All Japan Pro Wrestling 9/19/2024 Royal Road Tournament 2024 Day 4

All Japan Pro Wrestling 9/19/2024 Royal Road Tournament 2024 Day 4

Hideki Suzuki, Jun Saito, MUSASHI & Shotaro Ashino vs. Hokuto-gun (Hokuto Omori, Kuma Arashi), Hikaru Sato & Yuko Miyamoto

Jun and Omori lock up. Omori backs him up on the ropes and blows a kiss. Omori side headlocks him thne Jun shoulders him over. Musashi and Kuma fight. Kuma nails Musashi in the back. Musashi chops him up and Kuma shoulders him over. Musashi trips him into a basement dropkick. Kuma lariats him over.

Suzuki tries to help out but fails. Kuma racks Musashi. Musashi and Sato fight. Sato snapmares him and kicks him in the back. Yuko hits leg kicks and an overhead belly to belly on Musashi. Suzuki tries to help out again with a dropkick and fails again. Musashi step up enzugiri's Yuko and Ashino gets in.

Ashino running euros Yuko over then hit's karelin's lift for 2. Yuko handspring back elbows him. Sato gets back in and is lariated by Ashino. Jun is back in and hits knees to the gut. Jun takes attacks from the other team for 2. Sato enzugiri's Jun then Jun chokeslams him for 2. Jun then botches a jackhammer for the win.

Thoughts: It was a short match just to get everyone on the show. It was nothing special. Suzuki essentially doing comedy was something different.

Ryo Inoue & Yuma Aoyagi vs. ELPIDA (Rising HAYATO & Yuma Anzai)

Aoyagi's screwing around and I'm not sure why. Aoyagi and Anzai go at it. They trade wristlocks and hammerlocks. Aoyagi headlock takeovers him, gets headscisssored and they stand off.

Ryo and Rising go at it. Ryo wristlocks him. Rising rolls and headflips out then chops him. Risingarmdrags and headlock takeovers Ryo. Ryo facekicks Anzai off the apron then Rising dropkicks Ryo.

Rising hits forearms on Ryo and dropkicks him off the apron. Rising then plancha's him outside. Ryo flying kicks Rising. Rising takes a double shoulderblock and Ryo struts off of it.

Rising running back elbows Aoyagi then Aoyagi gets in. Anzai gets in and belly to belly suplexes Aoyagi for 2. Aoyagi hits forearms then is dropkicked. They trade forearms and Aoyagi uranages him. Ryo comes in and hits facekicks then a dropkick on Anzai.

Ryo underhook suplexes Anzai then holds on and puts him in an armbar. Anzai and Ryo trade forearms. Ryo hits chest kicks then Ryo takes a superkick into a german. Rising and Aoyagi trade then Rising dropkicks him. Anzai germans Aoyagi then double underhook suplexes Ryo. Rising asai moonsaults Ryo then Anzai flying knees Ryo for 2. Anzai then hits his gimlet on Ryo and wins.

Thoughts: It was an okay tag here. I had no issues with it but it could have been a strong main event match if they allowed it to be such. Unfortunately, they did not. 

Anzai and Rising talk on the mic after.

Royal Road Tournament 2024 Second Round Match - Cyrus vs. Rei Saito

They shoulder battle to start and trade forearms. They shoulderblock each other and both fall out of the ring. They then shoulder battle outside of the ring. Rei chokes Cy while he's in a chair then chokes him with a towel. Rei misses a charge against the post and goes into it. Cy then back body drops Rei on the floor.

Cy chokes rei with the towel. Cy chokes Rei and argues with the ref Wada about it. Rei crossbodies Cy for 2. Cy then crossbodies Rei. They trade shots on their knees.

They trade forearms. Rei palm strike flurries him then Cy bolo punch flurries him. They trade chops. Cy hits forearms then Rei headbutts him. Rei hits a chop flurry. Cy headbutts him in the gut then spinning heel kicks him.

Rei slams him then Cy fallaways slams him. Cy misses a vader bomb then urakes him. Rei shotei's him and picks up the win.

Thoughts: It was probably Cy's best performance to date in AJPW. They matched up well and had a good super heavyweight battle with forearm and shoulder battles. Cy could have been a bit stiffer but they really checked all the boxes with this one and did a good job. I liked this.

They argue some after.

Royal Road Tournament 2024 Second Round Match - Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Ren Ayabe

They go face to face and Ren has a few inches on him. Davey waistlocks him and they trade wristlocks. Ren side headlocks him and Davey shoulders him over. Ren bangs Davey's head off the apron outside then the post.

