All Japan Pro Wrestling 3/30/2024 Dream Power Series 2024 Day 5

All Japan Pro Wrestling 3/30/2024 Dream Power Series 2024 Day 5

The ActWresGirl'Z crew danced before the show, to the delight of seemingly nobody in the crowd.

Ayano Irie & Miku Aono vs. Kanamic & Kouki

Miku side headlocks Kouki then lariats her. They lariat battle and mess up a spot then Kouki lariats her down. Kana folls over Kouki's back and sentons Miku. Kana corner dropkicks Miku then Miku hits 2 dropkicks on her in the corner. Miku spinning slams Kana then Irie low dropkicks Kana for 2.

Irie crabs Kana then puts her in the heavenly lock. Kouki breaks it up. Kana flying headscissors Irie then Kouki jumping face kicks Irie. Kouki slams Irie and Irie gets her knees up on Kouki's splash. Irie lariats her then Miku top rope dropkicks Kouki.

They trade chest forearms and Miku shin kicks her. Kouki corner lariats her then corner face kicks her. Kouki hits a dominator on her. Miku kicks Kouki in the back then Kouki spinebusters her. Miku double underhook suplexes her then they lariat each other. Miku lariats her in the back of the neck then Kouki backdrops her for 2.

Kana germans Miku then shiranui's her. Kana jack knifes her then rolls forward again to try it a 2nd time. Kouki top rope 180 splashes Miku then Kana top rope swantons Miku for 2. Miku lariats Kana then Irie running face kicks her. Kana germans Irie for 2 then Miku lariats Kouki and Kana in one run. Irie russian legsweeps Kana for 2 then does a bizarre falcon arrow type of move to her. Irie twisting death valley drivers Kana and wins it.

It went a little long but it was a decent match in front of a crowd who wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. These girls were screwed here before it started and there was nothing they could do about it. It would have been much better at a joshi show. I assume Kanamic is pretty new but she didn't look out of place at all.

Naruki Doi, Ryo Inoue & Seigo Tachibana vs. Fuminori Abe, Kaz Hayashi & Seiki Yoshioka

Ryo has longer orange hair now. He and Abe start us off. They trade some basic holds and stand off. Ryo dropkicks Abe. Doi and Seiki trade chest chops then Seiki flying single leg dropkicks him.

Kaz and Seigo go at it. Kaz shoulders him over. Seigo kips up after it then running back elbows him. Kaz hits kicks to Seigo's back then Seiki does it as well. Seiki bullies him around then Seigo takes a double chest kick. Abe kicks Seigo in the back and they trade forearms.

Seigo STO's him and tags Doi in. Abe punches Seiki on accident then Doi flipping sentons Abe. Abe teases rolling out but holds onto the bottom rope then punches Doi. Kaz shotgun dropkicks Doi and hits a corner kick. Kaz running face kicks him then Doi spinning neckbreakers him. Ryo hits a chest kick flurry on Kaz then PK's him for 2.

They trade forearms and Kaz drops him. Seigo face kicks Kaz while Doi holds Kaz. Seiki and Abe come in and help. Ryo flying kicks Seiki then does the same to Abe. Ryo underhook suplexes Kaz for 2. Ryo spin kicks Kaz in chest/face for 2 then spin kicks him. Seiki axe kicks Ryo. Kaz does a final cut on Ryo and wins it.

It was a 10 minute juniors tag with Seigo getting bullied and Ryo trying to get the upset on Kaz here. It was fine for what it was but obviously not memorable or great. 

KONO & Toshizo vs. Kuma Arashi & Takao Omori

Omori was technically fired but he's back I guess. Kuma and Omori are thrown out and hit by the heels. Kuma gets sent into the rails Tosh hits Omori with the rails then throws a rail at him. Taru whips Kuma with a whip.

Tosh throws Kuma in then Kuma hits shots on Kono. Kono eye rakes him then side headlocks him. Kuma racks Kono then samoan drops him out of it. Omori and Kuma double chop their opponents together and pose. Kuma stands on Kono's gut then hits double chops.

