AJPW’s Saito Brothers Look to Build on Breakout 2023

By: Lewis Carlan

Jun and Rei Saito are a bit of a throwback act. At once nostalgic and of-the-moment, the pair are an AJPW product who successfully built momentum globally last year in an effort to become a cornerstone of All Japan’s burgeoning resurgence.

On December 30, All Japan Pro-Wrestling stars Jun & Rei Saito put their GLEAT G-INFINITY Championship on the line for the ninth time against Soma Wanatabe & Yuya Susumu. Despite a spirited effort on the part of Wanatabe and Susumu, the Saito Brothers were able to emerge victorious and successfully defend their G-INFINITY Titles once again.

DOOM👎
初の防衛戦、勝ったぜ✨✨
俺達SAITO BROTHERS はまだまだスタートラインに立ったに過ぎない‼️‼️
これからが楽しみだな⁉️
とりあえず明日諏訪魔をぶっ倒すぜ🔥🔥 🔥🔥#ajpw #GLEAT pic.twitter.com/9lluOuyCR3

— 斉藤レイ (@FujinohanaRei) July 1, 2023

With that victory, Jun & Rei Saito continue to enjoy a major hot streak. 2023 was a breakout year for The Saito Brothers as they have established themselves as one of the top tag teams in Japan. We saw glimpses of their potential in 2022 following their excursion from AJPW. But last year, Jun & Rei Saito found themselves enjoying the most success they have experienced since starting their careers.

Jun & Rei Saito, who are members of the Voodoo Murders unit, won their first major tag titles back on June 7, 2023 when they defeated Bulk Orchestra’s Check Shimatani & Hayato Tamura for the G-INFINITY Championship. Since that victory, they have taken on all comers and made an impressive nine straight successful title defenses. Numerous teams from GLEAT have been chasing them for the G-INFINITY Championship, but none have been able to dethrone The Saito Brothers. With their victory on December 30 against Soma Wanatabe & Yuya Susumu, Jun & Rei dominantly walk into 2024 as the GLEAT G-INFINITY Champions. It could be a long time before they lose the titles.

In addition to the G-INFINITY Championship, The Saito Brothers are also the All Japan Pro-Wrestling World Tag Team Champions. On October 9, 2023, Jun & Rei Saito defeated AJPW ace Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi to win the AJPW World Tag Team Titles. This was by far the biggest accomplishment in the young careers of Jun & Rei Saito.  In a spectacular match that lasted nearly forty minutes, The Saito Brothers showed the world that they had become major players and are on the path of stardom. Winning the AJPW World Tag Team Titles in front of their hometown crowd in Kakuda, Miyagi, Japan had to be extremely gratifying for the pair.

Rei Saito proved that he is more than a tag team specialist as he made his debut in the DDT Pro-Wrestling D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 tournament. Rei Saito had an impressive showing in the tournament finishing with eight points and only losing once to D-Ou Grand Prix 2023 winner Yukio Naya. Saito scored tournament victories over DDT Pro stars MAO, Kazuki Hirata & KANON. He also defeated Hideki Okatani in a non-tournament match on December 24th>.

To top off their breakout year, Tokyo Sports named Jun & Rei Saito the best newcomers for 2023. The Saito Brothers will be defending their AJPW World Tag Team Titles for the third time against the winners of the Real World Tag League 2023 tournament Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hokuto Omori on January 14.

【タイトルマッチまであと6️⃣日！】

1月14日(日)後楽園大会にて開催される世界タッグ選手権試合の記者会見の模様は全日本プロレスYouTubeで公開中📺

✅https://t.co/v1kWGXXZAU

◆世界タッグ選手権試合 60分1本勝負

【第97代王者組】
斉藤ジュン
斉藤レイ
vs
【挑戦者組】
中嶋勝彦
大森北斗#ajpw pic.twitter.com/BQf0hZcsG4

— 全日本プロレス/alljapan (@alljapan_pw) January 8, 2024

Jun & Rei Saito seem poised to capitalize on their huge 2023 as they prepare to enter 2024. It will be very interesting and quite honestly, very fun watching The Saito Brothers soar to greater heights and enjoy further success this year.