The Bodyguard & Francesco Akira vs. Alejandro & Ryuki Honda
Bodyguard is the voice of a generation and the music industry owes him respect. The match had a lot to live up to after that entrance and these guys almost pulled it off. Super fun opener with Akira and Alejandro showing brilliant chemistry. The Italian Warrior Child keeps adding new tricks to his repertoire and remains a constant undercard highlight on these shows. That Pete Townshend knee-slide into springboard cross body was bonkers. **1/2
Takao Omori & Black Menso-re vs. Shigehiro Irie & UTAMARO
More expectations exceeded with this one. Didn’t look like much on paper, but all four guys put in a lot of effort and kept things moving at a nice pace. Omori managing to start a clap-only ‘’Axe Bomber’’ chant was very heart-warming. Lots of smartly put-together sequences, including a wild John Woo dropkick outta’ nowhere from the king of shlobs himself, UTAMARO. **3/4
Shuji Ishikawa, Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura vs. Jake Lee, Koji Iwamoto & TAJIRI
Part comedy match, part decent little midcard number. Dan’s ineptitude and anything involving TAJIRI were mostly played for laughs, but there were a few worthwhile moments here and there. Jake wasn’t in a kidding mood and his absolute slaughter of Tamura made him look like a big deal. **
Kento Miyahara, Rising HAYATO & Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Shotaro Ashino, Kuma Arashi & Yusuke Kodama
You know what you’re getting into with these midcard Kento tags. The current HAYATO/Aoyagi tension angle is impossible to take seriously when it’s buried under 12 layers of Kento comedy tropes. Also, who the hell gave the green light to HAYATO’s Anime Ace entrance gear? Feels about 10 years too soon for him to pull this off. Big Dawg Ashino suplexing HAYATO straight into oblivion was the highlight here. **1/4
Zeus & Izanagi © vs. Koji Doi & Hokuto Omori – All-Asia Tag Team Titles
As much as I enjoyed those 2 minutes of super babyface Zeus cleaning house on Enfants Terribles, this was rough. 2020 NJPW/Bullet Club levels of interference and run-in insanity just feel wrong in All Japan. There are ways to make it work, but this was just too much. The worst part is that these teams were clearly capable of having a solid straight-forward match. Perm Daddy Hokuto already looks and behaves like a complete asshole. He doesn’t need all the WWE tropes to come off as heelish. Even Izanagi’s glorious DELFIN SPECIAL #2 finish couldn’t save this shit. **
Yoshitatsu © vs. Jun Kasai – TLC Match – GAORA TV Title
If you can get over the initial bewilderment and ‘’why the fuck is this happening’’ of it all, this was actually pretty fun. Kind of a Crazy Monkey Greatest Hits match with the Hardcore Icon Yoshitatsu stumbling along for the ride. The big bumps, nasty use of the ladder (Whirlwind Ladder to the back of the head~!), Kasai jumping off stupidly high places and Yoshi taking a head full of wooden sticks were all good party tricks. Actually loved the finish with both guys meeting on top of the ladder and Yoshi getting shoot headbutted to death. ***
Suwama © vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Triple Crown
Hot damn. A hard-fought Triple Crown showdown that doubled as a sentimental farewell to Yuma Aoyagi’s neck. May it rest in peace. Few guys master the art of escalation in championship matches like God’s favorite grump Big Wama himself. This was no exception: a perfect curve from the early rope-break cheap shots to the later moments of bone-breaking tenderness.
Yuma’s come a long way since his last challenge against Kento and he felt like someone who belonged in the main event here. And not just because of his willingness to eat 35 Backdrops right on his head! It took some time, but the guy’s found the right way to balance his likeable, goofy personality with the more dramatic, serious moments. Case in point: that spot where he started getting too cocky and immediately got murdered for his sins. Perfect character moment.
As with all the best Suwama defenses, there was more to this than vicious bomb-throwing and satisfying structure. Quite enjoyed the neck work subplot that lingered in the background and that was paid off brilliantly when Yuma DDT’d his way out of the Powerbomb, complete with Suwama selling the neck like insta-death. Actually, the whole aesthetic of big burly Wama death moves colliding with Aoyagi’s pretty babyface offense was quite pleasing.
After two years of fairly static booking, Aoyagi’s elevation in the two January Korakuen main events has me hopeful for Zen Nihon’s future. 2021 might finally be the long-awaited changing of the guard, with the Jake Lee’s and Yuma’s of the world potentially getting established as Kento-level main event fixtures. Fingers crossed. ****1/4
