All Japan Pro Wrestling: Champion Carnival April 27th 2025

Hey we got MORE All Japan Champion Carnival action and I’m helplessly behind but I’m gonna make this word aside. We got 950 in Osaka’s Edion Arena #2 and we’re ready to rock.

Dan Tamura & Ryo Inoue vs. Atsuki Aoyagi & MUSASHI

Background: Dan and Ryo are two young juniors who haven’t yet tasted gold, while Atsuki is a former junior champion and MUSASHI is the current champ. Dan is a bruiser, almost a tweener as he approaches heavyweight size, Ryo is small but feisty with an attitude and a kick heavy offense. Atsuki is one of the most athletic in the division with lots of handsprings, MUSASHI is old-school, has a deep toolkit and a sorta throwback traditional junior style.

The Match: Tamura and Atsuki start and my Dan is growing out a skeevy beard and his hair is long and shaggy and he just looks like a creep. Tamura dominates with size and power but Atsuki uses his speed and athleticism as they do the junior jostle. Aoyagi wins teases a dive but springs back instead and baits Dan back in before we get the double-tag. MUSASHI tries to evade Ryo and hotdog to the crowd but Ryo whoops him down to boos. MUSASHI uses the ropes to take control though and hotdogs some more. Champ is cut down again by Ryo and now it’s Inoue’s turn to preen to the crowd as he isolates MUSASHI in the corner and brings in Dan. We get stomps in the turnbuckle, MUSASHI tries to come back but the numbers are too much and more abuse. The champ finally gets an exploder and in comes Atsuki handspring and a corner armdrag but Dan comes in…and eats a dropkick and then Aoyagi gets a moonsault to the outside on everybody. Back in and Atsuki tries to get his fisherman’s bomb but Ryo slides through and gets a jump kick. Tam and Ryo double-team Aoyagi but MUSASHI breaks it up and then when they double him he uses his veteran know-how to dissect, separate, and demolish ‘em both. Reset to Atsuki/Ryo and they slug it out before Inoue just unleashes a strike flurry and a DDT gets 2. Ryo’s Buzzsaw Kick gets 2.8 but when he goes to capitalize with an abdominal stretch Atsuki flips out, gets a 540 kick and a handspring roundhouse. Rolling fisherman’s suplexes by Aoyagi ends in a bridge and 2.9. Top rope moonsault by Aoyagi gets 3 though.

**

Just a totally fine match that took up time and nobody screwed up that they’ve probably ran through 5 times a day in the dojo. Fine, just fine.

Saito Brothers (Naruki Doi and Rei Saito) & Yuma Aoyagi vs. ELPIDA (Ren Ayabe, Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai)

Background: So the Saito Brothers consist of the actual Saito Brothers and also some hangers on and goons, veteran junior Naruki, called Mr. Saito sometimes is one of them, he’s actually held the junior title a few times in All Japan and more/bigger belts other places, mostly Dragon Gate. Eternal goofball and mega-troll Yuma “The Fool” Aoyagi is there to irritate people but he’s bringing his Naruki Doi cheer towel. Their opponents are the hot, sexy, young, cool stable of homegrown (mostly) babyface stars of the future, Ren is tall and aloof (and also from JTO), Ryuki is stocky and wild and kind of a trolly hothead, and Yuma is stoic,

The Match: Ren and Doi start but Naruki realizes who he’s in there with and immediately wants to tag out while his partners leave him in the cold. Test of strength is teased but Ren is way taller and Doi can’t match him and Doi jaws a lot in a slapstick bit before climbing the ropes to be taller than Ren. Ren wins and drags Doi off the ropes as we get some cartoon heel selling before the ex-Dragon Gate man stomps a foot to break, Doi calls for a shoulderblock battle…and then dropkicks Ren’s knee before bringing in Yuma for double-teams that we get more slapstick on as Doi and Yuma squabble before getting taken down by Ren and now Aoyagi gets slammed by Ayabe. ELPIDA clear the ring and take turns giving Yuma back body drops while Yuma begs off. Ryuki does his choke on the ropes and the crowd chants along. Yuma tries a comeback with a dropkick that whiffs…but gets another dropkick and in comes Rei! Rei just bullrushes Ryuki into the corner and does his chop flurry as Ryuki is hamming it up screaming before he gets hit. Rei does more bully stuff and just runs over Ryuki a few times. Rei goes for a piledriver but gets backdropped out and we Ryuki tagging in Anzai. Corner charge sets up a belly-to-belly but Rei is JUST TOO FAT and Anzai needs to dropkick him before landing the move. German is attempted but Rei remains JUST TOO FAT and blasts Anzai with another shoulder. The Saitos (and Yuma) all fly in to attack uh…the other Yuma and now the double-teams are working without bickering…until Rei just runs into both Yuma’s anyway. Doi wi a neckbreaker and senton and Rei adds a standing splash on Anzai but Ryuki flies in and they do a sequence that Aoyagi is all confused by and he accidentally dropkicks Doi. It’s all breaking down as they hit everybody else and ELPIDA out-teamworks the opposition and we get Anzai vs. Doi. Flash rollup gets 2 by the vet but Yuma gets the jumping knee for 2.5 and lands Gimlet for 3.