Taru trips Kuma from the outside and throws powder in his face. Kuma is thrown out and Taru/Tosh beat him up. Tosh whips Kuma with a belt then Kono kicks Kuma in the crotch for 2. Kuma hits a nice dropkick and senton.

Omori face kicks and spinning heel kicks Kono. Kono eye rakes Omori then Omori backdrops him. Tosh hits Omori with an empty gas can then Omori takes a hip throw from Tosh. Kuma double crossbodies his opponents. Omori goes for a double axe bomber from behind but misses and trips. Omori then hits Tosh with one and hits a samurai driver for 2. Omori axe bombers Tosh and wins it.

The heels should have been DQ'd for cheating in front of ref. Omori's double lariat botch here was really bad and it went on longer than it needed to.

Battle Royal - Hartley Jackson vs. Kento Miyahara vs. Kuroshio TOKYO Japan vs. Shotaro Ashino vs. Yuma Aoyagi vs. Ryuki Honda vs. Hokuto Omori vs. Ren Ayabe

They had one person enter at a time here after getting the first two people in. Honda attacked Yuma from behind to start this. The first half of this was not super serious. Hartley took a flat back bump off the apron to the floor when he got eliminated. Yuma low blowed Omori at one point in front of the ref. He then bridge pinned him and Ren pined Yuma while he did it. Ren and Kento ended up as the last two people in this and Kento won with a delayed german.

This was a waste of pretty much everyone involved and accomplished little. I thought for sure they'd give Ren the win since Kento didn't really need it, but nope.

Ren put on an AJPW jacket after and I guess is now a confirmed full-time roster member.

All Asia Tag Team Title Match - Exploding Bat Match - Atsushi Onita & To-y (c) vs. Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato

Onita misted I think one of the sponsors before this started. Dan and Sato are wearing suits. Onita gets sent over the rails then Dan's head is banged off rails in the stands by Toy. Toy machine gun chops him and Onita sends Sato into the post. Sato's head is banged off a table then Onita piledrivers him through it.

Onita hits Sato with a barbed wire bat. Dan hits shots on Onita then hits him with an exploding bat in the chest. Dan hits forearms and lariats on Toy then Toy step up enzugiri's him. Sato and Dan put armbars on Toy and Onita breaks it up.

Sato turns a siren on and gets misted by Onita. Onita then hits Toy with the exploding bat when Sato moves. Dan lariats Toy multiple times then Sato enzugiri's him. Dan lariats Toy then Sato death valley drivers him. Onita breaks the pin attempt up with a bat shot.

Dan activates the siren then Toy takes a double exploding bat shot. Toy then gets pinned.

It was long, slow and not good. They bat shots had no everlasting effects here and didn't make anyone bleed. They were also real casual about it and it just wasn't any good. I'm a big Onita fan, but I could go without ever seeing one of these again.

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title Match - Rising HAYATO (c) vs. MUSASHI

Musashi wristlocks him and Rising ends up flipping out of it. Rising spinning headscissors him out then dropkicks him out. Rising springboard plancha's him then is popped up into the rails outside. Musashi ddt's him on the floor. Musashi corner dropkicks him then does a cobra twist variation on him.

Musashi ddt's him then chops him down. Rising shotgun dropkicks him then running back elbows him. Rising ddt's him over the 2nd rope to the apron. Musashi exploders him then tope con hilos him outside.

Musashi hits kicks then falcon arrows him for 2. Musashi puts him in a tequila sunrise variation with a texas cloverleaf. They trade chops and Musashi single leg dropkicks him. Musashi superkicks him then gets superkicked.

Musashi rolls up Rising for 2 then Rising codebreakers him into a submission. Rising asai moonsaults him but Musashi gets his knees up. Musashi germans him for 2 then half-nelson slams him. Rising superkicks him in the back of the head then Musashi germans him. Rising package tombstones him but it's no sold then he does it again, dropping him straight on his head. Rising top rope asai moonsaults him and wins it.

It might have been okay as a generic juniors match, but then they kept going and it was clear there was no story or logic involved.

