All Japan Pro Wrestling: World’s Strongest Tag Determination League 2025 November 30th

We’re in Hiroshima’s Industrial Hall’s East Exhibition Hall and this show is sponsored by Hiraoka & Co., Ltd. so you know it’s gonna be a good one. We got about 500+ people in the seats and this room has a VERY low ceiling.

Kengo Mashimo vs. Shota Kofuji

Background: Kengo is “The Assassin” an armtwisting, headkicking stocky sadist, Shota is the resident young boy of All Japan whose mission in life is to get slaughtered by crusty vets.

The Match: We get some standing grappling until Kengo takes it to the mat and he wraps up Kofuji and manipulates the arm before we get a headlock takeover headscissors kip-up. Kengo teases a test of strength before going back to the arm and then another takedown ends in a mount and a quick cover. Shota backs Kengo into the corner and the vet gives a little head not of respect and Shota follows this up by breaking Mashimo’s grip and taking him down with a keylock attempt and then both trade kneebar attempts before Kengo throws a stomp and a headlock, Shota tries to shoot him off but is locked up. Shota finally slips free and we get a rope-running sequence with some shoulderblock jostling and Kofuji finally gets a dropkick to stun Mashimo. Boots in the corner and a rolling dropkick get a cover for the rookie and Kengo finally cranks in an armbar that has Shota scrambling to the ropes. Kofuji does some running and a forearm drops Kengo and the rookie follows with a middle-rope dropkick and a bridging Fisherman’s. Shota spams a few rollups for increasingly close counts…but he goes for a schoolboy and Kengo transitions into an armbar and Kofuji has to tap.

**¼

Pretty basic rookie vs. vet match but a slick finish where Kofuji gets caught up and forgets Kengo’s bread and butter.

Davey Boy Smith Jr., Kento Miyahara & Tsuyoshi Okada vs. Jun Saito, Ryo Inoue & Yuma Anzai

Background: A non block match for DBSJ and Kento leads to them teaming with local Dove Pro (Hiroshima-based indie) Tsuyoshi Okada against the men on the outside of Jun and Yuma, and of course their scrappy just past a rookie Ryo Inoue. Okada is a pretty small guy with sorta baggy half-shorts and a scraggly beard.

The Match: We start with Yuma and Kento and Miyahara plays to the crowd and man they LOVE this man and he’s just hamming it up to the extreme. We start with a lockup that goes Kento’s way…and he of course nails Anzai in the ropes, international ends with an Anzai dropkick and Kento powders and jaws to the crowd and pouts on the outside while kicking the barricade, double-tag and now it’s Jun vs. Davey in the big man showdown, both guys trade shoulderblocks and Davey asks for more but it was a FAKE and it’s KICK WHAM HEADLOCK TAKEOVER, man he’s learning all the lessons from Kento, Jun slips out easy and they eyeball each other and it’s a tag to the small guys, Ryo and Okada trade booting each other in the face and then kicks to the chest. They slip up on a kick exchange but Inoue just powers through the sequence and knocks Kento and Davey off the corner and unloads kicks on Tsuyoshi and a hesitation dropkick but Ryo goes back to messing with the corner and the two heavyweights yank Ryo outside and demolish him ringside, a Kento headbutt and flex sets up a crossface and then another headbutt. The ref is very chill with ALL of this, but Inoue did technically start it. Ryo is finally tossed back inside and Okada works the leg a bit before bringing Miyahara in for more domination. Kento just boots him down, steps on his chest, mockingly claps for Ryo, hard whip to the corner and now Davey is in for a big slam and a boot. Davey mistimes a backdrop though and Ryo gets a boot and then a flying kick and in comes Anzai to knee Davey but he can’t get the butterfly suplex but he can get a dropkick after a Davey headbutt. Double-arm suplex attempt number 2 and Davey backdrops out of it. Kento in with a boot and then his rolling dropkick comeback and he plays to the crowd again and Yuma is…peeved. Both guys slug it out until Yuma gets a belly-to-belly and in comes Jun to get his own boot on Kento, shoulder, elbow drop, arrogant cover and he UNLEASHES THE HAIR! Miyahara goes for the ropes but Saito has a goozle…that doesn’t do much of anything as Kento slips out, gets a boot and in comes Okada! Tsuyoshi with kicks on Jun and a spinning neckbreaker but the big-guy follows a whip and gets an elbow, Jun’s team clears the apron and all three just blast Okada with corner strikes and a big elbow drop is broken up by Tsuyoshi’s teammates, everybody brawls outside as it’s Okada vs. Saito, big kick, Kento with a Blackout knee,Davey gets a powerslam, Tsuyoshi hits a shining wizard to the back of the head and that cover is broken up! Yuma takes out Kento with a pop-up knee and the Jumbo knee, and the ring is cleared again. Okada goes for a Flatliner or an exploder but Jun gets his strike combo for 2 and then the Rider Kick gets 3.

