{"id":106149,"date":"2021-12-15T16:04:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T21:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=106149"},"modified":"2021-12-15T16:04:50","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T21:04:50","slug":"ajp-prime-night-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/12\/15\/ajp-prime-night-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview: All Japan Pro Wrestling &#8211; AJP Prime Night 2021 (12\/16\/21)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>AJP Prime Night 2021<\/strong><\/em> is considered by many the last major event of <strong>All Japan Pro Wrestling&#8217;s<\/strong> calendar year; last year&#8217;s event saw the departure of <strong>Yusuke Okada<\/strong>. However, on this year&#8217;s show, we have three major departures, all being major players in AJPW. Let&#8217;s get into the show to come.<\/p>\n<h2>AJP Prime Night 2021 Full Card<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>SUSHI &amp; Ryuji Hijikata vs. Takayuki Ueki and Seigo Tachibana<\/li>\n<li>Tajiri, Hokuto Omori and Koji Doi vs. Shotaro Ashino, Hikaru Sato and Dan Tamura<\/li>\n<li>Jake Lee, Kuma Arashi and Yusuke Kodama vs. Jun Saito, Rei Saito and Masanobu Fuchi<\/li>\n<li>AJPW World Junior Championship: Izanagi (c) vs. Super Crazy<\/li>\n<li>Koji Iwamoto and Black Menso-re vs. Atsuki Aoyagi and Rising HAYATO<\/li>\n<li>Zeus, Suwama and Kento Miyahara vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori and Ryuki Honda<\/li>\n<li>Naoya Nomura vs.\u00a0 Yuma Aoyagi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/R1DDS7Z.jpg\" alt=\"AJP Prime Night 2021 IZANAGI Super Crazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"337\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>AJPW World Junior Championship Match<\/h3>\n<p>On this show, we have a sole title match featuring <strong>Izanagi<\/strong> making his first AJPW World Junior Championship title defense against <strong>Super Crazy<\/strong>. Super Crazy came to AJPW during the recent <em><strong>Real World Tag League<\/strong><\/em>, being unsuccessful alongside <strong>Tajiri<\/strong>. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/10\/16\/new-champions-ajpws-champions-night-2\/\" target=\"_self\">Izanagi won the World Junior Championship<\/a> at <strong><em>Champions Night 2<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0when he defeated <strong>SUGI<\/strong>. This upcoming bout with Super Crazy marks Izanagi&#8217;s first title defense of this reign. It seems unlikely that Izanagi will lose his championship shortly after winning it, but the craziness of All Japan&#8217;s junior division wouldn&#8217;t make it completely predictable.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/mzeSE4C.jpg\" alt=\"Koji Iwamoto Last AJPW Match\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Koji Iwamato&#8217;s Last AJPW Match<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Koji Iwamoto<\/strong> is considered by many the ace of AJPW&#8217;s junior division. Iwamoto held the World Junior Championship multiple times in the past three years. He is also the first of three major departures that will take place at this show, teaming with <strong>Black Menso-re<\/strong> against <strong>Atsuki Aoyagi and Rising HAYATO<\/strong>. While this match will feature great junior action, it is unfortunate that Iwamoto will be leaving AJPW.<\/p>\n<p>Koji Iwamoto has noted previously that his departure relates to personal goals in his life, while certain leaks have reported him potentially signing with <strong>GLEAT<\/strong> down the line. Nothing is official, except this being his last match for All Japan Pro Wrestling.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/k1bl8VN.jpg\" alt=\"Zeus Last AJPW Match\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Zeus&#8217;s Last AJPW Match<\/h3>\n<p>When it comes to prominent members of All Japan Pro Wrestling, one such name would be <strong>Zeus<\/strong>. He is a former Triple Crown Champion and tag team specialist with <strong>The Bodyguard<\/strong> in earlier years. Zeus has been a mainstay of AJPW since 2014. In his career, he became an established main event player, his biggest feud being against <strong>Kento Miyahara<\/strong>. Last month, it was announced that Zeus would be leaving AJPW.<\/p>\n<p>The reason for his departure is his involvement in the revival of <strong>Osaka Pro Wrestling (OPW)<\/strong>, being the company&#8217;s new owner. Zeus&#8217;s final bout will be a trios match, teaming with <strong>Suwama<\/strong> and <strong>Kento Miyahara<\/strong> to take on <strong>Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori, and Ryuki Honda<\/strong>. Some of these wrestlers Zeus has incredible chemistry with, with the last three matches of this show being an emotional trip for fans.<\/p>\n<p>Another thing to note here is this might not be his last match for AJPW as a whole, but rather his last match as a contracted talent. Zeus has shown interest in working with AJPW with OPW, which could help AJPW&#8217;s partnerships and be major for both companies.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" class=\"size-full wp-image-106176 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/12\/ajp-prime-night-2021.jpg\" alt=\"AJP Prime Night 2021\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/12\/ajp-prime-night-2021.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/12\/ajp-prime-night-2021-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Naoya Nomura&#8217;s Last AJPW Match<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Naoya Nomura<\/strong> could be described as one of the biggest &#8220;what if&#8221; scenarios in All Japan Pro Wrestling. 2019 was a defining year of his career, breaking out of Kento Miyahara&#8217;s shadow and facing off against him multiple times during the latter&#8217;s reign of Triple Crown Champion. However, 2020 brought tragedy with Nomura getting injured. This injury took him out of AJPW&#8217;s programming for almost 22 months. He would make his first appearance during the finals of the <em>Real World Tag League<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In this return, Naoya Nomura announced his departure from All Japan Pro Wrestling. The reasons for his departure are only known from certain leaks. These include the direction of the company and alliance towards its former booker, <strong>Jun Akiyama. <\/strong>It could also be related to his lingering injury issues.<\/p>\n<p>In Naoya Nomura&#8217;s final match, he will face off against <strong>Yuma Aoyagi<\/strong>. They were partners in <strong>NEXTREAM<\/strong>, becoming 2x\u00a0All Asia Tag Team Champions. Nomura is a top free agent as of December 3, with many assuming that he could join <strong>DDT (Dramatic Dream Team)<\/strong> in the new year due to the connection of Jun Akiyama.<\/p>\n<p>None of this, however, is for certain for the company and for the career of Naoya Nomura. What&#8217;s certain is that <em><strong>AJP Prime Night 2021<\/strong><\/em> will be an emotional night for All Japan Pro Wrestling fans.<\/p>\n<p><i>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\"><i>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/a><i>\u00a0for 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\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajpw.tv\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><i>All Japan Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/a><i>\u00a0on AJPW.TV.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AJP Prime Night 2021 is considered by many the last major event of All Japan Pro Wrestling&#8217;s calendar year; last year&#8217;s event saw the departure of Yusuke Okada. However, on this year&#8217;s show, we have three major departures, all being major players in AJPW. Let&#8217;s get into the show to come. AJP Prime Night 2021 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3258,"featured_media":106176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,13,6975,2192],"tags":[7974,7051,8169,2389,6282,8153,1844,2392,6842,1225],"class_list":["post-106149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ajpw","category-international","category-international-wrestling","category-wrestling","tag-atsuki-aoyagi","tag-black-menso-re","tag-izanagi","tag-kento-miyahara","tag-koji-iwamoto","tag-naoya-nomura","tag-super-crazy","tag-suwama","tag-yuma-aoyagi","tag-zeus"],"modified_by":"Robbie Sutter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}