All Japan Pro Wrestling 8/22/2023 10th Oudou Tournament Day 3
I saw everything but one match:
El Lindaman, Fuminori Abe & Soma Watanabe vs. Zennichi Shin Jidai (Rising HAYATO & Ryo Inoue) & Aigle Blanc
Linda and Rising start us off. Rising hits a stiff chest slap that gets a big reaction then he kind of botches a headscissors on Linda. Rising fakes a dive and then does his taunt and Linda basement dropkicks him. I think Soma and Blanc botch a spot, but who knows. Blanc flips over him as he rolls backwards then does an enzugiri from the mat. Blanc euros him in the corner then 2nd rope hurricanrana's him.
Ryo dropkicks Soma then Soma rolls into a dropkick on him. Abe gets in and cleans house then Ryo takes a double back elbow. Abe slaps Ryo then Ryo hits forearms back. Abe dropkicks him in the knee and facekicks Blanc off the apron. Abe spin kicks Ryo in the gut then back kicks him. Ryo and Abe trade forearms for slaps and Ryo hits a nice enzugiri on him.
Linda avoids Rising's asai moonsault and Rising single leg dropkicks him. Rising and Linda trade forearms then Rising superkicks him into a falcon arrow. Linda takes running corner moves then is PK'd by Ryo for 2. Ryo spin kicks Linda then Som comes off the top and dropkicks him. Rising throws out Abe, Abe holds on and baseball punches him. Blanc spinning forearms Linda then is dropkicked while springboard.
Linda hits a great exploder on Ryo then a nice high shoulder throw. Linda flip dives to the outside and delay germans Ryo to win it.
It was a quick and fun juniors tag. Could have been triple the time easy but sadly it wasn't. I don't think Linda should be doing these things though as he's above it and one of GLEAT's feature guys.
Ren Ayabe & Yoshitatsu vs. Voodoo Murders (Jun Saito & Rei Saito)
This wasn't good. It went long and they had some comedy with the ref that I didn't quite understand. Yoshi's not good anymore and Ren wasn't good enough to carry this either. This was a pretty standard Saito Brothers match that they won with with a double chokeslam. Jun's hair was all messed up by the end of this to the point that he nearly had the same hair style as Rei.
Hokuto Omori, Naoki Tanizaki & Naruki Doi vs. Zennichi Shin Jidai (Atsuki Aoyagi, Yuma Anzai & Yuma Aoyagi)
You know, people made fun of Vince for making people change their names because it sounds too much like someone else's name. This match is a good example of why he did that. We have two Aoyagi's and two Yuma's here and they are on the same team.
Doi poses for his entrance and Omori rolls him up with the ref counting the nearfall. I swear Yuma Aoyagi's entrance music had a line that said, "we play video games". Atsuki tries to roll up Doi while he debates with his team about who will enter first.
Yuma Aoyagi and Omori start with them messing up each others hair and doing armdrags. Yuma Aoyagi gets all flustered. Naoki and Anzai go at it with Azai hitting back clubs and Naoki eye raking him. They shoulder battle and Anzai knocks him over.
Atsuki gets in and Doi is tagged in but does not want in. Atsuki dropkicks Doi for 2 and Doi stalls outside. Atsuki feints a dive then he is nailed by his opponents from behind. Atsuki and Omori trade forearms and Atsuki goes down. Doi poses and Atsuki rolls him up for 2. Omori and Naoki stomp Atsuki for it.
Atsuki handspring back elbows Doi and Naoki then suplexes Omori. Anzai gets in and running forearms Doi in the corners. Anzai belly to belly suplexes him then Doi dropkicks Anzai in the knee. Naoki knees Yuma then Yuma hits a nice dropkick on him. Yuma Aoyagi takes running back elbows and Naoki rolls up his own partner Doi again for some reason. Omori then rolls up Doi and Atsuki rolls up Doi. Yuma Aoyagi then rolls up Naoki and wins it.
This was all comedy revolving around people trying to roll-up Doi. I feel like I missed something here to explain why everyone was doing that.
Yuma Aoyagi then rolls up the ref after and Atsuki counts the 3 for him.
Royal Road Tournament 2023 Second Round Match - Suwama vs. Hayato Tamura
They trade waist locks and do some amateur wrestling before doing a stand off. They do a greco roman knuckle lock then shoulder battle. Tamura shoulders him over. Tamura hits a flurry of corner lariats then footchokes him in the corner. Tamura paintbrush slaps him then Suwama sleepers him.
They trade forearms in the corner then Suwama drops him with a couple. Suwama hits double chops in the corner then ddt's him. They trade more forearms and Suwama elbows him over the back of the neck. Suwama hits a corner lariat and belly to belly suplexes him. Tamura spears him the ncorner lariats him.
