All Japan Pro Wrestling 11/4/2024 Giant Series 2024 Day 8

All Japan Pro Wrestling 11/4/2024 Giant Series 2024 Day 8

Kyohei Wada is given some gifts before the show starts.

MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka vs. Baka No Jidai (Hikaru Sato & Suwama)

Mu = Musashi, SY = Seiki Yoshioka

Mu ducks Sato's lock ups. Sato pounds on him. Mu upkicks him out of a wristlock and celebrates. Suwama and SY get in. They lock up, SY is pushed on the ropes but he escapes a shot. SY tries to shoulder him over but can't. suwama then shoulders him over. SY dropkicks him in the knee then basement dropkicks him. Suwama chops him down. Suwama backdrops him for 2.

SY takes a double shoulderblock from his opponents. Sato kicks him in the back then SY axe kicks him. Mu and Sato trade forearms. Mu dropkicks in the knee and double stomps him in the back. Mu basement dropkicks him.

Suwama gets in and knocks over both opponents, saving Sato. Mu takes corner attacks then a belly to belly suplexes from Suwama. Sato PK's Mu for 2. SY codebreakers Suwama then Suwama takes a double superkick. Mu exploders Sato then superkicks him. Mu falcon arrows Sato for 2.

Mu hits a top rope splash on Sato and wins.

Thoughts: It was a short opener that wasn't super serious. It wasn't that good and it was surprising to see Suwama lose in the opening match. 

Kento Miyahara & Ryo Inoue vs. Dan Tamura & Shotaro Ashino

Dan and Ken start us off. They lock up and Dan wristlocks him. Ken reverses it then side headlock takeovers him. Dan headscissors him. They stand off and break. Sho and Ryo get in. Sho side headlocks him.

Ryo hits a face kick and chest kicks. Ryo flying kicks him and Sho dragon screws him. Sho doe a karelin's lift on him then Dan does one as well. Dan hits forearms on Ryo in the corner then Sho footchokes Ryo. Sho hits 2 more karelin's lifts on Ryo for 2.

Ryo 2nd rope dropkicks Sho and tags in Ken. Ken running facekicks Sho then dropkicks him in the knee. Ken dropkicks Sho in the side of the head. Sho hits running euros on Ken. Dan flying shoulders Ken.

Ken pump kicks Dan down and Ryo begs to be tagged in. Ryo hits chest kicks on Dan and front kicks him. Ryo corner dropkicks Dan for 2. Dan block's Ryo's PK then samoan drops him. Ryo takes shots from both opponents then a forearm + elbow combo. Dan lariats Ryo over for 2.

Ken stops a facekick then flying pumping knees Sho. Ryo high kicks Dan down for 2. Dan lariats Ryo then running lariats him for 2. Dan powerbombs Ryo and wins.

Thoughts: It was good midcard match. We got some really stiff shots and they put out a good effort despite this being lower on the card. I'd really like to see this one again in a main event sometime as I think they would kill it.

Battle Royal - Kumagoro Hokkai vs. Tomoya vs. Hideki Suzuki vs. Kuma Arashi vs. Cyrus vs. Hokuto Omori vs. Noriyuki Yoshida vs. Taishin Nagao

Hokkai brings a fish toy in with him. Omori talks on the mic beforehand and brings out Kuma and Cy. Everyone fights to start. Cy corner splashes Hokkai. Yoshida finlay rolls Nagao then Cy splashes Yoshida. Cy pins Yoshida.

Tomoya walks up the buckles with Suzuki's hand. He then asks Kuma to help keep him up. Tomoya walks the ropes and Hokkai hits him with the fish toy to eliminate him. Hokkai spins and hits everyone with the fish toy. He then gets dizzy I guess and falls over. Hokkai is pinned by Kuma and Suzuki.

Suzuki takes a double shoulderblock. Cy and Kuma nail each other when Nagao ducks. Omori back body drops Suzuki. Omori starts reading to Suzuki from a newspaper and Suzuki hanging headscissors him over the top rope. Nagao then hits dropkicks on Omori while he's in the hold. Suzuki lets go of the hold, falls out and is eliminated.

Nagao takes corner attacks from Cy, Omori and Kuma. Cy gorilla presses Nagao out but Nagao is caught by other wrestlers and doesn't land on the floor. Cy's buddies pose with him and Nagao rolls up Kuma to pin him.

Nagao dropkicks Omori. Cy charges at Nagao and Nagao dropkicks him while he's on the apron. Omori runs at Nagao and hits Cy on accident. Hokkai hits Cy with his toy and eliminates him. Nagao top rope dropkicks Omori. Omori hits a bolo punch then Nagao dropkicks him. Omori forearms him over for 2.

Omori crabs Nagao and Nagao taps out. Omori wins the battle royale.

Thoughts: It wasn't the most serious but it was fun. I liked them teasing that Nagao was going to get the upset here and they explained the other guys helping him out well enough with the heels forming a group together. I didn't expect anything out of it but they did entertain me here.

Omori shows respect to Nagao after and then turns on him, throwing him out.

Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana vs. ELPIDA (Rising HAYATO & Yuma Anzai)

ST= Seigo Tachibana

Jiro and Rising goof around. Rising side headlocks him and shoulders him over twice. Jiro blocks a hiptoss and Rising flying headscissors him. Jiro screws around more and ST gets in. Yuna shoulders ST over. ST atomic drops him then Yuma dropkicks him. Yuma slams Jiro onto ST.

ST takes a double back elbow. Yuma stomps on ST in the corner. Yuma corner forearms ST and double underhook suplexes him. Yuma sleepers ST. They trade shots and ST goes down.

