All Japan Pro Wrestling Champion Carnival May 6th 2024

Welcome back to the final night of actual Champion Carnival action before we get the finals and such. Very exciting stuff and Korakuen Hall is bumping with 1,276 fans in attendance and I really do need to visit Korakuen before I croak. So anyway we got some big matches tonight as we finally have the Gaora TV match between Seigo Tachibana and Dan Tamura and Davey Boy Smith Junior vs. Kento Miyahara for the winner of the A Block.

Mari & MARU vs. Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki

Background: So we get the remnants of AWG here to wrestle again. These are different women than what we got before but Act is there with Mari and MARU as their manager. Mari is dressed in black baggy pants with maroon highlights and has a giant sword with her. MARU has short dyed hair and an emerald singlet with some bedazzlement on it. Nagisa has an aquamarine and blue look to her and long dyed hair and she’s very much the babyface. Natsuki is in peach and yellow and has a bob cut and they’re the girly faces.

The Match: Mari and MARU breakup the posing from the faces and go to work. We get some corner choking and MARU breaks out a goddamn chain to choke Natsuki. Natsuki gets a dropkick to bring in Nagisa who does some weak stuff into a sasori-gatame but Mari pops in to kick her with a big grin on her face. Nagisa and Natsuki takeover with…speed I guess, or maybe friendship or something but the heels cheat some more as Mari mugs go the camera after she hits every move. A double team senton off of Mari’s shoulders has her in control with an arrogant cover and she hits some slick kicks to keep the beating going. A single chop gets Nagisa space to take in Natsuki who hits a weak dropkick that Mari bumps like crazy for and Natsuki dominates with some fast-paced strikes before getting a Cutie Special for a near fall on MARU. Stretch muffler from MARU is broken up by the faces. The heels fire back with a Mari Gory Bomb into a MARU diving double foot stomp for 2.8, but their powerbomb/chain double team is broken up and a Natsuki/Nagisa Codebreaker/Jumping Knee combo sets up a Natsuki jackknife cover for 3.

*½

Meh. Mari might be good, MARU is fine. Natsuki is whatever, Nagisa is bad. Just bad work. But Mari has something.

Kaz Hayashi, MUSASHI & Seiki Yoshioka vs. Hikaru Sato, Rising HAYATO & Ryuji Hijikata

Background: So, Kaz is the erstwhile next challenger for HAYATO’s World Junior Championship. Seiki is new here but he’s an ex-NOAH junior who is in absolutely mindblowing shape and is an ultra-athletic kick demon with one of the most disgusting finishers in wrestling. He’s wearing sparkly silver tights. Interesting that Kaz, MUSASHI, and Seiki are all outsiders and Hikaru, Rising and Ryuji are all AJPW guys.

The Match: HAYATO starts against Kaz. HAYATO uses his speed to get one of his sick overhand chops but Kaz hits some ugly elbows to get back in control and we get the Rising HAYATO backflip taunt but Kaz breaks it up and gets a backbreaker to force HAYATO to tag in Ryuji as Kaz brings in Seiki. Yoshioka absolutely obliterates Hijikata with his speed and we bring in Sato and MUSASHI next to uh, do stuff I guess. A jumping Hikaru kick lets HAYATO tag in and he uses the kneeling MUSASHI to hit a huge poetry in motion against the outsider side. Nice spot. Keeping up the pace HAYATO tags MUSASHI and in motion pescados Kaz on the outside but this distraction lets MUSASHI suplex Rising and in comes Seiki and Ryuji. Seiki gets some of his awesome looking kicks on Ryuji and Kaz and MUSASHI triple team him. Hayashi gets the Vertebreaker on HAYATO. We get more Ryuji vs. Kaz and a Hayashi handspring jumping kick sets up a few kicks that Ryui definitely kicks out of before a headlock spinning elbow drop from Kaz finishes him off.

