Preview: AJPW Champions Night 2 (10/16/21)

All Japan Pro Wrestling’s (AJPW) upcoming show is Champions Night 2. This event will be headlined by a Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship defense when Jake Lee battles Kento Miyahara. We will also have multiple title matches on this show which is shaping up to be one of the biggest AJPW shows of the year. Let’s get into this preview.

AJPW Champions Night 2 Full Card

• Ryoma Tsukamoto vs. Ryuji Hijikata
• Masanobu Fuchi, Great Kojika, Sushi and Chikara vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Masao Inoue, Kikutaro and Devil Murasaki
• Zeus, Koji Iwamoto, Ryuki Honda and Kengo Mashimo vs. Jun Saito, Rei Saito, Koji Doi and Kuma Arashi
• Hikaru Sato and Tamura Boy vs. Hokuto Omori and Yusuke Kodama vs. Andy Wu and Black Menso-re
• Yuma Aoyagi, Atsuki Aoyagi and Rising HAYATO vs. Shiro Koshinaka, Mitsuya Nagai and LEONA
• AJPW TV 6-PERSON Tag Championship Finals: Yoshitatsu, Seigo Tachibana and Takayuki Ueki vs. Takao Omori, Tamura and Reimu Imai
• World Junior Heavyweight Championship: SUGI (c) vs. Izanagi
• World Tag Team Championship: Suwama and Shotaro Ashino (c) vs. Shuji Ishikawa and Kohei Sato
• Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship: Jake Lee (c) vs. Kento Miyahara

AJPW TV 6-PERSON TAG CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

All Japan Pro-Wrestling TV Certified 6-men Tag Championship
　
Yoshitatsu Kingdom member "X" is Takayuki Ueki！

Yoshitatsu
Seigo Tachibana
Takayuki Ueki
🆚
Takao Omori
TAMURA
Reimu Imai

LIVE distribution on AJPW TVhttps://t.co/P50Qsuuk6y#ajpw #ajpwint #ajpwtv #ajpw49th pic.twitter.com/tryvqwxlY2

— AJPW International (@ajpwint) October 10, 2021

This is one of the weirdest matches on the card, due to the fact that officially Yoshitatsu’s group with Carbell Ito and Seigo Tachibana didn’t actually lose their championship in a match. Regardless, a few days ago Yoshitatsu and co. were stripped of said belts due to Carbell Ito not appearing on this show. Yoshitatsu and Seigo Tachibana are aiming to reclaim the trios titles, with Takayuki Ueki making his return to AJPW for the first time since the beginning of the year. Takayuki Ueki is better known for his work in the deathmatch scene, notably for promotions like BJW (Big Japan-Pro Wrestling) and FREEDOMS.

This team faces off against Takao Omori, Tamura, and Reimu Imai. This marks the AJPW debut of Reimu Imai, both Imai and Tamura come from the promotion Pro Wrestling HEAT UP. With Tamura making his return to the company after a few month hiatus. If we were to call this match, it seems like an easy win for Yoshitatsu’s group, especially since Reimu and Tamura are outside talents. This could lead to more Takayuki Ueki in AJPW down the line.

WORLD JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

SUGI has been one of the top stars of the junior division since his return to the company earlier this year. After winning the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, he would go on having two successful title defenses against Atsuki Aoyagi and Yusuke Kodama. In his next title defense, he faces off against Izanagi. Izanagi has been relevant all year, most notably known for his work in the All Asia Tag Team Championship scene where Izanagi and Zeus were champions for over a year. Izanagi even challenged for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship belt earlier this year in a losing effort to CIMA.

If SUGI does win this, it will make him one of the most successful World Junior Champions of the year. The previous three champions have failed to make it to their third title defense. If we were to call this match, we believe SUGI will be successful in this defense. Even though it would be a storybook ending if Izanagi finally won this championship after a long run in the company, especially following a successful reincarnation. On the other hand, SUGI becoming the most successful junior wrestler of the year is an accomplishment by itself and would benefit the division.

WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH!

