Atsushi Maruyama & Dan Tamura vs. Hokuto Omori & Atsuki Aoyagi
I don’t know if it they were influenced by Maruyama wrestling in Serious Mode or what, but this might have been the best I’ve seen from the All Japan young boyz. Aoyagi was flipping out of wristlocks like he was auditioning for the BOSJ, Big Dan brought the Karelin Lifts and Hokuto looked real handsome. Everyone’s wearing blue wrist tape for Aoki so you know the tears will be coming later. **1/2
Jun Akiyama, Osamu Nishimura & Ultimo Dragon vs. Takao Omori, Masanobu Fuchi & Black Menso-re
Jun Akiyama is a former Triple Crown/GHC champion and multiple-time Tokyo Dome headliner that willfully books himself in non-stop comedy matches with Black Menso-re and Masanobu Fuchi. He is the true heir to Giant Baba and an enlightened man. *3/4
Zeus, Dylan James & Gianni Valletta vs. Ryouji Sai, Naoya Nomura & Kotaro Suzuki
Couple of things to note here. First, Zeus and Sai have a fan-voted singles match coming up, so they decided to heat that up by having Sai soccer kick the absolute dogshit out of Big Z. Allright, you’ve got me. Second, I love the chemistry between James and Nomura. James’ monster vibe brings out some proper spunk out of Lil Naoya. Third, I’m digging this subtle WILL THEY/WON’T THEY storyline with Sweeper trying to recruit Nomura but him being uncertain because of that SCUMBAG Jake Lee (I assume that’s his reason). A fine installment of Monday Night Zen Nihon. **1/2
Suwama, Shuji Ishikawa & Super Tiger vs. Parrow, Odinson & Nobe Bryant
Super Tiger seems to be on the Yutaka Yoshie Contract, which means he will randomly show up when you least expect it. I missed The End’s run in the last RWTL, so this was my first time seeing them in action and they seem… okay? I love Road Warrior knockoff gimmicks but outside of throwing 100% pure cocaine into each other’s faces during their entrance, they didn’t do anything super memorable. Fun little angle to set up the tag title match afterwards, but match was just a match. **
Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Yoshitatsu & TAJIRI
Kento and WORLD FAMOUS Yoshitatsu showed promise together near the end, which gave me hope for their title match, but this was mostly everyone just fucking around and taking a semi-night off. TAJIRI and Yuma spent the whole match kicking each other in the butt (literally) while Kento did Wada troll spots. Sidenote: it always cracks me up to see TAJIRI throw WWE style punches in All Japan. **1/4
Ryuchi Kawakami & Kazumi Kikuta © vs. Jake Lee & Koji Iwamoto – All-Asia Tag-Team Titles
My main knock against this match is that Sweeper are not as good at playing the home team heroes as Zeus, which means this never quite reached the emotional heights of the last All-Asia tag match. That being said, this was the same kind of interpromotional fun time – the BJW lads heeling it up and working as a well-oiled machine to keep Sweeper isolated from humanity and in constant peril.
I was really hooked by the last section of the match, with the villainous champions completely overwhelming Jake, forcing Iwamoto to jump in and save his partner’s ass on multiple occasions with his suplexes and throws until Lee could finally catch Kikuta with his Backdrop. Good stuff, but a more cathartic babyface performance from Jake would’ve pushed it to the next level. ***1/2
Hikaru Sato vs. Yusuke Okada
One of the most emotionally-charged matches you’ll see all year – down right hard to watch at times. From Okada openly weeping before the bell to the commentator’s voice cracking multiple times while calling the action, this was both a beautiful tribute to Atsushi Aoki and soul-crushingly sad all at once.
They worked a limb-work driven technical wrestling match that was reminiscent of Aoki and played to both guys’ strengths. Okada has an undeniable babyface energy to him and he sold incredibly well for Sato’s vicious kicks and relentless arm onslaught.
One could argue Okada didn’t mount the sharpest comeback ever and this is exactly where criticizing this match completely falls apart. Clearly, these guys had bigger things on their mind than a wrestling match and it’s a real miracle that they pulled this one off considering the circumstances.