**½

Lots of comedy in this one, but an entertaining six-man all the same. It’s not reinventing anything but it hit the spots it needed to hit.

Mike D Vecchio [6] vs. Hokuto Omori [2] – B Block Match

Background: Mike is a Belgian high-flyer with a muscular build who does plenty of high-impact stuff. Hokuto is a weirdo who leads a stable of monsters and is a sorta manipulative mind-games guy but has some MMA skills too.

The Match: Lockup, MIke wins but Hokuto reverses and we Omori blowing a kiss which doesn’t phase Mike, so Hokuto settles for a forearm to drop the Belgian before Mike boots him outside and gets a no-handed plancha. Mike whoops Hokuto around ringside with the usual before getting an honest to goodness slam, and that’s a very thin mat over what looks like concrete, yeowch. Mike keeps it up by repeatedly breaking the count until the ref tells him to knock it off and get back inside. Mike does with a springboard clothesline for 2 and some very measured shots in the corner. Omori tries to come back with a crossbody but Mike catches him, tosses him behind him and gets a standing moonsault for 2. Omori reverses a brainbuster into a German suplex and Hokuto gets a strike flurry ending in the rolling elbow and then a brainbuster gets 2.5. Omori goes up but his frog splash hits knees, gourdbuster by Vecchio on the ropes as we continue to go at Hokuto’s ribs. Omori is dead-legged though and Mike picks him up only for Omori to collapse again, ref tries to count Omori down so he stands up barely and…just starts throwing shots? Bizarre. More strikes from both and Mike gets a lariat to knock Hokuto down and the Vecchio goes up. Omori rolls away from his opponent but that doesn’t stop Mike who gets a diving elbow from 3/4ths of the ring away…for 2. Mike goes for a fireman’s something but Hokuto slips out, whips Mike at the corner and he has to cut himself short as he’d have run over the ref, and then Hokuto gets a flying headscissors into a grounded pin for 3!

**¼

Just kinda sorta a match, but actually a clever finish as Mike had repeatedly kinda flaunted the refs rules and Hokuto saw a chance to either get a DQ win (if Mike had wiped him out) or get the fancy pin for 3. Different sorta cheating psychology there! Beyond that, it really was just a match, nothing horrible but totally forgettable outside of the finish.

Aigle Blanc [4] vs. Madoka Kikuta [6] – B Block Match

Background: Aigle is a high-flying masked Frenchman, Madoka is an explosive Dragon Gate wrestler known for hip-checks and brutal strikes. Madoka giving up the speed advantage but he isn’t exactly slow himself.

The Match: Standing grappling leads to Madoka just forcing Aigle into the ropes and after teasing a clean break just murders Blanc with a chop. Blanc speeds it up with a flying headscissors and a dive but Madoka is too fast himself and dodges to set up a hip-check off the apron…but Aigle avoids that and gets a moonsault off the post. Back in but Aigle misses the springboard knee and eats a shoulder instead. Madoka with a chop and then a cravate as he’s grounding the high-flyer. We switch to a figure-four leglock to give the crowd a chance to clap. Blanc makes the ropes and tries to throw hands but Madoka just obliterates him with chops. Blanc finally speeds it up with a float-over and then a springboard reverse crossbody. Whiplash neckbreaker by Aigle follows a Made in Paris attempt but Madoka gets another granite-handed chop and a side kick for 2. Madoka sniffs out a counter and just chops the Frenchman down again but Aigle flies back with a jumping DDT and when Madoka powders Blanc gets a double-jump slingshot DDT onto the apron and follows with a springboard knee. Blanc goes up but Madoka crawls to the opposite corner…and Blanc goes coast-to-coast and goes up again but misses the 450 so Kikuta hip-checks his fillings loose. More chops from Madoka but Blanc is Eagling up and throws his own, and they’re just slamming into each other until Aigle drops and Madoka obviously calls a spot. Blanc goes for a German before Madoka twists that into a lariat, and follows with a hip-check that Aigle turns into a dragon suplex…but Madoka pops up, gets the hip-check and then a running lariat for 2.8. Discus lariat seals the deal for Madoka.