Tamura diving shoulders him off the top then suplexes him. They hit lariat flurries on each other and Tamura backdrops him for 2. Tamura spinning lariats him then Suwama backdrops him. Tamura ducks a lariat then takes one from the other arm. Suwama then sleepers him and puts him in a bulldog choke for the win.
See, this is where this tournament sucks. This could have been a good main on any show. Instead, they got about 12 minutes or so and it was a real stripped down and lazy version of their match. This maybe could have been a classic if they could go all out and instead we got the midcard version of it. It was a waste of both guys and a disappointment. Suwama winning via bulldog choke was also odd as he never wins with that and that further hurt Tamura here.
Royal Road Tournament 2023 Second Round Match - Satoshi Kojima vs. Takuya Nomura
Now this could be really fun. Nomura side headlocks him and headscissors him, then they stare down. Kojima shoulders him over and flexes his pecs, then Nomura slaps him. Nomura hits machine gun chops on him in the corner then running forearms him. Nomura does Kojima's taunt and is hit mid-taunt. Kojima hits machine gun chops. Kojima then running forearms him and does his taunt.
Nomura facekicks him off the apron and sends him into the post. Nomura PK's him on the apron then Kojima legsweeps him. They trade forearms outside then Nomura gets dropped with one. Kojima spinning forearms him and ddt's him in the ring. Nomura chest kick flurries him in the corner then suplexes him.
Kojima blocks his PK and cutters him. Nomura dropkicks him then running lariats him. Nomura runs at him with a lariat and Kojima stretches out his arm and lariats him. Nomura then drops him with a lariat. Nomura PK's him for 2 then germans him for 2. Nomura high kicks him and Kojima hits a nice lariat on him. They both go down then lariat each other at the same time. Kojima beats him to it first and gets the win.
It was an enjoyable little match as expected though who knows what Nomura might have been able to get out of Kojima with more time.
Royal Road Tournament 2023 Second Round Match - Shuji Ishikawa vs. Dan Tamura
Dan is backed up into the ropes, hits forearms then is dropped with a forearm. Dan tries more forearms and is dropped again. Shuji then boots him out of the ring and does a small double stomp off the apron on him. Shuji hits a big knee to the gut then suplexes him onto the top rope where he bounces off. Shuji then double stomps him.
Dan hits forearms then Shuji hits more big knees to the gut. Dan's down. shuji misses a corner charge and is slammed. They fight on the apron and Dan guillotines him over he top rope. Dan flying shoulders him, knocking him over. Dan then hits an impressive Karelin's lift on him. Shuji karelin's lifts him then running lariats him in the corner.
Shuji 2nd rope double stomps Dan then Dan back body drops him. Dan samoan drops him for 2. They lariat each other at the same time and Dan hits a nice running lariat. Shuji release dragon suplexes him then takes a death valley driver.
They trade forearms and Dan chest forearm flurries him. Dan hits another death valley driver for 2. Dan guillotine chokes him then Shuji lawn darts him into the buckles. Shuji backdrops him then hits a running knee for 2. Dan hits some short lariats then running lariats him. Dan spinning lariats him then takes a fire thunder driver for 2. Shuji running knees him for 2 then hits splash mountain for the win.
I think your enjoyment of this depends on where you see Dan. I think he's above being big time'd by vets, but if you don't , then this was a real charity job for him. Shuji bullied him around for the first hal of this, then Dan was allowed to get some offense and nearfalls in during the second half. It eventually did work itself out into a decent match, but it would have been better if things were more even from the start.
Royal Road Tournament 2023 Second Round Match - Kento Miyahara vs. Ryuki Honda
Honda hits forearms outside then takes a headbutt. Kento hits more headbutts around the ring. They go onto the apron and Kento is back body dropped onto it. Kento is sent into the post outside a few times. Honda back elbows Kento then puts him in a camel clutch variation.
They trade forearms then Honda corner lariats him. Kento dropkicks him in the knee and the side of the head. Honda hits a nice lariat on the apron that sends Kento to the floor. Honda running lariats him then crossfaces him. Kento ropebreaks. Kento release germans him on his head.
Kento pumping knees him on the ropes then Honda does a quick fireman's carry. Honda exploders then lariats him for 2. Kento pumping knees him three times for 2 then Honda hits a nice lariat. Honda then hits a running one armed powerbomb and shockingly grabs the upset win.
It was nice to see Honda get put over here. The beginning and and were good and the middle was not so good. They goofed around for a while without really accomplishing much sadly and that really slowed down and hurt which was an otherwise good looking match.
Overall thoughts: Like a lot of AJPW's smaller shows, the talent and the matches have a lot of potential but people either take it easy or the bookers make all the matches shorter and the show ends up not being as good as it could have been. I still feel like it was a fun and good show, but this could have been a great show if they let people go all out. I think I'll give this one a 7 out of 10.
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