*¾

This didn’t do much for me and had a really muddy middle and way too much Hijikata who is just not very good. But it at least kind of made me want to see HAYATO vs. Kaz. Just the work was bad.

Post-match Kaz calls out HAYATO and I believe HAYATO accepts for the title match.

Seigo Tachibana (c) vs. Dan Tamura – Gaora TV Title

Background: So these two guys have been trading wins and losses in tag matches for a while now but now it’s time for the show. Dan is our lumpen bruiser and Seigo is our feisty brawler. Tamura has more power offense, Tachibana has more strikes.

The Match: Hard lockup and then Dan gets a takedown but Seigo keeps in guard. Second lockup is won by Seigo and he gives a clean break into his squat taunt. Tamura decides it’s time to get spicy and they slug it out, starting slow but ramping it up until Seigo gets a nasty backdrop driver on Tamura who rolls out of the ring. Tamura tries to get Seigo with some whips, but he reverses the second one and drop toeholds Tamura into the barricade and then DDTs him and the crowd is HOT. They tease a countount but Tamura makes it in only to get chinlocked by Seigo. Dan tries to pick him up and they’re playing this as an actual choke attempt and not a resthold. Nice recovery on a botch as Seigo bridges forward and loses the choke and immediately transitions to a facelock. Dan gets a backdrop suplex to break and the crowd remains quite hot for this. Seigo tries to low bridge Dan but he comes back in with a vengeance and destroys Tachibana with a shoulder block and then gets a cloverleaf-adjacent submission. Ropebreak for Seigo, but whenever he tries to come back Dan cuts him off with authority, but a sunset flip and a crucifix pin get Seigo back in some control and they fight over a backslide before Dan powders and Seigo gets a nice somersault plancha. A Seigo spear sets up an Olympic Slam but Tamura kicks out. Dan gets a la magistral and then a lariat and a death valley driver but Seigo kicks out at one, Dan kicks out at one on Tachibana’s back to belly piledriver. Both guys then collapse as they let the crowd get them both back in it. Both guys slug it out as they reset and Seigo knocks down Dan with a brutal elbow. More stiff shots and Dan goes down to the running 12-6 elbow drop.

***¾

Really good stuff and it played off all the bits they set up over the course of the feud. There was a LOT of NOAH’s house style in this match with two tiny stiff bastards just destroying each other, and it’s a nice contrast from the clash of titans that you get in All Japan’s main-event.

Hartley Jackson, Hideki Suzuki, Lord Crewe & Suwama vs. Jun Saito, Rei Saito, Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai

Background: Well it’s B Block all wrestling each other. Uh…yeah, that’s it.

The Match: Hot start as they all brawl and Suwama works over Anzai. Suwma cheats as they mostly do a standoff while the crowd reacts to the guys brawling outside. They stall and we get Rei vs. Hartley next and they do some big meaty thumping. Hartley wins and we get Hideki vs. Ryuki. Suwama breaks up the Ryuki rope choke but Rei steps in and both of them do stereo rope chokes and the crowd is hot for it. Suwama and Hideki try to double-team Ryuki and position themselves wrong and bicker and it is very amusing as you would expect. Ryuki and Hideki end up being dizzy and we get Jun and Crewe to trade hard strikes and throws. The gaijin and friends all quadruple team Jun for a while until Jun’s partners come in and take apart the other team. Ryuki and Yuma get the knee/lariat combo and the the Saito Brothers get a double chokeslam on Crewe to set up a Jun Psycho Break.

**¼

Match was basically a greatest hits performance (if done well) until the end which has Jun looking strong. Nice finish at least.

A Block Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan vs. Ren Ayabe

Background: Kuroshio is a guy with way too much personality, Ren is a guy trying to find a personality. Both guys are out of the Carnival but still, pride and all that.

