Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Kuma Arashi & Hokuto Omori
STOP THE PRESSES: Hokuto Omori is growing some chin hair. In other news, this was a perfectly constructed 6 minute match where everything made sense and everyone got over. The youngest Aoyagi Brother played babyface in peril against actual mountain of a man Kuma Arashi, Yuma got the hot tag run of deeply competent big brother offense and then the two youngsters wrapped it up to showcase Omori’s recent growth. It’s all starting to come together for Hokuto: the new gear, the new attitude, the brilliant chef’s kiss pose. His new axe kick needs some work but if he can figure it out, I’ll take it over his bland Ace Crusher. Thank you All Japan Pro-Wrestling. **3/4
Yoshitatsu & Yusuke Okada vs. Shotaro Ashino & Yusuke Kodama
The main theme here was Yoshitatsu’s questionable coaching skills leading Yusuke to his doom. Okada, please don’t join the YOSHITATSU KINGDOM, you deserve better. The other big theme was rock-solid professional wrestling, notably: Okada stealing the show with a fearless tope and LONG DISTANCE diving headbutt, Enfants Terribles kicking ass and Yoshitatsu being world famous. Enfants were on a bit of a losing streak in the last month, but they came off as dominant here. Just in time for Champ Carnival. **3/4
Ultimo Dragon & TAJIRI vs. Francesco Akira & Rising HAYATO
More pleasant midcard wrestling with Akira and HAYATO overwhelming the veterans with their youthful high flying. I could watch TAJIRI guide youngsters through chain wrestling sequences all day. The man is an undeniable pro and an inspired choice to take over as dojo coach. His scream of agony in anticipation of Akira’s corner lariat should also earn him an Oscar. Or at least a MTV Video Music award nomination. Seeing Ultimo back on the All Japan undercard was pretty cool and I thought he gelled well with HAYATO. **1/2
Hikaru Sato & Takuya Wada vs. Kagetora & GOSAMARU
GOSAMARU’s a masked man from Ryukyu Dragon Pro Wrestling and I’m not sure what his connection to Atsushi Aoki is. He seemed like a SUSHI-esque indie schlob initially but surprised me (and the audience) by showing a lot of heart against the deadly HENTAI ABSOLUTE duo. I liked the story of the two indie guys having to use speed and craft to survive against the shooterz’ MMA-gloved onslaught. GOSAMARU got a lot of shine during the ending stretch against Hikaru, what with the big Moonsault and flash rollup near-fall. Fun match. ***
Masanobu Fuchi, Jun Akiyama, SUSHI & Dan Tamura vs. Takao Omori, Koji Iwamoto, Osamu Nishimura & Black Menso-re
Akiyama’s been rocking it in DDT for the past two months, but seeing him reignite his blood feud with Black Menso-re felt right and put a big smile on my face. You could tell he was happy to be back amongst his All Japan family. The other big highlight here was Iwamoto and Tamura (now decked out in Evolution gear) bringing the hatred and taking shots at each other throughout the match. I wasn’t sure what to make of this pairing up to this point, but consider me now extremely fired up for their upcoming junior title match. **1/4
Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto © vs. Zeus & Izanagi – All-Asia Tag Team Titles
As much as it helped freshen up the All-Asia tag picture for a while, the Yankee Two Kenju reign wasn’t a huge hit with me. That being said, this match ended things on a positive note and left the future in the very capable hands of the OSAKA EXPRESS aka. Purple Haze. There wasn’t a clear storyline here, mostly a bunch of very solid wrestling that escalated into some crazy ass indie high spots.
The Zeus/Miyamoto exchanges were my favorite part: great chemistry between these guys as the Z-Man kept Yuko grounded with his power advantage until Miyamoto showed him he could also throw a mean lariat. YTK’s car crash double-teams added a lot of spice to the action and Izanagi is an absolute madman for taking that 2nd-rope Reverse Frankensteiner from Isami. Dug how they weaved in Izanagi’s recent fondness for the Small Package of Death into the finish. Izanagi jumping into Zeus’ arms after the pin = big moment. ***1/4
Suwama, Shuji Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie vs. Kento Miyahara, Jake Lee & Yuji Okabayashi
God, I’ve missed Okabayashi in All Japan. This man had an absolute scorcher with Kento during last year’s Champion Carnival and they played into that here by being at each other’s throats for the entire match. Big Yuji’s sheer annoyance with his own partner was the purest comedy gold: even Ishikawa was corpsing on the apron when Okabayashi started chopping Miyahara.
The meat-based pro wrestling between him and the three beefcakes on the other team was of the utmost quality as well. That vigorous test of strength with Suwama gave me flashbacks to the Strong BJ/Violence Giants tag bangers and once again everything in the world felt okay. Irie’s another guy who fell off the Zen Nihon radar during the empty arena period and he made the most of his performance here. He was back to his friendly teddy bear persona, which makes me wonder if he was retconned from Purple Haze? Existential questions aside: this thing was too much fun. A hard hitting heavyweight throwdown with a healthy dose of laughs. ***1/2
If you’re up for a few more tears, be sure to stick around for the Aoki commemoration segment that closes the show. Powerful stuff.
