Zeus vs. Koji Doi – Champion Carnival
Protein-heavy breakfast to start your day right. Zeus seemed intent on getting fresh face Doi over as a competent power fighter, so they made sure to tick every box on the Beef War checklist. Shoulderblocks, chops, lariats – all of that good stuff. The meat consumption was exemplary, but the countout finish left me a bit cold. Doi pulled off this stunt successfully with Otani earlier in the tournament, both guys just letting the hatred run wild. This felt more telegraphed and you could see the countout coming from a mile away. Still a fine trip to the buffet. ***1/4
Suwama vs. Shotaro Ashino – Champion Carnival
This worked a lot more for me than Ashino’s last Triple Crown challenge. They spent less time on the leg work subplot, kept a relatively brisk pace and put all the focus on The Suplex Master of Puppets (TM) bringing the god damn fight to Da Champ. Ashino did soooo well here, what with the dropkicks right at the bell, raging displays of fighting spirit and strategic ankle lock placement.
I probably don’t have to mention this anymore, but Suwama just excels at playing the Jumbo Tsuruta to the younger generation. This man knows exactly when to cut the shit and remind the kids to get the fuck off his lawn. See: him denying the hiptoss attempt or that clubbing forearm rampage during the floor brawling shenanigans. Much like in their empty arena match from last year, Ashino looked strong in defeat and the fake crowd stomping for his Backdrop kickouts brought a tear to my eye. ***3/4
Jake Lee vs. Shuji Ishikawa – Champion Carnival
Very much a tale of two matches. Kinda plodding first half where Jake’s heel work felt logical (targeting injuries!) but dry (so much stomping!) + Action-packed second half where the bombs came fast and furious. These maniacs busted out an empty arena German suplex on the floor and for that you WILL respect them. Big Shuj fighting from underneath is a tricky proposition but it ended up working here as The Dark Gentleman Jake Lee still looked killer in defeat. Plus, no one kicks out of the Captain Lou Thesz Press. ***1/4
Kento Miyahara vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Champion Carnival
These boys know how to do a long-term All Japan rivalry. Not only does the match quality keep going up every time they meet, but so does Yuma’s standing as bonafide main eventer. The kid’s been on a roll in 2021 and here he looked every bit the star as his on-again-off-again Nextreamer.
A drawn-out epic main event match structure is a risky gamble in an empty arena format, but they brought enough hatred and intensity to make it work. Big time escalation from the opening headlocks to the late-stage Blackout drama. Aoyagi didn’t let himself get swallowed by Kento’s attention-craving forcefield and supplied a ton of fun character moments of his own. Shoutout to his muscle pose ripoff and Oscar-worthy facials during the apron Endgame sequence.
At this point, forearm exchanges are Japanese wrestling’s bread and butter. If you want your exchanges to stand out, you better bring the heat. The ones in this match brought the fucking heat. Both guys just bashing each other’s brains in while in mounted position was peak main event content. The rest of the ending stretch was top-tier Kento Ending Stretch fire – ingenious counters and big match drama all over. ****
