On June 9, New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling NOAH teamed up and held the All Together Again event on Friday, June 9. The event emanated from the Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Mark Pickering (Twitter: @_MarkPickering) shared a detailed report about the show with Fightful:
Japanese pro wrestling’s three leading men’s promotions New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling NOAH (NOAH), and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) united on Friday for ‘ALL TOGETHER AGAIN’, a special joint event in front of 6,569 fans at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
The Japanese scene has enjoyed a resurgence this year with the pandemic now in the rear view. Global powerhouse NJPW has led the way since all restrictions were finally lifted in May.
NJPW were the instigators of this event having aggressively entered the PPV market by broadening their regular calendar with one-off events as they reap the benefits of renewed partnerships both domestically and abroad.
Cooperative events such as the All Star Junior Festival and a second NJPW v NOAH special edition of Wrestle Kingdom proved to be a hit in Japan while on the global stage Forbidden Door 2 with AEW is just two weeks away in Canada.
Friday’s star-studded event was the third edition of the ‘ALL TOGETHER’ following the inaugural edition in 2011 (Nippon Budokan) and a second installment in 2012 (Sendai Sun Plaza).
The tagline for the event was ‘If you have the energy, you can do anything’, which was a famous quote from NJPW founder Antonio Inoki who passed away on 1 October 2022.
MAIN EVENT
Kazuchika Okada (NJPW), Yuma Aoyagi (AJPW) and Kenoh (NOAH) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kento Miyahara and Kaito Kiyomiya (NOAH) in 23:22 - Rainmaker from Okada on Tanahashi
Hiroshi Tanahashi now stands alone as the only wrestler to feature in the main event
of all three ALL TOGETHER events.Tanahashi teamed up with Kaito Kiyomiya and Kento Miyahara, in a dream team featuring each company’s respective ace, against Kazuchika Okada, Kenoh and Yuma Aoyagi.
Okada and AJPW ace Kento Miyahara shared the ring for the first time and wrestled to a stalemate while met with dueling chants. The Rainmaker switched his attention to The Supernova, Kiyomiya, who got a taste of his own medicine from Okada who wiped Kiyomiya off the apron only before leaving the ring after the NOAH man was tagged in. Kiyomiya is still smarting from his defeat at the hands of Kazuchika Okada at Keiji Muto’s Tokyo Dome retirement show in February. Kiyomiya will make his G1 CLIMAX tournament bow this summer as his box office rivalry with Okada now looks like it’s only just begun.Kiyomiya cleaned Okada off the apron with a dropkick and sent him clattering into the guardrail with an Irish whip. The pair brawled into the crowd and Okada launched his rival through the air into a row of abandoned seats. As the tension built so did the energy levels of the Ryogoku faithful who willed on six of the finest talents in the game. Okada invited his partner Kenoh into the ring for a double team attack but Kenoh was too overzealous for his liking and Aoyagi, who completed their trios team, had to play peacemaker.
Okada tagged in Kenoh with a care-free slap to his left shoulder and the two-time GHC Heavyweight Champion squared off with Tanahashi. Kenoh punished Tanahashi’s aging body with his trademark kicks but the latter adjusted and then countered a low kick attempt with a dragon screw. The pace quickened as the main event progressed and Kiyomiya rushed to the top turnbuckle to floor Kenoh with a missile dropkick but his arch-rival in NOAH responded with a dragon suplex.
Okada entered the fray and hit an elbow drop on Miyahara and then his Rainmaker pose. Miyahara countered a Rainmaker attempt with a flying knee but his shutdown German Suplex attempt was blocked. Miyahara, Tanahashi and Kiyomiya hit a three-way dropkick on Okada who was then embroiled in a slugfest with Tanahashi who he holds the NEVER Openweight six- man titles with in addition to Tomohiro Ishii. Okada hit the Rainmaker on Tanahashi for the victory. All the participants gathered in the ring to close out the show. Okada was joined by Antonio Inoki’s two grandsons, who watched the show from ringside, to lead the crowd in Inoki’s iconic “1, 2, 3, dah!” phrase.
Okada told the media: “It doesn't have to be in the form of 'ALL TOGETHER' but I think it would be good to have an all-star fight again. I was able to see a lot of different fights today. I learned about AJPW properly. I thought there were a lot of good fighters."
Kenoh said: “The power of wrestling is amazing.”
Aoyagi said: “It was an honor to wrestle in the main event. I was lifted up by all the wrestling fans. I will continue to do my best.”
