All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) recently finished its calendar year of shows. One of these shows featured a one-night tournament to crown new contenders for the All Asia Tag Team Championship going into the new year; enter the Jr. Tag Battle Of Glory 2021 tournament. The participants in this tournament featured talent from the likes of GLEAT, Pro Wrestling Freedoms, and Pro Wrestling BASARA, the tournament seeing new contenders coming out of it. However, at the end, of the Jr. Tag Battle Of Glory, it was Yusuke Kodama and Hokuto Omori that emerged victorious.
When it comes to favorites of this tournament, Hikaru Sato and Dan Tamura have dominated the tournament in years past. Most recently, they won the tournament back in 2020. Many saw them heading to the eventual finals and they would do that by defeating two teams. They defeated Black Menso-re and Hiroshi Yamato in the opening round and would defeat Atsuki Aoyagi and Yu Iizuka in the second round to go to the finals. From there, they faced off against a team they met with the year prior.
【全日本】アジアタッグ戦へ北斗が｢全日本の圧倒的未来｣自称で奪還宣言 リンダマン｢全日本は弾切れ｣https://t.co/qHcipAVBPB#ajpw#GLEAT#STRONGHEARTS pic.twitter.com/yzWy1v9JKL
— プロレス/格闘技DX編集部 (@PKDX) December 27, 2021
Yusuke Kodama and Hokuto Omori Win the Jr. Tag Battle of Glory 2021
The Path Toward the Finals
Hokuto Omori and Yusuke Kodama have had a notable changing face. Omori and Kodama went into the semi-finals of the 2020 tournament under the Enfant Terribles faction. A year passed with Kodama and Omori being part of the Total Eclipse faction, gaining championship success, most notably the AJPW TV Six-Man Tag Team Championship. Going into this tournament, Omori and Kodama had high potential as they were an AJPW contracted tag team, unlike many of the other tandems. Omori and Kodama would defeat Masato Kamino and Takato Nakano from BASARA in the opening round. They also defeated RAICHO and SUGI in the semi-finals of the tournament.
This would lead to the finals of the tournament with a rematch from last year’s tournament. Dan Tamura and Hikaru Sato would not be repeat winners. They were defeated by Hokuto Omori and Yusuke Kodama in a 28-minute match, marking the first tournament victory in AJPW for both Kodama and Omori.
Following the Tournament Victory
After their match, they would call out the All Asia Tag Team Champions, El Lindaman and T-Hawk. It has been confirmed that their upcoming title match will be taking place on the 1st event of AJPW’s 2022, NEW YEAR WARS, on January 2, 2022. El Lindaman and T-Hawk will make their third title defense here. It could be said that this upcoming match is the biggest for Hokuto Omori and Yusuke Kodama’s tag career in AJPW.
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