Rei Saito Continues To Struggle In AJPW Champion Carnival

By Lewis Carlan

The All Japan Pro-Wrestling Champion Carnival 2025 is in full swing with a number of tournament events having been completed. One of the favorites to win this years prestigious AJPW tournament has gotten off to a very poor start.

On April 20th, Rei Saito was defeated by Ren Ayabe in a Block B tournament match. With the loss to Ayabe, Saito fell to a record of 0 wins and 3 defeats in Champion Carnival 2025 matches. Saito is currently in sole possession of last place in the B Block with Mike D Vecchio and Ryuki Honda tied for first with 6 points each. Coincidently, Saito’s other two losses came at the hands of D Vecchio and Honda.

Following his loss to Ayabe, Saito looked very disappointed as expected. Despite being disappointed, Saito, when arriving to the commentary table, proclaimed that he will still win this years Champion Carnival Tournament.

Being winless at this point in the tournament has stacked the odds against Saito of pulling of winning this years Champion Carnival. He has a number of tough tournament matches left and would have to win them all if he hopes to have any chance of walking away with the winners trophy.

The opponents left for Saito are as follows: Yuma Aoyagi, Aigle Blanc, Madoka Kikuta, Hokuto Omori & Yuma Anzai. The most points Saito would be able to earn would be ten should he go undefeated for the remainder of the tournament. If D Vecchio and/or Honda win 3 more matches, then Saito’s hopes of winning the Champion Carnival will be finished.

To put it plainly, if Rei Saito is hoping to challenge his brother Jun Saito for the AJPW Triple Crown Title as the Champion Carnival 2025 winner and pull off the greatest comeback in tournament history, he will need nothing short of a miracle.