Hokuto Omori vs. Dan Tamura
These two are still pretty green but they both show a lot of fire and already have a good understanding of how to work a crowd, which goes a long way to make up for some of their mechanical weaknesses. Omori knows to call to the crowd for support before heading up the top turnbuckle and Tamura lets out a fine WARRIOR’S CRY after going on shoulderblock rampages. The Vertical suplex finish completely took me off guard – ballsy move. **1/4
Takao Omori, Masanobu Fuchi & Black Menso~re vs. Jun Akiyama, Osamu Nishimura & Kotaro Suzuki – Jumbo Tsuruta Memorial Match
This was exactly the kind of light-hearted fun you’d expect from a Fuchi midcard 6-man, but with an extra serving of Jumbo Tsuruta tribute spots from Akiyama. The wrestling world as a whole could use a lot more Jumbo tribute spots, so I was very down with all of this. To this day, old men Omori and Nish still know the way to my heart: European uppercuts and Cobra twists. **1/4
Yoshitatsu, Yuma Aoyagi & Yutaka Yoshie vs. TAJIRI, Jake Lee & Naoya Nomura
What seemed to be a haphazardly-put together jumble of a match turned out to be quite a decent time. I am so there for the Nomura/Lee rivalry: the tension between them throughout the match with Nomura refusing to cooperate brought me great joy, as did Jake stiffing the shit out of Aoyagi for mocking his GENTLEMAN SHOOTER pose. This match also made me realize how much I had missed Yutaka Yoshie. God bless this pink mountain of a man. **3/4
Suwama, Hikaru Sato & Yusuke Okada vs. Dylan James, Nobe Bryant & Gianni Valetta
This was my introduction to the extremely well-named Nobe Bryant, so here comes my official statement on the man: HE IS GOOD. The guy chops like a motherfucker, throws a picture-perfect dropkick and seems to have better basics than half of the people in this year’s BOSJ. A rock-solid gaijin pick, Uncle Jun. Well done. The other highlight of the match, as always, was the boy Yusuke Okada. So incredibly eager to tag in, this kid. **3/4
Ryuchi Kawakami & Kazumi Kikuta © vs. Zeus & Atsushi Maruyama – All-Asia Tag-Team Titles
God damn, this fucking ruled. A text-book example of Southern tag wrestling done right with Team Big Japan strutting in as total slimey heels and annihilating lovable babyface Maruyama (who took a completely insane apron bump for the cause) to set up the glorious hot tag comeback from REAL LIFE OLYMPIAN GOD ZEUS.
Kikuta, the scumbag karate fighter, acted like he came straight out of Heisei Ishingun or some obscure 90’s FMW commercial tape while Kawakami supplied large quantities of beefy strike wars with Zeus. The thing about Zeus is that he brings such a ‘’big fight feel’’ to every match. He’s the perfect guy to defend All Japan against invading outsider pricks.
Absolutely lost my shit for the incredibly well-timed spot where Zeus corner whipped one of the heels into a climbing kick from Maruyama on the apron. Maybe these two should be a full-time tag team? OSAKA PRO EXPRESS. Wild ending stretch with the crowd rallying behind the former Tigers Mask. Love the wrestling. ***3/4
Koji Iwamoto © vs. Atsushi Aoki – AJPW Jr Heavyweight Title
Two very technically-sound and uncharismatic kinda guys having a bunch of efficient pro-wrestling right here. They had a well-built match that checked off a lot of the Junior Epic tropes list without spilling into overindulgence. Enjoyed the little dueling limb work subplot since Aoki’s always been a pro at working the arm, and also very much enjoyed all of Iwamoto’s great-looking suplexes and Judo takedowns.
I just wish Iwamoto showed more in terms of personality, especially since Aoki played up the broken down junior shtick pretty well and kept offering him potential character moments on a silver platter. Dude has great offense but comes off as a total blank slate. Still good stuff – that crazy double armbar finish brings it up A QUARTER OF A STAR. ***1/2
Kento Miyahara © vs. Shuji Ishikawa – Triple Crown
Faults and all, Kento Miyahara is the most fascinating wrestler of 2019. The more you watch his matches, the more apparent his formula becomes (Meltzer’s recent Kento/Flair comparison is one of the few good Observer takes of the last years). But once you’re completely familiar with his tricks, every slight deviation becomes hugely rewarding.
Case in point: Kento FAKING HIS OWN DEATH in the opening of this match only to catch Shuji off guard and instantly turn the crowd against him with his sheer dickery. You have to be a special kind of wrestler to be able to fully babyface your opponent for half of a match and gradually win back crowd support by absorbing a shitload of punishment, selling and showing fighting spirit. That’s one of Kento’s best tricks and it was on full display in this match.
Yeah, the apron Fire Thunder no-sell was a bit jarring and there might have been one or two kickouts too many, but this was still one hell of a ride. Ishikawa constantly going back to the double stomp was a brilliant way to get things going and the action never really let up from there. I was 100% there for the ridiculous forearm war where Miyahara got absolutely splattered and 110% there for the build towards Ishikawa’s wrist-clutch Backdrop.
They did a good job spacing out all the mega near-falls in the closing stretch, Kento slowly but surely Blackouting his way back in control of the match while still selling all of the accumulated damage. Plus, Enormous Dude getting hoisted up in the Shutdown German suplex is still one of the best visuals in wrestling. Awesome match. ****1/4
