All Japan’s Atsuki Aoyagi Out With ACL Tear, Relinquishes All Asia Tag Belts with Rising HAYAYO

On Wednesday, All Japan Pro Wrestling announced via social media that they will have to begin the Zennichi Junior Festival tournament without one of their top junior stars after Atsuki Aoyagi tore his ACL in his left knee. The 26-year-old will be also be forced to drop his All Asia Tag Team championship after his tag partner Rising HAYATO announced that there is currently no timetable for his return.

Aoyagi defeated Rising HAYATO in the finals of the Zennichi last year, and then he and HAYATO won the Zennichi Tag tournament earlier this year. Replacing Aoyagi in the tournament will be Dragon Gate legend Masaaki Mochizuki, who, at 56, will be the oldest competitor in the field.

The Zennichi will begin on August 9th from Korakuen Hall and feature some of the top junior heavyweights in Japan including the aforementioned Rising HAYATO, Seiki Yoshioka, MUSASHI, Seigo Tachibana, Naruki Doi, and current AJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion Dan Tamura.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on both Atsuki Aoyagi’s injury status and the Zennichi Junior Festival tournament as soon as we hear more.