**¾

High energy and fun, Kento had a blast hamming it up with the crowd, of course the least valuable guy gets killed at the end, but they’re continuing to do the MIyahara/Yuma stuff (awesome chemistry) and set up more stuff down the line. Tsuyoshi did not seem especially good, but whatever.

Post-match Jun cuts a promo to Yuma, and I’m still not sure if this is a prelude to a team or a match with Kento.

Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Takashi [2] vs. Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO [2] – B Block

Background: Well both teams are eliminated but y’know, pride and all that. KTJ and Takashi are two total goofballs, Kuroshio is a nominal face, Takashi is a nominal heel, but both have bonded on being totally silly. Aoyagi and HAYATO are scrappy heroic junior underdogs who debuted with a MASSIVE win and then have gotten trucked ever since.

The Match: We start with Takashi and KTJ just sorta joking around with the cameraman and posing with the fans. We start with Takashi and Atsuki and we get a lockup with Takshi very reluctantly giving the clean break, and then cheapshotting him while shrugging. Aoyagi easily dodges a charging Takashi who of course howls in frustration and stomps his feet and this is basically just like…a literal farce. Kuroshio tags in to match up with HAYATO and KTJ does a cartwheel before they run an international and Kuroshio does a long build up into a kip-up before HAYATO just knocks him down again headscissors him outside and does the fakeout dive while Kuroshio throws a tantrum outside and whiffs a crossbody inside. This is basically Punch and Judy here, or whatever the Japanese one is called. KTJ finally whips HAYATO into a knee from the outside by Takashi and Kuro takes out Atsuki on the apron and they go to work on HAYATO. Takashi goes at the nose and then uses his nose to spray a snot rocket at HAYATO who of course sells it like the poison mist. A second snot rocket in the corner has HAYATO laid out on the mat. Takashi then whiffs his throat thrust and gets a turnbuckle and Aoyagi comes in to show off his athleticism. Takashi begs off in the ropes and in comes HAYATO for a double but Takashi foils it with a double clothesline and in comes Kuroshio. Atsuki and KTJ do some standing switches before Aoyagi is caught for a Takashi throat thrust…and of course Aoyagi ducks and Kuroshio gets blasted. HAYATO and Aoyagi hit their double-teams before Takashi just walks in to throat thrust everybody, he tries a double thrust, but HAYATO/Atsuki catch his hands and then redirect them at KTJ and then jam them into Takashi’s own neck…and he’s stuck with his fingers stabbing himself, until Kuroshio runs in to try to break the…self-hold? He doesn’t have the strength, but with the support of the crowd KTJ saves his partner from his own deadly move. And then Aoyagi just superkicks Kuroshio and HAYATO gets a pop-up rana for 3.

***½

Total farce, but if you can get me to openly laugh during a pro wrestling match I can’t say I didn’t like it. Absolutely, totally absurd, just Three Stooges stuff basically.

Baka No Jidai (Hideki Suzuki & Yuko Miyamoto), Ryuki Honda & Seigo Tachibana vs. HAVOC (Go Shiozaki, Oddyssey, Shotaro Ashino & Xyon)

Background: HAVOC are something resembling the top stable right now with gold and some dominance, and the rest are guys in the tournament or who just want the gold. No specific beef other than HAVOC beating Hideki’s Baka No Jidai for the tag belts.

