Koji Iwamoto & TAJIRI vs. Takao Omori & Black Menso-re
There wasn’t much to this other than the glorious realization that despite happening in a basketball gym, this is a show with multiple camera angles and commentary. We are truly blessed. Most of the match was Looney Tunes shtick between TAJIRI and Menso-re, which I can appreciate in the right circumstances but there was nothing else here. *3/4
Koji Doi, Yusuke Kodama & Hokuto Omori vs. Yusuke Okada, Masayuki Mitomi & Rambo Kawamura
Well holy shit. Did not expect this show to feature Rocky Kawamura working a comically low-rent Rambo gimmick but here we are. Probably All Japan’s most impressive cinematic guest star since Hellboy. I should also point out that I am the Internet’s only Masayuki Mitomi fan. Always happy to see this certified Mongolian chop expert randomly show up on an AJPW undercard. The other highlights here were Doi’s murder lariat on Okada and Rambo having to be restrained from using his hunting knife. What a display of method acting from Kawamura. **1/4
Shotaro Ashino vs. Yoshitatsu – Champion Carnival (Block B)
As much as I enjoyed Yuma Aoyagi making a complete mockery of Yoshitatsu’s back injury, you gotta admire Ashino for working a solid match around it. Tatsu could barely scrape in any offense here and Ashino looked like a killer. There’s a certain underdog appeal to the Bullet Club Hunter – the guy is such a dork that you can’t help but root for him a little bit. They played with that dynamic nicely here and it served as a strong tournament exit for Ashino. He might not have reached the finals, but easily dispatching a WORLD FAMOUS ex-WWE legend was a good look for him. Really dug how he set-up the insta tap ankle lock finish out of a Boston crab fakeout. Gimme fuel, gimme fire. ***
Kuma Arashi vs. Jiro Ikemen Kuroshio – Champion Carnival (Block A)
Pretty fun 4 minutes of wrestling. Two cartoony personalities having an efficient little crowd pleaser. Ikemen brought the high flying and Arashi cut him down with his bear-like strength. Marked out for Kuma’s cheerful air guitar celebration after the match. PS – Kuma interrupting Ikemen’s entrance can only mean that he was bribed by the Podcasters. **3/4
Yuma Aoyagi & Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Francesco Akira & Rising HAYATO
Some more solid micard professional wrestling for the fine folks in Odawara. Previously on All Japan TV, little Atsuki Aoyagi SHOCKED THE WORLD and earned himself a junior title shot by pinning Hikaru Sato. They kept the spotlight firmly on him in this match as he worked a pretty swell finish with Kento fanboy HAYATO, showing off his gift for flippery. I also enjoyed HAYATO taking constant shots at Aoyagi on the apron. Slowly but surely, the kid is learning the classic Zen Nihon tropes. I was happy to see the Yuma/Doi angle continuing after the match. I’m a sucker for wrestlers challenging each other to a singles match just because they hate each other. That’s all you need, man. **1/2
Suwama, Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura vs. Shigehiro Irie, Izanagi & UTAMARO
This started off as straight comedy but eventually settled into a decent multiman affair. Angry Wama throwing chairs in the ring and accidently decking his own Evolution mate was undeniably good comedic content, but the real highlight of the match was young Daniel Tamura and teddybear Irie once again beating the holy hell out of each other. Could’ve used some arm selling from Suwama to really put over his injury storyline. **1/4
Jake Lee vs. Zeus – Champion Carnival (Block A)
Two of the Carnival’s most interesting stories coming to a head in a clever way here. Zeus tore through his block thanks to his newfound mastery of the Misawa-style facelock, while Jake found success by discovering the ancient mystical art known as Working The Arm. I’ll let you guess what happened here. Predictability played in their favor because the story just made perfect sense. Zeus showed some nice attention to detail through the short duration of the match, notably with the one-armed bear hug suplex and his sell job after the first failed facelock attempt. Jake stayed aggressive and supplied some nice character moments, which is probably his greatest area of improvement this year. As logical as everything was, I would’ve taken a longer match to let things build further and get some emotions going. Still quite enjoyable. ***1/4
Kento Miyahara vs. Shuji Ishikawa – Champion Carnival (Block B)
If the previous match felt like the culmination of tournament-long storylines, this was two guys relying on their bulletproof chemistry and busting out the Greatest Hits. The Big Dawg followed up his strong performance against Ashino with more quality content here, cutting off Kento’s clapping pattern intro before relentlessly destroying him with gnarly offense for most of the match. Miyahara couldn’t stay away from the obligatory Wada comedy spot, but the rest of his performance was the kind of cocaine-rush frenzy that reminds you why he’s one of the most entertaining wrestlers out there.
The raging energy during forearm exchanges, the constant crowd interplay, the willingness to bump his ass off for all the Big Shuj death movez. We all take this stuff for granted due to the dreaded Kento Formula Discourse. Plus, they freshened up their classic bombs-heavy ending stretch by adding Ishikawa’s brand new CAPTAIN LOU THESZ PRESS for a massive near-fall and probably the best moment of the whole match. I had a blast and now my body is ready for some Zeus/Kento finals action. ***3/4
