All Japan Pro Wrestling: World’s Strongest Tag Determination League 2025 November 29th

Back with some more World’s Strongest Tag Determination league and we’re in Fukuoka Island City Forum with about 600 fans in the building.

Go Shiozaki vs. Shota Kofuji

Background: Go is a vet who is erstwhile part of a heel faction in HAVOC, but they’re so fun and goofy the fans cheer them regardless, Shota is the young guy of All Japan right now and it’s his lot in life to get bludgeoned by veterans.

The Match: Go stretches and warms up (as he should) before a lockup on the smaller rookie. We get some armlock business into a standing switch and then Go reversing some armbars and it’s all peaceful (relatively) so far before Shota armdrags to escape and we get a reset. Go takes the rookie down and works the knee with simple stuff until Kofuji gets a floatover, an armdrag, and a dropkick and Go powders. Shota actually gets a bit going when Shiozaki comes back inside, but he goes up and Go chops him down and then goes back to the leg and cranks in a single-leg crab. Shota gets the ropes and tries some forearms but the vet cranks the leg in the ropes before Kofuji makes space with a rolling dropkick, and some slaps to the thigh (to recirculate the blood!) sets up a second-rope dropkick for a cover. Shota tries for his fisherman’s buster and after a bit of a fight lands it for another cover. Shota goes up, but his bad leg delays his climb and Go slams him off the top and goes back to the crab, pretty high-angle and Shota breaks again, Go finally breaks out some chops as they slug it out. Kofuji blocks a lariat with a manji-gatame but Go powers out and gets a short-range lariat for 2, a fisherman’s buster for 2.7 and then a kneebreaker before he cranks in a Prison Lock (?!?) and then cranks in a butterfly and Shota taps. Well that’s a fun submission!

**¼

Look, it’s Go working at quarter speed but being very generous to a game rookie, basically about as good as this match can be for what it is, and hey, old Go busting out new stuff is fun for me.

Post-match Go is like “good job” and helps carry the rookie to the back, so uh, HAVOC are just faces now I guess.

Rey Paloma, Takashi & Yuko Miyamoto vs. Atsuki Aoyagi, Dan Tamura & Rising HAYATO

Background: So Rey is a local guy IIRC, and I mostly remember his gimmick being finding ways for his pants to fall down, Takashi I think is officially signed and he’s an older dude who cheats a lot and does comedy heel stuff, while Yuko is a hardcore guy who is somewhat of a high-flyer. The three babyfaces (I guess) are Atsuki, who is the junior champ, HAYATO, his regular partner, and Dan Tamura, who is a junior but more of a brawler/power guy. This is gonna be goofy.

The Match: Takashi and Atsuki start with a lockup, Takashi wins and then offers a handshake, Aoyagi says no and Takashi tries to shame the junior for refusing by shaking other hands, so Aoyagi agrees and then Takashi does the throat thrust. I mean, it amuses me every time. Atsuki speeds it up with a flying headscissors and we get a double-tag to Rey and HAYATO, and oh man Paloma is TINY. Rey dances around and we do a rudimentary junior sequence with Rey looking pretty good until HAYATO gives him a backbreaker and the young guns all run-in and we get a double elbow on Rey for 2 and Atsuki is in to just work over Paloma. Back to HAYATO and Rey tries some chops but then gets a spinning heel kick and it’s Yuko time with a belly-to-belly and Atsuki gets a handspring, Yuko catches but can’t land the German and him and Aoyagi trade flipping kicks before HAYATO gets a shotgun dropkick and in comes Tamura an then Takashi…and then Takashi just throat thrusts everybody and gets his jump kick. Takashi then does his spot where he does running from turnbuckle to turnbuckles throat-thrusting a guy but he gets over excited and misses and just stabs the buckle. This brings in Rey to get a prison lock on Dan for one second but it immediately gets broken, Rey accidentally hits a flying headscissors on Yuko and his pants fall down…he can’t hit a running move but does get a dropkick on Tamura. Rey runs wild while pantless (okay he’s got a red thong if you care) and he goes up for a flying clothesline on Tamura that gets broken up. Rey goes back to the prison lock and Tamura just brute forces into a cradle for 3.