Background: HAVOC come out and pose and their opponents get a hot-start by ambushing them and they brawl in the crowd. HAVOC eventually take over and clobber their opponents and we rest to Oddyssey stomping on Hideki in the corner and them slamming him for 2. XYON tags in to beat on Hideki who tries a strike, gets blocked, and the Australian obliterates him with his strike combo and then a twisting whip into the corner. Hideki gets a desperate gamengiri though and in comes Honda with a corner clothesline and a shoulder tackle before his 1-2-3 rope choke. Honda hotdogs too much and XYON recovers with strikes and a spinebuster and in comes Shotaro with some uppercuts and a gutwrench suplex before Ryuki makes a comeback with a spear and tags in Yuko Miyamoto to get a snap belly-to-belly off the ropes before a lariat out of the corner and a standing moonsault knee drop, Yuko sets up a back handspring elbow off the ropes but Shotaro catches him for a German and we get a double-tag to Go and Seigo, Shiozaki immediately throws a chop and Seigo starts jazzing himself up, only for Go to rake the eyes. Seigo lands a spear though and brings in all his teammates to bludgeon Go in the corner and then we get an inverted atomic drop and a boot from Seigo for 2 and change. Tachibana goes for a brainbuster but Go shuts him down with a headbutt and then sets up his Go Flasher…and Seigo reverses to a brainbuster for 2. Seigo gets booted trying to go into the corner a few times and Shiozaki gets his top-rope spinning brainbuster and then an overhand chop/German suplex combo with Shotaro on Seigo but the cover is broken up. It’s breaking loose in HIroshima as we get a Pier 6 brawl and Oddyssey takes out everybody only for Yuko to try his best before XYON grabs him for a back suplex flipped into a cutter (which…huh, was that move invented by Bron Breakker? Feels impossible but I can’t think of seeing it before him). So now it’s Seigo as the lone man against HAVOC and well, he at least throat hands before we get a blue thunder atomic drop from XYON, a spinning uppercut from Ashino, a jumping splash from Oddyssey and then HAVOC all hypes up Go for a running lariat and that’s 3.

**½

That was factory efficient 8-man, start with a brawl, settle to some one on one stuff with a series of hot tags and then a big finish where the stars demolish the most beatable guy (sorry Seigo). Like the Platonic ideal of a middle of the card multi-man tag in a b-market tour match.

MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka [2] vs. Hokuto-gun (Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi) [0] – A Block

Background: So MUSASHI and Seiki are actually doing alright despite the low points since the scheduling gave them a ton of matches in the back-half, they are the secondary tag-champs and a duo of scrappy juniors. Hokuto-Gun are trying to get more series (well Omori is) but so far have a goose egg as they continue to get clobbered by the real teams.

The Match: Kuma and MUSASHI start with Arashi howling. Lockup goes Kuma’s way and he gives the clean break. And Kuma howls more and it might be the most irritating taunt in wrestling to me. MUSASHI spams his taunt and neither guy is charismatic enough to get away with this. Double-tag and Hokuto also wins the lockup and does the blown kiss taunt…Seiki throws a kick and MUSASHI comes in for the double-team immediately with a kick combo. Seiki then slows it down with a foot rake and a fist drop before bringing in MUSASHI to claw at the nose. But Hokuto backdrops MUSASHI to the apron and knocks him outside with a knee and then Kuma runs in to take out Seiki and Hokuto-Gun whallop on the juniors outside. Back inside and Kuma beats on MUSASHI and gets a big slam before bringing Omori back in with his own big slam and an instant tag, they repeat this a few more times and Kuma FINALLY gets a 2 count and then grabs a crab. MUSASHI breaks on the ropes and Hokuto comes in for MUSASHI to make his comeback by dodging a corner strike, floating over and landing his dropkick combo and now comes Seiki to go really fast with a flying boot and then he stuffs the double-team by hitting a tornado DDT/kick combo on Hokuto-Gun and continues to unload kicks on Omori. Hokuto finally blocks and gets a reverse STO to set up the tag to Kuma. The big guy runs wild with shoulders and slams before grabbing Seiki for a rack and tossing him at MUSASHI. Senton on Yoshioka for 2 and a corner clothesline sets up a diving senton that whiffs and MUSASHI gets the tag and the All-Asia Champs unleash a series of strikes on Kuma before a double thrust kick gets 2.5. Kuma wipes both of them out with a running crossbody though and Hokuto gets the tag, corner elbow, brainbuster for 2, Kuma runs in for a double shoulder and then slams Hokuto onto MUSASHI. Omori whips Kuma into MUSASHI for a body avalanche, RKO by Omori, and then a diving senton by Arashi in a pretty slick sequence. Hokuto goes up for a frog splash while Kuma tries (and fails) to play o-line…just like the Steelers (topical!) and Seiki breaks it up before getting tossed. Omori goes for another frog splash but this time there’s no water in the pool and MUSASHI gets a pair of low-thrust kicks but Hokuto blocks the third, gets an elbow…but MUSASHI fires up for a third kick and a falcon arrow gets 2.8. Seiki in now for a super frankensteiner into a MUSASHI frog splash, but Kuma breaks it up, but eats LA MISTICA from Yoshioka and Hokuto goes for a second frog splash for 2.9 and he sets up Hokuto for the Emerald Flowsion out of the corner but Hokuto slips out and gets a Shutdown German for 2 and then a bridging Dragon suplex for 2.7, and the Muso Issen (a cross-legged fisherman’s driver) gets 2.9 when Yoshioka BARELY flies in for the save. Kuma clears the ring again and Hokuto gets one last frog splash for 3.

