All Japan Pro Wrestling 6/17/2023 Dynamite Series 2023 ~ NEW AGE MANIAX

All Japan Pro Wrestling 6/17/2023 Dynamite Series 2023 ~ NEW AGE MANIAX

Hikaru Sato and Dan Tamura vs Takuya Nomura and Kazumasa Yoshida

Yoshida rolls out of Dan's armlock and armlocks him back. Dan trips him. Nomura slaps Sato then Sato later slaps him back. They trade forearms and Sato spin kicks him in the gut. Nomura dropkicks him and kicks his back. Sato then takes a double shoulder.

Yoshida slams and legdrops Sato. Nomura and Sato trade forearms then Nomura PK's him. Sato does a northern lights type of suplex on him then Dan splashes Nomura in the corner. Dan runs Nomura over with a shoulder for 2. Nomura hits body kicks on Dan then Yoshida jumping back elbows Dan. Yoshida knees Dan in the corner while he lays on the top rope then backdrops him. Yoshida suplexes Sato and botches a spinebuster. He tries it again and hits it.

Dan lariats Yoshida twice then Sato hits an enzugiri. Dan running lariats Yoshida for 2 then death valley drivers him for the win.

It was an opener and wasn't anything too special. Dan didn't get much time in here at all and Yoshida still has yet to impress me.

Chi Chi and Sunny vs Mayumi Ozaki and Maya Yukihi

This is the first Sunny match that has been aired. Black Menso-re is the ref. Chi and Sunny look for handshakes but just get nailed by the heels. Sunny is thrown by Oz then Oz hits the ref and Sunny with a chain. Oz stands on Sunny's hand then hits it with a chain. Oz slams Sunny multiple times then pulls her hair as she sits on her back. She turns it into a camel clutch variation and steps on the back of her head. Oz stomps her hands.

Maya gets in and they pose on Sunny on the ropes. Maya's got her whip and tries to get the ref not to take it. She then pulls away from the ref and they accidentally clothesline Sunny. Maya stands on Sunny's back and drops a knee on it. Maya nails Chi in the corner and slaps Sunny around. Sunny crossbodies her then Chi facekicks Maya. Chi puts Maya in the octopus stretch.

Maya knees Chi on the ropes then her and Oz put heir feet in her face. Maya knees Chi through the ropes. Oz foot slaps Chi around and hits knees. She then pulls her hair then Chi hits a facekick. Sunny does a nice pin attempt on Oz for 2 then Sunny hits a terrible basement dropkick. Sunny is pulled out by Maya and thrown into the rails and Chi is put into the rails too. Chi is thrown over the rails.

Oz and Menso fight over her chain then Maya low blows Menso. Sunny is hit with Oz's chain in the corner in various ways then Sunny dropkicks the chain. Maya facekicks Sunny and Oz chain shots Sunny. Menso refuses to count a pin and Chi fights the heels before taking a chain to the head. Maya accidentally hits Oz with her whip then Maya takes a top rope crossbody and Chi hits a top rope dropkick on Oz. Sunny rolls up Oz for 2 then fisherman suplexes her for 2. Maya high kicks Sunny then Oz urakens Sunny. Oz fisherman buster's Sunny and grabs the win.

I don't watch Oz Academy and this match was a good example why. The heels used weapons and the ref didn't care and they even hit the ref and nothing happened over it. It was a very long and one-sided match with the outcome never in doubt. Sunny and Chi could have done some things better and Chi messed up a spot, but they weren't bad for how long this was.

Scramble Hardcore Match - Atsushi Onita, Toru Owashi and Barbell Ito vs Black Menso~re, Black Tiger and Great Tiger

They do a 10 count before the guys can run in and grab a weapon. Menso cheats and gets a weapon early, then hits Carbell with it. Great chokes Toru with a chair then Menso plancha's Toru. Great hits some awful weapons shots on Onita then Menso and Ito duel canes. Ito dropkicks Menso then jumping knees him with a cookie sheet. Onita hits Menso with a trash can then butterfly suplexes him. BT chokes Onita with a sign pole.

Toru hits his opponents with a cookie sheet. Menso is about to be piledriver through a table and accidentally double kicks Ito in the head before being put through the table. This piledriver through the table is only worth a 2 count. Onita is whipped into a barbed wire board in the corner then has the board pressed into him.

Toru uranage's Menso then hits him with a chair. Menso armdrags Toru onto a pile of chairs then chairs him in the back. Toru facekicks Menso then Onita accidentally green mists Toru. Menso hits Onita with a guitar then Onita mists him too. Menso has a trash can put on his head then he is hit with chairs. Menso is then chokeslammed by Toru and pinned.

This was terrible as expected with hardcore spots that didn't mean anything and comedy.

