Rei Saito And Ryuki Honda Advance To AJPW Champion Carnival 2025 Semi-Finals, Saito Completes Remarkable Comeback

By: Lewis Carlan

Ryuki Honda & Rei Saito are heading to the All Japan Pro-Wrestling Champion Carnival 2025 semi-finals as they finished first and second, respectfully, in the B Block of the tournament.

With a number of B Block competitors tied at eight points heading into the May 11th event, it was Honda and Saito who prevailed, finishing with ten points each. Honda defeated Madoka Kikuta to punch his ticket to the semi-finals while Saito got past Yuma Anzai to earn his spot. Honda was declared the first place winner as he holds a victory over Saito in the tournament.

The big story is the remarkable comeback of Rei Saito. He lost his first three matches of the tournament and his prospects of advancing past block action looked very bleak. Saito defied the odds and won his last five straight against tough competition which was good enough for his second place finish.

There are four competitors left in this years Champion Carnival, each with the hopes of winning two more matches and earning the opportunity to face the AJPW Triple Crown Champion Jun Saito as the tournament winner.

The four remaining are Kento Miyahara, Hideki Suzuki, Rei Saito & Ryuki Honda. The four faced off in the ring at the conclusion of the May 11th Champion Carnival 2025 event at the APA Hotel & Resort Sapporo.

The semi-finals and finals of the tournament are scheduled for May 18th at the Ota City General Gymnasium.

The semi-final matches are as follows:

• Champion Carnival Winner Tournament Semi-finals: Hideki Suzuki (1st place in A Block) vs Rei Saito (2nd place in B Block)
• Champion Carnival Winner Tournament Semi-finals: Kento Miyahara (2nd place in A Block) vs Ryuki Honda (1st place in B Block)

The winners of each match will face each other on the same night in the Champion Carnival 2025 Finals.

The event will air live on AJPW TV subscription streaming service.