**¾

Hrm, I liked the story of Blanc being fast, but Madoka being ALMOST as fast and also the better striker, so he could sometimes catch him and obliterate him. And then they kinda ignored all that for the end and Aigle could match him chop for chop. Still, not bad, just teased something better than what we ended up getting. I am enjoying how Madoka’s chops are mostly sold, just an instant tempo-changer.

Hideki Suzuki [6] vs. Kuma Arashi [4] – A Block Match

Background: Serious but also goofy ‘real wrestler’ Hideki is challenging all goofy beefy brawler Kuma. Both Kuma’s Hokuto-Gun and Suzuki’s Baka no Jidai have met in the past so there is also some stable stuff as well. Suzuki is in purple, Kuma is…well dressed like a bear enthusiast.

The Match: Kuma howls to start. Lockup, Kuma wins, breaks and howls. Hideki takes Kuma to the mat and gets a pin and we get some standing grappling into another pin as Suzuki controls the grappling portion obviously. We go to a scissored armbar now as Kuma just sorta sells and tries to fight out. Standing armbar now and Kuma reverses into a slam. Senton by the big man and a torture rack follows but Hideki turns that into an abdominal stretch and then a rollup that they fight over for a while. More pinning combinations follow. More amateur grappling stuff confounds Kuma and it at least gets a pop as we get another pinning attempt. Kuma decides enough is enough and lands a running crossbody and a lariat for 2. Kuma gets a slam and then goes up for a senton but whiffs and we get another pin attempt for 2 but Kuma then rolls that into a pin for 3, ha!

**½

Okay, I was kinda down on this cause like, Kuma in a ‘wrestling’ match? Why? But Hideki getting all arrogant and falling victim to his own hubris is a nice deal. Well done gents, also didn’t overstay its welcome.

Takashi Yoshida [0] vs. Shotaro Ashino [2] – A Block Match

Background: Both guys are eliminated from the tournament but there is still pride. Dirty cheater Takashi has no points and is looking to at least go home without a goose-egg. Shotaro has been trucked so far but he’s a pretty respectable singles guy and has to be looking to redeem himself. It’ll be Takashi’s veteran cheating versus Shotaro’s suplexes and ankle locks.

The Match: Crowd chants for Ashino and Takashi gives them the business before the match. We get the early handshake tease and Shotaro denies it while Yoshida freaks out. Lockup, Yoshida wins and we get a clean break and then another request for a handshake. Takashi shakes the hand of the ref, Hokuto, Kuma Arashi, and then when Shotaro gets close we get a throat thrust and some nasal abuse. Shotaro just takes over with actual offense though and tosses Yoshida outside for a brawl and Shotaro is tosses through chairs. Yoshida cracks up a fan trying to hide behind him but Shotaro just drags him through the crowd and we eventually get ringside again. This has been 75% Takashi just playing to the fans while Shotaro just stands there. Eventually we’re back inside and Ashino gets some uppercuts that drop Takashi who takes the chance to hit his sneaky testicular kick when he flat-backs. Yoshida preens to the crowd as he tosses Shotaro around and then removes a turnbuckle while the ref is distracted by Kuma. And Takashi lands the whip into the corner and Shotaro flails around big while Takashi is like “wow how did this turnbuckle get exposed, how crazy.” While the ref checks on that Takashi chokes out Shotaro with his wrist-tape. Shotaro tries to fight back but Takashi actually gets a head-wag no-sell and some throat thrusts before Shotaro uppercuts him and gets a gutwrench suplex and then an anklelock before Takashi squirms to the ropes. Takashi goldbricks the knee before getting a throat thrust flurry, a framing taunt into a gamengiri, and then a jumping senton. Takashi goes for a piledriver next but we get the big backdrop counter and back to the anklelock. A few roll-throughs keep Ashino in control but Takashi eventually escapes and gets the throat thrusts to back Shotaro into the unbuckled corner and when Shotaro ducks and Takashi stabs steel. Shotaro goes for an armbar and rolls his eyes back like Yuji Nagata (to big laughs) and gets the small-joint manipulation and Yoshida taps.

