Masaaki Mochizuki Moves Into 1st Place of the AJPW Zennichi Jr. Festival 2026 Tournament B Block

By: Lewis Carlan

The All Japan Pro-Wrestling Zennichi Jr. Festival 2026 Tournament rolled on as the SUMMER ACTION WARS 2026 tour landed in Kurume on Aug. 23rd. AJPW welcomed a crowd of 539 fans to the Jibasan Kurume for the event.

One of the featured bouts was a huge Block B bout between Dragongate star Masaaki Mochizuki and Yuya Aoki. Aoki entered this match with a perfect 3-0 tournament record and was leading Block B with six points as Mochizuki held second place with five.

Due to the circumstances of the Block B standings, this bout turned into a crucial one and both competitors seemingly fought their hearts out to secure that important win. The match featured many near falls but in the end Mochizuki pinned Aoki after trapping him in a Dragon Suplex which ended Aoki’s undefeated run in the Zennichi Jr. Festival 2026 Tournament.

Photo Credit: All Japan Pro-Wrestling

Mochizuki earned his seventh point which enabled him to leapfrog Aoki into first place of the B Block. Either Mochizuki or Aoki will most likely be heading to the tournament finals on Aug. 29th representing Block B as each has one block bout left. On Aug. 26th, Mochizuki will face Naruki Doi and Aoki will meet Hokuto Omori in tournament action. Mochizuki controls his own fate, if he defeats Doi he will head to the finals of the tournament.

In other Block B tournament action, the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Dan Tamura kept his slim hopes alive as he defeated Hokuto Omori. The victory gave Tamura his fifth point and moved him into third place in the Block B standings.

The A Block tightened up on Aug. 23rd. Leon de Oro defeated Seigo Tachibana to earned his fourth point and pull within one point of block leading Tachibana.

Photo Credit: All Japan Pro-Wrestling

In addition, Seiki Yoshioka earned his fourth point with a win over Yasutaka Yano as he is tied with de Oro for second place in Block A. The race in Block A remains between four competitors with one night of block matches left. On Aug. 25th we will find out if Seigo Tachibana, Seiki Yoshioka, Leon de Oro or MUSASHI will move on to the finals as the Block A winner.

Photo Credit: All Japan Pro-Wrestling

In a Triple Crown Championship preliminary bout, Yuma Anzai, Go Shiozaki, Ren Ayabe & Shota Kofuji defeated Kento Miyahara, Ryuki Honda, MUSASHI & Kuma Arashi. Miyahara will defend his AJPW Triple Crown Title against Yuma Anzai on Aug. 29.

Here are the full results for AJPW SUMMER ACTION WARS 2026 for Aug. 23 courtesy of purolove.com:

• Zennichi Jr. Festival – Block A: Seiki Yoshioka [4] defeated Yasutaka Yano [4] (11:10) with the Crash Driver.
  
• Zennichi Trading vs. Sugihara Trading: Hideki Suzuki defeated Jiro Shinbashi  (6:23) with a double-arm suplex.
• Jun Saito, Rei Saito & “Mr. Saito” Naruki Doi defeated Yuma Aoyagi, Yuko Miyamoto & Aizawa No.1 (7:38) after a hip drop by Rei against Aizawa.
  
• Zennichi Jr. Festival – Block A: Leon de Oro [4] defeated Seigo Tachibana [5] (7:24) with a Huracanrana.
  
• Zennichi Jr. Festival – Block B: Masaaki Mochizuki  [7] defeated Yuya Aoki [6] (13:25) with a Dragon Suplex Hold.
  
• Triple Crown Skirmish: Yuma Anzai, Go Shiozaki, Ren Ayabe & Shota Kofuji defeated Kento Miyahara, Ryuki Honda, MUSASHI & Kuma Arashi (13:45) after Anzai’s Gamushara (Running Knee Attack) against Arashi.
  
• Zennichi Jr. Festival – Block B: Dan Tamura [5] defeated Hokuto Omori [4] (16:42) with a powerbomb.

Here are the Updated Zennichi Jr. Festival 2026 block standings:

BLOCK A

• Seigo Tachibana [5]
• Seiki Yoshioka [4]
• Leon de Oro [4]
• Rising HAYATO [4] (Out due to concussion)
• MUSASHI [3]
• Yasutaka Yano [2]

BLOCK B

• Masaaki Mochizuki [7]
• Yuya Aoki [6]
• Dan Tamura [5]
• Hokuto Omori [4]
• Naruki Doi [2]
• Shota Kofuji [0]