By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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All Japan Pro Wrestling “AJPW MANIAx”
December 30, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan at Yoyogi National Stadium Gymnasium No. 2
Streamed on TrillerTV+
I admittedly barely know the All Japan roster, but I see Charlie Dempsey and the former Ikemen Jiro are on the show, along with Stronghearts T-Hawk and El Lindaman, who were on six early AEW shows in 2019 and 2020. Plus Davey Boy Smith and Minoru Suzuki, along with former WWE wrestler Yoshi Tatsu are also advertised.
This is a small arena and lighting is really good. Attendance is maybe 2,000. There is Japanese-only commentary, which is fine, but all the names written on the screen are in Japanese, so I’m not going to be able to say who is who.
1. Koji Iwamoto, Minoru Tanaka, and Naruki Doi defeated Fuminori Abe, Takuya Nomura, and Black Menso-re at 9:10. I know Doi because he appeared on some memorable ROH shows I attended in Chicago during Wrestlemania weekend in 2006. He tried to rip an El Desperado-style mask off one of his opponents. An older guy (clearly in his 40s or 50s) on Doi’s team got a rollup for the pin. Pretty standard stuff.
2. Ryo Inoue, Ryuki Honda, and Takao Omori defeated Koji Doi, Kuma Arashi, and Mitsuya Nagai at 8:37. I don’t know any of these six. An older babyface hit a clothesline for the pin. Decent action.
3. Yoshitatsu and Yuma Aoyagi defeated Ren Ayabe and Shuji Ishikawa at 7:30. Tatsu still has a streak of white-ish blond hair along his forehead while the rest of his hair is dark, and they attacked the bigger duo. The heels began working over Yuma. Yuma got an O’Connor Roll for the pin. Decent match.
4. Jun Saito defeated Rei Saito at 11:49. An online biography says these two are twins, but Rei hair down, is a bit heavy and wore a black T-shirt (looking like a Japanese version of Cactus Jack) while Jun is much thinner and has his hair in a tight bun. They were hesitant to tie up but quickly started trading slaps and shoulder tackles. They traded chops and the crowd was fully into this one. Jun hit a Mafia Kick and collapsed on his brother for the pin.
5. Kurushio and Seigo Tachibana defeated Shotaro Ashino and T-Hawk at 15:27. Kurushio is the former Ikemen Jiro and he is still wearing his stupid pink-purple jacket, and he shook hands with fans on his way to ringside and it’s a party atmosphere. A guardrail collapsed and he initially looked embarrassed but he kept going. (Luckily he wasn’t hurt.) Seigo has short black hair. T-Hawk has short black hair and still looks young but it feels like I’ve seen him wrestle for years. Ashino wore a black T-shirt that reads “master of suplex” and he’s more muscular. Ashino and Seigo opened. T-Hawk tagged in and hit some chops on Seigo.
Kurushio hit his punches while his hand was in his jacket pocket. T-Hawk nailed some LOUD chops on Seigo. Kurushio got a hot tag at 9:00 and hit his ‘jacket punches.’ Seigo hit a flip dive to the floor onto Ashino & T-Hawk. Ashino hit a German Suplex on Kurushio at 12:00. Ashino slammed Seigo onto Kurushio. Ashino switched to an anklelock on Kurushio. Kurushio and Seigo hit stereo Trash Compactor piledrivers along their back for nearfalls. Kurushio hit an enzuigiri on Ashino for the pin. Decent match. Kurushio has so much charisma yet I’m just not a fan of his in-ring work.
6. Charlie Dempsey and Yuma Anzai defeated Leona and Tatsumi Fujinami at 8:46. Anzai also appears equally as young as Dempsey. Leona is younger with blond streaks, while Tatsumi just turned 70. Dempsey and Fujinami opened with standing switches. For 70, Fujinami looks rather muscular and toned. Dempsey was selling great here as Fujinami worked the left arm and sent Dempsey to the mat several times. Anzai and Leona entered at 3:00, and Yuma applied a Full Nelson. Leona and Fujinami began working over Dempsey. Leona applied a Figure Four at 6:30, but Dempsey reached the ropes.
Dempsey applied a Cobra Clutch and followed with a gut-wrench suplex on Leona for a nearfall. He switched to cranking on Leona’s left arm. He switched to a half crab while cranking back on Leon’s head, and Leona tapped out! I didn’t expect the match to end so quickly. Fujinami was fine in his limited role. Dempsey sure looks good in this role here in Japan. The William Regal pedigree and Bryan Danielson influence is obvious.
