Izanagi, Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO vs. Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Francesco Akira
Another hot opener from the small men of All Japan Pro-Wrestling. Akira/Atsuki brought the athletic chain wrestling display, Hikaru ran over Izanagi with his usual armbar-based onslaught and the Nextream kids did their Japanese Rock N’ Roll Express team spots. Other highlights: Izanagi over-babyfacing himself to fit with his teammates and Akira randomly busting out a very pretty Quebrada. ***
TAJIRI, Hokuto Omori & Yusuke Kodama vs. Takao Omori, Koji Iwamoto & Black Menso-re
Same kind of deal as the Total Eclipse/Midcard Squadron 6-man from yesterday. Now with a slightly-improved belt shot finish. Again, Hokuto worked the bulk of the match and had himself some pretty solid wrasslin’ with former junior champ Iwamoto. The rest was fairly skippable. **1/4
Yoshitatsu & Ryouji Sai vs. Daimonji So & Ryuki Honda
The Land’s End warriors have ARRIVED to leave their mark on the Champion Carnival undercard. They kept things mercifully short here and everyone leaned into the faster pace. Still, not much stood out other than the comical Magic Killer from YoshitatSai and Honda getting destroyed by Sai for a minute. **1/4
Yuma Aoyagi vs. Shotaro Ashino – Champion Carnival
This felt like a match both guys needed to win and they wrestled accordingly. They went with a similar structure as their Carnival match from last year, with Ashino targeting the leg and Yuma bouncing back with his babyface offense. The limb work never felt like a chore thanks to Ashino’s quality submission game and the occasional detour to SUPLEX CITY (not that far from Nagoya, apparently).
It all came down to a clash between the ankle lock and the Endgame, which was made all the more compelling by Yuma constantly finding new ways to hook on his submission. The small package setup for the one that closed the match was particularly inspired. ***1/2
Kohei Sato vs. Koji Doi – Champion Carnival
Efficient little slug-fest where both guys were able to get their strengths over in 5 minutes. I’m digging the ‘’Kohei Sato might knock you out at any time’’ tournament subplot as it adds a real sense of danger to his matches. Also, that forearm to the back of the head looked like absolute fucking death. Doi followed up his strong performance from yesterday with another good one here. Pure lariat explosiveness from this dude. ***
Shuji Ishikawa vs. Zeus – Champion Carnival
A meaty hoss fight between two pros of this beloved subgenre. Throwing a bigger dude at Zeus always results in a good ol’ time and this was no exception. The first half was filled with all the monster tropes that you need: tests of strengths, shoulderblock challenges and hurty floor suplexes. They didn’t waste too much time on Big Shuj’s mandatory limb work subplots and mostly stuck to protein-heavy ass kicking. I am liking Zeus’ renewed fondness for the Misawa facelock – it made for a satisfying finish here. ***1/4
Kento Miyahara vs. Shinjiro Otani – Champion Carnival
Even the Kento/Wada reunion tour couldn’t fuck up an Otani match. Not quite as tight as yesterday’s Otani/Aoyagi banger, but it still delivered the same kind of quality content. Once the action moved past the early Kento tropes, Otani’s piss and vinegar lit a fire under the Ace and both guys started going hard.
Weirdly enough, Otani’s probable lack of familiarity with the typical Miyahara match layout was beneficial to everyone. The twists and turns felt less predictable and it almost looked like old man Otani was stumbling into all the knee strikes instead of setting himself up for them. Ending the match on a Blackout instead of the usual Shutdown finish was pretty refreshing too. ***1/2
Suwama vs. Jake Lee – Champion Carnival
They had the right idea here in establishing Heel Jake Lee as a dominant figure and having the Wamster fight from underneath. Unfortunately, Jake’s heel character is still a work in progress and he seemed to have no clue how to fill up the early sections of the match. Lots of lifeless stomping and choking that should’ve been left on the cutting room floor.
The second half had more juice to it. Jake knee’ing Wama’s lifeless corpse, the maniacal heel laugh and Suwama’s ode-to-Kawada delayed sell were all things that worked. As always, Suwama’s raging Kaiju comebacks were tremendous. Also, everyone who freaked out about the ref bump in Jake/Ashino will be pleased to know that this was completely shenanigans-free. ***1/4
