Jake Lee & Fuminori Abe vs. Baliyan Akki & Yusuke Okada
The Yoshitatsu Kingdom is collapsing before our very eyes: both Tachibana and Yoshi are off the card due to injuries. World Famous, but at what cost!? This opened the door for the return of Gatoh Move’s own Baliyan Akki, who had an impressive opening match showing against Francesco Akira last month. The guy didn’t get to do much outside of a fun combo on Abe, as the match landed on the very short side of the spectrum. Still pretty decent stuff with everyone looking perfectly competent. **1/4
Shuji Ishikawa & Ryuki Honda vs. Takao Omori & TAMURA
Nikkan Lee had the crew nearly rebuild the entire ring due to some issue with the mat, so Omori and friends thanked the crowd for their patience by giving them A Very Solid Midcard Wrestling Match. Honda got more spotlight than yesterday, wisely using his size advantage over HEAT UP Tiny Ace TAMURA until the indie vet took his arm apart. Please be aware that I still pop for old man Omori trying to get the crowd to chant his name in the middle of strike exchanges. **1/2
Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura vs. Izanagi & Shigehiro Irie
So happy to have Irie back in All Japan once in a while. Before Purple Haze had their heelishness toned down, it seemed his main role was going to be ring-side cheater, which was a bit of a bummer. In the post-COVID Zen Nihon Universe, he’s back to vintage Irie and worked his magic with young Daniel Tamura in this very acceptable tag match. Their heated forearm exchange lit up the place and got the biggest reaction of the night so far. **1/2
Kento Miyahara & Francesco Akira vs. Koji Doi & Yusuke Kodama
Say what you will about Kento’s comedy tag shtick, but in these dark COVID times, it gets more heat and crowd involvement than pretty much anything else on the AJPW undercards. Also, I was kinda blown away that we saw a Northern Lights suplex from this man. When’s the last time he came through with that in a midcard match? Akira played his role well as Kento Fanboy and popped the crowd with his high-flying. Doi putting an end to all the fun with a hellacious head-ripping lariat on Akira was a major exclamation mark finish. **3/4
Koji Iwamoto, TAJIRI & Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Fuminori Abe, Black Menso-re & Hokuto Omori
Not sure what happened here, but this was supposed to be Ikuto Hidaka’s in-ring AJPW introduction. Double Duty Abe took his place and hilariously tried to make up for the man’s absence by attempting a bunch of classic Hidaka spots to disastrous results. Admittedly, the whole thing would’ve been much more compelling with the real Hidaka, but this was still pretty fun junior sprint. Quite enjoyed Omori leaning into the new bad attitude by being a dick to Menso-re. **3/4
Zeus vs. Kuma Arashi – Champion Carnival (Block A)
Again, this wasn’t a match that made Arashi look like a considerable threat in this tournament, but it was a lot better than the match with Suwama from yesterday. They did enjoyable Big Dudes stuff: drawn-out test of strengths, beefy strike exchanges and lariat collisions. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Izanagi and Irie come out for ring-side support and not try any bullshit, which seems to confirm all of my Purple Haze theories. Kinda felt like the match was just getting started when Zeus got the submission with his Misawa facelock though. ***
Shotaro Ashino vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Champion Carnival (Block B)
BIG WIN YUMA! This tested my patience a few times with the Enfants Terribles interference spots, but the match was focused enough that the minor shenanigans ended up becoming part of Yuma’s JOURNEY. They went with a similar limb work structure as Aoyagi’s match with Ishikawa from yesterday and it made for some very compelling grapples. Ashino excels at leg work matches, Yuma excels at selling and babyfacing. Match made in heaven, my dudes. The ending stretch had some big moments, namely that grueling European uppercut exchange and both guys suplexing the crap out of each other. Dug how Yuma’s arm-focused comeback ended up playing into the finish when he started wrenching on the bad arm during the Endgame. Aoyagi is on a workrate RUN and I can’t wait to see if Ashino is able to bounce back against Kento. ***1/2
The post-match RAW IS ZEN NIHON segment was a stroke of genius, really. It got Ashino his heat back immediately, hyped up the match with Kento and played into the Kento/Aoyagi breakup/potential reconciliation!? Love it.
Suwama vs. Jiro Ikemen Kuroshio – Champion Carnival (Block A)
Oh boy. The champ losing to Ikemen here was a decision. That being said, the match was better than expected and kept showcasing the more technical side of Ikemen. Jiro got his ass kicked for the first half and Suwama seemed slightly more motivated than in their previous tag title meeting, double chopping the soul out of Ikemen’s body instead of only going after his jacket. The big surprise here was how smartly Ikemen worked his comeback, once again digging into the Masakatsu Funaki training and targeting the champion’s arm to help him transition towards his flippy high spots. The lucha backflip arm takedown and flying cross armbreaker were genuinely inspired and I don’t think anyone thought Jiro had this kind of stuff in him. Their ending stretch was pretty decent too even if the Ikemen upset truly boggles the mind. A good wrestling match. ***1/4
