All-Japan kicks off the 2023 Real World Tag League today, their annual year-ending Heavyweight tag team tournament (the second such tournament they run each year). But there is also another Jr. Battle Of Glory tournament for the Jr. Heavyweights. All but one match today will be for one of the tournaments, with the most noteworthy match maybe being the semifinal as NEW All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Katsuhiko Nakajima (still not technically signed with the promotion) teams with Hokuto Omori for the tournament. They open against Suwama & Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Hideki Suzuki as the path to a final day showdown against Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi, the next Triple Crown challenger and the man Nakajima won it from, respectively, begins. Also of note, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan-the former Ikemen Jiro in WWE and Jiro Kuroshio-returns to action in a Real World Tag League match before heading to the DDT event immediately afterwards.
Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on AJPW.TV in Japanese. All the Jr. Battle Of Glory matches have just 10 minute time limits while the tag league matches are 30 minutes tops, so that should keep the event’s running time down to 2-2 1/4 hours and hopefully in time to get to/switch over to the DDT event today.
Today’s lineup (in order):
Jr. Battle Of Glory: Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Naruki Doi
Real World Tag League: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana vs. Jun & Rei Saito
Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai vs. Osamu Nishimura & Ryo Inoue
Jr. Battle Of Glory: Dan Tamura vs. Fuminori Abe
Jr. Battle Of Glory: Rising Hayato vs. Hikaru Sato
Real World Tag League:
Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Ayabe vs. Cyrus & Ryan Danielson (not Bryan Danielson)
Hideki Suzuki & Suwama vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hokuto Omori
Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Hayato Tamura & Galeno Del Mal
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET.
6:15 PM PT UPDATE: Start time moved up a few minutes, so live updates begin early…
We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. There is Japanese commentary with your unnamed hosts. They started early to introduce the Jr. Tag Battle Of Glory and Real World Tag League participants to the live crowd before the event begins.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Full capacity setup and while not a sellout it looks like a good crowd so far, at least 1000 so I’ll guess it’s gonna be around 1100 (after seeing crowd shots in the first match it looks like a super full house so perhaps at least 1200-1250). (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1320)
The matches should begin in 15-20 minutes.
The matches begin at 6:31 PM PT.
Match 1: Jr. Battle Of Glory: Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Naruki Doi. 10 minute time limit
Result: Atsuki Aoyagi beat Naruki Doi. Doi went heel with a sneak attack at the start during Aoyagi’s entrance but in the end it backfired as Aoyagi got a flash 3 count by countering a Bakatare Sliding Kick. Very short match.
Match 2: Real World Tag League: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana vs. Jun & Rei Saito. 30 minute time limit
Result; Jun & Rei Saito beat Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana. Jun Saito pinned Tachibana after simultaneous chokelams by the Saito Bros on Kuroshio & Tachibana. All but Tachinaba are now headed to the DDT event in a couple hours.
Match 3: Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai vs. Osamu Nishimura & Ryo Inoue. 15 minute time limit
Result: Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai beat Osamu Nishimura & Ryo Inoue. Honda pinned Inoue after Final Vent.
Match 4: Jr. Battle Of Glory: Dan Tamura vs. Fuminori Abe. 10 minute time limit
Result: Fuminori Abe beat Dan Tamura by submission
Match 5: Jr. Battle Of Glory: Rising Hayato vs. Hikaru Sato. 10 minute time limit
Result: Rising Hayato beat Hikaru Sato
Match 6: Real World Tag League: Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Ayabe vs. Cyrus & Ryan Danielson. 30 minute time limit
Result: Cyrus & Ryan Danielson beat Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Ayabe. Cyrus pinned Ayabe after a diving body press.
Match 7: Hideki Suzuki (Pro Wrestling NOAH) & Suwama vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima (Independent/Freelancer) & Hokuto Omori. 30 minute time limit
Result: Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hokuto Omori beat Suwama & Hideki Suzuki. Omori beat Suwama with a front neck & arm lock. These teams did not like each other and couldn’t get along at all, and seemed to spend more time fighting each other instead of their opponents, turning this into more of a comedy match.
Main Event: Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Hayato Tamura (GLEAT) & Galeno Del Mal. 30 minute time limit
Result: Hayato Tamura & Galeno Del Mal beat Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi. Tamura pinned Miyahara after a lariat. UPSET ALERT!!
The next event is Tuesday at Tokorozawa Municipal Gym in Saitama. There will be no live broadcast. It will be available on demand on AJPW.TV later that day in the US.
