All Japan Pro Wrestling 1/2/2025 New Years Wars 2025 Day 1
The wrestlers do a speech before the show and pose together.
Suwama vs. Taishin Nagao
Suwama blocks Nagao's takedown. Suwama gets on top of him for a hammerlock. Nagao hits chest forearms and is knocked over. Nagao hits dropkicks then is chopped over. Suwama belly to belly suplexes him for 2. Suwama hits kicks. Nagao dropkicks him off the buckles for 2. Suwama blocks his slam and hit knees to the body. Nagao cradles him off the suplex for 2.
Suwama running shoulders him over. Suwama then backdrops him for 2. Suwama hits a big lariat and wins.
Thoughts: It was what you'd expect with Nagao going for the upset and failing, miserably.
MUSASHI, Seigo Tachibana & Seiki Yoshioka vs. Atsuki Aoyagi, Ryo Inoue & Shotaro Ashino
AA = Atsuki Aoyagi, SY = Seiki Yoshioka
AA shoulders over Seigo. Seigo gets up and makes faces at him. Seigo shoulders him over. AA does Seigo's pose at him and dropkicks him. AA goes for a dive and Seigo moves. AA does Seigo's pose/taunt at him again.
Sho and Musashi go at it. Musashi hits kicks on him. Sho back elbows him. Ryo and SY allow each other to kick each other in the back. They trade chest kicks They facekick each other at the same time. SY scissors kicks him. Ryo step up enzugiri's Seigo.
Sho comes in and karelin's lifts Seigo for 2. Seigo hits forearms on Sho and takes a huge overhead belly to belly. Seigo takes a euro and a corkscrew kick for 2. Seigo forearms AA in the corner. AA and Seigo trade forearms. AA step up enzugiri's him. Seigo hits an STO.
Ryo spin kicks Musashi in the gut when they get in. Musashi dropkicks him in the knee and double stomps his back. Musashi basement dropkicks him. Ryo pulls him over the top and PK's him from the apron. Seigo tope con hilos out ontyo Ryo and Musashi. AA then asai moonsaults out. SY then does the same. Sho then plancha's out.
Musashi exploders Ryo twice. Musashi german's him for 2. Musashi slams him then hits a top rope splash on him for the win.
Thoughts: It was okay. We got a couple of dives. It had a little comedy in it and it did what it was supposed to as an undercard juniors match.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Kento Miyahara vs. Hokuto-gun (Hartley Jackson & Jack Kennedy)
Hart and Ken go at it. Hart backs him up on the ropes and slaps his chest some on the break. They shoulder battle. Ken facekicks him then is shouldered over. Davey and Jack go at it. Davey side headlocks him and shoulders him over. Davey suplexes him and poses.
Davey hits forearms to the back then slams him. Davey stomps his back then legdrops him for 2. Davey chinlocks him. Everyone goes outside to fight. Jack is sent into the rails and slammed on the floor. Hart and Ken go into the stands to fight. Jack's head is banged off the apron and Davey double chops him.
Davey hits forearms on Jack outside. Davey misses a legdrop on Jack then back body drops him. Ken dropkicks Hart in the knee and the side of the head when they get in. Hart lariats him over and sentons him for 2. Ken pump kicks him. Davey corner forearms Hart and takes corner splashes. Jack splashes Davey then Hart elbow drops Davey for 2.
Davey backdrops Hart for 2. Davey then sitout powerbombs Hart and wins.
Thoughts: It wasn't much of note. The outside brawling wasn't needed and didn't add much and this ended up being a short one with little of substance happening.
AJPW TV Six Man Tag Team Title Match - Hokuto-gun (Cyrus, Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi) (c) vs. Baka No Jidai (Fuminori Abe, Hikaru Sato & Yuma Aoyagi)
Yuma's team attacks the heels before the bell. Everyone goes out to fight. Cy chokes Yuma with a shirt then headbutts abe in the crowd. Sato is choked with a belt. Cy walks on Yuma's gut. Yuma double boots Cy out of the corner. Cy catches him off the buckles and does a swinging side slam.
Yuma is put on the buckles. Omori's partners try to do a tower of doom spot with him suplexing Yuma but end up just powerbombing him. Yuma hits a top rope double dropkick. Yuma stomps Omori in the crotch.
