ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING BROADCAST 2020 #3
MAY 16, 2020
2AW SQUARE
CHIBA, JAPAN

Watch: AJPW.TV

KAI & TAJIRI DEF. TAKAO OMORI & BLACK MENSO~RE (7:50)

KAI and TAJIRI might be one of the worst tag teams out there. I like KAI but TAJIRI brings out the worst in him when they team. It’s a bunch of unfunny comedy and cheap heat. Thankfully there wasn’t much of that here. This was hardly a barn burner but it was a perfectly acceptable tag match that didn’t go long and had some decent sequences between KAI and Omori. KAI got the win with a Schoolboy with his feet on the ropes out of the view of referee Nikkan Lee. This certainly exceeded my expectations. Omori and Menso~re were the glue that held his match together and are an underrated tag team. After the match KAI and TAJIRI gave an interview where they said they were going after the All Asia Tag Team Championship *sigh*. **3/4

SHUJI ISHIKAWA & HOKUTO OMORI DEF. YUMA AOYAGI & DAN TAMURA (6:31)

Omori got to display some new moves he has added to his arsenal like an Enziguri here. This match was a fun little sprint clearly designed to showcase Omori. The reason for this will become clear later on in the show. Everyone else looked pretty good here too, with the Aoyagi vs. Ishikawa stuff also standing out. Tamura was his usual fiery self here too. He tried to slam and suplex Ishikawa, but the Violent Giant wouldn’t leave his feet. It’s gonna be great when Tamura finally gets to slam him in a match. Ishikawa got the win after a Running Knee Lift to Tamura. This was a lot of fun and a good example of how the All Japan midcard has considerably improved over this time last year. ***1/4

PURPLE HAZE (ZEUS & IZANAGI) DEF. JUN AKIYAMA & FRANCESCO AKIRA (6:17)

Akiyama and Akira entered first, then Purple Haze came running out and attacked them. This was a simple but effective brawl with Akira getting some hope spots with high flying moves.The rest of the time he was getting his ass handed to him by the Purple Haze members. The Purple Haze formula doesn’t always work but it was fine here, especially because the blatant cheating was kept to a minimum. Akira got a couple flash pin attempts on Zeus before falling to Zeus’ Lariat followed up by a Jackhammer. Another fun match on this show. ***1/4

ENFANTS TERRIBLES (SHOTARO ASHINO & YUSUKE KODAMA) DEF. JIN (JAKE LEE & KOJI IWAMOTO) (10:25)

When Ashino and Lee have their face-to-face staredowns, Ashino’s height isn’t as much an issue because of the intensity he conveys. Enfants Terrible controlled most of this match, and went to work dismantling Iwamoto, with Ashino once again going after his leg and ankle. When Iwamoto finally tagged out, Lee came in and tried to convey some intensity. I’m not going to lie, it doesn’t quite work. I simply can’t by Lee being super pissed off and wanting to kill Ashino. But the Lee vs. Ashino sequences here were still quite good, and Ashino of course is great at conveying intensity. Ashino hit some suplexes on Iwamoto and slapped on the Ankle Lock for the win. Enfants Terribles are now 4-0 in All Japan, a far cry from their former Wrestle-1 colleagues who have popped up in NOAH have fared there. And despite my quibbles with how Lee carries himself, an Ashino vs. Lee singles match is the most anticipated match for me in All Japan right now. ***1/2

KENTO MIYAHARA & YOSHITATSU DEF. EVOLUTION (SUWAMA & YUSUKE OKADA) (10:45)

The heated Yoshitatsu vs. SUWAMA feud continued here with Yoshitatsu immediately going after the Triple Crown champion and they brawled on the outside. Once the match settled back into the ring, Miyahara and Yoshitatsu worked over Okada for an extended period. Things then picked up and we got a hot closing sequence between Miyahara and Okada and Miyahara pinned Okada with the Shutdown German Suplex. After the match, SUWAMA attacked Yoshitatsu with a chair. I didn’t think that SUWAMA vs. Yoshitatsu was going to end up leading to a Triple Crown match between them, but I think we may end up getting one now. Then Ashino came out to confront Miyahara. Though they have a tag match between each other on the next show, I would stay focused on the Lee vs. Ashino rivalry. Good match. ***1/4

PWF WORLD JR. HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
SUSUMU YOKOSUKA © DEF. HIKARU SATO (23:03)

This was one of those matches that had a great build. After some feeling out early on, we got a few action packed sequences, followed up by Sato going after Yokosuka’s arm for a while and then went after his leg. This was solid work that while slow moving at times, was never boring and built up the match to its crescendo. When Yokosuka finally got back in control, the match kicked into high gear with a bunch of near falls. Yokosuka hit a bunch of short Lariats then hit the Jumbo No Kachi! for the win in his V4 defense. Great match. Yokosuka has been one of the best wrestlers in the world so far in 2020. After the match, Kodama and then Iwamoto both came out to confront Yokosuka, seeking a title shot. However, Yokosuka chose Hokuto Omori instead. A good choice and Omori has been looking great lately and deserves his first title shot and from the sounds of it, this will take place in Dragon Gate. However, on the next All Japan show on May 24, Omori faces Iwamoto in a singles match. Will Omori get the biggest win of his career heading into his first Jr. title shot? ****