Osamu Nishimura, Satoshi Kojima & Yutaka Yoshie vs. Hokuto Omori, Ryo Inoue & Ryuki Honda

Honda shoulders Koji over then Koji shoulders him over. Osamu hits euros on Omori then Omori fights back with forearms. Omori knows him over with one then Omori puts him in the cobra twist. Osamu puts him in the cobra twist then euros him. Koji and Omori trade forearms and Koji knocks him down with one. Koji elbow drops him then Yoshie chops Omori. Yoshie stinkfaces Omori and splashes Honda. Yoshie then hip attacks both against the turnbuckle pads.

Omori forearms Yoshie then Ryo hits kicks on Yoshie. Omori dropkicks Yoshie off the buckles then running knees him. Yoshie shoulders over Ryo then Osamu hits euros on Ryo. Osamu butterfly suplexes him then puts him in a spinning toe hold. Osamu then figure fours him. Osamu misses a top rope knee then Ryo dropkicks him.

Koji and Honda shoulder and forearm each other then Honda shoulders him over. Koji machine gun chops Honda then Koji takes corner moves. Koji takes a sandwich superkick and spinning forearm then Honda spears Koji for 2. Honda and Koji lariat each other and Honda goes down. Koji hits his cutter on him then Honda lariats him for 2. Koji lariats Honda as he runs at him and wins it.

I didn't really like Koji getting the win so easy on Honda but this was a decent 6-man with the vets looking fine and the young guys bringing some energy.

MAZADA, Minoru Suzuki & Taiyo Kea vs. Voodoo Murders (Jun Saito, Rei Saito & Toshizo)

The VM's jump their opponents before the bell. Kea is sent into the rails outside while Toshizo chokes Mazada. Toshizo shoulders Mazada then just kind of trips over him. Mazada hits a bad ddt on him and lariats him. Taru throws powder in Mazada's eyes outside then Jun footchokes Mazada. Kea and Suzuki are knocked off the apron and Rei argues with Wada the ref. Mazada takes a double chokeslam from the Saito brothers then the bros try to put him in a body bag.

Mazada baseball slides Taru while he's near the apron. Kea comes in and hits Rei then turns his hiptoss attempt into a ddt. Kea hits kicks on Rei then russian legsweeps him. Rei splashes Kea in the corner then suplexes him. Suzuki cradles Jun then facekicks him. Suzuki then hits a PK for 2. Jun facekicks Suzuki. Suzuki takes running corner moves and a bad hip throw from Toshizo.

Kea tries to fight off a 2v1 then Rei is pulled over the top rope. Jun walks into a Suzuki choke then is pushed into Taru on the apron. Toshizo and Jun both take chokes then Suzuki gotch piledrivers Toshizo for the win.

This was short and not that interesting. Kea wasn't that great in his youth and didn't look good here and there just wasn't a lot to this except for some VM interference.  

Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Violent Giants (Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama)

Nothing happened at all early to the point that I fast fowarded. Suwama suplexes Oka out of the knuckle lock early and Oka is thrown out. Oka is thrown into the rails outside by Shuji then Shuji double stomps him off the apron. Oka hits chops on Shuji then Sek machine gun chops Shuji. Sek abdominal stretches Shuji on the mat thne Oka and Shuji trade chops and forearms.

Oka drops Shuji with a chop then Seki slams Shuji. Oka and Sek slam Shuji then Sek boston crabs him. Shuji dropkicks Oka then Suwama chops Sek. Suwama lariats Sek then Sek corner spears him hard. Sek atomic drops Suwama then they trade forearms. Suwama hits a big lariat on Sek then Sek no sells it and hits a big lariat on him. Oka and Shuji shoulder battle then trade chops for forearms. Shuji shoulders him over.

Shuji hits a big knee on Oka's gut then Oka takes sandwich lariats for 2. Shuji and Suwama go for stereo powerbombs but both are back body dropped. Oka 2nd rope powerslams Shuji for 2 then Sek and Oka both rack their opponents at the same time. Oka suplexes Shuji then Shuji 2nd rope suplexes him. Oka takes lariats from both opponents on the ropes then Suwama belly to belly suplexes him. Shuji running knees Oka for 2 then Oka powerslams him.

Oka and Shuji lariat each other at the same time then Oka lariats him over. Oka goes for a top rope splash but Shuji gets his knees up. Sek picks up Shuji from on top of Oka and germans him then Suwama backdrops Sek. Shuji running knees Oka for 1 then they slap each other. Shuji headbutts him then v-triggers him. Shuji running knees him for 2. Sek gets in and Suwama high kicks him then Oka spears Suwama. Oka hits a stiff lariat on Shuji then powerbombs him for a 1 count. Oka running lariats him for 2 then top rope splashes him and shockingly wins it.

