Royal Road is one of the major tournaments that happen in All Japan Pro Wrestling. It is a single-elimination tournament. The winner gains an opportunity at the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. In an interesting change, this year will have the inclusion of junior heavyweight talent. So a junior winner could become a contender for the World Junior Heavyweight Champion rather than the triple crown. At Champions Night the Royal Road 2021 lineup was announced. Note: the below listing contains spoilers for Champions Night
Royal Road 2021 Participants
- Jake Lee – Triple Crown Champion
- Suwama
- Kento Miyahara – AJPW World Tag Team Champion
- Shuji Ishikawa – GAORA TV Champion
- Zeus – All Asia Tag Team Champiion
- Yuma Aoyagi – AJPW World Tag Team Champion
- Yoshitatsu
- Takao Omori
- Tajiri – AJPW TV Six-Men Tag Team Champion
- Koji Iwamoto
- Izanagi
- Black Menso-Re
- Ryuki Honda
- Dan Tamura
- Hokuto Omori – AJPW TV Six-Men Tag Team Champion
- Atsuki Aoyagi
- Jun Saito
- Rei Saito
- Hikaru Sato
- Akira Franchesco – World Junior Heavyweight Champion
- Rising Hayato
- Shigehiro Irie
- Shotaro Ashino
- Koji Doi
- Yusuke Kodama – AJPW TV Six-Men Tag Team Champion
- SUGI
- Ayato Yoshida
- T-HAWK
- Abdullah Kobayashi
- Seigo Tachibana
- Devil Murasaki
Confirmed matches for the tournament’s first-round action
Opening show: August 15 Noon Show
- Jake Lee vs. SUGI
- Koji Iwamoto vs. Koji Doi
- Hokuto Omori vs. Ryuki Honda
- Black Menso-Re vs. Ayato Yoshida
- Takao Omori vs. Atsuki Aoyagi
- Tajiri vs. Devil Murasaki
- Zeus vs. Seigo Tachibana
- Yuma Aoyagi vs. Shotaro Ashino
2nd Show: August 15 Night Show
- Dan Tamura vs. Abdullah Kobayashi
- Suwama vs. Rei Saito
- Shigehiro Irie vs. Kuma Arashi
- Yoshitatsu vs. Hikaru Sato
- Kento Miyahara vs. Yusuke Kodama
- Rising HAYATO vs. T-Hawk
- Shuji Ishikawa vs. Jun Saito
- Izanagi vs. Akira Franchesco
This tournament will take place throughout August, and will go for four events. 2 shows will happen on August 15. The quarter-finals will happen on August 24, with the semi-finals and the finals on August 29. This tournament does feature new names like T-Hawk and Devil Murasaki. It also features the return of Seigo Tachibana, who hasn’t been seen in AJPW since September 2019. Since there wasn’t a tournament in 2020, the previous tournament winner was Jake Lee.
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