All Japan Pro Wrestling 5/18/2023 Super Power Series 2023 Day 3

All Japan Pro Wrestling 5/18/2023 Super Power Series 2023 Day 3

Here's what I saw:

Jun Saito and Rei Saito vs Dan Tamura and Hikaru Sato

We don't get off to a real good start here. Rei throws Sato out and chokes him in the crowd while Jun beats up on Dan outside. Sato tries chest chops on Jun then takes a double shoulder from the Saito's for 2. Jun foot chokes Sato then Rei corner chops Sato. Rei misses a corner charge and takes a gamengiri.

Dan gets in and 2nd rope shoulders Rei, knocking him down to one knee. Rei splashes Dan hard against the ropes then Jun delay suplexes Dan for 2. Dan samoan drops Jun then Jun takes a combo lariat + enzugiri. Jun is then lariated for 2. Jun shoulders over Dan then chokeslams him for 2. Jun then does another chokeslam variation on Dan and wins it.

It didn't start off well and it was just average. There wasn't any way this was going to be competitive, but they didn't want to do a squash.

Hikari Shimizu, Rina Amikura & Yuko Sakurai vs. Chi Chi, SAKI & ZONES

This is the first televised match of Chi Chi and ZONES, though it is their 3rd match. Chi Chi's kind of okay looking and people are going to accuse Zones of being a tranny as she has a weightlifters body. Rina's team do a dance. Rina has more revealing gear and short hair that is a major downgrade.

Zones clean breaks Yuko and they stand off after a headscissors. Chici and Rina go at it. Chichi hits back elbows an rolls her up for 2. Hikari cartwheels and misses a dropkick on Saki then Hikari 2nd rope hurricanrana's her. Hikara hits a step up kick in the corner then Saki takes a triple falling splash. Saki does like a giant poke to Yuko's gut then Yuko slams Chichi.

Rina slams Chichi then falling splashes her twice. Chichi superkicks and flying shotgun dropkicks Hikari. Zones gets in and hits shoulders on two opponents then double shoulders Rina with Saki. Hikari jumps on Zones' back and sleepers her then Zones hits a running corner clothesline. Hikari running step kicks Zones for 2. Zones and Rina shoulder each other and Rina falls over on a chop, which is a new one.

Zones machine gun chops Rina then shoulders her over. Rina hits a bad powerslam on Saki for 2. Rina splashes Saki in the corner then sentons her. Yuko is tagged in and running back splashes then shoulders over Saki. Saki suplexes Yuko then Chichi running facekicks Yuko. Chichi puts Yuko in the octopus stretch then Saki michinoku drivers Yuko. Zones top rope lariats Yuko then Chichi top rope dropkicks Yuko. Chichi and Yuko trade forearms then Yuko shoulders her over.

Rina rolls onto Chichi then Hikari jumps over Yuko to double stomp Chichi. Yuko fisherman's suplexes chichi then Hikari high kicks Zones. Saki is back body dropped over the top then Hikari top rope crossbodies her to the outside. Yuko then beats Chichi with a grounded dragon sleeper.

Zones looked pretty good here. She's a power fighter and seem to grasp what she is doing. Chichi was decent here too and reminds me a lot of Riho. I thought they did a good job in their 3rd matches here and they look like decent finds. Yuko and Rina aren't great workers and Rina had some bad moments here while Hikari is real likeable. I would kind of put the match in the middle here as there were some good and bad moments yet I don't feel comfortable calling this good.

Masao Hanabatake vs Ren Ayabe

The size differences here are seriously silly. It looks like Masao is fighting a flagpole. Masao used to be Seigo Tachibana, but whatever Wrestle-1 saw in him, AJPW does not.

Ren throws Masao off early. Ren challenges him to a test of strength and of course Masao can't reach. Masao then challenges him to bend down and test of strength him in a very clever spot that I hadn't seen before. Ren bends down then raises his hand up and Masao kicks him in the knee. Ren then shoulders him over. Ren misses a kick on the ropes, gets his leg stuck and Masao kicks him.

Ren hits a big slam on Masao then hits a big boot for 2. Masao dropkicks Ren in the knee then spears him for 2. Masao forearms Ren then dropkicks him for 2. Masao does a nice roll up on Ren then does it again for 2. Ren deadlift suplexes him for 2. Ren running facekicks Masao then does a bad sit out hiptoss. Ren then does a weak looking gas mask esque submission and wins it.

This was actually good until the finish with Masao being a fun underdog. Ren's submission that he used to win this looked terrible and the sit out hiptoss wasn't well done either.

