Izanagi & Black Menso-re vs. Yoshitatsu & TAJIRI
There they are! The four pillars of undercard wrestling. The massive reaction for Izanagi and Menso-re’s double eyepoke onslaught reminded me that this show takes place in Osaka. These people love masked men doing silly things and so do I. Elsewhere, Tatsu randomly decided to steal Hokuto Omori’s finish. Only the mayor of Yoshitatsu Kingdom has this kind of privilege. **
Jun Saito & Rei Saito vs. Yuji Nagata & Yuma Anzai
RWTL preview action where a patchy Saitos performance gave me flashbacks to early Total Eclipse Jake Lee, when he was still in the process of figuring out his heel act. There’s some good stuff in there (evil grunting, big chops) but also a lot of filler choking and miscues. Anzai picked up the babyface in peril shift like a pro and made some sweet comebacks. **1/4
Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura © vs. Yusuke Kodama & Seigo Tachibana – All-Asia Tag Team Titles
Hell of a showcase for the crouching legend Seigo Tachibana. This man has been experiencing a bit of a wrestling renaissance since joining Gungnir of Anarchy, blending the comedic yakuza approach of his Yoshitatsu Kingdom era with the more straight-forward style of his early WRASSLE-1 days. Him and Dan were a shockingly good fit – all physicality and crunchy near-falls.
I’m convinced the ending stretch was designed for the sole purpose of having Daniel practice his lariat. He’ll get there someday. I think. Also, shoutout to your friendly neighborhood ghost Kodama for living up to his gimmick and nearly dying on that tope con hilo. Hope you’re okay, pal. ***1/2
Jake Lee, Yuma Aoyagi, Hokuto Omori & Ryo Inoue vs. T-Hawk, Shigehiro Irie, El Lindaman & Issei Onitsuka
If you’ve ever fantasized about Strong Hearts doing the Rick Rude sell for Jake Lee atomic drops, then boy do I have a match for you. The GLEAT crew were ideal dance partners for Hontai 2.0, as they share a similar sense of humor and appreciation for good rope-running. While height comedy became a major plot point when Jake and Lindaman finally clashed, it was THE PURPLE MENACE Ryo Inoue who ended up stealing the show with his dropkick-based house cleaning and subsequent DEATH via non-stop-Strong-Heart-finisher-destruction. Fun. ***1/4
Kento Miyahara, Rising HAYATO & Oji Shiiba vs. Takao Omori, Shuji Ishikawa & The Bodyguard
From the opening karaoke bit to the bodybuilding showdown, this was a fairly productive episode of the Kento Comedy Hour. There was some wrestling at some point, but it’s difficult (read: impossible) to get the spotlight off Miyahara when he is On His Bullshit. **1/4
Atsuki Aoyagi © vs. Minoru – AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title
Pretty tasty match between the current face of the junior division and the coolest dude on the block in 2011. If Atsuki’s last defense against Rising HAYATO leaned heavily into futuristic bomb-fest territory, this followed a more traditional Minoru Tanaka-style super junior layout. Not as many GIFs, but a truckload of technique.
Let’s state some FACTS. Minoru knows how to weave a limb subplot in and out of a wrestling match like a true god damned Artist. Even if Aoyagi isn’t the most dramatic seller around, the structure did benefit from having the babyface protagonist cut down by a veteran Working Over His Tummy.
They went all in on the near-falls for most of the ending stretch, Minoru throwing just enough curveball counters to avoid overkill. I knew the result of the match well in advance and still bit on a bunch of expertly-timed rollup kickouts. The sign of a well-crafted wrestling match. ***3/4
Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda © vs. Suwama & KONO – AJPW Tag Team Titles
Welp. Not the greatest ending for the Ashino/Honda reign – two men who bonded over their love of sunglasses and kickstarted a midcard revolution for former WRESTLE-1 bros. As someone who is more open to the concept of voodoo murdering than most on Twitter, even I am puzzled by the idea of belting up KONO in 2022. The match had its moments thanks to Ashino playing a competent babyface in peril, but the 2020 Bullet Club/Gedo-ISM-style finish ended things on a sour note. **3/4
