Tag: all-japan

All-Japan continued the Summer Action Series 2025 Tour today with Day 2 of the Zennichi Jr. Festival Tournament.

Today’s event was held at Volfert Toyama in Toyama and will be available on demand on AJPW.TV at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 417.

Match 1: Jun & Rei Saito, Hideki Suzuki, Shotaro Ashino & Talos beat Ryuki Honda, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Kento Miyahara, Ren Ayabe & Shota Kofuji. Jun Saito pinned Kofuji after a brainbuster.

Zennichi Jr. Festival:
Match 2: Block B: Naruki Doi beat Dan Tamura.
Match 3: Block A: Ryo Inoue beat Rising Hayato.

Match 4: All-Japan AJPW.TV 6-Man Tag Team Champions Hokuto Omori, Kumaarashi & Takashi beat Toyama Black Ramen Men 1, 2 & 3 to retain the titles. Omori pinned 3 after Hokuto Army Special. V2 for the champs.

Zennichi Jr. Festival:
Match 5: Block A: Hokuto Omori beat Seigo Tachibana.
Main Event: Block B: MUSASHI beat Atsuki Aoyagi.

The next event is tomorrow at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 1 AM PT/4 AM ET. This will also be taped for GAORA SPORTS broadcasts in Japan at later dates.

UPDATE: Shortly after this was posted, Dragon Gate announced on social media that YAMATO, BxB Hulk & Susumu Yokosuka are the next challengers for the All-Japan 6-Man Tag Team Championship. That match will happen on Wednesday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo at Heroic Legend Rei-Zero Vol. 7.

All-Japan has announced the field for the 2025 Royal Road Tournament, a single-elimination bracket-style tournament for Heavyweights only coming up in August & September. There are 16 entrants this year, 15 of which were revealed today: Jun Saito, Rei Saito, Ren Ayabe, Kento Miyahara, Yuma Aoyagi, Hideki Suzuki, Shotaro Ashino, Ryuki Honda, Hokuto Omori, Koran, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Xyon, Kengo Mashimo, Naoya Nomura and, noteworthy, Odyssey aka the former Odyssey Jones in WWE. Entrant 16 is TBA, whoever it is will face Rei Saito in Round 1. TBA will be revealed via participation on 8/3 at Ota City General Gym.
The other Round 1 matchups:
Kento Miyahara vs. Kengo Mashimo
Yuma Aoyagi vs. Naoya Nomura
Shotaro Ashino vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Hideki Suzuki vs. Odyssey
Ryuki Honda vs. Koran
Hokuto Omori vs. Xyon
Jun Saito vs. Ren Ayabe

Ayabe is the defending tournament winner.

All matches will be held under PWF Rules, 1 fall with no time limit. Round 1 will be on 8/24 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, 8/30 at Kunibiki Messe Large Exhibition Hall in Shimane and 8/31 at Kobe Sambo Hall in Kobe. The Quarterfinals will be 9/3 at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo and 9/6 at Light Cube Utsunomiya in Tochigi. The Semifinals & Finals will be 9/15 at Korakuen.

Also set for 8/3 is a GAORA TV Championship match-after Takashi successfully retained the title in a 5-way in Dragon Gate at Kobe Pro Wrestling Festival 2025 last weekend, his next challenger has been announced-because apparently he’s a draw if nothing else, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan.

UPDATE: Fallout from 7/17-after Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi successfully defended the All-Japan World Tag Team Championship, the next challenge came from Hideki Suzuki & Kengo Mashimo. Accepted and it’s now official. That match will happen on 8/3. Also, I incorrectly stated the 7/17 match was V4 for the champs. It actually was V3.

All-Japan kicked off the Summer Action Series 2025 today with the start of the Zennichi Jr. Festival, a Junior Heavyweight single tournament

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. This was also a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 855. Rather low for Korakuen recently.

Zennichi Jr. Festival:
Match 1: Block B: Dan Tamura beat Fuminori Abe.
Match 2: Block A: Hikaru Sato beat Ryo Inoue by submission.

Match 3: Hideki Suzuki, Kengo Mashimo & Seigo Tachibana beat Kumaarashi, Takashi & Shota Kofuji. Suzuki beat Kofuji with a sleeper hold.

Match 4: Ryuki Honda, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Shotaro Ashino & Ren Ayabe beat Jun & Rei Saito, MUSASHI & Yuko Miyamoto. Ayabe pinned MUSASHI after Des Roulette.

Match 5: All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi beat Hokuto Omori & Talos to retain the titles. Aoyagi pinned Omori after THE FOOL. V4 for the champs.

Zennichi Jr. Festival:
Match 6: Block B: Atsuki Aoyagi beat Naruki Doi.
Main Event: Block A: Rising Hayato beat Seiki Yoshioka.

