All Japan Pro Wrestling 9/22/2024 Royal Road Tournament 2024 Day 5

All Japan Pro Wrestling 9/22/2024 Royal Road Tournament 2024 Day 5

ActWresGirl'Z dance to start the show.

Pre-Show - Ayano Irie & Nene Arahata vs. Natsuki & Sakura Mizushima

Nat and AI start us off. AI backs her up on the ropes and pulls her hair. They trade armdrags. Nat springboard  armdrags her and they stand off. SM and Nene go at it. Nene bangs SM's head off the mat and they trade chest forearms. Nene forearms her over for 2. Nene cobra twists her.

SM is thrown into AI's boot in the corner. AI facekicks her then does a very high crab on her. AI facekicks her and chokes her in the corner. SM 2nd rope twisting crossbodies her. Nat trips AI and SM basement dropkicks her. AI then takes double stomps from both opponents. SM indian deathlocks AI and Nene breaks it up.

SM tries pins on AI then sunset flips her. AI russian legsweeps SM then dropkicks her in the side of the head. Nene sentons SM then suplexes him. Nene hits another senton and SM bridges out of a pin. SM dropkicks her. Nene hits AI on accident then SM crossbodies Nene against the bottom rope. SM northern lights suplexes Nene for 2.

Nat flying knees Nene and texas cloverleafs her. Nat hits kicks on her back. Nene racks Nat then double arm chokeslams her for 2. Nat flying knees Nene. SM botches a 619 on Nene. AI lariats SM. Nat and SM hit stereo dropkicks on their opponents. SM hits a flying crossbody while Nat does a fling knee off the top. Nene boots Nat then samoan drops her. Nene suplexes Nat for 2.

Nat high kicks Nene then cuty specials her for the win.

Thoughts: It wasn't bad for AWG wrestlers. They only had like one botch here. The heels were effective and the faces were likeable. I had no issues with this.

Royal Road Tournament 2024 Semi Final Match - Kento Miyahara vs. Ryuki Honda

This is technically the opening match and that's unusual. Ken clean breaks Honda then wristlocks him. Honda reverses it then Ken side headlock takeovers him. Honda headscissors him and they stand off. Ken side headlocks him and Honda shoulders him over. Honda is sent into the rails and he shoulders Ken over.

Honda abuses Ken on the rails and counts along with Wada. Ken is sent into the rails then drops Honda throat first on the rails. Ken hits headbutts. Ken facekicks him. Honda spinebusters Ken then corner lariats him.

They fight on the apron and Ken piledrivers him there. Ken pumping knees him then Honda spears him. Ken backrolls him into a bridge for 2. Ken flying knees him for 1. Ken hits another pumping knee for 2. Honda hits forearms and Ken flying pumping knees him. Honda hits a big lariat. Honda hits a nice running lariat then running one arm powerbombs him for the win.

Thoughts: It was a shorter match here as the winner was going to wrestle later so they weren't going to go too crazy with it. They had a good match here and Honda turned it into a sprint near the end which he is best at. The crowd was good for this which really helped it out. I enjoyed this one. I was a little surprised to see Ken lose but Honda's going to be the better match for Ren so I think that's why he won here.

Royal Road Tournament 2024 Semi Final Match - Ren Ayabe vs. Rei Saito

They lock up. Ren mostly clean breaks him, just messing up his hair. They trade forearms for chops. Rei side headlocks him. They shoulderblock battle. Ren facekicks him out then bangs Rei's head off the post. Rei is thrown into the rails and shoulders Ren over. Ren is then sent into the rails. Rei shoulderblocks him against the post. Rei chokes him then stomps on him.

Rei shoves him into the corner and does a chop flurry. Ren backbody drops Rei. Ren hits forearms on the ropes then flying neckbreakers Rei. Ren facekicks Rei for 2. Rei crossbodies him.  They trade forearms for chops. Ren boots him out of the corner then shotgun dropkicks him. Rei slaps him then hits a big lariat. Rei suplexes him for 2. Ren hits a dropkick then a suplex. Ren dragon sleepers him with an armlock and taps him out.

