, big German from Nomura! Big knee from Anzai! And it’s back to HAYATO and Abe who gets a flash backslide…but HAYATO gets the big chop and blocks the tornado kick with some boots and a very fast high elbow. ELPIDA all pound on Abe in the corner and they get a Honda/HAYATO spinebuster/backstabber combo but Suwama comes in to clothesline everybody before Ayabe boots him down and it’s back to Abe and HAYATO, they trade some stuff and HAYATO gets the falcon arrow and Fuminori gets a weak kickout. Top rope springboard moonsault crashes and burns though for HAYATO and Abe gets the Tanaka Punch and a bridging backdrop driver for 2.8 and then a manji-gatame gets the tap as Anzai is blocked by Takuya with a sleeper.

**¾

Look, there’s only so much that Suwama and Suzuki are going to do in 2025, but the Astronauts chemistry remains rock solid and I wouldn’t mind another showdown with them versus Anzai/HAYATO. A bit clunky at parts but had its good parts.

Shotaro Ashino vs. Kuma Arashi (w/ Hokuto-Gun)

Background: This is apparently Kuma’s 10th anniversary match and he selected Shotaro to wrestle for it. They’re both beefy, solidly built guys but Kuma is a wild brawler and Shotaro is more of a technician with suplexes and ankle locks. Kuma of course has the rest of Hokuto-Gun with him.

The Match: Looks like Shotaro might be playing heel as he slaps away a handshake and Kuma does his howling taunt and the crowd seems to be behind the anniversary boy. Headlock to start and we immediately get Kuma with a senton attempt that whiffs and Shotaro goes for the ankle lock and Kuma slips free before Ashino’s dropkick sets up a crab and Kuma gets to the ropes, and Shotaro don’t care as he immediately uppercuts the bear man to the apron and then tries to suplex him to the floor. Kuma blocks it, sweeps Shotaro to the floor and then gets a diving senton to the Master of Suplex on the mats outside. This is VERY fast so far. Back inside and Kuma gets ANOTHER senton for 2 and we finally stop to breathe a bit as Kuma just sorta steps on Shotaro using the ropes. Another senton to the back of Shotaro now and the bear man gets a crab. Shotaro eventually gets the ropes, and then pops off an absolutely incredible belly-to-belly on the big (well bigger) guy. Karelin lift next and the crowd is now back to cheering for Shotaro. A couple uppercuts have Suplex Man well in control, but another German by Ashino is stymied and a Samoan drop sets up ANOTHER senton for 2.8. Another crab by Shotaro and it’s cranked in pretty tight. Shotaro eventually rolls into an ankle lock in a decently slick counter. After like five minutes in the ankle lock Kuma finally gets a double kick to the gut to send Shotaro flying, Argentine backbreaker drop and then a gutwrench Dominator gets 2.8 as Kuma is reaching into his bag of tricks tonight. Diving senton is avoided by Shotaro though and they slug it out and Kuma wins with a lariat that Shotaro goes .7 Jannetty on. But Shotaro kicks out and gets his own lariat and then a backdrop driver for 2.7. Big German suplex next for 2.8 as Ashino is dominating. Back to a crab and then a sorta quasi-crab quasi-ankle lock and Kuma FINALLY taps.

**½

Well, it was energetic and had some nice execution but neither of them really sold all that much and it missed the peak by a few minutes. Still, very solid match.

Respect is shown post-match.

Saito Brothers (Jun Saito & Rei Saito) (c) vs. Atsuki Aoyagi & Yuma Aoyagi – AJPW World Tag Team Championship

Background: Brothers vs. brothers! Saito Brothers are the dominant monster champions, Yuma is an established heavyweight singles and former Triple Crown champ of his own and Astuki is his little and smaller brother who is a junior. Atsuki is also just coming back from injury. They’ve wrestled a fair amount in the past, but usually when Yuma has another partner. Anyway the Saito Brothers, who were once a fully villainous group of big ugly heels, have turned quasi-babyface and recently released a pop song and I am serious about this.

