Izanagi & UTAMARO vs. Ryuji Hijikata & Dan Tamura
Hijikata getting a semi-permanent spot on the All Japan Korakuen cards warms my cold dead heart. Still a good hand in the ring. Still a good soccer kick. The rest of the crew brought an acceptable amount of opening match wrestling effort, Danny Tamura impressing with a galaxy-brained schoolboy into gutwrench suplex combo. Him and Izanagi couldn’t quite work out the bridge-heavy finale they had planned but still managed to find their way across the finish line. **1/4
Atsuki Aoyagi vs. Francesco Akira vs. Alejandro – 3-Way Match
Crisp, clean high-flyin’ fun with everyone showing a surprisingly good grasp of the 3-way trope and avoiding a lot of its pitfalls. Alejandro and his Despacito-esque entrance theme continue to be a good fit for the AJPW junior scene. I’m usually against aerial-minded white dudes using ‘’shoot-style’’ high kicks, but I can’t deny how good Akira makes his look. Any of these guys would benefit from a junior title program with CIMA. ***
Shuji Ishikawa, Takao Omori, Black Menso-re & Ryuki Honda vs. Kuma Arashi, Koji Doi, Hokuto Omori & TAJIRI
Nothing but respect for the Total Eclipse theme, which we could not hear clearly in Shin Kiba due to copyright issues. A spooky banger of the highest order, worthy of Darkside Jake Lee’s Dracula-lite mannerisms. The big highlight here was Doi and Big Shuj laying into each other and giving us a tasty preview of the upcoming Champ Carnival. Total Eclipse felt dangerous and to his credit, TAJIRI didn’t completely kill the vibe. Meat and potatoes with extra storytelling spice. **3/4
Jake Lee & Yusuke Kodama vs. Shotaro Ashino & Koji Iwamoto
Dug this one a lot. Old-school Southern tag vibe with the heels working over Ashino’s injured ribs. The dueling broken friendship stories gave the action a lot of juice and I had fun watching how the two sides approached the angle. Ashino/Kodama worked their issues via an immediate bar brawl pull apart, which ruled, while Jake/Iwamoto went with more deliberate theatrics – Koji once again refusing the join the darkside of the force and eventually snapping on THE DARK GENTLEMAN.
In all cases, everyone is selling the hell out of this story. Other highlights: Ashino suplexing Kodama off the apron into his former Enfants Terribles bros and Jake unveiling a deadly new Brainbuster finish. Hell to the yes. ***1/4
Suwama & Hikaru Sato vs. Yoshitatsu & Osamu Nishimura
AJPW trying to sell Suwama/Yoshitatsu as OUDOU vs. TOUKON is my favorite kind of stretch. Somehow, Yoshi pushed the joke even further here by showing up in plain black trunks and busting out an Octopus hold. The spirit of Antonio Inoki burns brightly inside this man. Even with Tatsu’s newfound motivation, I’m struggling to take this storyline seriously. Truly the most obvious filler defense of Big Wama’s mega reign.
Bitching aside, the work was still weirdly solid and I will never say no to Osamu Nishimura getting a spot higher up the card. Pretty decent ending stretch too: Hikaru unleashing all sorts of cross armbreaker-based-punishment on the unlikely TC challenger. ***
Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi © vs. Zeus & Shigehiro Irie – AJPW Tag Team Titles
Not quite the Internet-breaking tag classic I was hoping for, but still a pretty damn good match that ended up at least on par with the Nextream title win against Violence Giants. Again, Kento took a backseat and the spotlight went straight on Yuma, which made sense considering the way they worked the build-up between him and Zeus at Shin Kiba.
The structure followed a similar arc as the aforementioned Nextream/VG match: Aoyagi eating a healthy ass kicking before gradually overcoming the odds and scoring the upset. Purple Haze were terrific as the monster challengers, Zeus literally slicing up Yuma’s chest open with some of the hardest chops imaginable and Irie reducing the Ace into a puddle of goo via nuclear-charged forearms.
Homicidal Terrybear Irie’s insane timing added a lot to the layout – the dude just flying into the screen and destroying people when you would least expect it. I also need to shout out the god damn vicious-looking Choke slam/Electric chair double-team of death from the Purple Hazers. Proper high impact devastation that made Yuma’s survival (and TRIUMPH~!) all the more thrilling. ***3/4