Thoughts: Ren won with a new submission here. It wasn't bad at all mostly due to Rei carrying it. Ren's lack of charisma made sure this didn't really get to the next level. I thought they did what they were supposed to do logic wise and it was a bit better than it should have been. The crowd helped this one out.

Fuminori Abe, Hikaru Sato, Joel Redman, MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka vs. Dan Tamura, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Ryo Inoue, Seigo Tachibana & Shotaro Ashino

Jiro does his usual entrance in the crowd. Joel and Ashino go at it. Ashino clean breaks him and they shove each other. Ashino front facelocks him then Joel front facelocks him. Joel bridges out of a wristlock then headstands him. Joel dropkicks Ashino then Ashino rolls him over. Ashino then back elbows him down.

Ryo and Musashi go at it. Musashi ducks a lock up and is hit from behind. Ryo running facekicks him then struts. Musashi step up enzugiri's him. Ryo takes a double team basement dropkick then Seiki and Musashi pose. Most of the wrestlers start fighting outside except for Musashi and Ryo.

Dan chinlocks Ryo. Ryo and Sato trade forearms. Sato spinning enzugiri's him. Dan gets in and running shoulders then suplexes Sato for 2. Sato and Dan trade chops for forearms and Sato enzugiri's him. Dan karelin's lifts him.

Seigo and Abe go at it. Seigo atomic drops him and facekicks him. Abe spin kicks him then kicks him in the back. Jiro tries to save Seigo but fails and gets thrown out. Abe PK's Seigo for 2. Everyone gets a move in. Ashino takes a double superkick. Seiki then does an asai moonsault ouside. Abe backdrops Seigo in the ring.

Seigo hits forearms on Abe then Abe punches him. Abe goes for a submission, Jiro kicks Abe over and Seigo picks up the surprise win.

Thoughts: It was a short tag with more people in it than time. They kept it moving and entertaining though and we got a feel good moment with Seigo getting a surprise pin on Abe.

Seigo motions to Abe that he wants a title shot after.

Saito Brothers (Jun Saito, Naruki Doi & Senor Saito) vs. Hokuto-gun (Cyrus, Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi)

Kuma's team attacks before it starts and sends their opponents out. Doi runs away from Cy up into the stands. Omori gets his head banged off the sign by Jun. Jun sends Kuma into the rails and post. Doi gets some boots in on Cy in the ring and Cy no sells them. Doi goes for chops and Cy just fires up.

Cy slams Doi. Senor tries to slam Cy but gets slammed. Jun facekicks then slams Cy. Cy hits a double shoulder on Doi and Senor. Kuma then comes in and stands on Doi's gut. Kuma sentons Doi for 2 then slams and sentons Senor for being the last pin up. Kuma racks Doi. Doi goes under his legs and tags in Jun.

Jun corner fqacekicks Kuma and shoulders him over. Jun elbow drops Kuma for 2. Kuma dropkicks Jun and Omori top rope dropkicks Jun. Jun shoulders Omori over. Omori takes corner attacks and elbow drops. Cy lariats Senor and Doi over. Jun facekicks Kuma then suplexes Omori.

Kuma crossbodies Jun then Jun tkaes a double team STO. Kuma dominators Jun and Omori hits a top rope splash on Jun to win.

Thoughts: It was another shorter tag match here. I liked it though. IT made sense with Doi running from Cyrus and Jun having to be the heavy for his team against the heavies on the other team.

Omori has words for Jun after. 

They introduce two new trainees - Sakurto Terada and Taishin Nagao. They will debut on the 10/22 show against Dan Tamura and Ryo Inoue.

They also talk about the upcoming World's Strongest Tag League. We have in Block A - The Saito's, Musashi/Seiki, Rising/Anzai, Ashino/Dan Tamura, Hokuto Omori/Kuma, Daisuke Sekimoto and Kengo Mashimo along with a mystery team. The B Block has Kento Miyahara and Davey Boy Smith, Honda/Ren, Jiro/Seigo, Hartley Jackson and Cyrus, Suwama and Hideki Suzuki, Yuma Aoyagi and Fuminori Abe, Hikaru Sato and Yuko Miyamoto.

