All Japan Pro Wrestling is celebrating the AJPW 49th anniversary with its upcoming tour. This tour will feature multiple events, with the main attraction being Champions Night 2 on October 16. Let’s get into the title matches we will be seeing in this tour.
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AJPW 49th Anniversary and Champions Night 2 Match News
All Asia Tag Team Championship Battle
On October 9, this AJPW 49th anniversary show will feature two title matches. The first title match features a preview of the upcoming Real World Tag League. El Lindaman and T-Hawk will defend their newly won All Asia Tag Team Championship against Ryuki Honda and Koji Iwamoto. This is the first time this tag team has challenged for the gold and is the first defense for STRONGHEARTS. If we were to call this match, it’s an easy defense for STRONGHEARTS. In addition to how new STRONGHEARTS are, as champions, consider how new Honda, in particular, is to All Japan.
GAORA TV Championship Battle
The GAORA TV Championship has been focused on former rivals of Shuji Ishikawa. This upcoming title defense is the most important yet for Ishikawa. At a recent Big Japan Pro Wrestling show, Daisuke Sekimoto issued his challenge for the GAORA TV Championship. These two have a history, most notably in Big Japan Pro Wrestling. All these years later, Sekimoto is a veteran in BJW and wrestling at large, including international promotions such as EVOLVE. This marks his return to AJPW as well. He makes sporadic appearances for the company with this upcoming match and could be one of the show-stealers of the entire tour of shows. To call this match, we will say a retain for Shuji Ishikawa.
AJPW TV Six-Man Tag Team Championship Battle
The first of the four title matches set for Champions Night 2 will feature trios action. Yoshitatsu, Seigo Tachibana, and Carbell Ito are set to defend their championships against Takao Omori, TAMURA, and Raimu Imai. TAMURA and Raimu Imai are both from the promotion Pro Wrestling HEAT UP. To call this match, it seems like an easy defense for the champions. This also marks their 3rd title defense.
AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship Battle
SUGI has been the defending AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion for the past three months. In a title scene steeped in chaos, depending on the perspective, SUGI’s next defense will be against Izanagi. Izanagi and SUGI teamed in one match during the Summer Action Series. This match marks Izanagi’s second attempt at the belt this year after a successful run as All Asia Tag Team Champions. To call this match, it seems like it could be an either-or scenario. This might be the last title defense of the year, if not at one of the year-end shows.
AJPW World Tag Team Championship Battle
On Champion’s Night 2, we will have two tag title matches. This is also another preview for the upcoming Real World Tag League. Suwama and Shotaro Ashino make their first defense against Kohei Sato and Shuji Ishikawa. Sato and Ishikawa are a team that made their return earlier this year, with the dissolution of Violent Giants; this team consisted of Ishikawa and Suwama. Simply put, both teams in this match have unfinished business.
Ishikawa is set to face Ashino in July for a #1 contender’s shot at the Triple Crown Championship. Meanwhile, Sato and Ishikawa have pinfall victories over Suwama in the Champion Carnival. To call this match, the current AJPW World Tag Team Champions will go into the Real World Tag League. Our prediction is Suwama and Shotaro Ashino retaining.
Triple Crown Championship Battle
In the main event of Champions Night 2, the fourth Triple Crown Championship defense of Jake Lee takes place. Lee will defend the title against longtime rival Kento Miyahara. Miyahara has a history with the championship and, most notably, notoriety as the current Ace of All Japan Pro Wrestling. He held the Triple Crown Championship multiple times, multiple reigns lasting a year or two each. Lee and Miyahara have a history dating back to their time as the co-founders of the NEXTREAM faction.
From 2019 to 2020, Lee was Miyahara’s biggest rival. Their major matches happening in tournament finals like Champion Carnival and Royal Road 2019. They would also lock horns at this year’s Champion Carnival, as well as compete in title matches at two separate events. Miyahara recently won this opportunity by defeating Zeus at the recent show. This upcoming match is the most important in Lee’s title reign. The winner of this match could start a new era of All Japan Pro Wrestling with Jake Lee winning. Conversely, Miyahara will reclaim back a championship he hasn’t held since early 2020. Our prediction for this match will be a new champion with Kento Miyahara. Everything will be seen on Champions Night 2 and the 49th anniversary tour for AJPW.
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