½*

Lets call that a mercykiling. Look, Takashi’s schtick is at least funny, Rey Paloma. I hope he’s just really, really nice. Well nobody got hurt.

Hokuto-Gun (Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi) [0] vs. Baka No Jidai (Hideki Suzuki & Kengo Mashimo) [2] – A Block

Background: Hokuto is a guy who keeps trying to prove he’s not a total joker but keep kinda ends up looking like a total joker. Baka no Jidai just sorta know they’re total jokers but these two are actually credible as snarly shooters. Hokuto is a tricky striker, Kuma is a burly brawler, Kengo is a tricky striker who also has grappling moves, and Hideki is a big striker who never tries.

The Match: Suzuki and Hokuto start and we get a lockup with Hokuto getting the advantage and teasing a dirty break but blowing a kiss to bait out Hideiki to land a forearm and they brawl more with Omori getting the upperhand before calling in Kuma for some corner charges and set up a double-team superplex, but Omori gets powerbombed by Kuma on accident, but then Baka no Jidai blow a double-team and it’s back to Hokuto-Gun and they’re just posing before Hokuto goes back to work on Suzuki. A LOT more comedy than I expected. They do a spot where Hokuto spears Kuma into the corner to smash Arashi into Suzuki and uh, that’s dumb? More of Hokuto-Gun just doing slow kicks in the corner on Suzuki before the big guy gets up and challenges Kuma with strikes but the bear man gets a slam and a senton and it’s back to Suzuki begging for a tag. Very basic double-teams continue and Suzuki ain’t exactly Ricky Morton here. Suzuki FINALLY counters a corner charge with a hanging neck choke and brings in Kengo to actually try with a kick wham DDT on Kuma and a running kick that Kuma blocks into a rack. Kento turns that into an armbar before Kuma picks him back up for the rack and the drop for 2. That was slick! Kengo gets a break with a jump kick and in comes Hideki and Hokuto to duke it out. Suzuki goes for bodyshots while Hokuto goes for a KO to the jaw and Suzuki goes to a Hybrid Blaster as he’s losing the strike battle. Sleeper is attempted and Kengo wipes out Arashi and when Suzuki tries the pin out of it Kuma makes the break anyway. Baka No Jidai try to set up a double-team but they bicker about the execution and end up slapping each other and Kuma gets a double crossbody and now Hokuto-Gun get some doubles with Kuma slamming Omori onto Suzuki for 2. A whip into a RKO follows and Kuma gets a diving senton and then Hokuto a frog splash and that’s…broken up by Kengo. Mashimo eats a big elbow from Hokuto and a Dominator from Kuma and Omori calls out the “HOKUTO-GUN SPECIAL” and they go to the top again for an assisted superplex and they ACTUALLY LAND IT! And then a disoriented Hokuto walks into a Hideki cradle for 3…ha.

**¼

Look, they had some clever ideas and 2.5 of them were working hard, but that finish was both stupid and brilliant. Probably too much comedy, but it feels like they all know this is not the place to bust their buns. Shame that Hokuto is still the comedy jobber heel guy but maybe that’s where he belongs.

Naoya Nomura, Ryo Inoue & Ryuki Honda vs. Jun Saito, Shotaro Ashino & Yuma Anzai

Background: It’s Naoya and his partner Ryuki, with cocky youngers Ryo versus the pseudo team of Jun and Yuma, and totally unaffiliated Shotaro! Important to remember Yuma and Ryuki used to be VERY close before Anzai dumped him for Yuma Aoyagi who uh…got suspended.

