AJPW Unveils Genki Hanawa As Newest Rookie, Will Debut On 12/31

A new rookie will soon debut for AJPW.

All Japan Pro Wrestling announced that their newest rookie, Genki Hanawa, will make his pro wrestling debut during the promotion’s New Year’s Eve show from Tokyo’s Yoyogi Gymnasium #2 arena. The 25-year-old will take on Hideki Suzuki in a special singles debut match.

Genki Hanawa was originally introduced as a trainee for the promotion back in March. The son of a famous comedian in Japan named Naoki Hanawa, Genki arrived with much more fanfare than your normal trainee.

According to the promotion, Hanawa stands at 180 cm, or 5’10”, and weighs 110 kg, or 242 pounds. He comes to pro wrestling with a background in Judo, and had spent his last few years working as a teacher. He comes from the Saga Prefecture, which is on the Kyushu island in southern Japan. He was born on December 26, 2000, so he will be 26 when he officially debuts.

All Japan have had their fair share of blue chip recruits over the past few years including the Saito Brothers (2021), Ryo Inoue, and of course Yuma Anzai (2022). It remains to be seen how Hanawa will fare in AJPW, but history assures that he will have every opportunity to succeed.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Genki Hanawa as soon as we hear more.

Speaking of All Japan, the promotion recently revealed the field for the upcoming Real World Tag League. You can read more about that here.