Kento Miyahara Wins AJPW Royal Road Tournament At Sold Out Korakuen Hall

By: Lewis Carlan

On Sept. 15th, the All Japan Pro-Wrestling 12th Annual Royal Road Tournament concluded as a sell out crowd of 1,469 fans packed Korakuen Hall to witness the event.

AJPW megastar Kento Miyahara overcame Daisike Sekimoto in the semifinals and then Ryuki Honda in the the finals to emerge as the winner of this years Royal Road Tournament.

Miyahara defeated Sekimoto with a roll up in a little over five minutes to reach the finals. Honda punched his ticket to the finals with a victory over last year’s tournament winner Ren Ayabe.

The finals proved to be an incredibly hard fought bout by both Miyahara and Honda. Honda nearly pulled it out with his Final Vent finisher but Miyahara was able to kick out at the very last moment. Honda fell victim to Miyahara’s Shutdown Suplex which was enough to hold his shoulders to the mat as the referee counted to three.

This was the third Royal Road Tournament win for Miyahara as he tied Suwama with the most tournament wins at three.

The  tournament victory earned Miyahara the right to challenge for the Triple Crown Championship and he called out current titleholder Jun Saito. Saito came to the ring for a short confrontation with Miyahara. The two will meet on Sept. 23rd with Saito’s Triple Crown Title on the line.

Miyahara ended his in-ring celebration by hold up a picture of Taishin Nagao who tragically passed away last week.

Photo Credit: AJPW

In other action, the All Asia Tag Team Championship changed hands as MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka defeated Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi to become the new champions.

At the start of the event, AJPW held a ceremony and ten bell salute for Taishin Nagao who passed away on Sept. 7th.

Photo Credit: AJPW

Here are the full results for the 12th annual Royal Road Tournament Finals could purolove.com:

• All Asia Tag Team Title: MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka defeat Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi (14:02) after the Niten Ichiryu of MUSASHI against Atsuki – title change.
• 12th Oudou Tournament – Semi Final: Kento Miyahara defeats Daisuke Sekimoto(5:07) with a Samson Clutch.
• 12th Oudou Tournament – Semi Final: Ryuki Honda defeats Ren Ayabe (9:08) with the Final Vent.
• Davey Boy Smith Jr., “Mr. Saito” Naruki Doi, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Seigo Tachibana defeat Hokuto Omori, Kuma Arashi, Ryo Inoue & Shota Kofuji (9:58) after a crab hold from Doi against Kofuji.
• Baka no Jidai vs. HAVOC: Hideki Suzuki, Hikaru Sato & Kengo Mashimo defeat Shotaro Ashino, Xyon & Oddyssey (11:01) after an elbow from Suzuki against Xyon.
• Jun Saito, Yuma Anzai & Rising HAYATO defeat Suwama, Dan Tamura & Naoya Nomura (11:57) after a jackhammer from Saito against Tamura.
• 12th Oudou Tournament – Final: Kento Miyahara defeats Ryuki Honda (16:11) with a shutdown Suplex Hold.