All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) finished its second night of New Year Wars on January 3rd. The show was headlined by three major title matches, with two of the champions retaining. One title change occurred when SUGI defeated Super Crazy to win the World Junior Heavyweight Championship.
【📣本日開催‼️1.3後楽園大会🔥】
🎫当日券発売開始🎫
プレミアムシート《完売》
特別席 8,000円《完売》
A指定席 6,000円
B指定席《完売》「2022 NEW YEAR WARS」
🗓1月3日(月)10:30開場 11:30開始
東京・後楽園ホール🔻詳細はこちら🔻https://t.co/JD2fZuXfsS#ajpw #ajpwtv #ajpw50th pic.twitter.com/5w5KFPUFv5
— 全日本プロレス/alljapan (@alljapan_pw) January 3, 2022
SUGI Captures World Junior Heavyweight Championship
At AJP Prime Night 2021, Super Crazy defeated Izanagi for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship. This was his first defense of the title.
SUGI returned for AJPW last year during the Junior Battle of Glory Tournament. He gained the attention of then-champion, Akira Francesco. SUGI went on to defeat Francesco to win the World Junior Heavyweight Championship before dropping the title to Izanagi.
SUGI’s previous championship reign in the company lead to him being the most successful champion of last year with two title defenses. He also made it to the semi-finals of the Junior Tag Battle of Glory Tournament. All of this led to his match with Super Crazy.
The match could be described as incredibly one-sided as SUGI borderline dominated this match when the bell rang. It only took one 450 splash for him to recapture the World Junior Heavyweight Championship. This would mark it for the second time in SUGI’s AJPW career.
After the match, SUGI was challenged by Rising HAYATO. Rising HAYATO is better known for his work in the NEXTREAM faction, where HAYATO and Atsuki Aoyagi become a tag team. This marks Rising HAYATO’s first opportunity at the World Junior Heavyweight Championship. Considering AJPW is without a junior ace, maybe HAYATO or SUGI could be that Ace.
The match is scheduled to happen at the New Year Wars show on January 23rd. The show will also see the crowning of a new Triple Crown Champion. AJPW has started the year with changes in the junior and tag division. It could be a sign of things to come for the unpredictability of AJPW in the year 2022.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Make sure to watch All Japan Pro Wrestling on AJPW.TV.