This wasn't their best work. The match started off real real slow and the good stuff didn't really come until the end. It still good but this was not the 5 star classic it could have been and they just didn't go all out here like they have in the past. It did have some of the stiffness and hoss wrestling that everyone would expect though.  

AJPW World Tag Team Title Match - Zennichi Shin Jidai (Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi (c) vs. Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO

Atsuki armdrags Yuma, is headscissored then gets armdragged. Rising and Kento go at it and Kento slaps him. Kento boots him out of the corner then has his chest chopped. Kento facekicks him. Rising takes running corner moves then Atsuki hits a nice dropkick on Yuma. Atsuki and Rising both tease diving out then they get dropkicked off the apron. Atsuki and Rising hit stereo planchas to the outside.

Rising and Yuma trade forearms. Rising is tripped into the middle rope, knee'd by Kento then thrown into the rails outside. Atsuki is also put into the rails outside. Kento headbutts Rising and Atsuki goes into the rails more times. Rising is put into the post then Kento piledrives him on the apron. 

Rising tries chest slaps on Kento then is headbutted. Rising running back elbows him. Atsuki gets in and 2nd rope armdrags Kento then dropkicks him. Kento pump kicks him then Yuma dropkicks Atsuki. Yuma top rope crossbodies him and hits his seated guillotine hold. Atsuki 2nd rope hurricanrana's Yuma then Yuma shotgun dropkicks him.

The two trade superkicks and Atsuki is released german'd. Atsuki step up enzugiri's him. Rising jumps off Yuma's back to dropkick Kento on the apron then he brainbusters Yuma. Yuma takes a corkscrew kick then a superkick from Rising for 2. Yuma dropkicks Rising then Kento facekicks Rising. Kento dropkicks him to the side of the head then Rising takes corner moves.

Rising takes a gori special + a facebuster double team for 2. Rising single leg dropkicks Kento then takes a rock bottom from Yuma. Yuma and Atsuki trade forearms then Atsuki superkicks Yuma. Yuma rock bottoms Atsuki then Atsuki brainbusters him. All four men are down. Rising jumps over the top rope and ddt's Kento on the apron. Rising asai moonsaults Kento then Yuma rock bottoms Rising. Rising takes a double pumping knee for 2. Kento takes a top rope dropkick then Atsuki top rope spanish flies Yuma.

Kento lariats Rising then pumping knees him. Rising package tombstones him for 2 then falcon arrows him for 2. Rising top rope asai moonsaults Kento for 2. Rising is stuck on the 2nd rope and german suplexed and Rising rolls him up for 2. Kento pumping knees Rising three times for 2 then straightjacket germans Rising for the win.

They had a long finishing stretch here with lots of unnecessary moves and kickouts. They could have cut most of it and the quality would have been better. The match was more entertaining than I expected as it was more of a juniors style match with a fast pace. I think it did elevate the juniors some.  

Triple Crown Title - Yuji Nagata vs Yuma Anzai

Yuma armlocks him, Yuji goes down and upkicks him. Yuma side headlocks him and Yuji headscissors him. Yuji armbars him and Yuma hits the ropes. They trade shots outside and Yuji works the arm with kicks and an armbreaker. Yuji then facekicks him over the rail.Yuma jumps off the rails and forearms Yuji then sleepers him. They trade forearms and Yuji knees him in the gut. Yuji kimura's him and Yuma ropebreaks. They trade more forearms and Yuji works the arm more with kicks. Yuji armbars him then hits more kicks to the arm. Yuma does a nice dropkick out of the corner and they trade forearms. Yuma belly to belly suplexes him then butterfly suplexes him. Yuma hits a jumping knee then Yuji crossfaces him. Yuji hits more kicks then forearms and kicks him in the corner. Yuma forearm flurries him and drops him in the corner.

Yuma superplexes him then takes an exploder. He no sells it and germans Yuji. Yuma flying knees him twice then germans him. Yuma slams him and misses a top rope moonsault. Nagata backdrops him. They trade more forearms then Yuji enzugiri's and backdrops him. Yuma does roll-ups and a jumping knee. Yuji spinning heel kicks him, high kicks him and wins it with a backdrop hold.

It went a little longer than it needed to and because of it, they started repeating spots multiple times. Yuji worked the arm most of the match but the finish had nothing to do with the arm. The two matched up together well otherwise. Yuji's been doing this type of match since Tanahashi was a young up and comer and he knew what to do here. Yuma did his part well also. It had issues but I did like it some, just cutting 5+ minutes off of it and ending it with an armbar or something would have made this one a lot better.

Overall thoughts: The 3 top matches all were somewhat good, though not perfect. The women's match was typical Oz Academy garbage and the hardcore trios match was just as bad as it was last time I saw AJPW. The show had a lot of variety and it was good overall.