Tag: all-japan pro wrestling

All-Japan wrapped up their August today with a major event including the Zennichi Jr. Festival Finals.

Today’s event was held at Ebara Wave Arena Ota/Ota City General Gym in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. This also was or will be a (taped at a later date) GAORA SPORTS broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 3068.

Match 1: Shota Kofuji beat Senor Saito. The first career single victory for Kofuji!

Match 2: Yuma Aoyagi, Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda & Hyo Ogawa beat Hideki Suzuki, Ren Ayabe. Kumaarashi & Daisuke Sekimoto. Aoyagi pinned Ayabe.

Match 3: Riisng Hayato, MUSASHI, Hokuto Omotri, Yasutaka Yano & Mochizuki Junior (Dragon Gate) beat Masaaki Mochizuki (Dragon Gate), Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer), Seigo Tachibana, Yuya Aoki & Leon De Oro. Yano pinned Mochizuki. Afterwards, Yano issued a GAORA TV Championship challenge to Mochizuki. Accepted. More to come.

Match 4: Go Shiozaki beat Suwama.

Match 5: All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Jun & Rei Saito beat Xyon & Odyssey to retain the titles. Jun Saito pinned Xyon after Yagiyama Cyclone. V2 for the Saitos/champs.

Match 6: Zennichi Jr. Festival Finals: Seiki Yoshioka beat Dan Tamura to win the tournament. As a result, Yoshioka will probably get a rematch for the All-Japan World Junior Heavyweight Championship in the near future. Additionally, MUSASHI & Tachibana got involved and teased a match between the sides for the vacant All-Asia Tag Team Championship.

Main Event: All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Kento Moyahara beat Yuma Anzai to retain the Triple Crown. V9 for Miyahara. This went over 37 minutes. Next up: The Royal Road Tournament winner.

After the event, it was announced that, following the recent death of Dory Funk Jr., Stan Hansen has been re-appointed as PWF President (the PWF-Pacific Wrestling Federation-is the governing body and rulemaker for All-Japan).. Hansen will be the 5th PWF President and previously was the 2nd, previously stepping down from the position in 2007. Funk was President until his death, which left the position vacant.

The next event is the 13th Royal Road Tournament starting on 9/9 at Shinagawa Stellar Ball in Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo. This is a single-elimination bracket format event. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This will also be a GAORA SPORTS broadcast in Japan.

In other news, the promotion also announced the annual World’s Strongest/Real World Tag League for November & December. It will run 11/15-12/6. More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Yoshioka-Tamura for the Junior Heavyweight title is now official. That (re)match will happen on 10/3 at Gyoda Green Arena Main Arena in Saitama.

As far as the All-Asia title is concerned, the match to crown new champions will be MUSASHI & Yoshioka vs. Tamura & Tachibana. That match will happen on 10/11 at Sendai Sun Plaza in Sendai. The Saitos will also defend the Al-Japan World Tag Team Championship on 10/11 but challengers are TBA.

All-Japan continued the Zennichi Jr. Festival today in Hiroshima with the last day of Block B.

Today’s event was held at Hiroshima Industrial Hall East Exhibition Hall in Hiroshima and will be available on demand on AJPW.TV later today. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 418.

Match 1: Jun & Rei Saito & Yuko Miyamoto beat Shotaro Ashino, Takeshi Okada & Imabari Towel Mascaras. Rei Saito pinned Mascaras after Yagiyama Cyclone.

Match 2: Yuma Aoyagi, Yasutaka Yano & Leon De Oro beat Hideki Suzuki, MUSASHI & GuC (Dragon Gate). Aoyagi pinned MUSASHI after The Fool.

Match 3: Yuma Anzai, Go Shiozaki, Ren Ayabe & Seiki Yoshioka beat Kento Miyahara, Ryuki Honda, Kumaarashi & Seigo Tachibana. Anzai pinned Tachibana after Gumshala.

Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B:
Match 4: Dan Tamura beat Shota Kofuji.
Match 5: Naruki Doi beat Masaaki Mochizuki.
Main Event: Hokuto Omori beat Yuya Aoki.
As a result, Mozhizuki & Tamura tied for the lead at 3-1-1, 7 pts, but there was no tiebreaker because their head-to-head result was a draw. Which led to…
Impromptu tiebreaker match: Dan Tamura beat Masaaki Mochizuki. As a result, Tamura wins Block B and will advance to the Fibals to face Seiki Yoshioka.