**¾

Yes I am taking a quarter star off for howling, it’s my review, you can’t stop me. After a pretty middling start it turned into a pretty fun sorta spotty deal with tons of nice false finishes and clever double-teams. Good showing for Hokuto who can Actually Work When He Tries.

Baka no Jidai (Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato) [0] vs. Titans Of Calamity (Ren Ayabe & Talos) [4] – A Block

Background: Well these members of Baka are the junior, rookie variant, oversized light heavyweight Dan Tamura with his crushing lariats and silly shooter Hikaru versus the giant, big, tall, very dominant Titans of Calamity.

The Match: We start with Sato against Ren and Hikaru dances while the giant stalks him into the corner and teases a strike before just patting his head in a condescending fashion. Sato tries to pick the leg but Ren stuffs it and goes to the mat…like a fool! Hikaru wraps him up but Ayabe uses his super long legs to make the ropes and get the break. Hikaru and Ren grapple again with Ayabe getting a wristlock that has Sato screaming and desperately reaching for the ropes…but Ren goes for a headlock and Hiikaru immediately turns that into an another armbar and Ayabe gets the break and we get a double-tag. Lockup between Talos and Dan goes as you’d expect, so Tamura just punches Talos in the head and the big-man goozles him and gets furious as he chokes him in the ropes. Talos demands a test of strength and Dan tries to respond while Talos does the “too small” taunt and finally squats down…and Tamura stomps the head and grabs a headlock. Talos asks for a shoulderblock standoff and Dan charges a few times before getting bowled over and powdering. Talos chases and Hikaru attacks him in the ropes and the duo pepper the American with kicks before he bowls them both over and it’s Ren time. Sato eats some strikes and stomps and it’s back to Talos who goes for a powerslam but Sato slips out and when Talos misses a Yakuza kick the former MMA competitor blasts Talos’ leg while he’s in the ropes and then brings in Tamura to throw boots and go for a Samoan drop…but Talos is JUST TOO BIG and he slams Dan and brings in Ayabe. Ren just bludgeons him in the corner and chokes him and when Talos comes in Tamura makes a defiant stand and throws forearms but gets pulverized, now Sato runs in to rescue his partner and gets beaten up…so the Titans go for a double body avalanche in the center, Hikaru and Tamura dodge and the two giants slam into each other and powder. Baka no Jidai pursue them and it goes there way, Sato runs Talos into the barricade, and Dan gets Ren in a sleeper before Hikaru runs back and gets a punt off the apron. Tamura rolls back in and Ayabe is dragged by Hikaru to the back…it’s important to remember that the Titans lost their prior match due to count-out against a smaller, faster team. Sato goes for a manji-gatame at a count of 8 but Ren breaks, and sprints back into the ring, sliding in only for Tamura to hit a flying shoulder tackle and then a few other shoulderblocks stagger Ren…but the big man gets a boot and down goes Dan. Ayabe goes for the full-nelson slam but Sato runs in to kick the leg and Dan gets a spear for 2.5 and then sets up a powerbomb while Hikaru tries to keep Talos down on the outside…but the big American slips back inside and boots down Tamura and the Titans go for their Goozle Hart Attack but Talos gets tripped up and Tamura reverse to a guillotine before Ren turns that into a brainbuster. Assisted big boot into the corner by Ren, Talos with a body avalanche, Goozle Hart Attack for 2.8 that Sato breaks up and then Talos dumps him while Ren gets the full-nelson slam for 2.9. A dead on his feet Tamura tries to fight back with weak strikes but the Titans get the giant double-chokeslam and that’s 3.

**½

Well the Titans displayed a bit more vulnerability here, but the real star was Sato who was clever and vicious and kinda…more than his usual mostly comedic jobber self. Also props to Tamura for eating like 90% of the offense that match, those big dudes aren’t gentle either.

Well that’s another show down, and after the start I was expecting everybody to be kinda lazy but these guys actually tried in Hiroshima, good on them!