All Japan Pro Wrestling 9/1/2024 Summer Action Wars 2024 Day 4

All Japan Pro Wrestling 9/1/2024 Summer Action Wars 2024 Day 4

All Asia Tag Team Title Match - MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka (c) vs. Fuminori Abe & Seigo Tachibana

MS = Musashi, SY = Seiki Yoshioka

MS and Abe go at it, trading wristlocks. Abe takes him down and MS headscissors him. MS armdrags him then flying headscissors him. SY and Seigo go at it. Seigo punches him in the gut and SY running facekicks him. Seigo takes a double bulldog. Seigo's team fails on a double team attempt and takes a spinning ddt.
 
Seigo is held in the corner and MS dropkicks him. MS chops down Seigo. Seigo hits an STO on MS. Abe dropkicks MS in the knee then spin kicks him. MS exploders Abe. SY hits knees and kicks on Abe then falcon arrows him for 2.

Abe and SY trade forearms. SY superkicks him and hits a step up enzugiri. Abe then dropkicks him. Seigo running facekicks SY. Seigo suplexes him for 2. SY step up enzugiri's Seigo.

Abe gets in and takes a double team. Seigo hits a tope con hilo outside on both opponents. MS takes a double suplex for 2. MS and Seigo trade forearms then Seigo b-drivers him for 2.

Seigo takes a double superkick. SY asai moonsaults out onto Abe then MS hits a top rope frogsplash on Seigo for 2. MS hits like a package emerald flowsion on Seigo and wins.

Thoughts: I thought it was too long for an opener. The work was fine but openers are just supposed to be small appetizers to get you going and they gave the full meal here in the first match. I didn't really buy that Abe and Seigo were winning this one either.

Hartley Jackson & Jack Kennedy vs. Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Shotaro Ashino

Jiro goes out in the crowd as a fan endlessly cheers for Hart. He puts the fans shirt over the fan's head. Sho and Hart go at it and Hart shoulders him over. Sho takes down Hart then shoulders him over.

Jack side headlocks and shoulders over Jiro. Jiro kips up and poses. Jiro goofs around running the ropes and Jack pounces him. Everyone fights and goofs around in the crowd. Jack slams Jiro inside. Hart sentons Jiro for 2.

Sho gets in and trades with hart. Sho running euros him  then karelin's lifts him for 2. Hart russian legsweeps him. Jack hits a corner splash on Sho and fallway slams him for 2. Sho takes a double shoulderblock. Jiro hits a double dropkick on the heels then him and Sho splash the heels in the corner.

Jack and Hart suplex the faces en stereo and Jack spinning lariats Sho. Sho germans Jack for 2 then ankle locks him. Jack then taps out.

Thoughts: It was a short, nothing and half-serious match. It ended before it even really got going and there was lots of fooling around from Jiro.

Hideki Suzuki, Hikaru Sato & Yuko Miyamoto vs. Cyrus, Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi

Kuma's team attacks before the bell then Sato's team takes a triple back body drop. Cy hits forearms on Suzuki then flying sick kicks him. Suzuki fights off a double team then takes a double shoulder. Kuma's team then poses on him. Kuma torture rack drops Suzuki for 2.

Suzuki takes corner attacks and Omori cutters him for 2. Suzuki flatliners Omori. Sato hits chops on Omori then corner lariats him. The heels run into each other on accident and Sato enzugiri's Cy. Yuko handspring pele kicks Kuma.

Suzuki sleepers Omori and Kuma sentons suzuki to break it up. Cy holds Suzuki in the air and Omori RKO's Suzuki for 2. Omori takes a double powerbomb from his partners on a failed tower of doom spot then Kuma is thrown over the top. Suzuki spinning lariats and backdrops Omori to win.

Thoughts: It was a midcard throwaway match. It was slow, it didn't have a lot of flow or heat to it and the heels kept getting thwarted here. This wasn't good.

