Go Shiozaki Defeats Yuma Anzai in an Instant Classic at AJPW Champion Carnival 2026 Opening Night

By: Lewis Carlan

The All Japan Pro-Wrestling Champion Carnival 2026 tournament got underway on April 12th with a crowd of nearly 1,200 on hand at Korakuen Hall to witness the event.

The road to tournament finals on May 17th at Ota Ward General Gymnasium kicked-off as a number of block matches took place on Champion Carnival 2026 opening night.

The main event was a Block A showdown between Go Shiozaki and Yuma Anzai. The two proceeded to have a match for the ages as each fought hard to earn their first two points of the tournament and gain some early momentum. The fans were very vocal throughout in this thriller of a main event between Shiozaki and Anzai.

While the bout could have gone either way, it was a Gowan Lariat by Shiozaki that ended the bout at the 23:49 minute mark. With the win, Shiozaki gained his first two points of the tournament.

During his backstage post-match comments, Shiozaki praised Anzai and spoke about the excitement from the Korakuen Hall crowd:

From Go Shiozaki:

“Yuma Anzai is strong. But more than that, has the Champion Carnival ever been this intense? Has there ever been this much excitement, this much energy from the crowd?” (English translation via Deepl.com)

Go Shiozaki has another tough match ahead of him as his next tournament bout will be against AJPW Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara on April 18th.

In the co-featured bout, Ren Ayabe defeated Jun Saito in a Block B match to earn his first two points of the tournament. Jun Saito continues to struggle as this is now his third consecutive singles match loss in a row.

Here are the full results for AJPW Champion Carnival Opening Night courtesy of purolove.com:

• AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title Skirmish: Dan Tamura, Hokuto Omori & Hikaru Sato defeated Seigo Tachibana, Shota Kofuji & Seiki Yoshioka (10:45) after a La Magistral by Tamura against Tachibana.
  
• Champion Carnival – Block A: Rei Saito [2] defeated Kuma Arashi [0] (8:22) with the BBQ Bomb.
  
• Champion Carnival – Block B: Daisuke Sekimoto [2] defeated Yuma Aoyagi [0] (15:14) with the Big Bang Catastrophy.
  
• Champion Carnival – Block A: Kengo Mashimo  [2] defeated Talos [0] (7:31) with a hammerlock-style pinfall.
• Kento Miyahara, Ryuki Honda, Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO defeated Oddyssey, Shotaro Ashino, MUSASHI & Ryo Inoue (12:14) with a shutdown suplex hold from Miyahara against Inoue.
  
• Champion Carnival – Block B: Xyon [2] defeated Hideki Suzuki [0] (5:55) with a diving headbutt.
  
• Champion Carnival Block – B: Ren Ayabe [2] defeated Jun Saito [0] (20:12) with the Death Roulette.
• Champion Carnival Block – A: Go Shiozaki [2] defeated Yuma Anzai [0] (23:49) with a Gowan Lariat.