All Japan Pro Wrestling 8/11/2022 Royal Road Tournament 2022 Day 2

All Japan Pro Wrestling 8/11/2022 Royal Road Tournament 2022 Day 2

The crowd still can't cheer here and they have some audio issues on this one which brought down the matches. Here's what I saw:

Royal Road Tournament 2022 First Round Match - Shotaro Ashino vs. Dan Tamura

Ashino pulls away his hand on a handshake to start. Ashino takes him down and side headlocks him. Dan gets out and dropkicks him. Dan hits a running shoulder then his next one is missed. Ashino puts him in tree of woe and hits some shots then belly to belly suplexes him. Ashino grabs hold of his leg and stretch mufflers him.

Ashino hits some shots in the corner then Dan 2nd rope shoulders him. Dan forearm flurries him then samoan drops him. Dan hits some shoulders and a lariat for 2. Dan then death valley drivers him for 2. Dan top rope shoulders him and tries a double leg grapevine but is put into an ankle lock. Dan then sits on him with the double leg grapevine and Ashino ankle locks him again to win it.

Ashino bullied Dan around too much early and it was hard to buy him having a chance. They traded submissions here which was interesting and unexpected, but it was a short opener and wasn't going to be a great one.

Royal Road Tournament 2022 First Round Match - Takao Omori vs. Ryuki Honda

They taunt each other and Omori running facekicks him. Honda then shoulders him over. Omoro goes out and is thrown into a rail. They trade forearms outside and Honda chokes him over a rail. They trade more shots outside and Omori goes into the post. Honda kicks him and throws him back onto the mat inside. Honda then sits on his back and chinlocks him.

Omori spinning heel kicks him then backdrops him. Omori hits a 2nd rope elbow drop for 2. They trade strikes and Honda spinebusters him. Honda spears him for 2. They lariat battle and Omori full nelson slams him for 2. Omori then samurai drivers him for 2. Omori lariats him and wins it.

This wasn't bad with a lot of striking, but Omori had no business winning this one.

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title Match - Tiger Mask (c) vs. Hokuto Omori

Tiger hits some kicks early and puts him down then punches and stands on him. Omori sleepers him from the apron then tries to take off his mask. Tiger hits a dropkick as he is behind him then spin kicks him out.

Omori goes under the ring then comes back on the other side and hits Tiger from behind. Omori is pushed into the post outside then Tiger tries to high kick him near the post, but just gets the post. They go on the stage and Tiger knees him in the gut. Tiger stomps on him out there and kicks him down the steps.

Tiger spin kicks Omori then crucifix drivers him. Tiger gets stuck up top and powerslammed off there. Omori then dragon suplexes him for 2. Omori spinning forearms Tiger then takes a spin kick and a tiger driver for 2. Tiger top rope butterfly suplexes him and knees him for 2. Tiger then submits him with some head and arm lock to win.

Tiger buried Omori early, making him look like a goof and it just wasn't that good. It didn't feel like Omori had any chance here and he was just not respected.

Royal Road Tournament 2022 First Round Match - Shuji Ishikawa vs. Cyrus

They shoulder battle early and Cyrus knocks him over with one. Cyrus hits some clubs and stuff outside then throws him over the rail. Cyrus slingshot swantons him then neck cranks him. They collide bodies and Shuji goes down. Cyrus slams him but misses a splash. Cyrus then goes outside after taking a lariat.

Shuji double stomps him off the apron to the floor. Shuji hits a big knee to the body and they collide into each other. Shuji hits a big slam on him. Shuji runs into a black hole slam then Cyrus hits bolo punches in the corner. Cyrus corner cannonballs him.

Cyrus goes up to the 2nd rope and is thrown off. They lariat and forearm battle then Cyrus hits some bolo punches. They headbutt each other at the same time and Shuji v-triggers him. Shuji then running knees him for 2. Cyrus chokeslams him and vader bombs him for 2. Cyrus tells a ring boy to get on the apron and he holds onto him and top rope moonsaults Shuji.

The finish was pretty wild. This was a good hoss fight though it could have been a little faster. They hit some hard shots here and brought the heavy artillery as expected.

Shuji had to be helped out and had ice on his ribs after.

Royal Road Tournament 2022 First Round Match - Yuji Nagata vs. Yoshitatsu

Yoshi flips out of a wristlock and upkicks Nagata. They fight over a wristlock then snapmare each other and kick each other in the back. Yoshi chest kicks him then russian legsweeps him. Yoshi facewash kicks him. They go outside and Yoshi goes into the rails then is facekicked. Yuji stomps on Yoshi. Yuji hits chest kicks then is facekicked and codebreakered.

Yoshi hits more chest kicks and a fisherman's suplex. Yuji crossfaces him and hits forearms. He misses a kick and they botch a tornado ddt. Nagata goes down and the ref does a 10 count for him, then they trade forearms. Yoshi puts him in the koji clutch. Yuji goes down again and seriously seems injured or something then Yuji brainbusters Yoshi for 2. Yuji exploders Yoshi then backdrops him for 2. Yuji then hits another backdrop and wins it.

Nagata looked like he hurt himself here and that really brought down the match. It was also slower and with the bad crowd, it didn't have much of a chance.

Shotaro Ashino challenges Yuji after.

Overall thoughts: I wasn't a big fan of this one. Cyrus/Shuji was the match of the night easily. The crowd couldn't cheer and wasn't mic'd well and it brought down just about everything.