Written by Jessie https://twitter.com/SisterJessiee
At the first show of the year All Japan’s president announced that in September All Japan will hold a show at Nippon Budokan. The last time AJPW held a show at Budokan was 18 years ago.
Fast forward to the 22nd of September 4,780 fans packed into the Budokan for All Japan’s biggest show in years.
Before the show started, we got our first look at Evolution girls. Zones, Sunny, Rin Hoshino, Oto Mizuhara and Chi Chi. They each gave a small speech to introduce themselves. Shuji Ishikawa, who is training them, said he would like them to debut at the start of next year.
Rising HAYATO & Ryo Inoue def Oji Shiiba & Yusuke Kodama
Fast and fun junior action to start off the show. It must have felt amazing for Inoue and HAYATO as the first All Japan wrestlers to walk through the curtain at a Budokan show in 18 years.
Oji Shiiba has been working All Japan recently and has proved to be a good hand. If he decides to stay, he will fit right in the junior division.
These two teams don’t really make the most sense, but they worked well, and each got a chance to show off their skills in the short amount of time they had. Rising HAYATO got the pin on Shiiba to win the match.
Yoshi Tatsu, ATM, TAJIRI & Mitsuya Nagai def Black Menso-re, Izanagi, Andy Wu & SUSHI
If there ever was a match just to get all the wrestlers on the card this would be it.
Basically, a six minute comedy match with some serious wrestling thrown in. ATM bribing the referee for a fast count is always fun. In the end the masked team lost as SUSHI tapped out to Nagai.
Jun Saito, Rei Saito & Cyrus def Shuji Ishikawa, Kohei Sato & Yukio Naya
You can sum up this match in one sentence. Six big men doing big men things.
This is the triumphant return of the Saito twins to the All Japan ring for the first time since January 3rd 2022. They have been on excursion in America.
Naya is a late inclusion as Ren Ayabe was scheduled to tag with Shuji and Sato but a collapsed lung has put him on the shelf for a while.
The Saito twins have come back with new gear, new moves, and a new attitude. They seemed to have learnt a lot on their execution and you can tell are more confidant in the ring. They are not 100% there yet as wrestlers but if they keep on this path they will get there. The brothers got a huge win over Shuji with a double chokeslam followed by a top rope splash from Rei. First match back and a win at Budokan. Big things in the future for these brothers.
All Asia Tag Team Title Match
Evolution (Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura) def Voodoo Murders (Toshizo & Minoru) (c)
Ever since Voodoo Murders came back to AJPW full time they have been a complete pain in the butt to the whole roster but especially Sato and Dan. The Evolution duo have had chairs, barricades, gas tanks, belts and even dog collars used against them.
Of course, this match had to have the Voodoo Murders special which is distracted the referee and use a weapon on your opponents. At this point It has become tiresome to watch. But for a VM match this was ok. Dan’s comeback at the end and especially him getting the pin was great. The audience and commentators sounded very happy with the win. Even the referee Nikkan Lee share a couple of words with Dan and ruffled his hair after the three count.
The happiness on the faces of Dan and Sato were a joy to watch as they hug and hold their newly won belts up high. Sato was looking and pointing up to the sky and you just know he was thinking about his old partner who sadly passed away, Atsushi Aoki, the entire time.
Minoru Suzuki def Hokuto Omori
Hokuto has seemed to have a death wish in the lead up, annoying Suzuki every chance he got. Taking Suzuki’s hat of his head and wearing it at a press conference to taking a seat on the entrance to watch and analyze his match.
This started off with Hokuto playing around and Suzuki was having none of it and pretty quickly turned into a hard hitting match. Elbows flying everywhere with one discus elbow from Hokuto really getting the crowd going. You have to give Hokuto credit, Suzuki hits hard and he was pushing through the pain, getting back up and asking for more. It wasn’t enough though and one Gotch Style Piledriver later Suzuki was declared the winner.
Yuji Nagata def Yuma Anzai
The debut match for Yuma Anzai was up next and what a debut. His first match take place in the Budokan, his opponent was Yuji Nagata and referee is Kohei Wada. Plus, he has his own theme song performed live. AJPW is betting big on this kid.
Anzai was scouted by Suwama. He is from the same wrestling club as Suwama and Jumbo Tsuruta.
Very impressive debut for Anzai. His drop kicks and especially his double arm suplex looked really good. Nagata played his role as the veteran perfectly while also giving Anzai room to work. But like all rookie Nagata got him in the end with a submission.