7. Toy Kojima and Yuki Ueno defeated Atsuki Aoyagi and Rising Hayato at 13:27. This is billed as “AJPW vs. DDT.” Hayato hs blond hair and wears a lot of eye-liner; he looks ’emo.’ Aoyagi has light brown hair. All four of these guys are young. Aoyagi opened for his team. Ueno (in white trunks) hit a nice corkscrew plancha to the floor. Kojima (black trunks) has “Toy” written on his rear, and he traded chops with Aoyagi. Toy and Yuki kept Aoyagi in their corner. Hayato made the hot tag at 7:30 and hit a dropkick. Hayato hit a DDT onto the ring apron at 9:30, then a Crucifix Driver for a nearfall, then a Falcon Arrow for a nearfall, then a moonsault for a nearfall. Ueno hit a Shining Wizard, then an Air Raid Crash on Hayato for a believable nearfall. Ueno hit an impressive dropkick for a nearfall at 13:00, then a swinging neckbreaker for the pin. I liked this a lot.
8. Dan Tamura defeated El Lindaman to win the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight title at 16:59. Again, Lindaman not only was on a half-dozen AEW shows in its infancy, he has competed in both the NJPW “Best of Super Juniors” and “Super Jr. Tag League” when he teamed with Alex Zayne. Lindaman (short blond hair) hit a dropkick at the bell. Lindaman nailed a flip dive to the floor at 3:30, and they brawled at ringisde. Lindaman is listed online as 5’3″ and 154 pounds, and that seems accurate to me. In the ring, Lindaman kept kicking down Tamura, but Tamura kept firing up. Tamura hit a Samoan Drop at 7:30.
They traded stiff mid-ring forearm strikes. Lindaman hit a high back suplex, so Tamura hit one at 12:30 and they were both down. Lindaman switched to a crossarm breaker and he cranked on the limb. Lindaman hit a German Suplex with a bridge for a nearfall. Tamura hit a pair of standing powerbombs, got a jackknife cover, and scored the pin. New champion! That was really good. Unlike most junior matches, this was fairly mat-based and intense with few high-flying moves.
9. Davey Boy Smith Jr., Minoru Suzuki, and Hokuto Omori defeated Hideki Suzuki, Hikaru Sato, and Suwama at 15:43. Minoru Suzuki’s team came out together to Minoru’s musc. I don’t know Omori but he looks like Shota Umino but no color added to his hair. I don’t know the opponents at all. Suzuki started for his team and he traded quick mat reversals with Hideki. They got up and traded forearm strikes, which of course, Minoru got the better of the exchange. Davey Boy (wearing the British flag pants his dad would have worn!) entered at 2:00. The big Suwama, who has a streak of blond in his hair, got in and battled Davey Boy. Sato, wearing blue pants, entered and fought Omori.
Suwama hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Omori at 9:00 and Suwama’s team kept Omori in their corner. Suzuki made the hot tag and he brawled with Suwama, who is much bigger. Suzuki set up for a Gotch-style piledriver at 11:00 but Suwama fought out of it. Davey Boy tagged in and suplexed the smaller Sato. Suwama and Hideki began arguing over who would hit a move! Davey Boy clotheslined them both at 14:30. DB Smith hit a Bulldog Powerslam on Sato for a nearfall. Smith nailed a sit-out powerbomb on Sato for the pin. Good match, but not enough Minoru in it!
10. Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated Kento Miyahara to retain the Triple Crown Championship at 25:45. Nakajima has a buzz cut. I don’t recall if I have seen Kento before, but he is younger and has hair style similar to Tetsuya Naito. An intense feelng-out process to open. They brawled to the floor, where Kento dropped Nakajima throat-first on the guardrail at 5:00. They traded chops in the ring. Nakajima hit an enziguri at 8:30, and he applied an STF on the mat. He nailed a Helluva Kick in the corner and grounded Kento. Kento nailed a piledriver on the ring apron at 13:30, and Nakajima rolled to the floor in pain. In the ring, Kento hit a German Suplex and a brainbuster, and they were both down, and this crowd was HOT.
Nakajima applied a Fujiwara Armbar at 16:30. He hit some stiff kicks to both Kento’s chest and back. Nakajima nailed a brainbuster for anearfall at 21:30. I will reiterate that this crowd is HOT and fully into this match. Kento caught him with a hard kneestrike to the chin and he was fired up. He hit another running knee to the face for a nearfall. Kento nailed a fisherman’s brainbuster. Rather than go for the cover, he cranked back on the left arm as Kento was writhing on the mat in the center of the ring, and Kento eventually tapped out. That was really good, and a hot crowd really helped.
Final Thoughts: Again, I don’t know this roster (other than the seven or so I mentioned on top) and I don’t know the storylines. The first three matches were frustrating to me, largely because I didn’t know anyone. If you watch this show, I think it’s more than acceptable to skip the first four matches. The main event earns best match, with Lindaman’s match second and the Rising Hayato tag match third. Again, I don’t know those four in Hayato’s match, but they are all clearly young with great energy. Throw in a really good showing by Charlie Dempsey and getting to see Minoru Suzuki and Davey Boy Smith Jr. teaming again, and I’m satisfied with what I saw. This show is available on Triller+, and if you don’t mind watching a show without English commentary, this is worth checking out.
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