Omori is tripped into an elbow drop on the back. Sato stomps on Omori. Omori forearms him back. Sato kicks him in the back then Omori neckbreakers him. Cy and Sato go at it. Cy spinning heel kicks him then butt drops him off the bottom rope.
Cy claws Sato. Kuma corner lariats Sato then misses a 2nd rope senton. Abe dropkicks Kuma in the knee and takes shots at Cy. Abe spin kicks Kuma in the gut then Kuma corner lariats him. Kuma 2nd rope sentons him for 2.
Abe baseball slides Kuma. Kuma hits a double lariat. Yuma's team is stacked up in the corner and their opponents do corner attacks on them. Cy goes for a triple vader bomb but Sato gets his feet up. Sato enzugiri's Kuma then Sato does the same to Cy. Cy takes a double backdrop. Kuma crossbodies Abe. Yuma takes a shot from behind into a flatliner. Kuma slams Yuma. Omori tries to rope splash Yuma but Yuma gets his knees up. Yuma then backrolls him for 2.
Omori puts the ref in Yuma's way, low blows him and headscissors him down for 2. Yuma then low blows Omori and fisherman suplexes him for 2. Yuma fisherman suplexes him and wins.
Thoughts: It went a little longer than it needed to. It wasn't super serious and had weak brawling in it.
GAORA TV Title Match - Yuko Miyamoto (c) vs. Dan Tamura
Dan takes down Yuko. Yuko gets on top of him on the mat and they get up. Dan shoulders him over and side headlocks him. Yuko dropkicks him in the knee then drops down on his knee. Yuko yanks on Dan's arm then figure fours him. Yuko hits leg kicks on Dan then Dan backrolls him into a flying shoulder.
Dan running shoulders Yuko then samoan drops him for 2. Yuko rolls him up for 2. Yuko hits a dropkick then overhead belly to belly suplexes him. Yuko running lariats him. Yuko abdominal stretches him and Dan ropebreaks.
Dan blocks a handspring with a back drop and hits a death valley driver for 2. Yuko rolls him up for 2 and standing moonsault double knees him. Dan la magistral's him for 2. They trade forearms and chops for clubs. Dan flurries on him and hits a corner lariat flurry. Yuko powerbombs Dan for 2.
Dan boots Yuko then powerbombs him for 2. Dan running lariats him. Yuko hurricanrana's him out of a powerbomb. Yuko hits a strike combo on Dan then is lariated over. Yuko fire thunder drivers him for 2. Yuko top rope moonsaults Dan and wins.
Thoughts: It was pretty average for the most part. They didn't get enough time and didn't really get any nearfalls or anything like that. there was nothing wrong with it though.
Saito Brothers (Jun Saito, Naruki Doi, Rei Saito & Senor Saito) vs. ELPIDA (Ren Ayabe, Rising HAYATO, Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai)
Jun backs up Yuma on the ropes. Yuma side headlocks him. They shoulder battle and Yuma dropkicks him. Jun then shoulders him over. Rei and Ren go at it. Doi and Rising then fight. Doi eye rakes him. Doi wristlocks him. Rising headflips out and chops him.
Doi goes up and over. Rising flying headscissors him. Senor then comes in and eye pokes Rising. Rising double dropkicks both out then teases a dive. ELPIDA attacks their opponents then poses. Rising slingshot plancha's out but gets caught by The Saito's and gorilla pressed onto the floor.
Ren is sent into the post by Jun then Honda gets double chopped by Rei. Rising is tripped into a legdrop and a baseball slide when they get back in the ring. Rising and Rei trade chops and Rising goes down.
Senor bites Rising's arm. Jun suplexes Rising for 2. Jun misses a running facekick in the corner on Rising. Rising runs the ropes and dropkicks him in the knee. Honda gets in He corner lariats Jun then hits a big suplex for 2. Jun facekicks Honda.
Rei slams Honda then splashes him for 2. Rei chops Honda up. Rein corner lariats him for 2. Honda back body drops Rei. Honda spears Rei. Ren comes in and flying lariats Rei. He hits a corner facekick on him for 2.