The next event is Sunday at Volfert Toyama in Toyama. There will be no live broadcast. On demand later that evening.

All-Japan ran a standalone “Baka Era vs. Hokuto Army” faction warfare event today, featuring only wrestlers from those two groups. So no main units, no Saitos, etc.

Today’s event was held at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV.

The announced paid attendance was 308. For the first time in who knows how long it was not a sellout at the venue. (While it’s max capacity is 600 most events have been capped at 350-400 post-pandemic)

Match 1: Talos beat Seigo Tachibana.

Match 2: Hikaru Sato & Funinori Abe beat Jack Kennedy & Aizawa No. 1. Abe beat 1.

Match 3: Hideki Suzuki, Kengo Mashimo (Independent/Freelancer) & Yuko Miyamoto beat Aja Kong (OZ Academy), Kumaarashi & Takashi (Dragon Gate). Suzuki pinned Takashi.

Main Event: Yuma Aoyagi vs. Hokuto Omori went to a no contest. Out of control after ref bumps. Baka Era wins the final confrontation. Aoyagi saying this ended the event led to heavy boos from the crowd. Which led to after a short break…

Special Match: Aja Kong won a 18 person battle royal, last eliminating Yuma Aoyagi & Hokuto Omori. Even the 3 referees for the event participated.

After the battle royal ended, Hideki Suzuki addressed the crowd and asked for everyone’s support (both fans in attendance and those watching on AJPW.TV) of Taishin Nagao, who was seriously injured in an accident involving one of the promotion’s buses last month. All-Japan’s latest status update yesterday was he remains hospitalized in intensive care with severe abdominal injuries. Yuma Aoyagi then led the crowd in a support cheer for Nagao while expressing hopes for an eventual return for the young rookie.

During the promotion’s now-summer break updates on Nagao will be provided when/if they are made available.

The next event is 7/17 at Korakuen Hall to start the Summer Action Series 2025 tour. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. (Except for 7/20 all 5 July events will be streamed live on the service. 7/20 will be on demand later that day)

All-Japan has provided another brief update on the condition of rookie Taishin Nagao, who has been hospitalized since being hit by the promotion’s transport bus on 5/31. The latest update does not sound good…according to translation, he is in the emergency intensive care unit under “unpredictable circumstances due to traumatic shock caused by abdomen compression”. No further details were provided but it sounds extremely worrying.

More as it becomes available.

Lots of All-Japan news to start what essentially is a month-long break for the promotion after yesterday (most of the roster is not on the 6/24 event so the next official event is 7/17):

First the impending absence-Yuma Anzai is now off all events from July 1 until the end of August. Unspecified reasons. However, based on post-match comments from yesterday’s event, it could be in part because ELPIDA disbanded after their win yesterday. Ren Ayabe announced he was leaving the group and fellow members Rising Hayato & Ryuki Honda followed suit. Ayabe said he wanted to go solo to further challenge himself. Anzai then said he would be absent for a while. It does not appear to be injury-related, and he may even compete in other promotions during the next 2 months. Tentative return scheduled for September.

Several big matches are set for July coming out of yesterday, starting on 7/21 at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka-next up for Triple Crown Champion Jun Saito: Ryuki Honda. After that will be the winner of a match that day between Yuma Aoyagi & Davey Boy Smith Jr. to determine the next challenger. That later title match date is TBA. Before that, on 7/20 at Volfert Toyama in Toyama will be All-Japan AJPW.TV 6-Man Tag Team Champions Hokuto Omori, Kunaarashi & Takashi vs. TBA. TBA & TBA for the titles, revealed only as Toyama Black Ramen Man 1/2/3. At the tour-opener on 7/17 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Omori will team with Talos to face All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi for the titles.

All-Japan wrapped up the Super Power Series today with a major event in Tokyo.

Today’s event was held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on AJPW.TV. This was also a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

The announced paid attendance was 1196.

Match 1: Rei Saito, Atsuki Aoyagi & Takuya Nomura beat MUSASHI, Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Shota Oto. Saito beat Oto.

Match 2: Hikaru Sato, Kengo Mashimo (Independent/Freelancer), Yuko Miyamoto, Funinori Abe & Seigo Tachibana beat Suwama, Shotaro Ashino, Dan Tamura, Ryo Inoue & Xyon. Mashimo beat Inoue with a kneebar.

Match 3: Rising Hayato, Yuma Anzai, Ryuki Honda & Ren Ayabe beat Hokuto Omori, Kumaarashi, Takashi (Dragon Gate) & Talos. Ayabe pinned Kumaarashi after Des Roulette.

Match 4: All-Japan World Junior Heavyweight Champion Seiki Yoshioka beat Naruki Doi to retain the title. V2 for Yoshioka.

