ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021
AUGUST 15, 2021 (DOUBLEHEADER)
SHINJUKU FACE
TOKYO, JAPAN

Watch: AJPW.TV

AFTERNOON SHOW

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
SHUJI ISHIKAWA DEF. JUN SAITO (4:21)

These guys just started hitting each other right at the bell. Ishikawa had control nearly the entire match but Saito got some good spots like a dropkick and vertical suplex that the crowd clapped hard for. Saito managed to win a slap to the face battle, but Ishikawa retaliated with a Lariat and running knee to a seated Saito. This was short but a lot of fun. The Saito Twins still have a ways to go, but there is definitely something there that can be developed. **3/4

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
AYATO YOSHIDA DEF. BLACK MENSO~RE (7:20)

There really wasn’t much to this. Menso~re tried some cheap stuff, but Yoshida always managed to counter it. Menso~re got a few control periods in but Yoshida dominated. Menso~re tried a Jackknife Cradle, but Yoshida countered it into a cradle of his own for the three count. This was just above passable status for me. **3/4

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
ZEUS DEF. SEIGO TACHIBANA (6:41)

They started with a shoulder block battle with neither man going down, Tachibana surprisingly won the confrontation with a Spear. While Tachibana has mostly been doing comedy in All Japan, he got a lot of offense in here and looked pretty good. Tachibana could play the role of a power Jr. really well if he wanted to. Tachibana kicked out of a Chokeslam but then tapped to Zeus’ Front Facelock. This was a lot of fun while it lasted. ***1/4

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
ATSUKI AOYAGI DEF. TAKAO OMORI (9:29)

Aoyagi got the jump on Omori at the bell with a flying kick. Aoyagi had the advantage until Omori rolled out of the way of a moonsault. Omori then worked over Aoyagi for a while. This developed into a back-and-forth with both men getting in lots of offense. Aoyagi even kicked out of an Axe Guillotine Driver. Aoyagi reversed an Axe Bomber attempt into a cradle for the win in a huge upset that got the crowd to make noise. While Omori is an opening match guy in his 50s, All Japan really doesn’t have a Jr. who is barely out of young boy status pin a guy like that. This was a very welcome surprise and a good match. Aoyagi showed a lot of fire here, and I think he has the potential to be the company’s future Jr. ace. All Japan’s youth movement continues to gain steam. ***1/2

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
T-HAWK DEF. RISING HAYATO (10:37)

HAYATO took control early on, but eventually T-Hawk got the advantage with some stiff strikes. The match then became HAYATO trying to survive T-Hawk’s onslaught. HAYATO is becoming a good underdog that you love to root for. HAYATO kicked out of a lot of moves from T-Hawk before finally getting pinned with the Night Ride. This was a great sprint. HAYATO is now 0-2 against members of Strong Hearts in singles matches. ***1/2

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
KENTO MIYAHARA DEF. YUSUKE KODAMA (12:31)

I was unsure what version of Kodama we would get in this, but I was pleasantly surprised, as he showed up with his working boots on. He managed to get the better of Miyahara quite a bit early on. While Kodama did hit a low blow while the referee was distracted,I didn’t feel like it detracted from the match. Soon after the low blow, Miyahara powered through, hit a Blackout Knee and then the Shutdown German Suplex for the win. This was the best Kodama singles match I’ve seen in some time. ***1/4

After the match, Miyahara got on the mic and T-Hawk came out and cut a promo as well to build to their second round match which should be a banger.

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
SHIGEHIRO IRIE DEF. KUMA ARASHI (11:13)

This was yet another sprint on the show, but I’m not complaining. Arashi is much better in tags than he is in singles matches, but the match was structured to hide that particular weakness as it was just two beefy boys hitting each other hard. This was a back-and-forth with both guys using a lot of power moves. While it wasn’t always pretty, there were some cool spots, but nothing groundbreaking. I Liked the end that saw both guys trying to Lariat each other but not being knocked down until Irie finally managed to hit two of his Beast Bomber Lariats for the win. Quite possibly Arashi’s best singles match in All Japan. ***1/2

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
JAKE LEE DEF. SUGI (12:36)

This is a rare match for All Japan. They really don’t book the Triple Crown Champion to face their Jr. counterpart in a singles match. Lee has his hair in a man bun which I think means he doesn’t see this match as a major challenge. Lee used his size advantage early on to take control. Lee took control for a while, and it was a little too long if you ask me. SUGI eventually got in some high flying hope spots. Lee even kicked out of SUGI’s finisher, the Springboard Firebird Splash. Lee hit a Superplex, running knee to the back of the head, then the D4C for the win. I didn’t love this. Lee’s control spots went on too long and were boring. This was definitely not like the heavyweight champion versus Jr. champion matches you get from the New Japan anniversary show, and because of it, I thought it hurt the image of the All Japan Jr. division which is unfortunate because the division has gotten pretty good over the last little while. **3/4

EVENING SHOW

Before the evening show began, the wrestlers came to ringside for a ten bell salute dedicated to the recently deceased Hideki Hosaka who was an All Japan regular for a couple of years right after FMW closed and Dominic DeNucci who worked in All Japan in the 1970s and early 1980s.