Dan Tamura & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. ELPIDA (Rising HAYATO & Yuma Anzai)

Rising and Dan start us off. Dan side headlocks Rising then side headlock takeovers him. Rising armdrags him out of the casadora and headscisosrs him out. Yuma and Davey go at it. They trade shoulders and Yuma dropkicks him. Davey suplexes him then stomps his back.

Dan hits forearms on Yuma's back then Davey side slams Yuma for 2. Davey chinlocks Yuma then headscissors him. Yuma and Davey trade forearms then Davey facekicks him. Davey powerslams Yuma for 2.

Davey double underhook suplexes Yuma for 2. Yuma dropkicks him off the buckles. Rising jumps off of Davey's back and dropkicks Yuma. Rising shotgun dropkicks Davey into the corner and facebusters him. Davey backdrops Rising.

Dan corner shoulderblocks Rising then suplexes him. Rising dropkicks Dan. Dan takes a double back elbow then Yuma double underhook suplexes Dan for 2. Davey throws Rising out.

Yuma takes corner attacks and Davey lariats Dan on a failed double team. Rising springboard dropkicks Davey then springboard plancha's him. Dan blocks a gimlet from Yuma and hits lariats. Yuma flying knees Dan for 2. Yuma gimlets Dan and wins.

Thoughts: It didn't really get enough time and the crowd wasn't into it. What we got was okay but it was no one's best effort.

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title Match - Naruki Doi (c) vs. Ryo Inoue

Ryo flying kicks Doi to start then stomps on him. Ryo hits a corner stomp flurry and the ref pulls him off. Ryo running facekicks Doi then corner dropkicks him. Ryo underhook suplexes him. They go out and Ryo running facekicks Doi.

Ryo headbutts him, goes up on the buckles and is pushed down to the floor. Ryo is sent into the rails and Doi running facekicks him. Doi flipping sentons Ryo.

Doi grounded cobra twists him. Doi goes up and over him then Ryo 2nd rope dropkicks him. Doi comes off the buckles and runs into a dropkick. Ryo headkicks him and Doi eye rakes him. Doi ddt's him.

They trade shots and Ryo spin kicks him. Doi hits doi fives then Ryo spinning enzugiri's him. Doi suplexes him and Ryo no sells it. Ryo spin kicks him in the head and both go down.

Ryo hits chest kicks on Doi. Ryo hits multiple enzugiri's then spin kicks him in the head. Ryo hits a go to sleep for 2. Doi cradles Ryo. Doi hits a corner cannonball then brainbusters him for 2. Doi sliding kicks him for 2. 

Doi hits doi fives and sliding kicks him for the win.

Thoughts: It was alright but never really got to the next level. Doi didn't really beat Ryo up enough here and Ryo didn't fire up enough because of it and that stopped the match from being better. I didn't expect Ryo to win here.

Hikaru Sato comes out and challenges Doi after.

AJPW World Tag Team Title Match - The Saito Brothers (Jun Saito & Rei Saito) (c) vs. ELPIDA (Ren Ayabe & Ryuki Honda)

Rei side headlocks Ren and they shoulder battle. Jun and Honda get in and fire away at each other. Honda shoulders him over. Honda clubs on Jun then Jun takes a double shoulderblock. Honda kneels on Jun's neck on the ropes and counts along with the ref on the break. Jun shoulders Honda over then throws him out.

Jun foot chokes Honda. Rei headbutts and stomps on Honda. Jun facekicks Honda then elbow drops him for 2. Honda takes a double shoulderblock then Jun suplexes Honda for 2. Honda spears Jun.

Ren comes in and hits forearms on Jun then flying neckbreakers him. Ren running facekicks Jun then Jun suplexes Ren. Rei lariats Ren on the ropes then slams him. Rei splashes Ren for 2.

Rei and and Ren trade chops for forearms in the corner. Rei corner lariats Ren. Ren back body drop him then hits a big slam. Rei backdrops Ren as we hit 10 minutes.

