Hikaru Sato, Dan Tamura & Francesco Akira vs. Izanagi, Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO
Almost exactly the same match as yesterday, except one quarter of a star less good. Tough break. **3/4
Koji Iwamoto vs. Ryuki Honda – Ryuki Honda Trial Series
In the last episode of the Ryuki Honda Trial Series, young Honda learned the secrets of WWE superstardom by facing World Famous Yoshitatsu. Today, Iwamoto taught him the most important trick in all of pro-wrestling: how to work the arm. Considering Iwamoto’s usually on the receiving end of all the arm work, he did shockingly well as the Giver of Limb Pain. A real tenacious dude. Meanwhile, Honda hasn’t quite figured out the kind of selling that will please Wrestling Twitter, but his energetic comebacks were good enough for me. Glad I didn’t skip this undercard! ***
Yoshitatsu, Takao Omori & Black Menso-re vs. TAJIRI, Hokuto Omori & Yusuke Kodama
Three shows, three belt shot finishes. You try and top that, Gedo. The rest of the match was more of the good ol’ mom and pop bullshit that’s been feeding this BLOOD FEUD all tour long. Old man Omori in peril, Hot Tag Yoshitatsu, etc. Turns out this has all been secretly a setup for the 6-man tag straps, who have now replaced the GAORA TV title as the hottest championship in this company. **
Jake Lee vs. Koji Doi – Champion Carnival
The Champion Carnival is where you go to get your fill of rock-solid 8-minute heavyweight matches. This delivered exactly that and even added a sprinkle of Total Eclipse Theatre as an intro. I had some harsh words for Heel Jake Lee’s long main event with Suwama, but his new act works like a charm in more compact settings.
That spot where he relentlessly knee’d the shit out of Doi is exactly what I need from The Dark Gentleman. Speaking of Doi, the guy looked real sharp once again. Consistently great-looking offense including some lariats that give All Japan’s best lariat-throwers a run for their money. Dug all of it. ***1/4
Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Champion Carnival
Another efficient professional wrestling match that saw a pleasing clash of styles between Big Shuj’s burly bomb-throwing and Yuma’s timeless high spots and deep rollup knowledge. Ishikawa’s early back work subplot didn’t have much of a lasting effect, but it looked deadly as hell so I’ll take it. That apron body slam into flying foot stomp to the back = big ouch. As always, Aoyagi knows how to work his comebacks and that diving cross body of his looked better than ever. Good wrasslin’. ***1/4
Kento Miyahara vs. Shotaro Ashino – Champion Carnival
I was the only person on the Internet who liked these guys’ Carnival match last year. Guess what? I also liked this one a lot. Less Enfants Terribles shenanigans, more leg destruction and Ashino elevation. AJPW’s most powerful Metallica stan looked like a million bucks here, providing enough intensity to break through Kento’s egomaniacal force field and come off as the star he should be.
I appreciated how quickly they moved past Kento’s early tropes and went right for the good stuff (like a god damn Cesaro-esque pop-up European uppercut from Big Ash). Terrific finish too – Kento failing to Blackout his way out of Ashino’s leg torture made for a wild visual. ***1/2
Suwama vs. Zeus – Champion Carnival
Nothing but love for this battle of the brutes. They went from slumming it around the ring like a pair of 80’s brawlers right into intricate limb work subplots and hellacious lariat-throwing – both guys showing just how much range they have.
Watching Wama through this show’s single camera setup was extremely revealing. Even when you think there’s not much going on, this guy is always doing something. Just working the crowd like a motherfucker at all times, selling the arm and growling like a fire breathing lizard monster. I’ve mentioned this before, but his ability to build up upcoming spots through selling is ridiculously underrated. Case in point: him selling the Air Raid Crash like it broke his fucking jaw turned Zeus’ eventual facelock into the most dramatic thing ever.
I could gush about the Wamster for days, but Zeus also brought the goods here. All Japan has a lot of top guys who rely on formulas in big match situations. Zeus could easily do the same with his super effective power moves, yet he keeps refreshing his repertoire and embracing new structures. The way he turned the match around with a short-arm scissors of all things is not something you’d expect from his character, and that’s what’s so cool about him. ****
