Kids, this is how you name a wrestling show.
Danshoku Dino & Antonio Honda vs. Kazuki Hirata & Saki Akai
The gag of the week was Anton being very sleepy. I think these guys might be running out of material? Just a hunch. The electrical sound effect for Dino’s anal energy transmission remains the best recent addition to their routine.
Toru Owashi & Akito vs. Mizuki Watase & Hideki Okatani
Owashi and Akito were clearly itching to turn this into a comedy match, but the structure was strong enough to keep the action right on track. Okatani played a competent young boy in peril and Hot Tag Watase saved the day like a pro. What more do you need from your midcard professional wrestling? The Junretsu lads tried out some cute new double teams together and it was all gravy. This also might’ve been the most inspired Akito performance in a while. Dug the clever apron dragon screw and inventive Goliath Birth Eater setup for the finish. **3/4
Kazusada Higuchi, Makoto Oishi & Tomomitsu Matsunaga vs. MAO, Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
Another solid little number where everyone got to have some fun in the sun. Young Keigo is looking more and more like a star. Totally nailed the opening comedy promo, got his ass kicked for his sins and rebounded with a sweet run-up Moonsault thingy like a champ. Other highlights were a rocking sumo chop war between Naya/Matsunaga and MAO showing a pretty shocking predisposition for fighting spirit-fueled strike exchanges against Higuchi. **1/2
HARASHIMA, Yukio Sakaguchi & Chris Brookes vs. Yuji Hino, Soma Takao & Mad Paulie
The best Hino showcase since his return to DDT. No mucking around with Brookes, straight to business with HARASHIMA an Sakaguchi. Sure, some of it was played for laughs, but these guys were still laying it in. Chop/kick wars for days. Once everyone got a taste of Hino’s heavy-handed medicine, we got a nicely laid-out ending stretch with fun signature spots coming left and right. Yukio charging in out of nowhere with the flying knee on the top turnbuckle to Hino was rad as hell. ***
Yuki Ueno vs. Yusuke Okada
Considering Okada’s recent arrival and outsider status, I was pleasantly surprised to see him treated as an equal to the company’s fastest rising star. This was easily his best outing since the AJPW banger from last year with Susumu Yokosuka and the official confirmation that following Uncle Jun into Cyber Fight territory was the right move. Both guys brought the Ruthless Aggression and had themselves a tight, limb-focused affair.
Yusuke carried a lot of the structure on his shoulders, ramping up the drama with some nasty bumps (big ouch @ the missed dropkick to the floor) and consistent selling of the back damage. It’s a testament to Ueno’s versatility that he can work this type of match just as well as the high-end videogame epics with Endo. Appreciated the attention to detail that went into this, including the full-on nerd-bait bridge collapse from Yusuke on his Fisherman’s suplex. Hell of a match. ***3/4
Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata vs. Tetsuya Endo & Daisuke Sasaki
What’s the deal with Shunma’s new pose and catchphrase? I’ve done extensive research (ie: I looked at Twitter and Instagram) and I can’t find shit on the origin of this thing. All I know is that it’s hitting Chikara Momota-levels of annoying. It took a while, but these fine gentlemen eventually overcame Shunma’s latest bad idea and worked a pretty fun match. Damnation went after Takeshita’s tummy like a bunch of meanies and the eventual babyface hot tag led to a bunch of creative indie dream match high spots. Lots of very cool, GIF-worthy double-teams from All Out. Gotta hand it to these guys for trying out new shit in a throwaway house show main event like this. ***
