AJPW Star Yuma Aoyagi Dethrones Triple Crown Champion Yuji Nagata

New Japan Pro-Wrestling star Yuji Nagata has sat atop the mountain in All Japan Pro Wrestling since February when he won the Triple Crown Championship from Kento Miyahara at Korakuen Hall. Today, that very same venue saw Nagata fall from his throne, with Yuma Aoyagi defeating the 55-year-old wrestling legend to win the Triple Crown Championship for the first time in his career.

Yuma has primarily excelled in tag team competition up until this point. The three-time and reigning AJPW Tag Team Champion's win earlier today is not only the first time he's won the grandest prize in AJPW, but it is also the very first singles championship win of Aoyagi's eight-year career. While he currently stands alongside former Triple Crown Champion Kento Miyahara as an AJPW Tag Team Champion, Yuma Aoyagi has also frequently tagged with his younger brother, Atsuki, who is a stalwart of AJPW's junior heavyweight division.

With his Triple Crown Championship victory coinciding with his and Miyahara's tag title reign, Yuma has achieved an even grander accolade than being the new world champion. With the three titles that make up the Triple Crown and the two that make up the AJPW Tag Team Championships, Yuma Aoyagi becomes the youngest man in AJPW history to become the Five Crown Champion at just 27 years old.

Aoyagi's Triple Crown Championship win in Korakuen Hall also means that the top three titles in puroresu are held by homegrown AJPW stars. SANADA, the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, made his wrestling debut in AJPW back in 2007, while Jake Lee, Pro Wrestling NOAH's GHC Heavyweight Champion, competed in AJPW for the majority of his career before leaving the company to join NOAH last winter.