r/ajpw

Full cards on the All Japan site under the link.

Quite a few interesting matchups and we get another Suwama vs Shiozaki tag at the next Korakuen Hall shows, while Kofuji and Yano have to again prove themselves and learn in difficult singles matches over the course of the tour.

Also, a mysterious Luchador named Leon de Oro will take part starting the Korakuen Hall show.

(Sadly no Hyo Ogawa though

Quotes:

Upon hearing the news, Suwama spoke to reporters, unable to hide his distress: “Man, I was so shocked that my mind went completely blank. It was such a shock that my thoughts just stopped. I kind of thought he might pull off a miracle. I couldn’t believe a monster like him would fall victim to illness.”

　He and Mr. Doering weren’t just rivals for the Triple Crown championship; they shared a deep bond as both rivals and allies, having won the World Tag Team Championship in 2013 and dominated the World’s Strongest Tag Team Determination League.

“I have fond memories of both teaming up with him and competing against him. Every single move he made was intense, and I clearly remember how terrifying the Revolution Bomb was—its destructive power was off the charts,” he recalled.

“I’d witnessed his dedication up close since his early days as a young wrestler. I remember us training together desperately, huffing and puffing the whole time. His matches were amazing, but deep down, he was Japanese at heart. He was incredibly serious in his approach and kind-hearted. But he was scary when he got angry, and he had a lot of pride,” he said, revealing aspects of his personality. “His philosophy on pro-wrestling was similar to mine. We often talked about ‘how All Japan Pro-Wrestling should be,’ and he truly loved All Japan Pro-Wrestling,” he reminisced.

In June 2013, All Japan Pro Wrestling split, leading to a mass exodus of wrestlers (which resulted in the creation of WRESTLE-1). The unit “Last Revolution,” to which Suwama and Doering belonged became unsustainable. That’s when the two of them started “Evolution “ (alongside Atsushi Aoki & Hikaru Sato). Suwama, who currently serves as managing director of the promotion bearing that name, renewed his vow, saying, “Joe and I talked about it and decided, ‘Let’s make it evolve,’ so we settled on ‘Evolution.’ Without Joe, there would be no Evolution. I feel I have to fight for Joe’s sake.”

“Seriously, thank you for everything. I hope he gets some rest,” Suwama said, sending a message to Mr. Doering. Carrying on the spirit of the “runaway locomotive” who fought his illness until the very end, he will continue down the path of evolution.

Weekly Puroresu magazine Shupro did a two page interview with All Japan president Tsuyoki Fukuda and I decided to write down some interesting bits and highlights from it here:

After 9 Years of losses, they were in the black for the first time in April 2024. They don‘t have a sales goal for the year, Fukuda just paid for the rest that was missing. He became owner 11 years ago and for 9 years they didnt have 1 month in which they were in the black.

Turning point was the Ota Ward show on 3/30 2024, where Yuma Anzai took the Triple Crown from Katsuhiko Nakajima.It was said that the new era of young All Japan had arrived and it started to show in good attendance.

While other big companies would see this as their big chance and really push to widen their events, All Japan kept steady, because they learned from past mistakes.

Fukuda has watched AJPW since he was a child and does not want it to perish with him in charge, where a big part of japanese culture would be lost.Instead of doing events at big places like many might want to do or try to double profits, he wants All Japan to grow bit by bit.He says, if you raise prizes and try to get all the money your customer has, they will stop coming to your events. A long relationship to your customer is much better, according to Fukuda.

They are keeping it small inside the company as well, as they have only 7 employees working for them, with which they organize about 67 events a year.Fukuda is especially grateful to those, as they handle everything, from event management, social media, advertisement, fan goods and visas for foreign talent.

Usually All Japan was a company run in a top down format, but currently it is bottom up. Usually an employee will come to Fukuda and ask for permission to do something and he gives the OK.If you only go for profit maximisation, everyone will have to obey the orders from the top and the organisation becomes paralysed. Now, all workers and employees can give 100% of their potential, according to Fukuda. He does not see profit as the main goal, but customer satisfaction. If they see omething that fits the ticket prize, they will surely come again.

If there is one big next goal, it would be to be able to completely sell out Korakuen, Ota Ward and Yoyogi 2^(nd) Gymnasium with no available tickets left. In places bigger than this, the special attraction of All Japan and the effect of having the biggest heavyweights in tough fights might get lost a bit.

There were some scandals this year which hurt the image of All Japan and there are fans that especially like talking about stuff outside of the squared circle, but Fukuda sees the main focus of AJPW in the ring and loves to see the fans go home with a smile talking about the matches.

But to grow, Fukuda does not only try to please existing fans, but they are also targeting fans outside the usual wrestling bubble. All this lead to an unexpectedly great result in Ota Ward recently with over 3000 fans, thanks to Yuma Anzais participation in The Bachelorette 4 on Amazon Prime, a great and intense Champion Carnival and the work of the roster, including the foreign workers Odyssey, Xion and Talos.

Of course they are not running the really big places like other promotions. and those may laugh a bit about the small scale All Japan, but he doesn‘t see anyone as a rival promotion, as AJPW is unique in what it does.

Fukuda hopes after 9 years of losses, they can have 10 profitbale years in succession with the old Giant Baba motto: The fan is the most important sponsor