All Japan Pro Wrestling 8/7/2022 Royal Road Tournament 2022 Day 1

All Japan Pro Wrestling 8/7/2022 Royal Road Tournament 2022 Day 1

Black Menso-re, Hokuto Omori, Fuminori Abe, Ryo Inoue vs Tiger Mask, Tajiri, Rising Hayato and Yusuke Kodama

Tiger and Omori start us off. Omori immediately goes to stall. Abe and Rising go at it and Abe flips and rolls out of a wristlock. Abe hits a nice dropkick on Rising and Rising bulldogs Ryo out of the corner. Kodama slingshot sentons Ryo then Tiger kicks Ryo around. Ryo and Tiger trade chest chops then Tiger chest flurries him in the corner. Ryo then 2nd rope dropkicks Tiger.

Omor running forearms Tiger and takes out most of the other team. Tiger back dropkicks Omori and Omori double suplexed into a Rising springboard moonsault. Omori and Rising trade shots then Rising single leg dropkicks him. Omori cutters Rising then Omori and Tiger trade punches. Omori spinning forearms him then hits a falcon arrow variation. Omori then dragon suplexes Rising for 2. Omori falcon arrows Rising to win it.

It was fine but it had 8 people in it and little time to be much of anything.

Omori grabs his horse mask after and puts it on to mock Tiger as he said he was the 4th generation Horse Mask.

 

Yoshitatsu, Shuji Ishikawa and Takao Omori vs Cyrus, Shotaro Ashino and Ryuki Honda

Shuji and Cyrus shoulder battle and Cyrus shoulders him over. Cyrus misses a splash then takes a sliding lariat. Ashino escapes Yoshi's headscissors and they stand off before trading forearms. Yoshi flatliners him then hits a knee to the gut. Yoshi facewash kicks Ashino then Ashino armdrags and back elbows him.

Honda and Omori go at it and trade shoulders. They then trade forearms for chops and Omori spinning heel kicks him. Omori then half nelson bombs him for 2. Omori takes corner lariats and then a samurai driver from Omori. Ashino and Omori butt heads and trade shots then Omori is popped up into an Ashino german. Honda spears Omori for 2 and the two lariat battle. Honda hits a big lariat for 2. Honda then does his running single arm powerbomb on him and wins it.

Like the last match, there were too many people and not enough time. Everyone sprinted to get something in here.

Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura and Yuji Nagata vs Suwama, Kono and Toshizo

We get some weak brawling to start and everyone brawls outside. Sato enzugiri's Toshizo then Dan and Sato stomp Toshizo. Toshizo takes a double suplex then a double armbar. Toshizo whips Dan with his belt then Kono knocks down and back elbows Dan. Dan gets whipped with a belt by Suwama outside. Suwama hits short arm lariats on Dan.

Wada, the ref, yells at Suwama for the belt shots  then Suwama forearms Dan. Dan hulks up and hits his own forearms then Suwama belly to bellies him. Dan goes for more forearms then Dan samoan drops him. Nagata gets the hot tag in and cleans house then running facekicks Suwama. Nagata exploders Suwama and Toshizo breaks up his crossface submission on Suwama. Nagata is tripped from the outside and german suplexed.

Nagata takes running corner moves and a Suwama belly to belly. Suwama gets a chair and Wada stops him. Kono holds up Wada for a chair shot then another ref comes in to save Wada. Wada dares Suwama to chair him then Suwama chairs the other ref. Suwama chairs Nagata then backdrops Nagata. Suwama has Nagata pinned and Wada disqualifies him.

Wada did a great job DQ'ing Suwama with some awesome acting. He then leaves as Suwama yells at him and Wada gives him the signal for "up yours" in a hilarious moment. The match wasn't that special with lots of heeling but Wada letting Suwama have it was awesome.

Suwama beats up another ref after and shakes the rails. 

Ren Ayabe vs Jake Lee

Ren backs him up into the ropes and chest slaps him. Ren wants a test of strength but is taller than Lee and Lee can't reach it out. Ren gut kicks him then Ren running facekicks him.  Ren hits a slam and is facekicked off the top rope to the floor. Ren is driven into the rails then Jake bodyscissors him inside.

Jake footslaps him and tells him to get up. Jake hits him in the gut then Ren bulldogs him off the 2nd rope. Ren hits a bad clothesline and suplexes him. Ren full nelsons him then Jake rolls him up for 2. Jake does a step up enzugiri then ddt's him. They trade forearms and Jake facekicks him. Jake then sits on the top rope and is dropkicked to the floor. Ren then runs the apron and dropkicks him on the floor. Ren hits a top rope dropkick for 2.

