Koji Doi & Yusuke Kodama vs. Yusuke Okada & Baliyan Akki
Sucks for crouching legend Seigo Tachibana, but Akki is really making the most out of this replacement gig. He keeps putting in these rock-solid opening match performances, gradually winning over the crowd with his Namaste-ISM, sharp technique and the occasional bit of high-flying fun. Meanwhile, Okada brought the RUTHLESS AGRESSION against the former WRESTLE-1 boyz, rightfully treating them like the invader scum that they are. The main source of his wrath: Koji Doi might have the most brutal lariat in All Japan right now. And this is a company with plenty of competent lariat-throwers. ‘’DOI SUGOI!’’ – Quote the Kyohei, Nevermore. **3/4
Takao Omori, Masanobu Fuchi, Black Menso-re & Ryuki Honda vs. Shuji Ishikawa, Hikaru Sato, Osamu Nishimura & Dan Tamura
Yoshitatsu Kingdom inhabitant Yusuke Okada was on color commentary for this one and his play by play during the Fuchi open/closed fist sequence was absolutely delightful. This youngster fully understands the intricacies of Fuchi’s art. On top of the usual Korakuen 2nd Match staples (Omori/Nish Euro uppercuts, Fuchi body slams, etc), transfer dojo boy Honda got to show what he’s made of by working the finish with Big Shuj. A good lad. **
Izanagi & Shigehiro Irie vs. Kuma Arashi & Hokuto Omori
A tasty slice of Zen Nihon midcard professional wrestling. Purple Haze were quickly babyfaced when Izanagi randomly decided to end his own life with a wacky apron bump, setting up the Enfants Terribles southern heel beatdown of doom. Besides the well-oiled tag dynamic, the big highlight here was the Battle of Mohawked Beefsters between Arashi and Irie, which was mostly limited to a bunch of shoulderblocks and Kuma doing a SWEET KIPUP after a big dropkick, but I’ll take it. **1/2
Koji Iwamoto, TAJIRI & Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Ikuto Hidaka, Francesco Akira & Rising HAYATO
Oh man, HAYATO messing up Hidaka’s opening prank by not tagging in was a profoundly cringe moment. KEEP UP, RISING HAYATO, FFS. Hidaka took a slightly heelish approach for most of the match, avoiding Iwamoto and trolling him by constantly breaking up his covers. It made for a pretty decent introduction, although maybe not the full-on gate crashing debut I was expecting from this legendary Capturer of the Shawn. The youngins’ filled the rest of the match with their always reliable dropkick-based pro-wrestling and I had a good time. Aoki readjusting his backspring forearm in mid air to close the distance between him and Hidaka got a big pop out of yours truly. **3/4
Zeus vs. Jiro Ikemen Kuroshio – Champion Carnival (Block A)
This… might’ve been the greatest finish of all time? Still in shock. The rest of the match was a whole lot fun too. Jiro the SUWAMA-KILLER continued his limb-work focused tournament journey and tried to cut off Zeus’ deadly chops by taking his arm apart, but unfortunately the power of this real life Olympian God was too much for him. On top of the effective layout, I was in absolute awe at how well they recovered from the almost-botched springboard rana. Two pros. The overabundance of bad fake strikes from Ikemen held the match back slightly, but the quality of this undeniably brilliant finish puts me in a very forgiving mood, so take ALL OF THESE STARS, Ikemen Jiro. ***1/4
Yoshitatsu vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Champion Carnival (Block B)
To make up for his absence on the last Carnival show, Yoshitatsu killed a god damn tiger with his bare hands and carried its carcass to the ring for his entrance. Did not expect this level of intensity from the former WWE Performance Artist. Sadly, the match could never live up to such a grand entrance. Yuma’s trolling of Yoshi’s back injury was world class, but the Bullet Club Hunter brought nothing to the table besides cartoony overselling of his own injury. At least the right man won! *3/4
NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THE KOJI DOI LARIAT!!
Kento Miyahara vs. Shotaro Ashino – Champion Carnival (Block B)
A lot of people circled this one when the tournament lineups were announced and my god, it lived up to the hype. Kento’s been living the good life on the undercard for the past few months, fucking around with Jiro, Wada and company. This felt like Ashino/Enfants Terribles crashing the party and putting the Ace in more danger than he’s been in ages. As soon as Kento was done with the headbutt rampage routine, Ashino locked on to his leg like a shark and made the former champ’s life a living hell.
I’m usually not a huge fan of outside interference spots in big tournament matches, but Hokuto/Doi assisting the leg destruction added to the drama big time here. Again, the whole structure was about pushing Miyahara to the limit and it worked like a charm. Kento sold his ass off/kept the goofing off to a minimum while Ashino handled himself like a killer and brought the sweet ankle lock spots. I legitimately thought Kento was fucked by the end of the match, which made his comeback all the more compelling. Two great performances and easily the Carnival’s best match so far. ****
Suwama vs. Jake Lee – Champion Carnival (Block A)
Here’s two guys that always bring the best out of each other. The kind of viciousness that Suwama showed in the early stages of this match was exactly what I needed to see from him in his mini-feud with Ikemen. Still, it amuses me to no end that he seems to save this level of stiffness for the AJPW youngsters aka. THOSE DAMN PESKY KIDS.
This Get Off My Lawn energy from Suwama has always been the secret to unlocking the intensity in Jake Lee. Case in point: him relentlessly going after Wama’s arm to make him pay for his grumpiness. The limb work from Jake was on point until a weird segment mid-way through the match where he seemed to run out of ideas and just aimlessly started stomping away at the arm. Minor nitpicking aside, Suwama put over the injury big time and made Jake look like a serious threat. Loved the passionate comebacks from the Triple Crown champ in the closing stretch until Jake finally popped his arm out of its socket. Rock solid pro-wrasslin’. ***1/2
