AJPW Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara States Its No Longer About Pleasing The Fans But About His Own Satisfaction

By: Lewis Carlan

The All Japan Pro-Wrestling Royal Road Tournament 2026 is set to begin at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel Stella Ball on Sept. 9th. A number of first round matches are scheduled for the opening night of the AJPW annual elimination tournament.

The winner of the Royal Road Tournament 2026 will earn a shot at the current AJPW Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara. Should Miyahara win, he will nominate his next opponent.

A press conference was held today with all the participants of the tournament in attendance as they came face to face with their first round opponents.

In a new report from Tokyo Sports, Miyahara had quite a bit to say following the press conference and some may say his words were a bit surprising. Miyahara stated that up until now he has been thinking about the fans and ticket sales but with the Royal Road Tournament 2026 coming up, it’s basically all about him and no longer the fans.

From Kento Miyahara:

“Up until now, I’ve been fighting while thinking about things like getting the crowd hyped up and ticket sales. But this time, I’m going to ignore all that customer satisfaction stuff and go straight for my own satisfaction.”

Miyahara said he plans on winning Royal Road Tournament and then nominate his opponent for the Triple Crown Title match on Oct. 22 at the AJPW 54th Anniversary tour inside Korakuen Hall.

From Kento Miyahara:

“I plan to win the tournament and then name my opponent for the Triple Crown Title match at the Korakuen Hall event on October 22, the anniversary of our promotion’s founding,”

On Sept. 9th, Miyahara’s first round opponent is Pro Wrestling Up Town’s Hyo Ogawa. Miyahara insulted Ogawa during the press conference and vowed to beat him in one minute. Ogawa closed out the press conference by hitting Miyahara with a swinging Hammer Throw.

Photo Credit: All Japan Pro-Wrestling

Miyahara verbally went after Ogawa and Pro Wrestling Up Town after the press conference had ended.

From Kento Miyahara:

“Who on earth is teaching him that? I’d love to see the face of his coach (Kuroshio TOKYO Japan). What even is Up town, anyway? It’s probably just some backwater promotion.”

Kento Miyahara was the winner of last year’s AJPW Royal Road Tournament as he defeated Ryuki Honda in the finals. He can make history if he wins this year as he would become the first pro-wrestler to win the Royal Road Tournament four times.

(English quote translations via Deepl.com)