The Match: Ren quickly demonstrates he’s much taller than Kuroshio who bail out in realization of that fact. Back inside and we get some lockup won easily by Ren who just tosses the smaller Kuroshio around. Kuroshio bails and tries to ambush Ren but the taller wrestler just snatches the guy and tosses him through the crowd. Ayabe’s chinlock lets the crowd chant for Kuroshio and the jacketed fellow comes back with his speed as he’s running around the slow-foote Ayabe. Eventually Kuroshio gets stymied on a whip attempt and Ren gets back in control with a great looking dropkick. Ren dragon suplex has the big man in control but some quick rollups from Kuroshio reverse things. Kuroshio’s fireman’s carry gets reversed into a Ren sleeper but Kuroshio gets the back to belly piledriver. An Ayabe big boot sets up the Tornado Suplex for the pin however.

**½

Setting up Ren as a monster is fine and there were some decent moments, but Ayabe is just so…weightless most of the time. Yes he has a lot of upside but if he wants to be an evil arrogant big heel he needs to go through with it for the whole match. Kuroshio was fine here but not exemplary.

A Block Match: Shotaro Ashino vs. Cyrus

Background: No real heat to this one in particular as both guys are eliminated, but we got a guy who loves suplexing people against probably the hardest guy to suplex in the tournament.

The Match: Cyrus tosses Shotaro around with ease and goes for an early powerbomb that Ashino floats out of and chopblocks the big guy’s leg. It doesn’t do much and Cyrus continues the whooping though he does focus on Ashino’s arm, including a big fat splash to Ashino’s left arm! That’s novel. Shotaro fires back with a series of uppercuts from a variety of angles but Shotaro still can’t get the German suplex as he’s tossed around by Cyrus. Cyrus goes for a Vader Bomb but it gets countered in an ugly sequence with Shotaro’s ankle lock. We finally get the German and Cyrus takes a pretty crazy big bump for it. They reset and we get Cyrus winning a slugfest with hammer fists and Shotaro bumps like he’s Popeye. Cyrus cannonball into the corner gets a weak kickout. Straps go down and Cyrus gets the Vader Bomb with authority and just splatters Shotaro.

**¾

Nice story told where Cyrus is just too fat for Shotaro to handle, but as is the case with like 50% of Ashino matches he makes some decisions about his selling that I just…don’t understand. That said, I’m now a Cyrus fan and him finding new ways to be big, fat, and evil delights me.

A Block Match: Yuma Aoyagi vs. Hokuto Omori

Background: Both guys are tricksters, and Yuma has mostly won with his trickery and Hokuto has mostly lost. Omori has also had his palette-swapped goon with a horse mask and since this is the last show, perhaps we’ll get a reveal.

The Match: So during the Hokuto’s entrance, Yuma sneaks out and drags away red!Hokuto which befuddles blue!Hokuto. Yuma comes out in his own horse mask and the Omori shirt and does his entrance mannerisms. This apparently deceives Omori and Yuma jumps him before the bell and whoops him around the ringside area. We get Yuma choking Hokuto with a shirt and bouncing Omori’s head off of various objects. Good, quality stuff here from the Insidious Fighter. We get a funny spot where Yuma looks at the ref while Hokuto is in a wishbone position and you can just tell Aoyagi wants to stomp on Omori’s nuts but he refrains….until he knees Hokuto’s testicles but swears it was the inner thigh. Hokuto fires back with some forearms and knocks Yuma over…whose foot flies up as he takes the bump, catching Hokuto in the junk. Omori comes back for real this time with a RKO and then a jumping neckbreaker (also called a RKO by commentary). Yuma gets space with a dropkick and then some leaping corner forearms to set up the diving crossbody. Yuma gets the brainbuster and a diving elbow to keep the beating going on. Hokuto tries going low again but Yuma blocks and we get the Rock Bottom and the Rockstar Buster before the real red!Omori breaks it up. The plot thickens! Hokuto finally gets the low blow and lands a German Suplex after putting the horse mask on Yuma. Hokuto gets the knockout leaping forearm strike and lands his Muso Issen (cross-legged fisherman’s buster) to get the 3 on Yuma.

