Written by Jessie https://twitter.com/SisterJessiee
Summer Action Series Day Two & Royal Road Preview
Masanobu Fuchi, Yoshi Tatsu & Izanagi vs Shuji Ishikawa, Ryo Inoue & Takao Omori
A nice opener which included some good wrestling mixed with some comedy. Fuchi and Shuji started off strong with both hitting not so secret closed fist punches before a huge backdrop to Shuji. Everyone got a little time in the ring. It ended with an Ax Bomber to Izanagi to get his team the win.
Cyrus vs Black Menso-Re
A total squash match to introduce Cyrus. Poor Black Menso-re didn’t stand a chance. Hiding behind the ring post he had no intention of getting in that ring. Cyrus, who is making his All Japan debut, total domination. This match didn’t even reach 2 minutes before the bell rung and Cyrus had his hand raised. The live crowd and people watching online were impressed with what they saw which is always a good sign for a debut.
Kento Miyahara & Rising HAYATO vs Yuji Nagata & Hikaru Sato
Very rare to see Kento this early in the card but that didn’t seem to deter him at all as he was full of energy. Every chance he got he was making fun of Nagata’s taunt salute. Even with two big names in the match HAYATO, like in recent months, stole the show. His chops sounded painful, and the rest of his offence is getting better and better. Plus, teaming with Kento for so long has definitely helped not just in his wrestling but also his character as he seems to be taking after Kento in his emotional range and expressions. HAYATO has been working the closing stretches for a while now and killing it while Kento is held back from interfering. Another loss for the Nextream team but with the Royal Road tournament just around the corner there is a very real chance that Nagata and Kento could face off one vs one.
ALL ASIA TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH
Total Eclipse (Hokuto Omori & Yusuke Kodama) (c) vs Voodoo Murders (Minoru & Toshizo)
After we got passed the cheating and illegal weapons this became a pretty good match. Kodama was the perfect babyface in peril while Omori looked great after getting the hot tag and clearing house. Even though their faction Total Eclipse seems to be falling apart more and more every week Kodama and Omori looked strong as they day they won these titles all the way back in January. Some really good near falls towards the end of the match had a lot of people on the edge of their seat. Minoru hit Kodama with the double foot stomp from the top rope and it was over. Once Voodoo Murders reappeared in All Japan it was just a matter of time before the start raking in the belts.
Omori and Kodama’s 193 days reign end with six successful defences.
Stronghearts (T-Hawk, Shigehiro Irie & El Lindaman) vs Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Seigo Tachibana
With these six men this match was always destined to be buckets of fun. A preview of the next shows tag title match this preview over delivered. T-Hawks chops sounds so painful while Ashino’s suplex’s were picture perfect. The lariat battle between Honda and Irie deserves a mention as well because it was just so brutal. Stronghearts team pick up the win and momentum going into their tag match.
JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Tiger Mask (c) vs Dan Tamura
Nice to see Dan move on from being Suwama’s punching bag over the last few months. He was on fire during the match firing straight out of the gates. Tiger Mask was fine, but this really was Dan’s match to shine. No Hikaru Sato by his side, no Suwama across from the ring, it was just Dan, and he was great. A very scary top rope Tiger Driver stunned the audience before Tiger Mask locked in a submission and Dan tapped.
Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi vs Real Blood (Naoya Nomura & Mizuki Watase)
Yuma not waiting a second longer to finally get his hands on Nomura as he doesn’t even wait for the bell and attacks. This was a very fun, hard hitting match with all four men giving it their all. Atsuki and Watase had a really good exchange and just when it looked like they were about to steal the show in came Nomura and Yuma to one up them. The hatred these two have for each other just pushed this match into another gear. It was great.
Nomura got the pin on Atsuki and even though he has stated he wants to move on to other wrestlers such as Jake and Kento his feud with Yuma is far from over.
TRIPLE CROWN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Jake Lee (c) vs Suwama
I’ll be honest. I was disappointed with the result. After Jake finally beat Kento and won the Triple Crown for the second time only to lose it in his first defence to Suwama was really a punch in the gut.
Yes, there were the Voodoo Murders weapons spot, ref bump and other shenanigans but other than that there was some pretty good wrestling.
If you thought the hate between Yuma and Nomura in the last match was strong you haven’t seen anything yet. Suwama and Jake have a hatred for each other that has lasted years and will last until one of them retires and that hate makes for good wrestling.
The show ends with Voodoo Murders standing tall. Minoru and Toshizo with the All Asia tag belts plus the GAORA TV title for Toshizo and Suwama with the Triple Crown. And once again, just like in his last reign he breaks his own record for most reigns of Triple Crown Championship with eight.
But everything is not so bad for Jake. Suwama did say he sent him to hell but Jake said he has been there many times and will enjoy the scenery while climbing his way out.
ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT
On August 7th RR 2022 will begin. 16 men will compete, and the winner will face Suwama for the Triple Crown championship. The tournament will be played over five days with the semi finals and finals on the same day as last year.
Suwama has bowed out of the tournament and said TARU will take his place.
ROUND ONE MATCH UPS
07.08
Kento Miyahara vs TARU, TARU says if he wins Kento must rejoin Voodoo Murders.
Jake Lee vs Ren Ayabe
Atsuki Aoyagi vs Takuya Nomura
Yuma Aoyagi vs Naoya Nomura
11.08
Shuji Ishikawa vs Cyrus
Shotaro Ashino vs Dan Tamura
Yuji Nagata vs Yoshi Tatsu
Takao Omori vs Ryuki Honda
ROYAL ROAD TOUR DATES
07.08 – Korakuen Hall 11:30
11.08 – Nagoya Congress Center 18:00
14.08 – Shinkiba 1st Ring 12:00
16.08 – Hodogaya Public Hall 18:30
20.08 – Korakuen Hall 11:30
All Japan can be viewed at AJPW.TV for 900 Yen a month
All times are Japanese standard times (JST)
VOD will be uploaded the day after it was filmed.
Puroresu Gate 