Kiyomiya said: “Okada! Don't run away from me! In the G1, I'm going to crush Okada!"
Miyahara: "The cheers of the wrestling fans were like earth-shaking when Kento Miyahara and Kazuchika Okada faced each other. I don't know if it will happen in the future, but there are no absolutes in pro wrestling. As wrestlers living in the same era, I'll be watching with interest from now on.”
CO-Main EVENT
Hiromu Takahashi (NJPW), AMAKUSA (NOAH) and Atsuki Aoyagi (AJPW) defeated Master Wato (NJPW), HAYATA (NOAH) and Rising HAYATO (AJPW) in 12:23 - Firebird Splash from Aoyagi on HAYATO
This six-man tag junior showcase saw a representative of each promotion on both
sides. In a high-octane affair, IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion Hiromu Takahashi and AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion Atsuki Aoyagi joined forces with NOAH’s AMAKUSA against NJPW Best of the Super Juniors winner Master Wato, GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion HAYATA and AJPW’s Rising HAYATO. Takahashi, who beat AMAKUSA one-on-one at the Tokyo Dome in February, provided an assist for the former Michinoku Pro man to hit his sensational Vuelo de Aguila dive as the action spilled over to the outside. Atsuki Aoyagi, the younger brother of heavyweight Yuma Aoyagi, recorded the highest profile win of his burgeoning career with a Firebird Splash on his usual tag partner, Rising HAYATO. The three junior heavyweight champions posed with their titles held aloft in the center of the ring post-match.8. Jake Lee, YO-HEY and Tadasuke (Good Looking Guys – NOAH) defeated SANADA, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and TAKA Michinoku (Just 5 Guys – NJPW) in 8:34 – Front Skewered High Kick from Lee on TAKA
The GHC Heavyweight Champion Jake Lee and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA opposed each other in a six-man tag team match. Lee’s Good Looking Guys faction encountered SANADA’s Just Five Guys group for the first time as the former was joined by GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions YO-HEY and Tadasuke, who made a golden trio, against SANADA, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku.
Lee and SANADA, who both came through the ranks of the AJPW dojo, faced off the first time since a tag match in 2019. Lee, who let his AJPW contract expire and made his NOAH debut on 1 January, raced to GHC Heavyweight glory in just 77 days – the fastest ascension in the company’s history – but has hands full in his third defense against Takashi Sugiura on 17 June. Lee, who put SANADA in his own Paradise Lock at one point, wrapped up a win for GLG with a Front Skewered High Kick disposing of TAKA Michinoku. The GLG
frontman bowed to SANADA post-match and said he’d like to face his counterpart in a singles match for the first time7. Yuji Nagata, Suwama and Yuma Anzai (AJPW) defeated Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI (L.I.J – NJPW) in 8:31 - Last Ride from Suwama on BUSHI.
An all-star All Japan team upset L.I.J’s Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI. Triple Crown champion Yuji Nagata, who is the fifth and latest heavyweight to complete the ‘Grand Slam’ in Japan, by holding the top prizes in NJPW, NOAH and AJPW throughout his career, teamed up with eight-time Triple Crown Champion Suwama and the amateur standout he recruited from Chuo University in super rookie Yuma Anzai. AJPW’s big hope Anzai was the star of the match ahead of his first Triple Crown challenge on 17 June. Suwama earned the win for AJPW when he savagely powerbombed an overmatched Bushi.
6. Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, Henare, TJP and Francesco Akira (United Empire – NJPW) defeated Jun Saito, Rei Saito, Ryuki Honda, Hikaru Sato and Dan Tamura (AJPW) in 11:41 - Fireball from Akira on Tamura.
NJPW’s United Empire group defeated a five-man AJPW team. In-fighting plagued the AJPW team as the Saito brothers, Rei and Jun, emphatically sent their junior heavyweight teammates to the outside while the well-oiled ranks of United Empire shone.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, TJP & Francesco Akira, known as Catch 22, did the majority of the work for the United Empire as they showcased their athleticism and chemistry while Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb and Henare added some much-needed bulk to go up against the imposing Saito brothers. Francesco Akira provided his charges with the win over Dan Tamura after his Fireball.