Jun and Honda get in. Jun hits knees to the gut then Jun spears him. Honda takes corner attacks and a double hiptoss for 2. Honda lariats Jun then sends him into a ren facekick. Honda elbow drops Jun for 2. Honda running lariats Jun then Rei shoulders Honda over. Jun shoulders Ren over and all 4 men are down.

Honda and Jun trade forearms. Jun chops him and Honda headbutts him in the chest. Honda hits a big lariat for 2. Jun lariats Honda over then Honda takes a double chokeslam for 2. Jun jackhammers Honda for 2.

Honda armdrags Jun over and Ren shotgun dropkicks Jun. Jun bounces into the ropes and Honda lariats him for 2. Honda running one-arm powerbombs Jun for 2. Rei crossbodies Ren and Ren hits a nice dropkick on him. Jun avoids a Honda powerbomb and hits shots on Honda. Honda germans him him but Jun no sells it and running knees him in the back. Jun chokeslams Honda for 2.

Jun does a cobra clutch slam on Honda and wins.

Thoughts: So far, this was the best thing on here. They did enough to make this one good but it didn't become great like it could have been. There was no hot tag here or face in peril section that really would have helped it out and there wasn't a great story. Ren hit some nice dropkicks here though and looked a little better than usual. 

The brothers get gifts after for winning and share them with the losing team. The brothers then talk on the mic after.

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

Ken has a new black and red entrance jacket and tights. They lock up and Ken clean breaks him. Yuma wristlocks him then side headlock takeovers him. Ken headscissors him and they stand off. Yuma forearms him off the break on the ropes and is tripped into the ropes. They go out and Ken is sent into the rails. Yuma then is dropped throat first on the rails.

They fight outside and Ken headbutts him twice, knocking him down. Yuma is sent into the post and headbutted more. Yuma is sent into the rails. Yuma legdrops Ken's neck over the rails. Ken is driven into the rails and Yuma chokes him with a towel. Yuma ddt's him on the floor. They get back in and Yuma works on him then hits a neckbreaker. Yuma chinlocks him. Yuma does a goofy looking people's elbow type of move for 2. Yuma piledrivers him.

Yuma 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him then springboard crossbodies him for 2. Yuma does a grounded guillotine + armlock and Ken ropebreaks. Ken dropkicks him in the knee and the side of the head. Yuma goes up top and takes a facekick that sends him down to the floor.

 They fight on the apron and Yuma backdrops him on it. Yuma running corner dropkicks him then germans him. Ken no sells it and they trade forearms. They trade for a while and Yuma euros him down. They trade corner attacks and Yuma uranages him. Ken brainbusters him and both go down.

Ken pumping knees Yuma twice for 2 at 20 minutes. Yuma fisherman suplexes him for 2 then twisting brainbusters him. Ken headbutts him and throws him on a powerbomb. Ken running lariats him for 2.

Yuma blocks a pumping knee and hits an air raid crash for 2. Yuma guillotines him while hooking the arm and gets a 2 count. Yuma top rope elbow drops Ken for 2. Yuma does another guillotine with the arm hooked. Yuma comes off the buckles and Ken pumping knees him in mid-air.

Ken flying pumping knees him for 2. Yuma rolls him up and backrolls him into a bridge for 2. Ken ducks a spinning high kick and straightjacket germans him for 2. Yuma hits a stiff lariat. Ken flying pumping knees him and takes spin kicks to the head.

Yuma brainbusters him then fisherman busters him for 2. Yuma hits another fisherman's buster and wins.

Thoughts: It wasn't that good. There were no clear heels or faces and there was no real story. It had the usual Ken issues with the selling being inconsistent and there was just nothing particularly great about it. They got lots of time and Yuma did some stuff he doesn't normally do, but this was not the great match it could and should have been.

Yuma talks on the mic after.

Overall thoughts: It wasn't one of AJPW's best shows. The semi-main was the only thing that delivered somewhat. The main got tons of time and should have been good but was didn't have a real story or clear faces and heels. While I liked the semi-main and thought it was good, the potential for it to be great was there. There was nothing much else of note on this one.The crowd was also not loud which brought things down. I would not recommend this.