The Final is Saturday at Ebara Wave Arena Ota (Ota City General Gym) in Tokyo. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin Friday at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET. This will also be a GAORA SPORTS broadcast in Japan (likely taped at a later date).

All-Japan continued the Zennichi Jr. Festival today in Ehime. With the last day of Block A.

Today’s event was held at Matsuyama City Community Center in Ehime and will be available on demand on AJPW.TV later today. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 402.

Match 1: Hideki Suzuki, Hokuto Omori & GuC (Dragon Gate) beat Yuma Aoyagi, Masaaki Mochizuki (Dragon Gate) & Imabari Towel Mascaras. Suzuki pinned Mascaras after a double arm suplex.

Match 2: Jun & Rei Saito & Yuko Miyamoto beat Shotaro Ashino, Kumaarashi & Yuya Aoki. Rei Saito pinned Kumaarashi after Saito Iginari Smash (a double chokeslam).

Match 3: Kento Miyahara, Ryuki Honda & Dan Tamura beat Yuma Anzai, Ren Ayabe & Shota Kofuji. Honda pinned Kofuji after Final Vent.

Match 4: Go Shiozaki beat Yasutaka Yano.

Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A:
Match 5: MUSASHI vs. Leon De Oro went to a double countout. No points.
Main Event: Seiki Yoshioka beat Seigo Tachibana.
As a result, Yoshioka wins Block A and advances to the Finals.

The next event is tomorrow at Hiroshima Industrial Hall East Exhibition Hall in Hiroshima with the last day of Block B. There will be no live broadcast. On demand later that day.

UPDATE: Today’s event is now available on demand.

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.

All-Japan resumed the Zennichi Jr. Festival today in Nagasaki.

Today’s event was held at Dejima Messe Nagasaki in Nagasaki and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. (There was no live braodcast)

The announced paid attendance was 465.

Match 1: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: MUSASHI beat Yasutaka Yano.

Match 2: Go Shiozaki, Yuma Anzai, Ren Ayabe & Hokuto Omori beat Hideki Suzuki, Shotaro Ashino, Aizawa No. 1 & Carbell Ito. Shiozaki pinned 1 after a lariat.

Match 3: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Leon De Oro beat Seiki Yoshioka.

Match 4: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Masaaki Mochizuki beat Shota Kofuji.

Match 5: Yuma Anzai, Jun & Rei Saito beat Kento Miyahara, Ryuki Honda & Kuamarashi. Jun Saito pinned Honda after Dying Light.

Match 6: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Dan Tamura beat Naruki Doi.

Main Event: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Seigo Tachibana beat Rising Hayatp.

Injury Report: Hayato was apparently injured during the main event. Concussion. Out the rest of the tournament. His last 2 matches will be forfeits.

Standings:
Block A:
1-MUSASHI, 2-1-1, 5 pts
2-Tachibana, 2-0-1, 5 pts
3-Yano, 2-2, 4 pts
4-Hayato, 2-3, 4 pts (OUT)
5-Yoshioka, 1-2, 2 pts
6-Oro, 1-2, 2 pts

Block B:
1-Yuya Aoki, 3-0, 6 pts
2-Mochizuki, 2-0-1, 5 pts
3-Omori, 2-1, 4 pts
4-Tamura, 1-1-1, 3 pts
5-Doi, 1-3, 2 pts (OUT)
6-Kofuji, 0-4, 0 pts (OUT)
The winners of each block advance to the Finals. Block A standings take the Hayato injury withdrawal after today into account. Anyone can still win but it’s interesting because, if MUSASHI & Tachibana finish tied, their match was a draw so there may have to be a rematch. Block B is Aoki’s to lose, he still has Mochizuki & Omori.

The next event was to have been tomorrow at Grand Messe Kumamoto in Kumamoto, but that event was CANCELLED due to the venue being used for disaster relief efforts following the major earthquake a few weeks ago. Therefore, the next event will now be Sunday at Locally Produced Kurume (?) in Fukuoka. There will be no live broadcast. On demand shortly after the event (scheduled for 2 AM PT/5 AM ET).

All-Japan has just announced another injury to the roster, and for the second time recently it will have major implications for the Zennichi Jr. Festival-with Atsuki Aoyagi already sidelined due to injury, now his sometimes-partner Rising Hayato is out of action. Concussion. Apparently it happened during his match today against Seigo Tachibana. Out the rest of the tournament. His 2 remaining matches will be forfeit wins for MUSASHI and Yasutaka Yano. The rest of the tournament means he will be out at least a week but should be considered indefinitely, and with the Royal Road tournament next they’ll probably play it safe and keep him out through that, which would mean at least a month.