The Match: Shotaro begins with doing the HAVOC rochambeau deal, and Ryo starts for the others. Ashino muscles the smaller rookie around easily but Inoue uses speed to boot him down and then takes out Ashino’s partners as well to just tick everybody off. Inoue with a heater as he kicks Shotaro down and gets a John Woo dropkick in the corner. More kicks to the chest for Ryo and man he has fire. Shotaro finally gets a dragonscrew legwhip and in comes Jun, Ryo is still feisty but the former champ just slugs the rookie down, and then hits a slam, an arrogant cover and UNLEASHES THE HAIR! In comes Yuma to be a bit more arrogant than normal and stomp down Ryo who is STILL DEFIANT. God bless this little rookie. But Yuma just overpowers him with strikes and then cuts off Ryo’s regular comeback by tossing him off the top rope…only to miss the Jumbo knee and eat a kick to the chest and that’s the cue for Honda to tag-in and demolish his former friend with corner strikes and the rope choke. Yuma finally breaks free and they both slug it out before Anzai gets a pop-up knee before Honda gets a spear and goes for a lariat which gets cut off with a Jumbo knee for a double-down. Saito and Nomura next and Naoya has no problem taking it to the former champ, but Jun stuffs a spear attempt and gets a brainbuster and then some running offense and a big elbow gets 2. Naoya slips out of a goozle and gets a big superman forearm before bringing in Ryo who kicks Jun down and lands a strike combo and then takes out an interfering Ashino and going back to Jun with a missile dropkick, Ryuki and Naoya get a tandem spear that sets up Ryo’s buzzsaw kick for 2.7 and then Inoue goes for his whacky suplex before Jun wipes him out with a spinning lariat and Saito’s teammates come in. Ryo fights back but he gets demolished by the three heavyweights and a Jun chokeslam gets…2.5. Ryo keeps it up by turning a Jackhammer into an inside cradle, but Jun gets a headbutt and then a super delayed (this might have gone a minute) brainbuster lift (where Yuma and Shotaro block off interference) results in Jun’s Jackhammer and that’s 3.

**½

Look, Ryo being rambunctious against some big bully vets is always a good time, and Jun in particular seems to like working with the dude and gives the kicks a lot before killing him.

Jun grabs a mic post-match, plays to the crowd, and him and Anzai stare each other down again.

MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka [0] vs. Titans of Calamity (Ren Ayabe & Talos) [4] – A Block

Background: So the Titans have been on a tear while MUSASHI and Seiki have well, not. But they’ve also not had as many matches, technically it’s MUSASHI and Seiki with tag-belts as they hold the secondary All-Asia titles. It’s gonna be speed vs. size as the Titans are well…titanic and MUSASHI and Seiki are erstwhile juniors.

The Match: We start with the Titans doing a bunch of “ha ha, these men are so small and weak!” taunts before the cruisers do a double dropkick that doesn’t do much more than bait the giants outside, this lets Seiki and MUSASHI fly back inside and they attempt a double pescado but they get caught and slammed against each other. Talos presses MUSASHI back into the ring and in comes Ren with an arrogant cover for 2. MUSASHI tries some chops that get shrugged off and Ayabe gets one forearm for a knockdown and it’s over to Talos and we get a two-man boot choke in the corner. Then Talos wraps up MUSASHI in the ropes and gets a camel clutch of sorts until the ref breaks it up but Talos slams MUSASHI into the corner anyway. Ayabe back in and he’s just begging MUSASHI to fight back before dropping him with a slam for 2. Yoshioka eats a boot on a breakup and Ren gets a crab. MUSASHI finally makes the ropes so Ren goes for the Death Roulette and MUSASHI floats over, blocks a corner charge with a drop toehold, but he still can’t make the tag until MUSASHI gets an enzuigiri and Seiki flies in to take out Ayabe’s knee with a few low dropkicks and then a dragonscrew, now kneeling Seiki fires away kicks to the chest but eats a massive pop-up flapjack and Talos is in, but the big man misses a corner charge and in comes MUSASHI…who gets backed down but fires off chops but goes to the knees as well and lands his stomp for 2. Now both of the All-Asia champs come in to fire off strikes to the chest and then a series of low-thrust kicks before Ren breaks it up and the Titans gets a whip into a corner splash, a big boot, and Talos lands a massive spinning back suplex slam for 2.8 and then set up the big double chokeslam but Seiki runs interference and they all tumble to the outside. Awkward spot where the Titans go for the big double goozle again on MUSASHI but Seiki gets a dropkick through the ropes that theoretically should have both men crash into the barricade…but the delay is sort of “oh we got hit…gotta fall back now.” Seiki follows with a quebrada that gets caught, and then MUSASHI gets a plancha to knock them all over…with the count at eight, both juniors then fly back into the ring while the Titans are too slow getting off their feet and it’s a countout win!