Yuma Aoyagi def Christopher Daniels
From one Yuma to another. On twitter Yuma said this was an interview match to see if there was a chance he could wrestle in AEW. For Christopher Daniels who has worked nearly everywhere surprisingly this is his first match in All Japan.
Yuma had two goals. One – to win the match and two – to get Daniels to shake his hand. This was a very competitive match where both men got a ton of offence in and action from start to finish. It was fairly even and for two men who haven’t worked to together before it was a pretty smooth match.
A spin kick followed by The Fool and Yuma gets the two things he really wants. The win and a handshake from Daniels.
Masanobu Fuchi, Atsushi Onita, Shiro Koshinaka def Great Kojika, Yoshiaki Yatsu & Masao Inoue
Before the match the Great Kabuki came to the ring and performed a dance.
Fun fact the ages combined of all six men comes to 394 years. And if you want to include the referee Wada in that the number bumps up to 461.
Honestly it was nice to see All Japan give a spot to all six. They may have a bit of trouble in the ring but they were having fun in front of a big crowd at Budokan. A backdrop to Inoue sealed the deal and Fuchi, Onita and Koshinaka were declared winners.
It was good to see Fuchi still going and to get the pin. He is a big part of All Japan’s past and a junior heavyweight legend. He is 68 so for him to keep going is an absolute joy.
World Tag Team Title Match
Gungnir of Anarchy (Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda)(c) def Get Wild (Takao Omori & Manabu Soya)
We had to wait a while for Omori to announce his partner but when he did people were excited. We were getting a Get Wild reunion. Omori and Soya came to the ring in matching animal print jackets and Soya even sporting a wig. Unfortunately, they did not last long as he took it off to revel his red hair and KONGO trunks.
Before we got underway Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada came out as they were special witnesses for this match.
This was great. Hard hitting and fast paced. Everyone looked great but the stars of the show were Honda and Omori. They have been beefing for a while now which really helped this match get to another level. They worked so well together with Ashino and Soya popping in now and then to lend a hand or set up some double team moves. A bunch of super close pin falls in the last couple of minutes kept everyone on the edge of their seats. In the end Honda was able to overcome Omori and deliver a Final Vent for the win.
Taue and Kawada got back in the ring, helped clasp the belts around the winner’s waist and posed for a photo with them
Junior Heavyweight Title Match
Atsuki Aoyagi def Tiger Mask (c)
Keiji Muto joined to commentary team on AJPW.TV from now till the end of the show.
Atsuki came to the ring in brand new gear which you could say foreshadowed his win as he was covered in silver and gold. When he removed the hood his reveled his newly dyed pink hair which the audience loved.
Atsuki was very much the favourite coming into this match. It was his time and more importantly the right time for the title change. Tiger Mask did what he can and showed up to build for their match which was appreciated.
Tiger Mask dominated most of the match and worked Atsuki leg a lot. It was a slower match which favoured Tiger Mask as Atsuki likes to zip around the ring. Once he got the pace going this was his. Atsuki did have to dig deep for this win, but it was worth is as he hit a 450 and won the junior title for the first time in his career with his brother cheering him on from the outside.
Number One Contenders Match
Naoya Nomura def Jake Lee
Well, this sure was unexpected. In just 43 seconds Nomura pins Jake and moves on to a Triple Crown match the next day at AJPW Mania. It was obvious they were running overtime, but I don’t think anyone thought this match would be over in less than one minute.
Triple Crown Championship Match
Kento Miyahara def Suwama (c)
Not to be outdone by his former Nextream stablemate Atsuki, Kento had some new gear of his own with even more gold on it.
Out next were two special witnesses for the match. Kenta Kobashi and Stan Hansen.
And finally, the champion made his way to the ring with his Voodoo Murders buddy, TARU, who was dressed up in a suit for the occasion.
Even though Voodoo Murders Suwama has been using weapons and taking the referee out there was none of that. The closest thing we got was him staring down Stan Hansen with a raised fist.
You could describe the main event as the best of Kento vs Suwama packed into 16 minutes. Kento and Suwama have amazing chemistry together that even with the short time they had they worked in all the favourites. There were blackout knee strikes, backdrops, a piledriver on the apron and of course Kento posing.
Kento was finally able to put Suwama away right in the center of the ring with a Shutdown Suplex while legendary referee Wada counted the three count. Kento is the new Triple Crown champion and has started his 6th reign.
In the end the current Triple Crown champion posed with two former Triple Crown champions. Kento got on the mic to close the show and said it will be a new era for All Japan.
You can watch All Japan at AJPW.TV for 900 Yen a month.
Every month has a mix of live and video on demand shows with VOD uploaded the next day.
Puroresu Gate 