More as it becomes available.

All-Japan continues the Zennichi Jr. Festival today with a doubleheader in Tokyo. This post will have results for the first event. Both events are scheduled to have 4 tournament matches, up first will be all of Block B and one match from Block A, reversed for the second event.

Today’s events will be held at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on AJPW.TV. Both events are legit advance sellouts. It’s not yet known if there will be any commentary. There are 6 matches planned today so the longest the event could go is just over 3 hours with the intermission but it probably will go just over 2 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Dan Tamura vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
Jun & Rei Saito, Yuma Aoyagi & Yasutaka Yano vs. Hideki Suzuki, SHotaro Ashino, Ren Ayabe & Leon De Oro
Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Naruki Doi vs. Yuya Aoki
Intermission
Kento Miyahara, Ryuki Honda & Seigo Tachibana vs. Yuma Anzai, Go Shiozaki & MUSASHI
Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Hokuto Omori vs. Shota Kofuji
Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Rising Hayato vs. Seiki Yoshioka

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET.

7:50 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in 10 minutes.

7:55 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.

We are LIVE from Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s a legit advance sellout so depending on the setup it should be between 290-340. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance, a legit advance sellout, was 322)

The matches should begin in 5-10 minutes. Opening announcements start now.

The matches begin at 8:01 PM PT/11:01 PM ET. Hard camera view only on the broadcast.

Match 1: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Dan Tamura vs. Masaaki Mochizuki. 30 minute time limit
Result: Time Limit Draw
Mochizuki is 1-0-1, 3 pts. Tamura is 0-1-1, 1 pt.

Match 2: Jun & Rei Saito, Yuma Aoyagi & Yasutaka Yano vs. Hideki Suzuki, Shotaro Ashino, Ren Ayabe & Leon De Oro. 30 minute time limit
Result: Hideki Suzuki, Shotaro Ashino, Ren Ayabe & Leon De Oro beat Jun & Rei Saito, Yuma Aoyagi & Yasutaka Yano. Leon pinned Yano.

Match 3: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) vs. Yuya Aoki (Independent/Freelancer). 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuya Aoki beat Naruki Doi
Aoki is 2-0, 4 pts. Doi is 1-1, 2 pts.

Intermission. The event will resume in 10-15 minutes.

The matches resume at 9:21 PM PT/12:21 AM ET.

Match 4: Kento Miyahara, Ryuki Honda & Seigo Tachibana vs. Yuma Anzai, Go Shiozaki & MUSASHI. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuma Anzai. Go Shiizaki & MUSASHI beat Kento Miyahara, Ryuki Honda & Seigo Tachobana. Shiozaki pinned Honda after Go LariatZ

Match 5: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Hokuto Omori beat Shota Kofuji bsubmission

Main Event: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Risong Hayato beat Seiki Yoshioka

Event 2:
The announced paid attendance was 332, a legit advance sellout.

Match 1: Zernnichi Jr. Festival Block B: Yuya Aoki beat Shota Kofuji
Aoki is 3-0, 6 pts. Kofuji is 0-3, 0 pts

Match 2: Go Shiozaki, Yuma Aoyagi & Yuko Miyamoto beat Hideki Suzuki, Shotaro Ashino & Dan Tamura. Shiozaki pinned Ashino after Go Lariat.

Match 3: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Yasutaku Yano beat Leon De Oro
Yano is 1-1, 2 pts. Oro is 0-2, 0 pts.

Match 4: Kento Miyahara, Jun & Rei Saito & Seiki Yoshioka beat Yuma Anzai, Ryuki Honda, Ren Ayabe & Rising Hayato. Rei Saito pinned Honda after Yagiyama Cyclone.

Match 5: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Hokuto Omori beat Naruki Doi.
Omori is 2-1, 4 pts. Doi is 1-1, 2 pts.

Main Event: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: MUSASHI vs. Seigo Tachibana went to a 30 minute time limit draw
Both are 1-0-1, 3 pts.

