After an unplanned day off due to yesterday’s Kumamoto event being cancelled following last month’s earthquake (several wrestlers did visit the area to assist with relief efforts and lift residents’ spirits), All-Japan resumed the Zennichi Jr. Festival today in Fukuoka.
Today’s event was held at Locally Produced Kurume (?) in Fukuoka and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. (There was no live broadcast)
The announced paid attendance was 539.
Before the event began, Ryo Inoue, who is currently out due to injury, made an appearance to greet the hometown fans.
Match 1: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Seiki Yoshioka beat Yasutaku Yano.
Match 2: Hideki Suzuki beat Jiro Shinbashi (Dragon Gate). Shinbashi was and will be the replacement for the absent Rising Hayato over the next couple events.
Match 3: Jun & Rei Saito & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Yuma Aoyagi, Yuko Miyamoto & Aizawa No. 1. Rei Saito pinned 1 after a hip drop.
Match 4: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Leon De Oro beat Seigo Tachibana.
Match 5: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Masaaki Mochizuki beat Yuya Aoki.
Main Event: Yuma Anzai, Go Shiozaki, Ren Ayabe & Shota Kofuji beat Kento Miyahara, Ryuki Honda, MUSASHI & Kumaarashi. Anzai pinned Kumaarashi after Gumshala (a running knee strike).
Standings:
Block A:
1-MUSASHI, 2-1-1, 5 pts
2-Tachibana, 2-1-1, 5 pts
3-Yoshioka, 2-2, 4 pts
4-Oro, 2-2, 4 pts
5-Hayato, 2-3, 4 pts (OUT-injured)
6-Yano, 2-3, 4 pts (OUT)
Block B:
1-Mochizuki, 3-0-1, 7 pts
2-Aoki, 3-1, 6 pts
3-Dan Tamura, 2-1-1, 5 pts
4-Hokuto Omori, 2-2, 4 pts (OUT)
5-Doi, 1-3, 2 pts (OUT)
6-Kofuji, 0-4, 0 pts (OUT)
The winners of each block advance to the Finals. In Block A, there are 2 matches left to decide it: MUSASHI-Oro and Tachibana-Yoshioka. If both MUSASHI & Tachibana win, they’ll have to figure out a tiebreaker because MUSASHI-Tachibana was a draw. If one wins and the other loses, the winner advances. If both matches to go a draw or there is a 3 or 4-way tie, they will have to figure out tiebreakers. In Block B, I said the other day it was Aoki’s to lose…he may have just lost it. That being said, Mochizuki still must beat Doi or draw to win. Aoki can still take it back with a win and Doi win. Tamura only still has a chance because he opened with a draw against Mochizuki. And, much to many fans’ disappointment, their pre-tournament pick to win it all, Omori, will not as he now can’t win the block. He can spoil it for Aoki though.
The next event is Tuesday at Matsuyama City Community Center in Ehime. There will be no live broadcast. On demand later that day or, at the latest, Wednesday.