The Match: Yuma and Jun start and we get the lockup that the champ easily wins and then taunts his smaller opponent, Yuma gets a go behind and copies Jun’s taunt to infuriate the big man and we stalemate and bring in the other brothers. Rei is the largest man in the match and Atsuki is the smallest. Rei shoves the smaller man into the ropes but Atsuki slips out and tries some speed stuff but runs into Rei’s shoulder and feeling emboldened, pumps himself up for a few more that well…go poorly. Atsuki baits out a shoulderblock from Rei though and trips him up with an international, lowbridges him outside, and then Atsuki does a back handspring taunt and Yuma slides in to match their mockery of the Saito Brothers. The Saitos both end up outside and Atsuki hits them with a moonsault off the post and Yuma continues to hotdog at this. The Aoyagi Brothers do some more slick doubles and reverse a dosey doe into a double dropkick as they are flummoxing their larger opponents. Yuma and Atsuki even use towels to choke out the Saitos and they do another dosey doe out of a double whip but the Saitos shoulderblock their smaller opponents down and they get their own choking.The Aoyagi’s are beaten around the venue in a variety of ways. Back inside and Rei is just stomping Atsuki out, but he gets too close to the corner and Yuma clocks him and then slips in for a sleeper, and then Jun runs in for a sleeper on Atsuki and we have a standoff before Jun clobbers Yuma and it’s back to the Saito’s just pulverizing Atsuki. Body slam and running elbow drop by Jun and he unleashes the hair. Back to Rei and he just steps on Atsuki using the ropes as leverage. They get the ref distracted with Yuma and then Jun sneaks in to add his weight on Atsuki too. Jun follows with a brainbuster on the smaller Aoyagi and then a crab, and when Atsuki reaches for the ropes Rei pushes them away from him. Atsuki finally gets free and gets a desperate missile dropkick after reversing a corner charge, and then an enuzigiri lets Yuma tag in and he’s a house a fire! Dropkick! Flying forearm! Dropkick to Rei! Corner forearms to Jun! But when Yuma goes for a brainbuster Jun blocks it and boots him down and now it’s Rei time. We get the fakeout chop in the corner and then the the shrieking flurry of chops and then a lariat gets 2. A standing powerbomb attempt by Rei is fought out of and Yuma gets a desperate dropkick to let Atsuki run wild and he gets a pop-up rana that goes a bit ugly but still sends Rei flying. Yuma flies in for the double dropkick but Rei throws some shoulders and Jun helps with a double hip toss on Atsuki. Short-arm chops torture Atsuki some more but a discus chop is dodged and Atsuki gets an enzuigiri and then a handspring jump kick to set up Yuma’s missile dropkick that sends Rei stumbling to the corner which brings in Jun. The Triple Crown champion immediately wins a slugfest, boots Yuma in the corner and then a delayed brainbuster gets 2.7. Chokeslam is slipped out of and Yuma gets ANOTHER dropkick and Atsuki clears out Rei as the Aoyagi’s try some doubles and the brothers get a simultaneous missile dropkick from the same corner with their arms around each others shoulders. Okay, that was cool, but it only got 2.6. The Aoyagi’s have time to taunt the Saitos again, and they try to set up a Doomsday Device…with Atsuki as Animal. It uh…doesn’t work. Rei then tosses Yuma off the top rope and we get a spike piledriver with Jun assisting from the top rope (?!) Atsuki breaks that up and as him and Rei brawl Jun loads up Yuma for a superplex. But Yuma sunset flips out, sets up the powerbomb, and Atsuki with the diving assist to take out Jun but they can’t cover as Rei breaks it up! And now Rei is fodder for a series of kicks and then a double brainbuster…before Rei gets the puro no-sell and double lariats the Aoyagi’s down before we get a quadruple-down. All of them up and they brawl with the Saitos getting the better until Rei charges into a low-bridge. Atsuki wipes out Rei from the apron with a handspring into a high back elbow on Jun, and that lets Yuma get a double-rebound lariat (at a good speed!) that drops Jun. It only gets 2.6 though as the big guy gets up, and after a strike exchange drops Yuma with a spear. Now a Doomsday Device from the Saito Brothers, but Yuma ducks Jun’s flying lariat! Atsuki with a flying kick and then a Fisherman’s suplex on Jun. Atsuki goes up and the 450 splash lands, Yuma is legal though so he picks up Yuma for a Rockstar Buster and Rei barely manages to break it up. Yuma blocks Jun’s lariat with a boot and then hits his spin kick to stagger the big man. But Rei runs in again to stop Yuma with a goozle into a slap and Jun follows with a lariat with extra starch on it. Atsuki runs in but Rei immediately gets him with the Pig Knuckle and we get a gorgeous .9 Jannetty bump from the junior on that one. Jun with a Bomaye for 2.9 on Yuma and then a Psycho Break (that Yuma gets WAY up there) is enough for 3.

***½

Very, very, very fun. Probably a bit too bloated in the middle with like 5 minutes too many of the heat segment, but all of that stuff is worth it once the fireworks start flying. I will say, I never REALLY thought that the Aoyagi Brothers could win, but they have a lot of chemistry and I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch at some point.

Post-match we get respect between teams and then Kento comes out and I think he’s challenging for the tag-titles as he calls out the Saito Brothers, and not Jun. He doesn’t have a partner with him but he says something about Davey Boy Smith Jr. so maybe that’s his partner? But nope, it seems to be Yuma as Atsuki drags him back to the ring where the Insidious Fighter rolls back inside and lays on the mat. Kento also references the Saito Brothers new song and it cracks up Rei while Jun plays it cool as a cucumber. Kento leaves and then the Saito’s pull out a local snack and Rei demolishes a Sapporo.

Anyway, another fun time with AJPW even though we’re basically cruising through stuff before the Champion Carnival starts.