***¼

So there was a lot of nonsense in this match, but it was worked hard and it had a good story, with Yuma getting a bit too playful and it costing him against a snake like Omori. I really liked the finishing sequence and it paying off that Yuma kinda screwed himself by trying to one-up and prank the guy.

Post-match we get Hokuto cut a promo about All Together Again and we don’t reveal his other horse mask guy. Well then.

A Block Match: Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Kento Miyahara

Background: So obviously this is for ALL the marbles and we’re establishing who is going to face Jun Saito for the Champion Carnival crown. As far as the matches are concerned, well DBSJ has a lot of advantages over Kento, he’s bigger, stronger, faster, and more technical. Kento just has heart, guts, and an unwavering confidence in his own abilities. But hey, what else do you need?

The Match: Davey Boy easily wins the lockup and gives a clean break with no fuss. Next up they trade technical stuff and DBSJ easily gains control with an armbar and rolls through all of Kento’s attempts to counter. Davey just repeatedly one-ups Kento as he can just get nothing going for him at all. He is flummoxed. Davey presses the advantage with another lockup and doesn’t give a clean break, instead busting Kento across the face. This fires up Kento who gets a drop toehold into the ropes and pulls Davey outside to get the headbutts and the posing. Kento tries to wrap up Davey’s leg in the barricade but Davey reverses that and tears apart at Miyahara’s arm using the surrounding steel and his technical skill. Davey rolls back in as Kento takes advantage of the count to fix his arm. It doesn’t do much as Davey just shreds Kento with a suplex and then some small joint manipulation. Kento’s desperate ropebreak while pointing at it to the ref is top-notch. We get a double-arm stretch from Davey that Kento desperately tries to reverse and he’s just a god here with his facial expressions and his screams of torment and agony. Kento almost rolls through but Davey keeps with him and even adds a knee to the back to increase the hurt. Miyahara finally gets the reversal but Davey immediately runs for a rope break and then wrenches Kento coming out of it. A long fight over a powerbomb ends with Kento backdropping the Canadian to get a moment’s respite. Kento FINALLY gets the rolling dodge into the two dropkicks to start up his comeback and the crowd explodes for it. Davey cuts it off as he reverses a brainbuster to end up on the apron but DBSJ can’t get his own brainbuster and Kento gets a DDT on the apron. Davey reverses a whip to the barricade however and gets a scoop powerslam on the ringside mats and Kento is dead. Miyahara rolls back and Davey drops three legs for 2.9. Kento avoids a powerslam and they slug it out a bit more. German from Kento almost gets him going but Davey dodges the Blackout and gets a backdrop driver to even the score. Now Davey gets the superplex and Kento kicks out to DBSJ’s befuddlement. Davey’s powerbomb is countered again and a Blackout from Kento starts the comeback…before a Davey lariat silences that. Davey goes back to the arm and gets a tiger suplex Kento screams in torment on, but it only gets 2.9. A powerbomb gets 2.9 as well for Smith. A small package gets the same as Davey goes back to his technical stuff, but a second Bulldog Bomb is countered by Kento and we are starting with the Blackout Knees. Kento grabs the Shutdown Suplex and 1-2-3 for The Best of the Best.

****¼

Well, basically the Savage formula but done to perfection as Kento took an absolute beating damn near bell to bell but was capable of withstanding it and gutting out a win. It even played off of previous matches where DBSJ is physically capable but when it comes time to finish a match he gets frustrated against tricky opponents and they’re able to counter his predictable offense and get the win. A guy with all the physical tools and skills but lacks the true mentality of a top-level champion and contender like Kento.

Post-match we get Kento and Davey showing each other love and Miyahara poses and bloviates before we get the showdown with Jun Saito.

And that’s it as we set the stage for the Champion Carnival finals where we’ll have Jun Saito vs. Kento Miyahara and also a bunch of other matches as well. See you all soon.