Kaz Hayashi challenges Rising after.

AJPW World Tag Team Title Match - Hideki Suzuki & Suwama (c) vs. Voodoo Murders (Jun Saito & Rei Saito)

Jun and HS go at it. Jun side headlocks him then shoulders him over. HS does like an iron claw taunt at him and Rei tags in. HS still wants more of Jun though. Suwama gets in they shove and forearm each other then Suwama flurries on him on the ropes. Toshizo hits Suwama with the empty gas can from the outside then Suwama gets beat on by Voodoo Murderers outside. The ref Wada sees it and doesn't care.

Suwama is thrown into the chairs by Taru. Rei machine gun chops Suwama in the ring. Suwama flatliners him then HS neckbreakers and legdrops him for 2. HS works Rei's arm and armbreakers him. Suwama belly to belly suplexes Rei then armbars him.

HS snapmares Rei then stomps his arm. HS does an octopus variation on Rei's arm while Suwama sleepers Jun. Rei slaps and lariats HS. Suwama flying shoulders Jun then corner lariats him. Suwama germans Jun then spinning lariats him for 2. HS fujiwara armbars Rei then Suwama corner lariats Jun. Jun takes a double team underhook suplex then takes a double dropkick.

Jun face kicks Suwama then Suwama takes a corner lariat. Suwama takes a double chokeslam then HS takes a double chokeslam. Jun spears Suwama for 2. Jun chokeslams Suwama and wins it.

It was really average for the most part. The heels should have been DQ'd early for interference and weapons usage but weren't. Suzuki did his usual slow motion offense and the only good part of this was Suwama's brief comeback. Not awful or anything, but just totally average and unexciting.

Taru talks after and Toshizo unmasks. Suwam is brought back out and Jun shakes hands with him.  They then raise hands with Suwama.

Triple Crown Title Match - Katsuhiko Nakajima (c) vs. Yuma Anzai

KN hits leg kicks then side headlocks him. Yuma jumping knees him then hits a forearm flurry in the corner. Yuma belly to belly suplexes him then dropkicks him out. KN is sent into the rails outside. KN face kicks him in the ring and takes a jumping knee.

They trade forearms and KN hits leg kicks. KN drops him with a chest kick. KN hits mounted forearms then foot slaps him. yuma fights back with forearms then is dropped with a forearm. KN backdrops him then hits chest kicks. KN running face kicks him.

KN spin kicks him in the gut then chest kicks him. KN drops him with chest kicks then dragon screws him. KN drops him with a leg kick then fujiwara armbars him. KN hits kicks to the body. Yuma is tripped into the buckles and kicked in the back. KN superkicks him then hits kicks to the body.

KN sleepers him then grounds him. Yuma hits forearms then is dropped with a punch. KN kicks him in the head while he's on all fours. KN slaps him around then Yuma flying knees him. Yuma germans him and wins it.

I didn't like the finish at all. Yuma got basically nothing in all match long then jumping knee'd him and won with a german. It was your usual Nakajima match where he gets 95% of the offense in and just beats the crap out of the other guy until the finish comes. This was essentially a very long reverse squash where the person getting all of the offense in loses.

I like Yuma. I don't hate him winning the title because it was a formality at some point but it's really early and he just has not done much so far. He doesn't have great rivals or partners and all of his matches have been him getting beaten up then making a comeback. Maybe he can rely on that for a while, but I don't know if he's going to be capable of carrying someone like a Hideki Suzuki, a Jun Saito or others who are limited or don't bring much to the table.

It also came out that Nakajima will be leaving AJPW. He drew in some fans so that's all that matters, but they ran through a lot of the matches you'd want to see and his matches are rather limited. He just always has to win and be pushed with his style and that limits what you can do with him.

Overall thoughts: I wasn't a big fan of this show. The crowd wanted nothing to do with the ActWresGirl'Z crew as usual. A lot of the best wrestlers on the roster were stuck in a stupid battle royale and none of the four top matches impressed. While I was a big fan of AJPW last year, we are starting to see what things look like without Shuji Ishikawa booking and it's not looking good.