CHAOS vs NOAH, LIJ vs AJPW, and a heated trios bout signed
June is the month for doors between promotions to come crashing down. On June 25, AEW and NJPW come under the same roof in the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for Forbidden Door. Meanwhile in Japan, June 9 will bring NJPW, AJPW and NOAH together in the spirit of competition, legacy and charity for All Toegther Again on NJPW World PPV. Now, the first matches have been made, and they make for some interesting combinations indeed.
Watch All Together LIVE in English on NJPW World Pay Per View June 9!
All Together might be a celebration of the unifying power of professional wrestling, but there will be a distinctly unfriendly encounter in Ryogoku when Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kento Miyahara and Kaito Kiyomiya face Kenoh, Yuma Aoyagi and Kazuchika Okada.
When All Together Again was first announced at a special press conference last month, Kaito Kiyomiya of NOAH, Kento Miyahara of AJPW and Hiroshi Tanahashi of NJPW would all be on hand to represent their respective promotions. Three headline faces for each group, as well as three generations of wrestlers in their 20s, 30s and 40s respectively, the trio presented a fitting embodiment of the All Together spirit. With all driven to make the event a major success, and all smiles ready for the press conference cameras, it seemed right for these charismatic fan favourites to unite in Ryogoku.
Their opposition on June 9 adds a healthy dose of chaos to the mix. One can’t talk about Kaito Kiyomiya in 2023 for better or for worse without mentioning Kazuchika Okada. After their wild fight in Yokohama Arena this January led to a violent display of superiority for the Rainmaker int he Tokyo Dome in February, it’s been a long few months, but now Kiyomiya and Okada will go face to face again in Sumo Hall.
Along with Okada will be Yuma Aoyagi. NJPW fans may remember Yuma’s younger brother Atsuki for his impressive main event performance at All Star Junior Festival earlier this spring, but All Japan fans will have their eyebrows raised at New Generation teammates Aoyagi and Miyahara on opposite sides of the ledger in Ryogoku. Then there’s the matter of ill feeling between NOAH and All Japan that stemmed from the New Generation teaming with Suwama against Kongo in the Tokyo Dome in February. Indeed, Kenoh is one half of the current AJPW World Tag team Champions alongside Manabu Soya, having defeated the team of Naoya Omura and, yes, Kenoh’s teammate tonight in Yuma Aoyagi. Competition is sure to be fierce, and not just between the two teams in what could well become the main event June 9.
Another six man tag will see Los Ingobernables De Japon’s BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi face All Japan Pro-Wrestling in the form of Suwama, Yuma Anzai and Yuji Nagata. At AJPW’s recent Champion Carnival final event in Ota, Naito and BUSHI tagged to face 23 year old rising superstar Anzai and Kento Miyahara; tonight, Anzai will continue to represent the new generation of AJPW talent alongside a near two decade stalwart of All Japan in Suwama and the current Triple Crown Champion in Yuji Nagata. For Tetsuya Naito, Suwama’s presence brings added poetry to the situation, with the imposing AJPW star being one of El Ingobernable’s opponents on the last All Together card back in 2012. Meanwhile the All Japan roster as a whole was none too pleased with Yuji Nagata’s Triple Crown victory earlier this year having come in from NJPW, and one has to wonder whether promotional pride could be an impediment rather than a motivator for Suwama and Anzai in Ryogoku.
Also official for All Together is a clash between Pro-Wrestling NOAH’s heavyweights and CHAOS. Bishamon will head to Ryogoku five days removed from their IWGP Tag Team Championship challenge at Dominion, and are joined by Tomohiro Ishii to take on Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba and Yoshiki Inamura. Back in January at Yokohama Arena, a tag team match for Ishii and Oskar Leube against Inaba and Kitamiya ended in a wild brawl between Ishii and Kitamiya that spread to the backstage area. Now another powerhouse in Inaba joins the mix for NOAH to present strong competition for a former NEVER Openweight 6 man Tag Team Championship side.
