Ryuki Honda Wins the AJPW Royal Road Tournament

By: Lewis Carlan

For the past three years, Ryuki Honda had advanced to the finals of the All Japan Pro-Wrestling Royal Road Tournament. Each of those three times he wound up on the losing end of the tournament finals.

In 2026, Ryuki Honda once again made it to the finals of the AJPW Royal Road Tournament which marked his fourth appearance in four years.

After falling short in 2023, 2024 and 2025, Honda would not be denied in 2026 as he finally emerged as the winner of the Royal Road Tournament.

To end his three year tournament runner-up streak, Honda defeated Xyon in a semifinal bout in under ten minutes after hitting his Final Vent finisher.

Photo Credit: All Japan Pro-Wrestling

The win over Xyon placed Honda into the finals against Yuma Aoyagi who defeated Yuma Anzai in the other semifinal tournament bout.

Honda and Aoyagi engaged in a fierce battle that could be considered a match of the year candidate.

For over twenty five minutes; Honda and Aoyagi waged war against each other with the sold out crowd of 1,510 fans at Korakuen Hall fully engaged and very vocal throughout the match.

After numerous near falls by both combatants, it was Honda landing his Final Vent finisher in Aoyagi that ended the electrifying bout at the 25:33 mark to finally emerge as the AJPW Royal Road Tournament winner after four years of attempting the accomplishment.

Photo Credit: All Japan Pro-Wrestling

With the tournament victory, Honda has earned an Oct. 22nd AJPW Triple Crown Title shot at the current champion Kento Miyahara. Champion and challenger faced off as Miyahara came down to the ring to confront Honda.

Honda defeated Miyahara in the second round of the Royal Road Tournament and hopes to carry his momentum to a championship win over Miyahara when they meet on Oct. 22.

Honda gave these post-match backstage comments following his tournament victory:

From Ryuki Honda:

“I won the Main Tournament! I’ve been incredibly frustrated after finishing as runner-up three years in a row, but I think all that was leading up to today. Hey, listen up. Next up is the Triple Crown. On October 22, I’m going to beat Kento Miyahara and become the new Triple Crown Champion. The Triple Crown is my dream. Everyone, keep your hopes up!” (Translation via Deepl.com)

Here are the full results for the AJPW Royal Road Tournament Finals courtesy of purolove.com:

• Royal Road Tournament – Semi Final: Ryuki Honda defeated Xyon (9:06) with the Final Vent.
• Royal Road Tournament – Semi Final: Yuma Aoyagi defeated Yuma Anzai (21:38) with THE FOOL.
• Jun Saito, Rei Saito & “Mr. Saito” Naruki Doi defeated Daisuke Sekimoto, Shotaro Ashino & Oddyssey (9:54) after Rei’s pig’s leg against Oddyssey.
• All Asia Tag Team Title Skirmish: MUSASHI, Rising HAYATO & Hokuto Omori defeated Dan Tamura, Seigo Tachibana & Shota Kofuji (10:32) after a Huracanrana from HAYATO against Kofuji.
• Go Shiozaki, Hideki Suzuki, Timothy Thacher & Yasutaka Yano defeated Kento Miyahara, Ren Ayabe, Kuma Arashi & Hyo Ogawa (12:26) after a Fujiwara Armbar by Thacher against Ayabe.
• Royal Road Tournament – Final: Ryuki Honda defeated Yuma Aoyagi (25:33) with the Final Vent.