Jake backdrops him then running facekicks him. Jake hits a german and a running knee for 2. Jake running knee him to the back and brainbusters him for the win.

It was decent with Ren looking better than usual, but it wasn't super special.

Takuya Nomura vs Atsuki Aoyagi

 

Atsuki kip ups out of a wristlock then Nomura side headlocks him. Atsuki headscissors him and they stand off. Nomura pulls back both of Atsuki's arms and stretches them then Atsuki dropkicks him. Atsuki gets an octopus stretch variation by Nomura and then ropebreaks. Nomura drops him with a euro then dropkicks him. Nomura headscissors him and bangs his head off the canvas.

Atsuki hangsprings into a back enzugiri. Atsuki flips out of an irish whip then armdrags him off the bottom rope. Atsuki then moonsault him off the 2nd rope outside. Nomura facekicks him back on the inside then running forearms him. The two trade forearms then kicks. Atsuki goes for a corkscrew kick but is caught an ankle lock then german suplex. Atsuki flips out of a german and corkscrew kicks him then does 3 fisherman suplexes in a row. Atsuki misses a top rope moonsault then hits one after a superkick.

Atsuki misses a 450 and is PK'd. Nomura headbutts him and knocks himself loopy with it and gets a 2 count. Atsuki rolls him into a pin attempt for 2 then Nomura hits a big lariat for 2. Nomura drops him with a slap then dragon suplexes him for the win.

They kind of tried to showcase Atsuki here, but I didn't think he brought enough to the table and as usual, Nomura ended up being the star of the match. It was decent but it could have been better had Atsuki stepped things up some. It also went longer than needed.

Naoya Nomura vs Yuma Aoyagi

 

They trade waistlocks and wristlocks. Yuma does a nice Japanese armdrag. Yuma running facekicks him then Nomura running forearms him. Nomura headscissors Yuma and they trade forearms. Yuma dropkicks him off the apron then rams him into the rails off the apron. Yuma then whips him into the rails.

They trade euros for forearms on the inside and Yuma running forearms him. Yuma top rope elbows him for 2. Nomura comes back with a brainbuster and running shoulders him. Nomura northern lights suplexes Yuma and a hammerlock + a neck crank. Nomura then spears him hard as he is on the apron. Nomura fireman's carry gutbusters Yuma and gets his top rope splash blocked. They trade running corner moves and Yuma takes a hard release german on his head. Yuma death valley drivers him then fishermans busters him for 2. Nomura then fisherman busters him.

They trade forearms and Nomura spears him but is back rolled into a guillotine clutch. Nomura hits a flurry of stiff forearms and is spin kicked in the face. Nomura then spears him in a nice pin attempt for 2. Nomura hits more stiff forearms and drops him then running spears him to the back as he is down. Nomura top rope splashes him for 2 then does a fireman's carry into an emerald flowsion. Nomura then does a burning hammer style drop and wins it.

Nomura really tried here at the end to make this interesting and really did put out an effort. It did get good by the end, but I thought they did too much. There was still some quality to it though.

TARU vs Kento Miyahara

 

Taru low blows him early in front of the ref to no DQ. Kento is then thrown out and the Voodoo Murderers take some cheap shots on him. Kento hits them back and a turnbuckle pad is removed. Kento spears the exposed buckles and has his hand hit with a chair near the post. Kento then takes an armbreaker over the shoulder on the outside. Kento is thrown into the barrier outside and has his arm pillmanized with chairs.

Some kid starts crying and Taru chokes Kento in front him. Taru stares down the kid. They go back in and Taru kicks the arm of Kento then armbars him. Taru hits him in the arm with the chair and then gets the chair kicked in his face. Kento hits some dropkicks then is hit with a gas can from one of the VM's outside. Taru hits kicks to his chest as he is down and they trade forearms.

Kento pumping knees him for 2 and Taru low blows him again. Taru purposely runs into the ref and knocks him over then chairs Kento. Taru then sit out tombstones him for 2. Taru double chokeslams him then lariats him. Kento gets held up to have powder thrown at him but he ducks and Kono gets it instead. Kento then straightjacket germans Taru and wins it.

There should have been several DQ's here. It just messes up the match when people don't get DQ'd, because then there's no reason for them not to cheat. The match would have been okay if they made any attempt to hide some of the cheating. 

Suwama tries to get Kento to join the Voodoo Murderers after and Rising Hayato tries to get him not to. Kento ends up nailing both.

Overall thoughts: Suwama getting DQ'd was a highlight and they did try in Nomura/Yuma. The show was okay to good overall, but it could have improved some things and been a lot better.