AJPW Real World Tag League/Jr. Battle of Glory Day 7 (December 4) Results & Review

ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE/JR. BATTLE OF GLORY 2022 DAY 8
DECEMBER 4, 2022
OSAKA EDION ARENA #2
OSAKA, JAPAN

Watch: AJPW.TV

JR. BATTLE OF GLORY 2022
RISING HAYATO [6] DEF. RYO INOUE [2] (5:28)

This was straightforward but good. They started with some mat work and then the match transitioned to some fast-paced action. Inoue controlled the match a good bit, but HAYATO gained the upper hand in the end and won with the Sid Vicious. Another good outing from both men, but especially Inoue who continues to add kick variations to his arsenal. ***¼

JR. BATTLE OF GLORY 2022
HIKARU SATO [6] DEF. HOKUTO OMORI [0] (9:56)

These two have had very good matches in the past and have great chemistry. This was a back-and-forth match with neither man getting the advantage for long and featured lots of counters. Sato locked on an armbar and Omori even managed to Suplex him while in it, but Sato kept holding on and forced the submission with only four seconds to spare.

This was another nice little match, but the real story here is Omori eating shit in this tournament. Finishing with zero points is quite the surprise, given just a couple of months ago, Omori seemed on the cusp of moving up to heavyweight. He can’t really do that now after finishing dead last in a Jr. tournament.

I can’t help but feel Omori isn’t long for All Japan. Contracts expire at the end of the year and this company has shown they will mercilessly job out those who are on their way out. Omori is a good young talent with upside. I don’t think he can be a top guy, but he can be a solid upper mid-carder, a tag team partner to a big star.

The problem for Omori is in All Japan, he’s the biggest Jr. heavyweight but would be one of their smallest heavyweights. Guys like Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi are deceptively tall. Just look at them when they work outside the company.

Omori is the only All Japan talent working the Tokyo Gurentai farewell show on December 20. Could that be a clue to where he’s headed if he is actually leaving All Japan? ***¼

JR. BATTLE OF GLORY 2022
ATSUKI AOYAGI [8] DEF. DAN TAMURA [8] (9:29)

Tamura took control early on and tried to keep Aoyagi grounded. Aoyagi managed to finally male a comeback with some high flying moves, but Tamura cut him off again with a Death Valley Bomb on the apron.

Aoyagi would make another comeback with a number of flash pin attempts finally succeeding with a La Magistral.

This was a fun match and I think given more time, they could have an even better one.

Both men will now face each other again in the finals of the Jr. Battle of Glory on December 7. I would expect Tamura to win that match and the tournament. They would then have the rubber match for the Jr. Title in January. ***1/2

REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2022
JAKE LEE & YUMA AOYAGI [5] DEF. YUJI NAGATA & YUMA ANZAI [4] (13:10)

This was great. Lee and Nagata had great chemistry as did Lee and Anzai. The super rookie looked like a real threat at points to the former Triple Crown champion. Aoyagi for his part wasn’t the focus of attention here, but he still sold a lot for Anzai and made him look good.

Lee showed more fire than usual on this when in there with Nagata. They even brawled around ringside when they weren’t the legal men. Trying to get that spot in the G1, perhaps?

Anzai got a couple of near falls on Lee that got noise out of the clap crowd. Aoyagi was then able to neutralize Nagata and Lee finished off Anzai with a Backdrop.

With this loss, Nagata and Anzai were eliminated from the tournament (Aoyagi and Lee were also on the previous show). But despite that, their team provided us with some great matches and Anzai has shown he’s ready for prime time. ***¾

REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2022
VOODOO MURDER (SUWAMA & KONO) [6] DEF. KOJI DOI & KUMA ARASHI [6] (14:02)

Voodoo Murders attacked before the bell of course. The Saito Brothers also got involved in brawling on the outside.

At one point during the brawling outside, Suwama went up to a young woman in the front row and yelled at her and she gave him the finger which I thought was hilarious.

Rei Saito pushed referee Kyohei Wada from behind into KONO which brought more interference. KONO pinned Arashi after a brief comeback by KumaDoi.

The same old Voodoo Murders bullshit. *½

REAL WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2022
KENTO MIYAHARA & TAKUYA NOMURA [6] DEF. SHUJI ISHIKAWA & CYRUS [6] (17:36)

Not surprisingly the big men dominated early on. Cyrus and Nomura worked well together which is about a big of a clash of styles that you can get, but Nomura has plenty of experience working against much larger opponents. Ishikawa and Miyahara also provided some good sequences.

Nomura looked to be in trouble against Cyrus. The BJW star managed to kick out of a twisting Vader Bomb and rolled out of the way of a second. Nomura then hit a Sunset Flip on Cyrus, but had trouble rolling Cyrus over. But Miyahara made the save and knocked over Cyrus with a Blackout Knee which allowed Nomura to get the pin. Nomura is only the second person to pin Cyrus in All Japan, after Miyahara.

This was a lot of fun with Miyahara and Nomura playing their roles as the smaller guys perfectly.

With this win, Miyahara and Nomura remain in contention and Cyrus and Ishikawa continue to as well. ***½

FINAL THOUGHTS

Another good show with only the Voodoo Murders dragging things down.

As we head into the final show of the tournament, we have our Jr. Battle of Glory final, but several teams remain in contention in the Real World Tag League. The only two teams completely eliminated are the ones previously mentioned.

Because Cyrus and Ishikawa will get two points via forfeit on the final show, we are almost certainly heading to an actual finals barring any double count outs or double DQs in multiple matches.

I believe that the final will be Cyrus and Shuji Ishikawa vs. Kento Miyahara and Takuya Nomura.

The large men will get their revenge and then go on to challenge Voodoo Murders for the tag titles on January 2 (plus Ishikawa has already been feuding with Suwama). This will also heat up the Suwama, Mayumi Ozaki & Maya Yukihi vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu match on December 25.

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