ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE/JR. BATTLE OF GLORY 2022 DAY 6
NOVEMBER 27, 2022
SHONAN-FUJISAWA MARKET SPECIAL RING
FUJISAWA, KANAGAWA, JAPAN

Watch: AJPW.TV

NON-TOURNAMENT MATCHES

  • Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi Def. Ryuki Honda & Masao Inoue (10:26)
  • Dan Tamura & Ichiba Shin “Ichi” (Hikaru Sato) Def. Black Menso~re & Ryo Inoue (10:36)
  • Voodoo Murders (Suwama, TARU & KONO) Def. Takao Omori, Yuji Nagata & Yuma Anzai (18:24)

REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2022
KENTO MIYAHARA & TAKUYA NOMURA [4] DEF. JAKE LEE & YUMA AOYAGI [3] (27:04)

This was an outdoor show so there was cheering and everyone in the match was very over.

They definitely wrestled like this was going to go long from early on. Just about everyone in this had a stretch of the one being worked over for a few minutes.

Aoyagi and Nomura started suplexing each other and that’s when things picked up.

Lee and Miyahara had a strong closing stretch wrestled at a fast pace with the kind of counters and reversals they do so well against each other. But Miyahara surprised Lee with a Hurricanrana to get the pin.

Because of Ashino and Honda having to forfeit their remaining matches due to injury, this result basically eliminated Aoyagi and Lee in the tournament. My original prediction of Ashino and Honda winning the tournament is looking pretty good now.

While a little slow to start, this was a pretty great match from four excellent wrestlers. After the first few minutes, the match flew by. The best match of the tournament so far. ****

ALL ASIA TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
GUNGNIR OF ANARCHY (YUSUKE KODAMA & MASAO HANABATA) DEF. YOSHITATSU & TAJIRI © (10:30)

Basic stuff to start, but they told the story of Hanabata trying to step up to Yoshitatsu and being unsuccessful at that early on.

Later on, Yoshitatsu was still in firm control and he went to swat Kodama off the ring apron. But Hanabata came up from behind and used a Schoolboy to pin Yoshitatsu. That got a big pop from the crowd.

This was nothing to write home about, but it was solid enough, kept up a decent pace and had a satisfying ending.

Thankfully the Yoshitatu and TAJIRI title reign here was only a transitional one. And despite Ashino’s injury, the company still has plans for GOA as a whole.

After the match Takao Omori and Black Menso~re came out to challenge, which is cool to see since they are always good for a fun All Asia Tag Title challenge once a year. ***

JR. BATTLE OF GLORY 2022
ATSUKI AOYAGI [6] DEF. HOKUTO OMORI [0] (9:26)

As soon as the bell rang, Omori hit a Cutter and then went for the Muso Issen which Aoyagi escaped from.

Omori tried to ground Aoyagi, but the Jr. champion managed to take to the air. Later on, Omori once again had the advantage but Aoyagi kicked out of German Suplex and a Dragon Suplex, and once again escaped from a Muso Issen attempt. This allowed Aoyagi to hit some rolling Fisherman’s Busters and then the Firebird Splash for the win.

Just solid stuff all around from these men, but I’m surprised Omori is doing so poorly in the tournament. ***½

REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2022
VOODOO MURDERS (JUN SAITO & REI SAITO) [4] DEF. SHUJI ISHIKAWA & CYRUS [6] (13:46)

I wasn’t sure how this one was going to turn out, buy holy shit was I pleasantly surprised. In fact, I loved this.

These two teams really laid it in with the strikes. They also wrestled at a pretty quick pace for guys their size. There was basically no downtime or rest holds.

While it wasn’t the main event of this show they wrestled like it was. Cyrus went for a Moonsault that missed (the landing looked gnarly) and Ishikawa kicked out of a lot before finally getting pinned after a Drill-a-Hole Piledriver from Rei.

While I have enjoyed some of the Saitos matches upon their return from their excursion, they haven’t been consistent and have looked green against certain opponents. But I think they’re beginning to turn a corner when it comes to consistency. And Cyrus for his part didn’t look as gassed as he sometimes does. ***¾

FINAL THOUGHTS

This show was in Suwama’s hometown so the six-man maim event was the main focus of this show. It drew a pretty strong 800 fans. That being said, the tournament matches delivered and it was good that the All Asia Tag Team Titles changed hands.

With Ashino’s injury the field is now wide open. Only Aoyagi and Lee have been completely eliminated.

In my opinion, you might as well be daring and have Yuji Nagata and Yuma Anzai win the tournament.

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