AJPW Excite Series 2026 - Ota Ward Gymnasium - WrestleFile Historical Verdict

Ryuki Honda opened All Japan's February 23 Ota Ward show with a singles victory over Hokuto Omori in 8:28. The official result gives Final Vent followed by a pin as the finish, providing a precise marker rather than an assumed submission. Honda's win put an established heavyweight in the result column before the evening progressed to the GAORA title change, World Tag defense and Triple Crown main event. Omori had appeared in several preceding faction contests, but this bout was a straightforward one-on-one test. It is best understood as the opening competitive result for a major championship card, not as a title bout or tournament advancement.

Yuma Anzai scored the deciding pin on Fuminori Abe at 10:20, landing the Gimlet in All Japan's February 23, 2026 Ota City six-man tag. Atsuki Aoyagi and Rising HAYATO were Anzai's partners, while Abe wrestled with Ryo Inoue and Kengo Mashimo. All Japan's result marks Anzai as the winning fall scorer and Abe as the defeated wrestler, rather than a generic six-person win with an unidentified finish.

Anzai's result keeps a leading heavyweight prospect visible before the GAORA TV title change and Triple Crown defense later on the same card. Aoyagi and HAYATO also had ongoing Zennichi Junior Tag Festival context, but the ten-minute six-man result does not itself award tournament points or a title. The recorded fall makes the bout a useful connection between the younger roster and the upper-card championship bouts.

Kumaarashi ended Daisuke Sekimoto's GAORA TV Championship reign at Ota Ward Gymnasium on February 23, 2026, winning in 13:02 with a diving senton and a pin. All Japan records the bout as Sekimoto's first failed defense and Kumaarashi's accession as the 33rd champion. This was not a secondary title result with no direction afterward. Kumaarashi became the next challenger to Triple Crown holder Kento Miyahara, whose own defense against Jun Saito closed the evening. A title switch earlier on the card thus helped connect the GAORA division with the heavyweight main-event story. The victory also gave Kumaarashi individual gold while his larger faction remained part of the show's other championship threads.

Rei Saito returned to AJPW in an eight-man tag on February 23, 2026, and personally pinned Xyon in 11:41 after an Eisbein uppercut-style strike. The official results give the fall to Rei, not his partners Naruki Doi, Senor Saito or Makoto Oishi. They faced Go Shiozaki, Shotaro Ashino, Xyon and Oddyssey, so this was a team victory and a direct successful singles pin for the returning wrestler within the same contest.

The comeback followed a shoulder-related absence, and Rei's decisive fall provides a concrete reason the match stood out on a card dominated by championship action. Rei then joined his brother Jun Saito in seeking another World Tag opportunity after Ayabe and Talos retained later that afternoon. This was a challenge for a future bout, not an additional tag-title match or belt transfer on February 23.

Hikaru Sato submitted Toshiyuki Sakuda with a cross armbar in 15:48 to advance alongside Dan Tamura in the first round of the Zennichi Junior Tag Festival. AJPW's event ledger identifies Sato as the winner of the deciding fall, not Tamura, and lists Sakuda as the wrestler who gave up; Kota Sekifuda was Sakuda's partner. The bout produced tournament progression only, not a GAORA, World Tag or Triple Crown title change.

For a reader following the bracket, the finishing wrestler, defeated opponent and time are more informative than merely repeating that the team advanced. Sato and Tamura took one place in the next round, while the other junior-tag matchup on the same card determined a separate qualifying team.

Seiki Yoshioka pinned MUSASHI with Niten Ichiryu in 15:52 in the other first-round Zennichi Junior Tag Festival match at AJPW's Ota Ward show. Yoshioka partnered Yuya Susumu against MUSASHI and Shota Kofuji. The original official result identifies Yoshioka as the winning fall scorer and MUSASHI as the wrestler pinned, while the recorded tournament note advances Yoshioka and Susumu to the next round. This was a bracket decision, not a championship defense.

MUSASHI and Yoshioka's junior rivalry gives the pin its immediate meaning, and the precise finish explains which team could continue the tournament. Keeping the outcome independent of Sato and Tamura's earlier 15:48 submission also preserves both advancing pairs rather than blending the two separate matches into a generic junior-tag summary.

Ren Ayabe and Talos survived an experienced challenge from Suwama and Hideki Suzuki at AJPW's February 23 Ota Ward show. They retained the World Tag Team Championship in 16:08, finishing with Death Roulette and a pin for the champions' second successful defense. The official result identifies Ayabe and Talos as the reigning 103rd titleholders, a detail that distinguishes this from a standard faction preview. The loss did not end the tag-title conversation: Jun and Rei Saito reunited around the same show and quickly became the champions' next challengers. This bout therefore confirms one defense and sets the immediate stakes for the Saito Brothers' eventual March showdown, without crediting the challengers with a championship they never won.

Kento Miyahara retained the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Jun Saito in the February 23 Ota Ward main event. The twenty-seven-minute, thirty-two-second match ended with Miyahara's Shutdown Suplex Hold, recorded by All Japan as the 76th champion's fifth successful defense. Saito had built momentum by pinning the champion's teammate Ryuki Honda in a Korakuen tag preview eight days earlier, but that result did not transfer to the singles challenge. Miyahara emerged with the championship still intact, while the wider program turned toward Kumaarashi, who had won the GAORA TV title earlier in the evening. Keeping the title defense distinct from the earlier tag preview clarifies the sequence of the heavyweight program.