Shigehiro Irie vs. Ryuki Honda – Champion Carnival (Block A)
We are in Shin Kiba 1st RING, probably the most underappreciated venue in wrestling. Irie and Honda celebrated the occasion by having – you guessed it, a wrestling match. It wasn’t especially memorable, but it got the job done. Irie has such good offense that he could have a decent match with a broomstick. Honda did okay as today’s broomstick. ***
Yoshitatsu vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Champion Carnival (Block B)
The salty veteran role is good casting for WWE legend Yoshitatsu (*Should get the Hall of Fame call any minute now). While he didn’t go FULL SHOOTER like he did against Nomura, him kicking the shit out of Yuma for daring to mess with his ring gear was appreciable. They built the match around Aoyagi’s classic babyface comebacks, tying it all up with a fun rollup sequence for the finish. ***1/4
Shuji Ishikawa vs. Shotaro Ashino – Champion Carnival (Block A)
The Short King Spring was in full effect here, as Ashino did what any sane man would do when confronted with a giant opponent: Work The Leg. We’ve all been there. I have extremely vague memories of these two having a better match during last year’s tournament. That being said, their dynamic is so fun that a lesser Big Shuj/Ashino match is still A-OK with me. Big time physicality and big time working of the leg. ***1/4
Suwama vs. Kuma Arashi – Champion Carnival (Block B)
Part man, part bear – Kuma Arashi did not find much success when he tried to become the Champion of the Carnival back in 2020. While he’s not getting anywhere near the finals this year either, there’s a clear attempt at getting him over as a treat. He had the upset win banger with Kento, and now this match where Suwama busted out some of his GOAT-tier ribs selling.
Big Wama. The Wamster. Suzanne Wama. What more can be said about this man? A force of nature who will expertly milk all the heat from the simplest things. He graciously let Kuma throw him around and got his sentons over as white-hot death. To his credit, Koomz is finally carrying himself like a guy you should take seriously and this leads to good wrestling. ***1/2