Yuma Anzai vs Ryo Inoue

They hammerlock each other and Yuma hits some armdrags. Ryo headscissors him and they stand off. They trade forearms then Ryo hits some nice chest kicks. Ryo then kicks him from the apron. They trade forearms then Ryo is slammed. Yuma back elbows him and they trade more forearms. Yuma hits a nice dropkick for 2. Yuma crabs him and Ryo hits the ropes.

Yuma double underhook suplexes him then Ryo flying kicks him. Yuma hits a forearm flurry in the corner then Ryo chest kick flurries him. Ryo PK's and buzzsaw kicks him for 2. Yuma hits a nice overhead belly to belly. Ryo enzugiri's him and hits a stiff backdrop. Ryo then running kicks him for 2. Yuma hits a nice pair of flying knees for 2 then germans him for the win.

This was fun. They showed some fire and kept the pace quick. They actually really matched up well together and it put Ryo over as a good underdog here. I thought this would be just a squash but it was a fun match.

Manabu Soya vs Suwama

Soya rushes Suwama with a shoulder then shoulders him over. Suwama is thrown into the post outside. They trade shots outside and Soya goes into the post then has his head banged off a seat. Suwama beats him up in the seats. suwama chokes Soya with a rope then belly to belly suplexes him. Soya flying lariats him then death valley drivers him for 2. Suwama spinning lariats him.

Suwama goes for a chair and the ref grabs the chair. Soya spears Suwama and Jun Saito literally gets in the ring and stops the count. Jun and Rei Saito beat up on Soya. Suwama chairs Soya then back body drops him. The ref finally DQ's Suwama after breaking a horde of rules. Soya is put in a body bag after.

Soya and Suwama are a good match for each other, but they insist on having them do short matches with shenanigans that bring it down everytime. This went a grand total of 6 minutes and was a waste.

Yoshitatsu & Zennichi Shin Jidai (Shuji Ishikawa & Yuma Aoyagi) vs. Kento Miyahara, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata

Yuma shoulders over Koji then Koji does it back. Yuji and Yoshi trade forearms, leg kicks and facekicks. Shuji shoulders over Kento then Kento facekicks him. Kojia accidentally nails Kento on a failed 2 on 1 then Shuji double lariats both.  Kento takes running corner moves from all 3 opponents.

Yuma and Kento trade shots then Kento accidentally facekicks Koji. Kento suplexes Yuma then Yuji hits kicks on Yuma. Yuji running facekicks Yuma then butterfly suplexes him for 2. They trade forearms. Yuji knee dropkicks him then is dragon screwed.

Shuji running corner lariats Yuji then 2nd rope double stomps him. Koji machine gun chops Shuji. Koji elbow drops Shuji from the buckles for 2. Koji ddt's Shuji but he no sells it. They trade forearms then Koji hits a cutter which is no sold. Shuji then running knees him in the chest. Kento and Yoshi trade forearms then Kento knee dropkicks him. Yoshi tornado ddt's Kento then hits kicks and a powerslam for 2.

Kento and Koji almost collide again then argue. Kento suplexes Yoshi then Yoshi flatliners Kento into an STO. Everyone gets in and hits moves then Kento straightjacket germans Yoshi to win it.

They definitely tried to push some issues between Kento and Koji here. It wasn't a particularly great tag match. Just too many people involved and not enough time plus a lot of no selling.

Triple Crown Title #1 Contendership Match - T-Hawk vs. Ryuki Honda

T dropkicks him in the knee then is quickly shouldered over. Honda goes to one arm powerbomb him and T gets out of the ring. They trade forearms and Honda back elbows him. T suplexes him on the ramp. Honda tries some forearms but is chopped down. T abdominal stretches him and they mess up a hiptoss with T landing on his head and shoulder.

T hits a nice suplex then is spinebustered. Honda hits a nice spear for 2. Honda is sat on the top rope and T chops him down to the floor. T 2nd rope suplexes Honda but Honda no sells it. They trade forearms and T goes down. They trade strikes and Honda germans him. T no sells it and reverse sitout slams him then is lariated. Honda hits lariats on T then Honda delay germans him for 2. Honda hits a stiff lariat then runs into T's knee.

T splash mountains Honda for 2 then running knees him and wins it.

It had the usual T-Hawk issues with the no selling that brought it down. At least they didn't do body part work here that lead to nothing like usual. 

Overall thoughts: The crowd was really into this and did help this some. It wasn't a bad effort for being in a smaller arena. I liked Yuma/Ryo the most here and Zones and Chi Chi seem to be good recruits.