The next event is Friday at Dejima Messe Nagasaki in Nagasaki. There will be no live broadcast. On demand later that day or next day. (No more live broadcasts until the final day)

All-Japan kicks off the Summer Action Wars 2026 Tour today along with the Zennichi Jr. Festival tournament. This year’s Jr. Heavyweight singles tournament saw a major shakeup before it even got started earlier this week when top contender Atsuki Aoyagi was pulled from the tournament due to a knee injury suffered last weekend, which will keep him out a while and also forced him & Rising Hayato to vacate the All-Asia Tag Team Championship. There was enough time to find a replacement, but unfortunately for the rest of the field it’s Dragon Gate veteran and current GAORA TV Champion Masaaki Mochizuki. The tournament is a round-robin format with 2 blocks of 6 and everyone will be in action today. Also, for fun and as a point of interest, the promotion ran a fan poll on Japanese social media asking who fans thought would win the tournament (and correct picks will get a prize). The top pick was very surprising…Hokuto Omori!?! Save that and we’ll revisit it at the end!

Before today’s event there will be a memorial ceremony for longtime All-Japan wrestler and PWF President Dory Funk Jr., who died earlier this week at 85.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on AJPW.TV in Japanese. This will also be a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan. The event will start 20 minutes early for the memorial ceremony and also an entrance ceremony for the Zennichi Jr. Festival and there will be no intermission today, and with all 8 matches having a 30 minute time limit it could go as long as 4 hours but realistically it will be closer to 3 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Pre-show:
Dory Funk Jr. Memorial Ceremony
Zennichi Jr. Festival Entrance Ceremony

Main show:
Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B:
Dan Tamura vs. Yuya Aoki
Shota Kofuji vs. Naruki Doi
Jun & Rei Saito, Hideki Suzuki & Ryuki Honda vs. Yuma Aoyagi, Shotaro Ashino, Ren Ayabe & Kumaarashi
Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Yasutaka Yano vs. Seigo Tachibana
Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Hokuto Omori vs. Masaaki Mochizuki
Kento Miyahara & Suwama vs. Yuma Anzai & Go Shiozaki
Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A:
Rising Hayato vs. Leon De Oro
MUSASHI vs. Seiki Yoshioka

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET. The live stream is scheduled to begin at 7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET for the pre-event ceremonies. The event’s scheduled start time is 7:30 PM PT/10:30 PM ET.

7 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in 10 minutes.

7:08 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.

Audio muted to start. The Dory Funk Jr. Memorial Ceremony will begin shortly.

The Ceremony began a few minutes late (7:13 PM PT/10:13 PM ET). The entire roster including Masanobu Fuchi comes out and surrounds the ring.

The Zennichi Jr. Festival entrance ceremony follows. At the end Japanese commentary begins. So…

We are LIVE from Korakuen Hell in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Shoichi (?) Nakamoto & Kagehiro Osano.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. Crowd is still filing in, doesn’t look like a sellout but may be close. Not quite full capacity setup but I’m thinking it’s gonna be around 1300. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1368)

The matches will begin shortly.

The matches begin at 7:35 PM PT/10:35 PM ET.

Match 1: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Yuya Aoki vs. Dan Tamura. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuya Aoki beat Dan Tamura. It’s Day 1 so you know what that means…UPSET ALERT!!!
Aoki is 1-0, 2 pts. Tamura is 0-1, 0 pts.

Match 2: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Shota Kofuji vs. Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer). 30 minute time limit
Result: Naruki Doi beat Shota Kofuji by submission
Doi is 1-0, 2 pts. Koduji is 0-1, 0 pts.

Match 3: Jun & Rei Saito, Hideki Suzuki & Ryuki Honda vs. Yuma Aoyagi, Shotaro Ashino, Ren Ayabe & Kumaarashi. 30 minute time limit
Result: Jun & Rei Saito, Hideki Suzuki & Ryuki Honda beat Yuma Aoyagi, Shotaro Ashino, Ren Ayabe & Kumaarashi. Honda pinned Aoyagi after Final Vent.

Quick break for ring repairs/maintenance.

Match 4: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Yasutaka Yano vs. Seigo Tachibana. 30 minute time limit
Result: Seigo Tachibana beat Yasutaka Yano
Tachibana is 1-0, 2 pts. Yano is 0-1, 0 pts.

Naruki Doi joins commentary for the next match.

Match 5: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block B: Hokuto Omori vs. Masaaki Mochizuki (Dragon Gate). 30 minute time limit
Result: Masaaki Mochizuki beat Hokuto Omori
Mochizuzki is 1-0, 2 pts. Omori is 0-1, 2 pts. Only one match but that fan pick to win isn’t looking too good right now!

