Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura vs. Ryo Inoue & Oji Shiiba – Junior Tag Battle of Glory
In an age of rapid-fire cosmetic changes, the good people of Nagoya were introduced to perhaps the most controversial of all. Yes, I’m referring to Floppy Hair Dan Tamura. Inspired by Straight Hair Hokuto, young Daniel kissed the spikes goodbye and let it all hang out. Regardless of your hair preferences, there was a lot good wrestling here. Hikaru and my man OG Shiiba revealed shockingly tight chemistry – both unleashing clever counters in the lead-up to Oji’s big babyface win. ***1/4
Naruki Doi & Naoki Tanizaki vs. Atsuki Aoyagi & Rising HAYATO – Junior Tag Battle of Glory
After cycling between Nextream buddies and junior title rivals, Atsuki and HAYATO once again find themselves on the same side. To commemorate their reunion, they’ve cooked up some crazy-ass double-teams that wouldn’t look out of place on a Wednesday night of wrasslin’. The match was all about them surviving the heel beatdown and showing off their new toys. Like most of these tag league matches, the action was brisk, effective and to the point. No complaints. ***1/4
Shuji Ishikawa vs. Hokuto Omori vs. Jun Saito vs. Rei Saito – 4-Way Match
Harmless midcard filler that mostly offered an excuse for the Saitos to beat each other up. They came to blows like two cavemen fighting over a piece of meat. It was beautiful. **1/4
Atsushi Onita & Yoshitatsu © vs. Takao Omori & Black Menso-re – All-Asia Tag Team Titles – Tornado Bunkhouse Megaton Current Blast Death Match
Onita’s last All Japan match exceeded all expectations. Boosted by the weirdly-compelling hook of the Onita/NOSAWA relationship, everything fell into place perfectly. This latest All-Asia odyssey shared some of the same thrills (cool freakin’ explosions), but this time the work landed on the clunkier side of the performance art spectrum. Blame it on Omori/Menso-re’s lack of death match experience or blame it on Onita running out of luck – the magic wasn’t there. Does this mean that the All-Asia tag belts should no longer be an accessory for CIA psy-op adventures? No. The psy-op must continue. **1/2
Cyrus vs. Yuma Aoyagi – Champion Carnival (Block A)
A rock-solid exercise in Large Man vs. Small Man logistics. Cyrus has complete mastery of the monster tropes and exceeds at making his opponent’s life a living hell. Meanwhile, Yuma’s comic timing and willingness to bump his ass off proved to be great assets for this kind of match. One could argue that Aoyagi losing so crushingly here isn’t the best look, but they worked the match in a way that made this the only logical outcome. Booking Cyrus as someone who can obliterate your favorite at a moment’s notice is just the kind of spice that this tournament needs. ***
Kento Miyahara vs. Ryuki Honda – Champion Carnival (Block A)
With his Shuji Kondo throwback makeover, it seems like Honda has fully gone back to the heel style of his Total Eclipse days. During his tag run with Ashino, he worked as a straight-forward powerhouse bro and it made for a pleasant change of place. Going back to the ref bumps and nutshots feels like a step backwards. Kento made it work as best as he could (getting the crowd back after the ref bump was a nice touch), but they had a much better match for the vacant Triple Crown back in early 2022. Credit where credit is due – the last few near-falls were quite good. ***
Satoshi Kojima vs. T-Hawk – Champion Carnival (Block A)
Loved the unintentional comedy of old man Kojima looking a little tired and T-Hawk simply laying into him with 100% intensity. They had a fairly nutritious beef battle – nothing fancy, but it absolutely got the job done as a Champ Carnival midcard number. The Hawkster’s a real pro at extracting crowd support from basic segments – an ideal skill when you’re working the New Japan Dads. Case in point: him treating the Superplex spot like the most dramatic thing ever. I’m still not sure Kojima actually wants to be in this tournament, but even in this state he can manage three stars worth of wrestling. ***
Shotaro Ashino vs. Yuma Anzai – Champion Carnival (Block B)
Terrific match between two polar opposites. Ashino – the angsty veteran who’ll likely never hold the Triple Crown due to his height disadvantage. Anzai – the super tall rookie getting fast tracked towards Ace status. The one thing they both have in common is being good at wrestling.
Ashino made the youngster earn his upset by picking him apart every step of the way. Walking away from obvious comebacks, destroying limbs and throwing wild curveballs (German suplex lift into the armbar!?) – tons of nifty little details from one of the craftiest dudes on the roster. Anzai more than held his end of the bargain and showed off the one skill that guarantees his spot as a future champion. That’s right, he sold the arm. ***1/2
Suwama vs. Manabu Soya – Champion Carnival (Block B)
It took some time for them to get going, but these two brutes eventually gave us the meat-fest that was teased in the All Japan vs. Kongo 6-man at the Muto Dome. Once it got past Wammer’s heel schtick (which I find highly entertaining), the match went straight into bomb-fest territory. Just two lumbering mammoths throwing heavy shit at each other.
They managed to get to the heart of Soya’s babyface appeal via that gnarly headbutt battle – the crowd getting behind the Demon Dad thanks to his stellar emoting. There’s something special about a muscular badass pulling off an underdog character so convincingly. The last few minutes were especially satisfying, what with Big Wama going nuts with that multi-lariat rush. Damn fine Carnival Content. ***1/2