Rei and Ren trade forearms for chops. Rei shoulders him on the ropes and Ren dropkicks him. Yuma comes in and trades with Rei. Yuma belly to belly suplexes him for 2. Jun breaks it up then trades forearms with Yuma. Jun slams him.
Yuma takes corner attacks from his opponents. Rei slams Yuma. Yuma takes an elbow drop and a leg drop then Rising breaks it up with a springboard dropkick on Senor. Doi throws Rising out then Ren shoulders Doi over.
Jun takes a double back elbow from Honda and Ren. Honda running lariats Rei. Rising springboard planch's out onto multiple opponents. Yuma germans Senor then Senor takes a lariat + facekick combo. Yuma flying knees Senor and pins him with the gimlet.
Thoughts: It got a decent amount of time though with so many people involved, you need about 20 just to get through the basics. It was acceptable but not great. They weren't going for a classic here and we did not get one out of this.
30 Man Battle Royale
Note - I don't know if the ref in this counts as a wrestler or not as he was eliminated and the bell rung.
A bunch of wrestlers go out to brawl to start because there's way too many people in this small ring. Suwama and Hideki Suzuki try to powerbomb The Saito's together and both get sent to the apron. Hideki and Suwama fight on the apron. They grab at each other. Nagao dropkicks Suwama off the apron to eliminate him. Yuma and Hideki raise Nagao's arms then throw him out. Davey facekicks Cyrus off the apron and eliminates him. Jack Kennedy and Hartley Jackson are eliminated quick.
Omori tries a tower of doom superplex but is pushed over the top and out. Honda knee chokes Kento on the ropes. Yuma and Rising then join in on the choke. Honda dumps his partners over the top rope for eliminations. Ren and Ryo fight. Ren half-nelson bombs him and group pins him for the elimination.
Ren tries a running facekick but goes over the top rope. Seigo back body drops Doi over the top for the elimination. Rei runs into Senor on the apron and eliminates him. Kuma and Shotaro Ashino trade. Yuma Aoyagi takes a double back elbow. Kuma lariats Ashino over. Kuma goes up top and gets pushed out for the elimination along with Ashino.
We get a triple backdrop spot. Sato, Miyamoto and Yuma Aoyagi get triple pinned and eliminated. Dan top rope diving shoulders Davey Boy. Dan takes a double chokeslam from The Saito's then is pinned and eliminated. Jun facekicks Rei on accident. Davey throws Jun over the top for the elimination then Rei throws Davey over the top for the limination. Rei slaps Musashi. Rei gets hurricanrana'd by Seiki over the top and Seiki gets pushed over the top with him for the double elimination.
Seigo and Musashi fight on the apron. Both get pushed out by Honda for the double elimination. Atsuki Aoyagi takes a double boot then corner attacks from Kento and Abe. Abe backrolls Kento and group pins him for the elimination. Abe then gets pinned by 2 people and is eliminated.
We are down to Atsuki Aoyagi, Ryuki Honda and Hideki Suzuki. Atsuki dropkicks Hideki in the back. Honda knee chokes Hideki on the ropes. Honda tries to throw the ref out for some reason. He fails then Hideki throws the ref out.
Hideki hanging reverse triangles Atsuki over the top rope. Atsuki and Hideki end up on the apron. Atsuki double foot chokes him. Honda knocks Hideki off the apron for the elimination. Atsuki is armdragged by Honda then he armdrags him back.
Honda dropkicks Atsuki over. Honda dropkicks Atsuki. Honda goes up top and ends up on the apron. They fight there. Atsuki superkicks him then just boots him in the butt to eliminate him.
Thoughts: It was nice of them to give Atsuki a win. Hopefully it means he will be getting pushed this year. There's just no reason not to with him being the brother of Yuma and AJPW only having so many options anyway. It was the usual not so serious New Year's Battle Royal. There were so many people in this one that most of them had to stay on the outside early on just so people could move. If you've seen one of these, you've seen them all.
Atsuki then does a speech after.
Overall thoughts: It was an average show. The semi-main was the best thing on here and was basically just a house show style main event. The battle royale wasn't anything special as usual. I'd give this a 5 out of 10 and wouldn't recommend it.
