New Japan Pro Wrestling
Not even two weeks after winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, Jon Moxley will put the title on the line in the main event of the next episode of AEW Dynamite against Powerhouse Hobbs. This was decided after a promo on AEW Collision, where Don Callis called in a favour and changed the singles match between Hobbs & Mox to a Championship match. A great spot for Powerhouse Hobbs, who is getting the biggest singles match of his career against Jon Moxley in Jacksonville.
This is the second time this century that the top NJPW belt has been defended on a non-NJPW show, with the last one being Hirooki Goto challenging Keiji Muto for the IWGP Heavyweight Title in All Japan back in 2009, and the first time on a non-NJPW show in the US since Scott Norton’s title defense against Van Hammer in 1998.
In response to this, Yota Tsuji said that it is absurd for a wrestler with no connection to NJPW to suddenly challenge for the IWGP, even if they’re great wrestlers, and questioned if Hobbs was to win would he even have a visa so he could go Japan and defend the title in Fukuoka. This is seemingly part of the Moxley story against the new generation, with Yota Tsuji trying to angle for a match against Jon Moxley for the World Title, likely even at Forbidden Door.
All Japan Pro Wrestling
All Japan’s biggest tournament, Champion Carnival, begins this month featuring all of AJPW’s biggest stars and a few new faces. The tournament started on the 18th of April, with the finals being held on the 12 May in the Yokohama BUNTAI. It’s the perfect time to get into AJPW as a new fan. This year, 14 wrestlers will take part in the tournament, with the winner getting a match for the Triple Crown Championship. Next to the All Japan wrestlers, the tournament has a few surprise entries with Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Cyrus, Hideki Suzuki, Hartley Jackson, and Lord Crewe.
This past week saw the first three days of the tournament take place, with a couple of notable highlights. The stand-out match so far for me was Ryuki Honda vs. Yuma Anzai on Day 3. It was the first great match of the tournament, and it’s between two of the youngest in the line-up, who need to show out here. Both have great chemistry with each other. Honda figured out how to straight-up counter the jumping knee of Anzai, which was the deciding factor in his match that gave him the victory over the Triple Crown Champ.
On the first night, Ren Ayabe had his break-out match against Kento Miyahara just a few weeks after signing a contract with All Japan. He debuted a new attire and hair as he stood across the ring of Miyahara. In terms of the layout, this was the typical Kento match, and it worked. Ayabe is slowly figuring out how to work with his height and did well here in the match, while Kento was just Kento. He was the perfect opponent for Ren and gave him a lot. The crowd begged for the upset, and it happened as Ren Ayabe pinned Kento Miyahara to get the first two points and the biggest singles win in his career. The future is bright for him, and that match showed it again.
Aside from that, Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi had another really good match against each other on Day 3. Their matches are simply can’t miss and deliver every single time, and it wasn’t different here even though this ranks on the lower end of their rivalry. After nearly 20 minutes, Kento Miyahara walked out as the winner with the Shut Down Suplex Hold to defeat his tag team partner.
Official Champion Carnival 2024 Standings:
A BLOCK –
4 – Kento Miyahara (2-1-0)
4 – Shotaro Ashino (2-1-0)
4 – Yuma Aoyagi (2-1-0)
2 – Kurushio TOKYO Japan (1-1-0)
2 – Davey Boy Smith Jr. (1-1-0)
2 – Ren Ayabe (1-1-0)
0 – Hokuto Omori (0-2-0)
0 – Cyrus (0-1-0)
B BLOCK –
4 – Suwama (2-0-0)
4 – Jun Saito (2-1-0)
4 – Yuma Anzai (2-1-0)
2 – Lord Crewe (1-1-0)
2 – Rei Saito (1-1-0)
2 – Ryuki Honda (1-1-0)
0 – Hideki Suzuki (0-2-0)
0 – Hartley Jackson (0-2-0)
