Ōdō Tournament

Ōdō Tournament (王道トーナメント Ōdō Tōnamento, "Royal Road Tournament") is a professional wrestling tournament held annually by All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) since 2013. The single-elimination tournament is a spiritual successor to the Open Championship tournament, which was held in 1975.[1] Typically, the winner of the tournament earns a future match for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.

History

On July 30, 2013, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) announced a new single-elimination tournament, set to take place the following September.[1] Masanobu Fuchi, advisor to the AJPW board of directors, announced that the tournament was open to both Japanese and foreign wrestlers regardless of their weight divisions.[1] This sets it apart from AJPW's top tournament, the Champion Carnival, which is generally exclusive to heavyweight wrestlers. Since its inception, the tournament has been subtitled "Open Championship", which was a similar openweight tournament held by AJPW in 1975.[1][2] In the spirit of keeping the new tournament different from the Champion Carnival, the elimination format was set for use (the 1975 tournament was round-robin, as opposed to the Carnival which at the time was by elimination). Fuchi hailed Ōdō Tournament as the start of AJPW's rebirth,[1] coming in the heels of a mass exodus of wrestlers that led to the formation of the Wrestle-1 promotion.[3] The winner of the tournament, if not already the reigning champion, will become the number one contender to the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.[1]

List of winners

Year Winner Total
won		 Ref.
2013 Akebono 1 [4]
2014 Go Shiozaki 1 [5]

2013

Akebono, the winner of the 2013 Ōdō Tournament

The 2013 Ōdō Tournament took place between September 11 and 23 and featured sixteen wrestlers. The participants and brackets were revealed on August 11. Included were the reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Suwama and four outside wrestlers; Mexican Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) representative Dark Cuervo, American freelancers D'Lo Brown and Low Ki and Austrian freelancer Bambi Killer.[6] As part of the openweight nature of the tournament, Atsushi Aoki, Kotaro Suzuki and World Junior Heavyweight Champion Yoshinobu Kanemaru from AJPW's junior heavyweight division also entered the tournament.[6][7] The tournament marked the first tour under an AJPW contract for longtime freelancer Akebono, who signed his contract on September 1.[8] On September 15, Suwama, the reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by his former Last Revolution tag team partner Joe Doering.[9] After being eliminated from the tournament on September 16 by Akebono, Low Ki was sidelined for the rest of his AJPW tour with an abdominal injury.[10][11] The injury eventually led to Low Ki announcing his retirement from professional wrestling on October 14 due to AJPW supposedly not honoring their contractual obligation of medical care.[12] He, however, returned to the ring the following summer.[13] On September 23, Akebono defeated Go Shiozaki in the finals of the tournament to become the first Ōdō Tournament winner.[4][14] Following the win, Akebono went on to defeat Suwama on October 27 to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time.[15][16]

First round
(September 11, 14) 		Second round
(September 15, 16, 17) 		Semifinals
(September 19, 21) 		Finals
(September 23)
        
Akebono Pin
Jun Akiyama 11:45[17]
Akebono Pin
Low Ki 07:03[18]
Low Ki Pin
Dark Cuervo 08:27[17]
Akebono Pin
Bambi Killer 06:13[19]
Bambi Killer Pin
Kenso 13:24[20]
Bambi Killer Pin
Takao Ōmori 13:12[21]
Takao Ōmori Pin
Atsushi Aoki 09:59[20]
Akebono Pin
Go Shiozaki 17:40[4]
Go Shiozaki Pin
Kotaro Suzuki 18:36[17]
Go Shiozaki Pin
Yoshinobu Kanemaru 14:32[22]
Yoshinobu Kanemaru Pin
D'Lo Brown 07:26[20]
Go Shiozaki Pin
Joe Doering 15:03[23]
Joe Doering Pin
Sushi 03:47[17]
Joe Doering Pin
Suwama 12:18[22]
Suwama Pin
Kento Miyahara 19:45[20]

2014

Go Shiozaki, the winner of the 2014 Ōdō Tournament

The 2014 Ōdō Tournament took place between September 15 and 28 and featured sixteen wrestlers. The participants and brackets were revealed on August 17. Included were the reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Joe Doering, the defending Ōdō Tournament winner Akebono and one qualifying match, set for August 30 between Sushi and Yohei Nakajima.[2] Joe Doering, the reigning Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, was eliminated from the tournament in his first round match on September 15 by Go Shiozaki, while veteran wrestler and AJPW's new president Jun Akiyama, for the second year in a row, was also eliminated in his first round match by Kento Miyahara.[24][25][26][27] Akebono, the defending Ōdō Tournament winner, was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals on September 22 by Suwama.[28][29] On September 28, Shiozaki defeated Suwama in the finals to win the second Ōdō Tournament.[5][30][31] Shiozaki received his shot at the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship on October 29, but was defeated by Doering.[32][33]

First round
(September 15, 18) 		Second round
(September 20, 21) 		Semifinals
(September 22) 		Finals
(September 28)
        