Match 5: All-Japan World Tag Team Champions Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi beat Madoka Kikuta & KAI to retain the titles. Miyahara pinned KAI with a shutdown suplex hold. V2 for the champs.

Main Event: All-Japan Triple Crown Champion Jun Saito beat Hideki Suzuki to retain the Triple Crown. V5 for Saito.

The next event is “Baka Era vs. Hokuto Army” Tuesday at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.

In other news, the announced upcoming Junior Heavyweight Tournament was revealed today as Zennichi Jr. Festival 2025 it will have 10 participants in 2 blocks in a round-robin format. The participants are as follows:
Block A-Rising Hayato, Ryo Inoue, Hikaru Sato, Seigo Tachibana, Seiki Yoshioka
Block B-MUSASHI, Dan Tamura, Atsuki Aoyagi, Fuminori Abe, Naruki Doi
All matches will be held under PWF Rules, meaning 1 fall, 30 minute time limit. The Finals will be no time limit. 2 points for win, 1 point for time limit draw, 0 poinys for loss, double countout, double DQ or no contest. The winner of each block will advance to the Finals with tiebreakers if needed being head-to-head result. If 3 or more tie, it will be determined after all matches.
The tournament will start on 7/17 and end on 8/3, covering 6 events during that time.

All-Japan continued the Super Power Series 2025 today in Kyoto.

Today’s event was held at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto and will be available on demand on AJPW.TV tonight. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 457.

Match 1: Fuminori Abe & Seigo Tachibana beat Dan Tamura & Ryo Inoue. Abe beat Inoue.

Match 2: Ryuki Honda & Ren Ayabe beat Shotaro Ashino & Xyon. Honda pinned Ashino after Final Vent.

Match 3: Hokuto Omori, Kumaarashi & Talos beat Kento Miyahara, MUSASHI & Davey Boy Smith Jr. Talos pinned MUSASHI.

Match 4: Takashi beat GAORA TV Champion Yuko Miyamoto to win the title. Takashi becomes the 29th GAORA TV Champion.

Match 5: Hideki Suzuki, Hikaru Sato & Seiki Yoshioka beat Jun & Rei Saito & Naruki Doi. Suzuki beat Jun Saito with a sleeper hold. The champ won one yesterday, now the challenger has to get his win.

Main Event: Yuma & Atsuki Aoyagi beat All-Asia Tag Team Champions Rising Hayato & Yuma Anzai to win the titles. The Aoyagis become the 126th All-Asia Tag Team Champions. Atsuki Aoyagi pinned Hayato after a firebird splash.

The tour-ender is Wednesday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on AJPW.TV will begin at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET. This is also scheduled to be a Samurai! TV broadcast in Japan.

All-Japan resumed the Super Power Series 2025 after a nearly 2 week break.

Today’s event was held at Juroku Plaza in Gifu and will be available on demand on AJPW.TV at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 518.

Match 1: Shotaro Ashino & Xyon beat Hiroki Murase & Lowther. Xyon pinned Lowther after a diving headbutt. The losers are wrestlers from a local independent promotion.

Match 2: Dan Tamura beat Seigo Tachibana.

Match 3: Fuminori Abe beat Ryo Inoue.

Match 4: All-Japan AJPW.TV 6-Man Tag Team Champions Hokuto Omori, Kumaarashi & Takashi beat Talos, Jack Kennedy & Aizawa No. 1 to retain the titles. Omori pinned 1 after Hokuto Army Special. V1 for the champs.

Match 5: Rising Hayato, Yuma Anzai, Ren Ayabe & Ryuki Honda beat Kento Miyahara, Atsuki Aoyagi, MUSASHI & Davey Boy Smith Jr. Ayabe pinned MUSASHI after Des Roulette.

Main Event: Jun & Rei Saito & Naruki Doi (Independent/Freelancer) beat Hideki Suzuki, Yuma Aoyagi & Seiki Yoshioka. Jun Saito pinned Suzuki after a jackhammer.

The next event is tomorrow at Kyoto KBS Hall in Kyoto with 2 more title matches scheduled. There will be no live broadcast. On demand should be later in the day.

All-Japan has announced a second tournament for the upcoming summer schedule in addition to the Royal Road Tournament: This is a currently unnamed tournament only for Junior Heavyweights that was first proposed by Atsuki Aoyagi at the 4/23 event. Said tournament’s schedule was revealed today:
7/17-Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
7/20-Volfert Toyama, Toyama
7/21-Osaka Prefectural Gym 2, Osaka
7/24-Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, Tokyo
7/26-Shin-Kiba 1st Ring
8/3-Ota City General Gym, Tokyo (Finals)

Further details & participants TBA.

More as it becomes available