【世界タッグ選手権試合】

諏訪魔&芦野祥太郎の"暴走SUPLEX"に
最強の挑戦者組、石川修司&佐藤耕平の"ツインタワーズ"が挑む💥

「2021 Champions Night 2
～全日本プロレス49周年記念大会～」
🗓10月16日(土) 16:00開始
東京・大田区総合体育館https://t.co/yu0D5STuf3#ajpw49th #ajpwtv #ajpw pic.twitter.com/2dH1avXBGc

— 全日本プロレス/alljapan (@alljapan_pw) October 15, 2021

On the opening night of the Super Deluxe Series, Suwama and Shotaro Ashino dethroned Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyag to capture the World Tag Team Championships ending their 8-month reign as champions. In their first title defense, Suwama and Shotaro Ashino face off against Shuji Ishikawa and Kohei Sato who are known as the Twin Towers. Kohei Sato and Shuji Ishikawa do have singles victories over Suwama from this year’s Champion Carnival. With Shotaro only defeating Shuji Ishikawa.

There is tension between these teams. The Violent Giants (Ishikawa & Suwam) were broken up at the beginning of the year and both members would find new partners or in Shuji’s case, an old partner. Kohei Sato since his return to AJPW has not been successful in a title match, while Shuji Ishikawa has held the GAORA TV Champion.

This match is also a preview of things to come in the Real World Tag League at the beginning of November. The champions are likely to retain in this match. With Shuji Ishikawa as the current GAORA TV Champion having an upcoming title defense on October 31st and Kohei Sato being a freelancer for AJPW, it just seems unlikely that the challengers come away with the titles.

TRIPLE CROWN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH!

If you would like a more detailed preview of this match, check out our match point focusing on this contest. In the main event of the evening, Jake Lee defends the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Kento Miyahara. This rivalry has been a staple of AJPW since 2019 with their series of matches most notably being known for the rise, fall and rise again of Jake Lee.

Kento Miyahara and Jake Lee were once part of a faction known as NEXTREAM. Miyahara brought Lee back to AJPW in the mid-2010s and for many months was very unsuccessful. In 2018, Jake Lee left the guidance of Kento Miyahara and pursued work in his own factions, notably Sweeper and eventually JIN. He was often successful in the tag title scene, however, it was during his time in Sweeper where this rivalry truly began. Jake Lee would battle Kento Miyahara in the 2019 Champion Carnival, where Lee would lose in the final against Miyahara. This was only the start of this rivalry as 2019’s Royal Road Tournament would be headlined by them again with Jake Lee winning the tournament.

Two more Jake Lee vs. Kento Miyahara title matches happened by the beginning of 2020, with the result being the same. Kento Miyahara defeats Jake Lee. It was the second match that started a spiral in the career of Jake Lee. In 2020, Lee started to have very little success. Losing the All Asia Tag Team Championship and by 2021 started losing all the gold in his faction JIN. Jake Lee hit a ceiling and following one more loss to Kento in tag action during the Real World Tag League Jake Lee saw his faction as a liability and needed a change.

Jake Lee would go on to turn on his faction, becoming the leader of TOTAL ECLIPSE, and headed into the Champion Carnival 2021 tournament with a completely new attitude. This change was worth it for him as he would defeat Miyahara in the finals of the tournament. Lee went on to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion in a triple threat gauntlet match featuring Yuma Aoyagi and Miyahara, due to the title being vacated by Suwama, at the first Champions Night.

With the history between these two, it could lead to a fantastic story and even match. It’s truly important who wins here as it could be viewed as one of the most important matches in the careers of Jake Lee and Kento Miyahara. Jake Lee has been on this meteoric rise within AJPW, defeating many different foes but is facing someone he always loses to in title matches. This match could establish Lee’s legacy in AJPW and finally prove that he’s the new ace, not Kento Miyahara.

Kento Miyahara is the ace of All Japan Pro Wrestling and looking to save AJPW from the tyranny of Total Eclipse. Miyahara has been fighting for this moment, but Lee has climbed for it longer. It’s what makes this match incredibly hard to call. If we were to call this match, we would call Lee finally defeating Miyahara in a championship match. Lee should finally surpass his biggest rival.  It still feels a bit too soon for Miyahara to hold this championship again. However, we could be wrong and Miyahara may once again become Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion.

Synopsis

Regardless of what happens, Champions Night 2 is a major show and most likely features the last major Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship match of 2021 unless there’s a title defense on October 31st’s show.