Yuma Aoyagi Wants to Win Champion Carnival Two More Times

Yuma Aoyagi Wants to Win Champion Carnival Two More Times

By: J. Curbelo

Yesterday, All Japan Pro Wrestling held a press conference with the participants of this year’s Champion Carnival tournament. The first show will take place on Saturday, April 8th, and will run until Sunday, May 7th, with the winners of Blocks A & B facing each other for the trophy.

For 2022 winner Yuma Aoyagi, the mission is clear: Winning again. And Again. Aoyagi rejoiced in being the current youngest winner of the tournament, and expressed his desire to not just win it this year, but also go on to win it a third time in 2024 to achieve a “Giant” hat-trick.

#CC2023 会見でした。#ajpw pic.twitter.com/pfpv4E7aSM

— 青柳優馬《Yuma Aoyagi》 (@attack_on_yuma) April 4, 2023

After his statement, Aoyagi also locked eyes on 23 year old Ryuki Honda. Honda will be appearing in the tournament for the second time, and if he wins, he’ll break Aoyagi’s record for youngest winner of the Carnival. They are both in the same block, facing each other on the April 22nd show in Niigata.

Other competitors have expressed their goals to varying degrees of intensity, the most notable being Satoshi Kojima, also in Block A, who has a grudge to solve with Kento Miyahara, and a desire to prove that he’s still just a kid compared to him.

２００２年、私が全日本プロレスで闘い始めた時、君は中学２年生。

中学生からの勉強をやり直して下さい。 https://t.co/V8nnYwxA6q

— 小島 聡【SATOSHI KOJIMA】 (@cozy_lariat) April 5, 2023

Aside from Aoyagi, Honda, Kojima and Miyahara, Block A will have Yoshitatsu, Jun Saito, T-Hawk and gaijin “The Monster” Cyrus. In parallel, Block B will have Suwama, Shuji Ishikawa, Shotaro Ashino, Hokuto Omori, Rei Saito, Manabu Soya and Takao Omori.

READ: Unagi Sayaka Will Participate in AJPW Champion Carnival Finals Show

With a fair amount of seasoned veterans, young promising talent and rookies barely starting to carve their names in the tournament’s history, it’s anyone’s game throughout the month of April and early May.