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
SUWAMA DEF. REI SAITO (3:03)

Saito got the advantage early with some shoulder blocks and Sumo slaps. It didn’t take long before Suwama fought back. Suwama hit a short range Lariat for a two count then followed up with another one for the victory. Saito looked a lot more awkward than his brother did on the earlier show. Saito’s movements here were really weird, his timing was off at points and his strikes look like they are very light. It’s clear now that it’s Jun Saito who has the most potential and not Rei. But let’s see if more experience can change anything. To Saito’s credit here, he did sell the finishing Lariat like he got knocked out pretty well. *3/4

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
FRANCESCO AKIRA DEF. IZANAGI (8:45)

This was a good Jr. style match between two damn good Jrs. Izanagi played the crafty veteran while Akira played the explosive young upstart. The work was solid throughout, though the closing stretch wasn’t anything wild. Akira just hit some big moves with little drama to them, concluding with the Yutaka for the win. These guys could have used a couple of more minutes to make something truly great. ***1/4

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
HOKUTO OMORI DEF. RYUKI HONDA (13:21)

This was a match that I was excited for. Honda has really been making strides in improving his work and he’s beginning to move up the card. Omori has also really come into his own as a heel. This started as a straight wrestling match at first then it went to the outside where Kuma Arashi interfered on behalf of his Total Eclipse stablemate, Omori. A little later, Omori sent Honda into a collision with the referee and also hit a low blow on Honda. Omori then brought a couple of chairs into the ring but Honda countered and slammed Omori on them. Honda had the advantage for a while but Omori fought back relatively cleanly, hit a couple of RKOs and then put Honda away with the Muso Issen. So this match didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I don’t hate the cheating and interference with every fiber of my being, but I generally dislike it, especially given how much Omori is using it in all of his matches. He does the cheating and referee bump stuff even in random six-man tags on small shows. And when Omori wasn’t doing all the cheating in this match towards the end, it was pretty good. Though I do like Omori’s heel persona overall, he should just learn how to be an effective one without all the gimmicky stuff. ***1/4

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
TAJIRI DEF. DEVIL MURASAKI (2:54)

This was the match that stood out most likely to be the worst of the first round, and you know what? It wasn’t. That was mostly in part to the fact they kept this thing to under three minutes and Murasaki didn’t botch anything. The story here was pretty simple. TAJIRI kept trying to take off Murasaki’s mask (I still have no clue who he actually is) and Murasaki liked to bite TAJIRI. TAJIRI won with a Crucifix Hold out of nowhere. After the match, TAJIRI almost managed to remove Murasaki’s mask but Izanagi then jumped into the ring to keep that from happening. I suspect we are getting closer to actually finding out who Devil Murasaki is and he is going to lose his mask in a match. **1/2

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
YOSHITATSU DEF. HIKARU SATO

Instead of their regular gear, Sato and Yoshitatsu are wearing what they usually do in grappling matches. It is always jarring to see Sato in shoes. So this turned out to be decent. Now it was no GLEAT debut show, but it was a passable little shoot-style match. Sato had generally been getting the better of Yoshitatsu on the ground during the match but Yoshitatsu eventually got a takedown and after a struggle, locked in the Yoshitatsu Fantasy for the submission victory. This exceeded my low expectations for a Yoshitatsu match (though Sato is generally awesome). My biggest qualm is the fact that Yoshitatsu won. ***

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
ABDULLAH KOBAYASHI DEF. DAN TAMURA (9:14)

Tamura is really letting his hair grow out, it’s almost getting to El Lindaman levels. Tamura immediately targets the bandage on Kobayashi’s head and, yes you guessed it, the deathmatch veteran is bleeding 30 seconds into this match. After Tamura’s initial burst of offense, Kobayashi did his thing which involved brawling around ringside, choking Tamura with a bull rope and hitting headbutts. It’s not the most thrilling stuff, but Tamura managed to keep my interest with his performance. His selling was very good and he got the crowd into his comebacks. Tamura also got to survive quite a bit of offense from Kobayashi before tapping out to the Bakachinga Sleeper. This is as good as an Abdullah Kobayashi match in 2021 is going to get. **3/4

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
KOJI IWAMOTO DEF. KOJI DOI (11:53)

These two started with some grappling and chain wrestling. Doi plays a heel well without having to resort to as many cheap antics as Hokuto Omori does. Iwamoto never really played the underdog here, he went toe-to-toe with Doi the whole time. Iwamoto had a fairly long stretch of control but Doi then started to mount a comeback, hitting some power moves, but when Doi went for a running Lariat, Iwamoto countered it with the Koko no Geijutsu for the win. This got an audible gasp from the crowd. This was a nice little match. I know that not everyone loves Iwamoto’s openweight gimmick,but after this match, I don’t think it should be totally written off. ***1/2

ROYAL ROAD TOURNAMENT 2021 ROUND 1
SHOTARO ASHINO DEF. YUMA AOYAGI (16:46)

Ashino took control early, working over Aoyagi’s left leg and ankle. Aoyagi fought back and targeted Ashino’s left arm. The arm work went on for a while but Ashino fought back with suplexes. There was also a tremendous spot later on in the match where Ashino had the Ankle Lock on Aoyagi, but Aoyagi rolled through into the End Game. This was a match with a steady escalation. Start with some limb work then, move on to suplexes and submission holds. Aoyagi looked to have had Ashino in a bad spot, but Ashino played possum and got in a surprise Ankle Lock which led a to the finishing sequence where Aoyagi escaped the hold only to eat several German Suplexes followed up by a T-Bone Suplex from Ashino for the pinfall victory. This was awesome. Just smooth work from two of the best wrestlers in the world. Also, the right man won. Aoyagi has been elevated a lot this year with his tag team with Miyahara, and he can take a loss here without losing any momentum. ****1/4

FINAL THOUGHTS

While getting through 16 matches can feel like a slog at times, I really enjoyed the opening round of the Royal Road Tournament. While there was only one big upset, Nothing apart from one match was truly bad. There were some great performances from young talent, and a main event to cap off the doubleheader that was tremendous. Hopefully, the great action and generally good booking continues on into the other round of the tournament.