Thoughts on All Japan Pro Wrestling's Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku ~An Abiding Belief~

Three Way: Hiroshi Yamato vs. Kazushi Miyamoto vs. Hikaru Sato- Should be a decent match as all three are good wrestlers and Sato & Yamato do have history but it won't blow anybody away. I think Miyamoto will win since Yamato is on his way out and with Mutoh gone from All Japan, I think Miyamoto will return to the promotion this summer.

Masanobu Fuchi & SUSHI vs. Tamon Honda & MAZADA- Likely to be the worst match on the show. Fuchi and Honda are well past their primes. Not to mention, Fuchi is mostly a comedy wrestler these days. MAZADA is an ok wrestler but not good enough to carry anyone to anything great. SUSHI is good but the gimmick is goofy. I see Fuchi & SUSHI taking the win but it wouldn't surprise me to see SUSHI lose to set up him ditching the gimmick & possibly going to heavyweight.

Masakatsu Funaki, Masayuki Kono, & Koji Kanemoto vs. Akebono, Ryota Hama, and Osamu Nishimura- Outside of Nishimura, this match will be skill vs. size with Akebono and Ryota Hama being former sumos. This match could go either way as Funaki, Kono, Kanemoto, and Nishimura will bring the goods but Bono and Hama could drag this match down. This match is weird since at least half of the participants (Funaki, Kono, and Hama) have already announced they're leaving All Japan. Regardless, I think Funaki, Kono, and Kanemoto will win. 

Takao Omori & Taiyo Kea vs. Joe Doering & Yasufumi Nakanoue- This could be the sleeper match of the night. Omori and Kea are both guys who are tag team specialist so they should do well. Doering is a talented big man who can kick ass and move well while Nakanoue does a great job playing the type of rookie who gets beat up but comes back for more. Omori and Kea will take this since Nakanoue is the rookie and the only one leaving. Safe to say, Nakanoue is jobbing on his way out.

KENSO Return match: KENSO vs. Go Shiozaki- Weird match that I wouldn't expect All Japan to book (at least outside of the Champion's Carnival). Should be good as Shiozaki is a great talent and KENSO is decent despite being limited. Shiozaki is taking this one since All Japan looks to be setting up a big feud between Shiozaki and Suwama. 

AJPW World Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) vs. Minoru Tanaka- Another potential good match but it's one of the key matches that's affected with the Mutoh exodus. With Minoru already on his way out, there's no way All Japan will have him win the title. Obviously Kanemaru retains since, well, he's staying.

AJPW All-Asia Tag Team Championship: Kotaro Suzuki & Atsushi Aoki (c) vs. Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo- Definitely one of the matches I'm most looking forward to. Suzuki and Aoki are an phenomenal team and can have great matches with just about anybody. Hayashi and Kondo are stale but still good wrestlers and have no problem holding their own. Suzuki/Kondo is probably the best combo with Suzuki being the fast paced, acrobatic highflyer while Kondo is the muscled up junior. Once again with Hayashi & Kondo on their way out, the results are obvious as Burning retains.

AJPW Triple Crown: Suwama (c) vs. Jun Akiyama- Another match to look forward to. Suwama is easily the most under appreciated ace in Puroresu today. Sure Tanahashi, Okada, KENTA, and CIMA are great but Suwama is just as good yet doesn't seem to get the same critical acclaim from the internet or the dirtsheets though I could be wrong. Akiyama is still a very good wrestler and can bring his A-game. Given the history between the two and the money being in a future Suwama/Shiozaki feud, Suwama will likely win to avenge his title loss from a year and a half ago while being set up for a Shiozaki feud down the road.