Thoughts: It's not exactly the line-ups we had in the 80's nor does it really look as good as last years did. I'm sure it'll be fine overall though. I was surprised Odinson and Parrow weren't in it and I'm surprised Jack Kennedy didn't make the cut. 

Davey Boy Smith Jr., Hideki Suzuki & Suwama vs. Masakatsu Funaki, Yuma Anzai & Yuma Aoyagi

Funaki and Suwama go at it. They grapple. Suwama side headlocks him. Suwama shoulders him over then takes a hiptoss. Aoyagi and Suzuki go at it. Aoyagi chops him on the ropes and Suzuki avoids a dropkick. Aoyagi avoids a dropkick then takes a back body drop. Suzuki and Suwama both try to powerbomb Aoyagi but fail.

Suwama boots Aoyagi over as Aoyagi mocks him. Suwama belly to belly suplexes him for 2. Suwama lariats Suzuki over on accident. Anzai dropkicks and flying knees Suwama and Suzuki. He then belly to belly suplexes Suwama. Suwama and Anzai trade forearms then Anzai dropkicks him. Suwama lariats Anzai over then Davey dropkicks and suplexes Anzai for 2.

Davey neckbreakers Anzai then Anzai flying knees Davey. Funaki comes in and PK's Davey for 2. Funaki and Davey trade then Davey backdrops him. Davey sharpshooters him.  Funaki PK's Davey then goes for an armbar but it is broken up.

Funaki hits leg kicks on Davey then Davey sitout powerbombs him for the quick win.

Thoughts: It was a waste of time that ended before it really got started. Everyone got a quick segment in and that was it.

Yuma mocks Suwama after. Suzuki tries to fight with Suwama and misses a dropkick on him. Suzuki then runs off.

Royal Road Tournament 2024 Final Match - Ryuki Honda vs. Ren Ayabe

Ren wristlocks him. Honda turns it into a hammerlock. Ren headlock takeovers him and Honda headscissors him. Honda and Ren trade forearms. Honda shoulders him over then jumps off the apron to forearm him outside.

Honda leans on Ren on the rails and counts along with the ref. Honda is sent into the rails and Ren running facekicks him. Ren sends Honda into the rails outside. They fight inside. Honda hits chest forearms and is forearmed down. Ren slams Honda then Honda suplexes him.

Honda corner lariats Ren then spears him. Honda does like a camel clutch and Ren ropebreaks. Ren facekicks Honda over. Ren hits forearms then flying neckbreakers Honda. Ren corner facekicks Honda. Thy trade forearms. Honda goes up top and Ren dropkicks him down.

They trade forearms on the apron and Honda germans him on the apron. They get back in and trade corner attacks. Ren corner facekicks him and they trade forearms. Honda lariats him from behind and they trade germans. Ren facekicks him then Honda hits a lariat.

They trade forearms on their knees then get up and trade. Ren goes for his dragon sleeper + armlock submission and eventually ends up putting him in something like a stretch plum. Honda is out for a while.

Ren facekicks him then Honda running one arm powerbombs him. Honda hits a big lariat then another for 2. Ren dropkicks him then Honda lariats him for 2. Ren dropkicks him then half-nelson bombs him for 2. Ren dragon suplexes him for 2.

Honda germans Ren. Ren no sells it then dragon suplexes him. Ren hits a spinning falcon arrow and wins.

Thoughts: They tried. It was okay but not great mostly due to Ren not really having the skills to get a match to the next level. They got a bunch of time for this and it did have some slow points to it. You gotta feel bad for Honda as he's better than Ren in every way except look and height but he still had to put him over here just because Ren's taller.

They hug after. Ren is given the trophy and does a speech. Ren calls Yuma Aoyagi in and they seem to set up a match.

Overall thoughts: The two semi-final matches were the best things on here. They tried in the main and while it was okay, it wasn't great. The semi-main was a short waste of time. The ActWresGirl'Z crew had a better showing than usual. It was an okay show overall but not must see.