**½

I have much more patience for “two giant dudes throttle tiny dudes” and MUSASHI and Seiki basically worked this as two quick daredevil types, baiting the big men outside and doing enough to delay for a win. I hear complaints about Talos and Ren being slow and plodding but uh, kind of the point!

Davey Boy Smith Jr & Kento Miyahara [4] vs. HAVOC (Oddyssey & XYON) [4] – B Block

Background: DBSJ and Kento were finalists last year and on a good roll so far. HAVOC are champions and ready to extend their run through the tournament. Davey actually provides an opponent that doesnt give up size to HAVOC for once.

The Match: Kento and XYON start to massive Kento cheers and they actually start with XYON throwing hands and whipping Kento into the turnbuckles. XYON keeps up the aggression with a Samoan drop attempt but Kento slips out and boots the Australian so Kento powders and Oddyssey tags in and asks for a test of strength…so Kento tags in Davey…who looks nervous (or perhaps confused) about such a big guy. Davey kinda wraps him up with a gutrwench and Oddyssey makes the ropes, and I’ve now realized that Davey’s tights have a bulldog on one side of them (reasonable!) and a…pharoah death mask on the other (???). Davey actually wins a shoulderblock battle with Oddyssey with a flying one and tags in Kento for some rapid boots to the somewhat discombobulated big-man. And of course Kento proceeds to rake the eyes and pull the nose before attempting a big slam…and my goodness, he’s just doing all the Hogan stuff here. Kento tries a second slam but Oddyssey lands on him. Kento powders again and the Odd-One beats Miyahara ringside with body shots and then HAVOC whip their opponents into each other. Havoc get stereo slams of their opponents onto the ring apron and they break the count (learning from the prior match!) while they continue to just abuse Kento outside. They finally send Miyahara back in where Oddyssey just stands on him in the corner before dragging the champ to the middle and hitting some rolling sentons before missing a splash and that brings in Davey. Right hands from the Canadian but Oddyssey catches him with a corner splash and a sidewalk slam and now we get a double-tag with Kento hitting his comeback sequence on the Aussie and calling for Davey to land an assisted Jumbo knee before Kento attempts the Shutdown German but XYON breaks, gets his strike combo and then a twisting Samoan drop for 2 and he goes up…but Davey grabs XYON’s foot and that lets Kento get a big boot and Davey comes in legit for a superplex for 2. Davey goes for a second, but now Oddyssey runs in to break that up, but Davey does a weight reversal spot and gets a crossbody on the big guy (that looked…weird) and XYON hops down and gets a spear for 2. Samoan drop attempt again, but Davey slips into a gutwrench and Kento flies in…only to accidentally boot Smith, Miyahara gets tossed but Davey gets a desperate DDT and we have a double-down with him and XYON. Davey gets up first, and goes to the top, and now Oddyssey blocks the dive for another XYON spinning Samoan drop and we get a slugfest with Oddyssey and Kento where Miyahara gets tossed. HAVOC get a back suplex/neckbreaker on Davey, but Kento pulls the ref out and tries to fight 1v2…well make that 2v1 as Miyahara low-bridges Oddyssey and revives Davey for a beating on XYON that ends with Smith getting a backdrop driver for 2.8, powerbomb attempt but Oddyssey runs in again and HAVOC just run Smith over and XYON’s diving headbutt gets 3.

***

Look, the match was messy, but it was chaotic and fun and I liked the mini-story that whomever landed a top-rope move first was gonna win. Lots of cut offs and attempts to basically blatantly cheat.

Well, the show overall wasn’t great, but a Kento main-event made it worth my time? Welcome to the story of All Japan!