5. Minoru Suzuki, Ren Narita and El Desperado (Strong Style – NJPW) defeated Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura and Junta Miyawaki in 10:08 - Pinche Loco from Desperado on Miyawaki
NJPW’s Strong Style group, Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado and Ren Narita, bested
NOAH titans Naomichi Marufuji and Takashi Sugiura along with rising junior
heavyweight Junta Miyawaki.Miyawaki, like his rival El Desperado, had an excursion in Mexico, before coming
back and being repackaged. Evergreen legends Minoru Suzuki, 54, and Takashi Sugiura, 53, went to war early on. Both men’s long-term respective stables (Suzuki-gun and Sugiura-gun) recently disbanded. In the case of Sugiura it was more of an implosion rather than being officially disbanded, after former WWE NXT man Hideki Suzuki led a break-away group with Timothy Thatcher.The NOAH trio all had their sights on Desperado in the build-up but ultimately the
masked man’s experience told over Miyawaki as he pinned the misfiring former
judoka after hitting his Pinche Loco.4. Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH – AXIZ) defeated Satoshi Kojima and Hokuto Omori (AJPW) in 9:12 - Vertical Spike From Nakajima on Omori
Crowd favorites AXIZ defeated Satoshi Kojima and Hokuto Omori of AJPW. Kojima
was drafted in as a replacement for Shuji Ishikawa who had missed Thursday’s fan event due to feeling unwell.The AXIZ team reformed in May after Nakajima left the KONGO stable to link up again with Shiozaki who he had betrayed to move in the other direction in 2020. Grand Slam heavyweight championship winner Kojima, who Is under contract with NJPW but recently had a fruitful stint with NOAH before moving on to AJPW this year, unloaded his signature machine gun chops on Shiozaki who absorbed the heavy shots and fired off some of his own. With Shiozaki holding back Kojima, Nakajima gained some revenge for Omori using his showtime corner pose routine against him by dispatching the All Japan prospect with a Vertical Spike.
3. Shota Umino (NJPW) defeated Yoshitatsu (AJPW) in 5:58 - Death Rider from Umino on Yoshitatsu
NJPW hotshot Shota Umino eased past former Bullet Club Hunter Yoshitatsu. Umino, who is one of the company’s top heavyweight prospects, put AJPW man Yoshitatsu out of his misery with his Death Rider which was adopted from his mentor Jon Moxley. Umino exited to cheers through the Ryogoku crowd.
2. Chris Ridgeway and Sean Legacy (NOAH) defeated Zack Sabre Jr. and Kosei
Fujita (TMDK – NJPW) in 11:23 - Ankle Lock from Ridgeway on FujitaNOAH’s Chris Ridgeway and Sean Legacy beat TMDK pair Zack Sabre Jr. and Kosei Fujita of NJPW. British technicians Sabre Jr, a two-time GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion in NOAH, and Ridegway shared a ring in their second home of Japan for the first time and, as you would expect, produced some tremendous mat wrestling and transitions that left you craving more.
Highly-regarded NJPW dojo product Fujita turned up the physicality on American Legacy who quickly replied with some dazzling aerial skills including a pinpoint tope con giro.
Ridgeway singled out Sabre Jr.’s protégé Narita who eventually succumbed to a lethal ankle lock from the typically vicious Brit.1. Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS – NJPW) defeated
Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba and Yoshiki Inamura (NOAH) in 8:28 – Shoto from
Goto on InabaIWGP and NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Champions, Bishamon, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI, prevailed alongside Tomohiro Ishii over NOAH to open the main card. Ishii had unfinished business from January with Inaba and Kitamiya while NOAH’s homegrown super heavyweight phenom Yoshiki Inamura also targeted the Stone Pitbull as he paused his brainbuster to front squat the long-time CHAOS man. Bishamon utilized a numerical advantage over Inaba as Goto and YOSHI-HASHI combined to steer NJPW to victory.
0. Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW), YOH (NJPW), Black Menso~re (AJPW) and Ryo Inoue (AJPW) defeated Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka, Alejandro and Super Crazy (NOAH) in 9:10 - Direct Drive from YOH on Kotoge
The kick-off match saw the NOAH quartet of Atsushi Kotoge, Seiki Yoshioka, Alejandro and Super Crazy surprisingly fall to their AJPW/NJPW rivals Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH, Black Menso~re and Ryo Inoue when Yoh hit a Direct Drive on Kotoge.
You can still order the PPV with English commentary at
https://njpwworld.com/p/ppv_00644_2_1
Stars from three different companies took to the ring tonight in all star battles at #ALLTOGETHER!
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) June 9, 2023
All Together Again report:https://t.co/8ZqTDtymUa
Order the replay!https://t.co/ktXhScnQEG pic.twitter.com/HPj3ogHEEs
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