AJPW Royal Road Tournament Set To Begin On Aug. 24th, Full Line-Up Of Round One Matches

By: Lewis Carlan

The All Japan Pro-Wrestling annual Royal Road tournament is set to begin on Aug. 24th at Korakuen Hall with three first round bouts scheduled for the event. The remaining five first round matches will take place on Aug. 30 at Kunibiki Messe Large Exhibition Hall and Aug. 31 at Kobe Sanbo Hall.

The second round will begin on Sept. 3rd with the semi-finals and finals set for Sept. 15th at Korakuen Hall.

The 2025 Royal Road Tournament will have a field of 16 participants and they include:

• Kento Miyahara
• Yuma Aoyagi
• Jun Saito
• Daisukie Sekimoto
• Ren Ayabe
• Hokuto Omori
• Naruki Doi
• Naoya Nomura
• Odyssey
• Xyon
• Hideki Suzuki
• Davey Boy Smith Jr.
• Kengo Mashimo
• Shotaro Ashino
• Ryuki Hionda
• Kumaarashi

Ren Ayabe will attempt to win the tournament for two consecutive years but he has a tough first round match against the current AJPW Triple Crown Champion Jun Saito on Aug 31st.

Image Credit: AJPW

Kento Miyahara will be looking to tie Suwama with the most Royal Road Tournament wins with three as he faces Kengo Mashimo on Aug. 24th.

Image Credit: AJPW

Former WWE star Odyssey will make his AJPW Royal Road Tournament debut as he faces Hideki Suzuki on Aug. 30th.

Image Credit: AJPW

Here are all eight first round matches of the 2025 AJPW Royal Road Tournament which will play out over three nights:

Aug 24 at Korakuen Hall:

• Daisuke Sekimoto vs Naruki Doi
• Yuma Aoyagi vs Naoya Nomura
• Kento Miyahara vs. Kengo Mashimo

Aug 30 at Kunibiki Messe Large Exhibition Hall:

• Hideki Suzuki vs Odyssey
• Shotaro Ashino vs Davey Boy Smith Jr

Aug 31 at Kobe Sanbo Hall:

• Ryuki Honda vs. Kumaarashi
• Hokuto Omori vs. Xyon
• Jun Saito vs. Ren Ayabe

The AJPW Royal Road Tournament began back in 2013 with Akebono winning the inaugural competition.

AJPW megastar Kento Miyahara has competed in every single Royal Road Tournament since it’s inception back in 2013.

The winner of the Royal Road Tournament will earn a shot at the AJPW Triple Crown Championship currently held by Jun Saito. Should Saito win the tournament, he will get to nominate his next challenger.

All AJPW events can be seen on AJPW TV subscription streaming service.