All Japan Pro Wrestling 10/21/2023 Raising An Army Memorial Series 2023 Day 4

All Japan Pro Wrestling 10/21/2023 Raising An Army Memorial Series 2023 Day 4

I saw 5 of the 7 matches. I don't watch intergender stuff and the copy of this I have has a Russian guy doing his own commentary on top of the regular commentary, which is annoying.

Takao Omori & Yoshitatsu vs. Zennichi Shin Jidai (Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO)

AA = Atsuki Aoyagi

AA and Omori start us off. They shoulder battle and Omori doesn't budge. Omori shouldes him over and AA goes out. Rising and Yoshi get in. Yoshi upkicks him out of an armlock then headlock takeovers him.  Rising goes up and over in the corner then headscissors him out. Rising then teases a dive.

Rising shotgun dropkicks Yoshi in the corner then whips him into an AA corkscrew kick. Rising asai moonsaults him. Yoshi knees Rising in the gut then hits body kicks. Yoshi fisherman suplexes im for 2. Yoshi top rope chops Yising for 2 . Yoshi and Rising mess up a crucifix spot and AA dropkicks Yoshi over while he is holding Rising. Rising then pins Yoshi to win it.

It was short and basically a nothing match as expected with 5 whole minutes of time to work with.

HARASHIMA, Sanshiro Takagi & Yukio Naya vs. Black Menso-re, Ren Ayabe & Shuji Ishikawa

HS = HARASHIMA

Shuji hammerlocks HS then shoulders him over. HS dropkicks him. The match breaks down and everyone fights outside. Takagi and Menso fight in the stands and Menso's head is banged off concrete. Naya and Ren trade forearms outsdie. Takagi grabs his gundam bicycle and runs into one of his ddt guys with it on accident.

Ren slams HS then HS dragon screws him. HS stomps Ren's leg and Menso ties Takagi to his bike. Ren forearms Naya then Naya slams and elbow drops him. Rey hits a hard forearm on HS then HS chest kicks him. Ren hits forearms on him then suplexes him.

Naya and Shuji shoulder battle then Naya running corner splashes him. Shuji hits a corner lariat then 2nd rope double stomps him. They trade forearms then lariat battle. Shuji dragon suplexes him then Naya facekicks him.

Menso comes off the buckles and takes a knee to the gut from Naya. Takagi comes off the top and takes a weak kick from Menso. Takagi takes a double suplex then Menso gets on his partners shoulders and double stomps Takagi. Takagi cutters him as Menso comes off the buckles then HS enzugiri's Shuji. Ren and Naya shoulder battle then Naay knees him in the gut. Naya chokeslams Ren HS springboard splashes Menso. Naya running knees Menso in the chest then Takagi does an electric chair into a powerbomb on Menso.

I thought it could have been really good and while it did have some highlights, it wasn't what it could have been. Takagi had to do some comedy and with and Menso split off on their own into the crowd, it took away from some of the match. 

Naya and Rei Saito and Harashima and Jun Saito then fight after.

Hideki Suzuki, Koji Iwamoto & Ryo Inoue vs. Hokuto Omori, Minoru Suzuki & Naruki Doi

Minoru wants Hideki to start. Minoru headlocks him then Hideki upkicks him. Koji and Doi get in. Koji shoulders him over then Doi forearms him. Koji shoulder throws him then knee drops him for 2. Hideki argues with Minoru while Minoru is on the apron then Ryo comes in and stomps Doi.

Doi neckbreakers Ryo then Omori flatliners Ryo. Ryo hits kicks on Omori then Omori forearms him. Ryo dropkicks Minoru then Hideki exploders Minoru. Ryo goes for a triangle enzugiri on Minoru but falls on the ropes then enzugiri's him. Ryo double underhook suplexes Minoru. Ryo runs the ropes and takes a jumping cutter from Omori. Minoru hits a gotch-style piledriver on Ryo and wins it.

It was a waste of time. They didn't get a lot of time here and everyone got a small section before tagging out.

Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai vs. Voodoo Murders (Jun Saito & Rei Saito)

Honda and Yuma go after the heels to start then pull both down over the top. They then forearm them off the apron. Jun and Rei are then both sent into the rails and Rei shoulders Yuma over on the floor. Jun facekicks Honda against the rails. Jun whips Honda with something and Rei slaps Yuma. Rei bangs Yuma's head hard off the apron then Honda runs at Rei with forearms. Rei just pushes him over near the throat.

Jun slams and elbow drops Yuma. Jun the headbutts Honda down. Yuma hits forearms on Rei then Rei chops Yuma. Yuma back body drops Rei then Honda leans on Rei over the middle rope. Rei and Honda run into each other on the ropes then Jun running facekicks Honda. Jun lariats Honda over then suplexes him.

Jun and Honda trade forearms then Jun facekicks him. Honda germans Jun then Jun blocks his spear. Jun chokeslams Honda then Honda spears him. They both tag out and Yuma runs straight into Rei's shoulder. They trade forearms for chops then Yuma dropkicks him. Rei slams Yuma then misses a splash. Yuma hits a nice belly to belly then Honda corner lariats Rei. Honda and Yuma both get shouldered over by the heels.

Yuma takes a high double hiptoss for 2. Yuma germans Rei then Honda top rope suplexes Jun. Rei takesa combo jumping knee + lariat then Yuma jumping knees him in the back for 2. Yuma goes for a jumping knee on Rei but is thrown back in mid-air. Rei lariats him then Jun lariats him too. Rei piledrivers Yuma for 2. Yuma then takes a nasty doomsday device and is pinned.

I don't know what it is, but AJPW really does tag matches well for the most part. This was fun. The Saito brothers looked strong and Yuma and Honda made for a fun team. It was booked pretty well and ended at the right time.

Triple Crown Title - Yuma Aoyagi (c) vs Kento Miyahara

They lock up and roll around on the ropes. They trade basic holds and Yuma forearms him hard on the ropes. Yuma is tripped into the 2nd rope, Kento misses his kick there then is low dropkicked out. Kento is whipped into the rails outside then Yuma is dropped throat first on the rails. Kento headbutts him outside then is sent into the rails. Yuma jumps on the rails and I guess is supposed to butt drop the back of Kento's neck but misses.

Kento is driven into the nails with Yuma's knee. Yuma then takes a Kento towel from a fan and throws it. Yuma then wipes himself with another Kento fan towel. Yuma chinlocks Kento then legdrops him. Yuma then chokes him with his knee in the corner and neckbreakers him.

Yuma hits a people's elbow then piledrivers him for 2. Yuma camel clutches Kento then jumps to the 2nd rope and crossbodies him. Yuma then top rope crossbodies him. Yuma goes for his seated guillotine choke + arm lock but Kento ropebreaks. Kento dropkicks him in the knee then low dropkicks him in the side of the head. Kento pumping knees Yuma in the corner. 

Yuma hits forearms from the apron then is facekicked. They fight on the apron then Yuma fisherman busters him on the apron. Both fall down to the floor. Kento struggles to get back in then takes a backdrop for 2. Yuma running forearms him and germans him. Kento no sells it and germans him. Kento then suplexes him and both are down.

They trade forearms and Yuma drops to his knees. Kento hits knees to the face the facekicks him. Yuma rolls him into his grounded guillotine choke with the armlock. Kento lariats him then Yuma hits a uranage. Yuma fisherman suplexes him then back springboards off the 2nd rope and meets a Kento double knee. Kento lariats him for 2 then delay germans him for 2.

Yuma back rolls him into a bridge for 2 then hits a spinning high kick for 2. Yuma spinning fisherman busters him for 2. Kento flying pumping knees him then does another pumping knee for 2. Kento hits a delayed straightjacket suplex for 2. Yuma misses a spinning high kick then takes a headbutt. Yuma spinning high kicks him then fisherman busters him for the win.

I didn't like fisherman buster on the apron spot being in the middle of the match. It should hurt someone even in kayfabe and it ended up not really meaning much. The selling was also not that great as it often is with Kento matches. I thought it also went longer than it needed to.

Overall thoughts: I wasn't a fan of the main but Honda/Yuma vs The Saito Brothers was good. I wouldn't really recommend this show. It looked weak on paper outside of the main and it was.