Ren hits forearms. Ren misses a kick and is dropkicked in the back of the leg. Davey bangs Ren's leg off the apron and post. Davey slams Ren on the floor. Davey leglocks him.

Davey headbutts him and single leg crabs him. Ren ropebreaks. Ren back body drops Davey at 10 minutes and hits forearms. Ren flying neckbreakers him and running facekicks him for 2. Davey takes him down into an STF and Ren ropebreaks.

They trade forearms. Ren suplexes him then is backdropped. Davey slams him then misses a legdrop. Ren slams him. Ren hits two dropkicks then dragon suplexes him. Ren hits a spinning falcon arrow and wins.

Thoughts: They took two of the more boring members of the roster here and they had a slower and boring match. It went longer than it needed to and was just nothing special.

Royal Road Tournament 2024 Second Round Match - Joel Redman vs. Kento Miyahara

They lock-up. Ken backs him up in the corner and cleanbreaks him. They trade wristlocks. Joel rolls, bridges and headstands out then elbows him on the arm. Joel side headlocks him and shoulders him over. Ken backs off.

They trade waistlocks. Ken trips him then Joel works the leg and foot. Joe lside headlocks him. Ken hiptosses him  and Joel handstands in the corner. Ken headscissors him and Joel bounces out of it. Joel backslides him then Ken does it back to him. Ken dropkicks him in the knee and Joel puts the ref in the way. Joel eye rakes Ken.

Joel suplexes Ken for 2 and hits knees to the back. Joel stomps Ken's gut then backdrops him. Joel butt drops Ken's back then camel clutches him. Joel straightjacket chokes him. Ken dropkicks him in the knee and the side of the head. Joel suplexes him then puts him in a crab. Ken pumping knees Joel and takes a superkick as he comes off the 2nd rope.

Joel top rope knee drops Ken for 2. Ken blocks a sunset flip and gets the surprise pin on Joel.

Thoughts: It was a decent wrestling match here with Joel being friendly early then being a little rougher as it went on. They matched up well together and it was interesting to see Ken be forced to work a different style than usual. I would have liked a better ending though as it got a lot of time and could have used some nearfalls.

Royal Road Tournament 2024 Second Round Match - Ryuki Honda vs. Dan Tamura

They trade some basic holds early. Dan trips him and Honda clean breaks him. Dan release germans Honda and Honda goes out. Honda is sent into the post and the seats. Honda is sent into the post again and Dan front facelocks him. Honda shoulders him over then throws him out. Honda sends him into the post outside.

They trade forearms on the floor and Dan is sent into the seats. Honda chokes Dan on the ropes and counts along with the ref on the break. They trade forearms then Honda chinlocks him. Honda hits forearms and Dan samoan drops him. Dan 2nd rope shoulderblocks him.

Honda spinebusters him then suplexes him for 2. Honda camel clutches him and Dan ropebreaks. Dan sits on top and is pushed off the top. Honda takes a death valley driver on the apron. They get back in and Dan top rope diving shoulders him.

Dan front facelocks him. They trade forearms. Honda lariats him in the back of the head and they german each other. They lariat each other at the same time then Dan spinning lariats him.

They trade forearms. Dan chest forearm flurries him then Honda spears him. Dan running powerbombs Honda and Dan hits forearms while Honda is on his knees. Honda forearm flurries him. Honda hits a corner lariat then overhead suplexes him. Honda hits a lariat for 2. Dan does la magistral for 2 then death valley drivers him for 2.

They lariat each other over and trade more lariats. Honda running lariats him for 2. Honda does his one arm running powerbomb and wins.

Thoughts: It was a good heavyweight match here. They stiffed each other and did a lot of lariats, forearms and suplexes. It was exactly as I expected and the match went really well. Honda naturally ended up winning. It was nice to see AJPW have the faith to make this the main and give it lots of time. This would have been better at Korauken though.

Honda talks to Dan on the mic after. Kento then comes out and talks to Honda on the mic. They butt heads then Rei Saito and Ren Ayabe come out. Rei and Ren argue. Honda gets in it and shakes hands with Ren. Honda then closes the show with another dance number.

Overall thoughts: I liked four of the six matches so it was a good show. Dan and Honda had a hard hitting battle and Kento and Joel had a more traditional match. Rei and Cyrus' match went about as well as it could and it was one of Cyrus' best matches so far in AJPW.