Jun Akiyama Pin
Kento Miyahara 15:39[24]
Kento Miyahara Pin
Yoshinobu Kanemaru 12:20[34]
Yoshinobu Kanemaru Pin
Hikaru Sato 14:00[35]
Kento Miyahara Pin
Go Shiozaki 17:08[28]
Sushi Pin
Zeus 10:06[35]
Zeus Pin
Go Shiozaki 19:23[34]
Go Shiozaki Pin
Joe Doering 19:48[24]
Go Shiozaki Pin
Suwama 29:55[5]
Suwama Sub
Atsushi Aoki 15:57[24]
Suwama Pin
Takao Ōmori 20:26[36]
The Bodyguard Pin
Takao Ōmori 14:01[35]
Suwama Sub
Akebono 08:24[28]
Kotaro Suzuki Pin
Kenso 09:24[24]
Kotaro Suzuki Pin
Akebono 10:49[36]
Yutaka Yoshie Pin
Akebono 07:26[35]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 ９月シリーズ「王道トーナメント～2013オープン選手権～」開催決定！渕選手のコメントも掲載！. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). July 30, 2013. Archived from the original on August 2, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "全日本プロレス第2回王道トーナメントの組み合わせが決定！一回戦からドーリングvs潮崎、秋山vs宮原などが実現！". Battle News (in Japanese). August 17, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  3. ↑ Caldwell, James (July 10, 2013). "Japan news: Great Muta announces new promotion". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～ 愛知・名古屋国際会議場. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 【9.28優勝決定戦】 第２回王道トーナメント～2014オープン選手権～　大阪大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). September 29, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "王道トーナメント組み合わせカード決定！一回戦から「秋山vs曙」「諏訪魔vs宮原」、バーニング対決も！！". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). August 11, 2013. Archived from the original on August 15, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  7. ↑ 青木が王道トーナメントでの番狂わせを予告. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). September 1, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  8. ↑ フリーを卒業！曙が全日本プロレスに入団. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). September 6, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  9. ↑ 諏訪魔 王道トーナメント2回戦でまさかの敗戦. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). September 16, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  10. ↑ 「王道トーナメント～2013オープン選手権～」9.17島根・出雲体育館大会ロウ・キー選手欠場のお知らせ. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). September 17, 2013. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  11. ↑ ロウ・キー選手が負傷の為、今シリーズ残り３大会(9/19豊橋、9/21橋本、9/23名古屋)を欠場。. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). September 19, 2013. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  12. ↑ Johnson, Mike (October 14, 2013). "First Ring of Honor Champion announces retirement". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  13. ↑ Martin, Adam (March 30, 2014). "Low Ki (Kaval) coming out of retirement for PWS". Wrestleview. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ 曙が「王道トーナメント」初代覇者. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Anniversary Tour 2013 東京・両国国技館". All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  16. ↑ 曙が諏訪魔下し悲願の初３冠／全日本. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). October 28, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～　東京・後楽園ホール. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  18. ↑ 王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～　岡山・岡山県卸センター　オレンジホール. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  19. ↑ 王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～ 愛知・豊橋市総合体育館. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～　神奈川・横浜ラジアントホール. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  21. ↑ 王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～ 島根・出雲体育館. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～　大阪・ボディメーカーコロシアム（大阪府立体育会館）第2競技場. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  23. ↑ 王道トーナメント　～2013オープン選手権～ 和歌山・和歌山県立橋本体育館. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 【9.15開幕戦】第２回王道トーナメント ～２０１４オープン選手権～後楽園大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). September 16, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  25. ↑ "【全日本プロレス】王道トーナメント1回戦、ドーリングvs潮崎、秋山vs宮原". Battle News (in Japanese). September 16, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  26. ↑ 王道Ｔ初戦でドーリング撃破！潮﨑Ｖでかつてのバイト先に恩返しだ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). September 16, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  27. ↑ ３冠王者ドーリング、潮崎に敗れ初戦敗退. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). September 16, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 【9.22】第2回王道トーナメント～2014オープン選手権～長崎大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). September 22, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  29. ↑ 全日「王道Ｔ優勝戦」は潮崎ｖｓ諏訪魔. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). September 23, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  30. ↑ 全日本で初勲章！潮﨑「王道Ｔ」初制覇 ３冠挑戦へ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  31. ↑ 潮崎が王道Ｔ初優勝　次は３冠ベルトだ. Daily Sports Online (in Japanese). Kobe Shimbun. September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  32. ↑ 【10.29】全日本プロレス 旗揚げ記念シリーズ 山形大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  33. ↑ ３冠王者ドーリング　潮崎下しＶ３. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). October 30, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 【9.20】第２回王道トーナメント ～２０１４オープン選手権～福岡大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). September 20, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 【9.18】第２回王道トーナメント ～２０１４オープン選手権～愛知・豊橋大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). September 18, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 試合結果！！/ 【9.21】第2回王道トーナメント～2014オープン選手権～山口・下関大会. All Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). September 21, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2014.

External links