Since there’s no intermission, we get the usual big post-break announcement now: The annual Royal Road Tournament is coming later this year. This is a single-elimination bracket tournament.Participant announcements: Kento Miyahara, Yuma Anzai, Go Shiozaki, Hideki Suzuki, Ren Ayabe, Rei Saito, Jun Saito, Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda, Yuma Aoyagi, Kumaarashi, Daisuke Sekimoto, Xyon, Odyssey, Hyo Ogawa, Timothy Thatcher (!). The tournament starts 9/9 at Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo. Early matches are also announced, including Xyon vs. Odyssey on 9/12. The tournament will; run until 9/22.

Hideki Suzuki joins commentary for the next match.

Match 6: Kento Miyahara & Suwama vs. Yuma Anzai & Go Shiozaki. 30 minute time limit
Result: Kento Miyahara & Suwama beat Yuma Anzai & Go Shiozaki. Miyahara pinned Anzai after a running knee strike. Afterwards, Shiozaki & Suwama kept going at it to the back, then Miyahara with microphone. Further burying the still-down Anzai ahead of their upcoming Triple Crown match.

Seigo Tachibana joins commentary for the next match.

Match 7: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: Rising Hayato vs. Leon De Oro. 30 minute time limit
Result: Rising Hayato beat Leon De Oro
Hayato is 1-0, 2 pts. Oro is 0-1, 0 pts.

Masaaki Mochizuki joins commentary for the final match.

Main Event: Zennichi Jr. Festival Block A: MUSASHI vs. Seiki Yoshioka. 30 minute time limit
Result: Seiki Yoshioka beat MUSASHI
Yoshioka is 1-0, 2 pts. MUSASHI is 0-1, 0 pts. Only the first match but this one could very well decide Block A.

The next event is Saturday at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring for a same-day doubleheader. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin Friday at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET for the first event and at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET for the second event.

All-Japan has announced an injury absence coming out of this past weekend’s event, unfortunately it’s a major one as Atsuki Aoyagi has gone down. Left knee (torn ACL). Out indefinitely but this probably means at least the rest of the year. He is also out of the Zennichi Jr. Festival as a result. Masaaki Mochizuki (Dragon Gate) will be the replacement. This could have other implications as Aoyagi currently holds the All-Asia Tag Team Championship with Rising Hayato and, if he’s going to be out as long as I think he will be, it means the titles may have to be vacated.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE: It’s now official-the All-Asia Tag Team Championship is now VACANT. Aoyagi & Hayato have vacated the titles due to the injury.

Breaking news coming out today that has major impacts across wrestling, and especially All-Japan: Dory Funk Jr., the legendary wrestler and chairman of the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF), the governing body of All-Japan Pro Wrestling, has died. He was 85. The cause of death is not yet known.

Funk, real name Dorrance Earnest Funk, was the son of Dory Funk Sr. and brother of hardcore icon Terry Funk. Trained by Dory, Pedro Morales & Ricky Romero, he is the second-longest-reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion of all time, a 2009 WWE Hall Of Fame inductee, and much more. He debuted in All-Japan in 1973, just a year after the promotion began, and frequently teamed with Terry over 10 years there, including winning the annual World’s Strongest Tag League/Real World Tag League 3 times. He also was a 3-time NWA International Heavyweight Champion. After leaving in the mid-1980s, he briefly went to WWF/E in 1986 then to Puerto Rico & the US independents before returning to All-Japan in 1990, staying until the end of 1096. He returned in 2008 for a match then again in 2013 and stayed until 2017, during which time he was named PWF Chairman. His final match was in the promotion in 2017 but he remained in his PWF role until his death.

Funk won numerous championships and accolades around the world. He is survived by wife Marti and 5 children.

As this news is just breaking and it’s 6:30 AM Wednesday in Japan, All-Japan has not yet posted about this. This will be updated when they issue a statement(s).

RIP and God Bless, Dory.

UPDATE: All-Japan posted a brief statement expressing their deepest condolences. Nothing regarding the PWF yet.

UPDATE 2: All-Japan will hold a memorial ceremony for Funk before Sunday’s (8/9) event. New Japan also posted a tribute to Funk-although he only wrestled in New Japan once and not until the early 2000s, his early days featured a series of matches against NKPW founder/original owner Antonio Inoki.