ST hits an STO and tags in Jiro. Jiro hits jacket punches on Yuma. Jiro hits a slingshot seated springboard moonsault on Yuma. Jiro mocks him then Yuma hits a belly to belly suplex. Rising gets in and dropkicks ST off the apron. Rising then asai moonsaults Jiro.

Rising is pulled down face first onto the apron. Yuma hits a double dropkick then is pulled over the top. Jiro and ST fight then dance like usual and ST tope con hilos outside. ST and Jiro go on the top rope together. ST crossbodies Rising then hits a beachbreak on him for 2.

Rising gets some offense in on ST then Yuma germans ST. Rising springboard legdrops ST for 2. Yuma flying knees Jiro. ST cradles Rising then takes a superkick. ST forearms him then Rising hits a falcon arrow for 2. Rising asai moonsaults ST for the win.

Thoughts: It wasn't a real serious match here for the most part with ST and Jiro goofing around. It was a waste of Yuma as well. It's a shame because it could have been good if they were serious.

Saito Brothers (Jun Saito & Rei Saito) vs. ELPIDA (Ren Ayabe & Ryuki Honda)

Ren and Rei go at it. Ren backs him up on the ropes and side headlocks him. Ren hits a big forearm then Rei shoulders him over. Jun and Honda get in and trade forearms. Jun takes a double shoulderblock. Honda chokes Jun on the ropes. Honda wants to count along with the ref on the break but the ref stops the count to mess it up. Honda then chokes both Saito's with his knee on the ropes.

Jun shoulders Honda over and throws him out. Rei clubs on Honda outside then chops him. Rei chokes him and shoulderblocks him against the post. They get back in the ring. Honda blocks a shotei and Jun hits him from behind.  Honda back body drops Rei.

Ren hits forearms on Rei then flying neckbreakers him. Rei shoulders Ren against the ropes. Jun running back elbows Ren then shoulders him over. Jun elbow drops him.

Ren and Jun trade forearms. Ren dropkicks him then Jun spears him. Ren suplexes him. Rei and Honda go at it. They trade forearms and Honda is chopped down. Honda takes corner attacks and a double hiptoss for 2. Rei boots him.

Honda armbars Rei and it gets broken up. Rei takes a corner lariat then Ren knees Rei in the gut. Honda spears Rei for 2. Honda germans Jun then Ren dropkicks Rei. Honda lariats Rei over for 2.

Rei crossbodies Honda for 2. Honda armbars Rei. Honda hits a big lariat on Rei then Rei slaps Honda around. Rei headbutts Honda then chokeslams him for 2. Rei crabs Honda and taps him out.

Thoughts: It was a decent tag match but wasn't as good as it could have been. We didn't get the double teams, the big false finishes and so forth. They also wasted a bunch of time in this one.

Triple Crown Title Match - Yuma Aoyagi (c) vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.

They shake hands. Davey waistlocks and wristlocks him. Davey throws him over and goes for the kimura. Yuma headscissors him and they stand off. Yuma side headlocks him. Davey grabs a leg, is shoved off and cartwheels off of it.

Yuma side headlocks Davey. Yuma side headlock takeovers him. Davey backdrops Yuma and Yuma rolls out. Davey bangs Yuma's head off the apron. Davey kicks Yuma in the chest and chinlocks him. Davey headscissors him then kimura's him.

They trade forearms. Yuma hits euros then Davey headbutts him down. Davey chinlocks him. Yuma misses a dropkick then hits one on the 2nd attempt. Yuma flying forearms him in the corner and 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. Yuma guillotine chokes him. 

Yuma is on the apron only and trades forearms with Davey. Davey is pulled over onto the apron too. Yuma neckbreakers Davey on the apron. Yuma suplexes Davey on the floor. Yuna corner forearms Davey then germans him. Davey germans him back then Yuma rock bottoms him. Davey hits a flying knee. They trade forearms and euros. Yuma neckbreakers him then top rope elbow drops him.

Yuma does a guillotine choke + kimura and breaks it for a pin attempt. They fight on the 2nd buckle. Davey top rope superplexes him for 2. Davey hits a top rope legdrop for 2. Yuma reverses a backdrop for 2. Yuma crucifixes him for 2. Davey hits a powerslam for 2. Davey hits a tiger suplex for 2.

Yuma sunset flips him for then backrolls him with a bridge for 2. Yuma running lariats Davey then fisherman busters him for 2. Davey backdrops him for 1 then backdrops him for 2. Davey sitout powerbombs him and wins.

Thoughts: This was a surprise. There was little to suggest Davey would be made champ and it's pretty weird that Aoyagi beat Anzai only to lose here. I'm not sure what the reasoning for it is. The match was average for the most part. Davey's just not the most exciting or fastest paced wrestler and despite being a technical guy, his matches don't have a lot of story to them. They didn't do anything too crazy here either.

Davey gets on the mic after. He thanks everyone and the Japanese fans. He says he feels at home in Japan. He thanks Billy Robinson, Minoru Suzuki and Josh Barnett. He says he always dreamt to become triple crown champ. He also thanks Johnny Ace for helping him come back to AJPW and says this wouldn't be possible without the fans.

Overall thoughts: We had 3 half-comedy matches here with the battle royale being okay, an okay semi-main and an acceptable main. I liked the Kento match or the battle royale best though. I would maybe rate this a little better than average overall, but I'm not loving all of the comedy on these shows and the matches are not quite delivering like they used to. I'll give this one a 6 out of 10.