**

Okay so the ending saved it, but this was mostly Takashi doing his silly cartoon stuff and Shotaro just being there. Just a poor combo of opponents as Yoshida needs a big personality and Ashino just is not that sort of talent. Turned into a fine situation but very goofy.

Kento Miyahara [6] vs. Xyon [4] – A Block Match

Background: The ace of All Japan versus the…okay he’s just kind of a dude. But XYON, formerly of rugby and then WWE, is a big, jacked up Aussie of Samoan descent. It’s the big brawling foreigner versus the hyper emotional babyface native. XYON is faster and stronger but Kento has that never-say-die attitude and is way more experienced.

The Match: Kento tries a lockup and XYON throws it away and the Aussie flexes. Second attempt has Kento try to gain back control and XYON throws him off and wags his finger while Kento freaks out in the corner. A third meetup has Kento grab a headlock that gets tossed aside before Kento tries a shoulderblock battle. It goes poorly. XYON stomps Kento down and cranks in his own headlock that leads to an attempted Kento comeback sequence before XYON cuts him down with a flying elbow. Miyahara powders and we get a beatdown outside the ring until Kento finally comes back with headbutts, but Kento’s whip is reversed and he eats steel instead and XYON gets a chance to mock the Kento chants. XYON now gets some headbutts and drops Miyahara on the apron. Back inside and we get more headbutts by XYON and then some body shots in the corner and then a whip Miyahara sells huge on. Kento finally gets the comeback with the double dropkicks and then a corner charge, but XYON does his own comeback and growls and wags his finger before getting a twisting Samoan drop for 2. Kento is giving XYON so much here. The Aussie goes up and goes for the diving headbutt but Kento rolls away and goes for the Shutdown suplex but XYON breaks the grip and gets a strike combo and a lariat to drop Miyahara for 2.8. XYON kips up and sets up his pounce, but Kento sidesteps and XYON flies into the corner, rollup gets 2 and a Blackout…gets blocked (?!?) but XYON sticks his arms out to pose so a second Blackout drops him and now the Shutdown gets 3.

***½

Pretty easily the best match of XYON’s career as he played the monster to a tilt and Kento bounced around for him but through guts and smarts managed to struggle out a win. XYON is still very limited but hey, he can do this sorta thing at least.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. [8] vs. Jun Saito [6] – A Block Match

Background: Well, Jun beat Davey Boy for Saito’s current title in Davey’s first title defense. They’re also two guys of similar size and similar styles. Jun the better brawler with more offensive weapons, Davey more versatile and technically skilled.

The Match: Both guys circle and pose a bit as they’re definitely going for a big fight feel here. Big lockup and Davey wins and gives the clean break. Second lockup is won by Jun and he gives the clean break and poses. Davey then gets a headlock and they grind that out for a bit. Davey then goes through a few holds, arm triangle, kata-hajime and then a kimura before it’s back to the headlock and this time Jun gets a headscissors but Davey kips-up. Jun with a kick to set up a headlock and when Davey counters that we get a backdrop and DBSJ powders and we know what that means. Saito whips Davey around and then get into a shoulderblock battle that stalemates until Davey hits a brainbuster on the floor and stomps the champ against the barricade. Davey slams Jun’s head on the apron and it’s back inside for more grinding submissions and pin combos but Jun makes the ropes. Snapmare and double-arm stretch keep us firmly in 1982. Ropebreak, another snapmare and a pair of leg drops get 2 on Jun. Chinlock city now. Another ropebreak and Davey goes for the powerbomb but Jun eventually backdrops out. Jun comeback time and we get a Yakuza kick, shoulderblock, running elbow drop, and then he UNLEASHES THE HAIR! Goozle by Jun is blocked and we slug it out but Jun wins with chops and goes for the Bomaye but Davey catches him with a powerslam and checks his pec in an amusing spot. Davey puts Jun up top and they go for a superplex but Jun struggles and counters and Davey goes for a super powerslam instead, Jun blocks that with a palm thrust to the back (leading to a somersault bump by Davey somehow?) and Jun goes for a diving clothesline that misses, but he just rolls through and gets a spear instead. Davey ends up on the apron and Jun follows and they struggle there, Jun with a Psycho Break attempt but Davey reverses into a DDT and they tease a countout. Jun gets in and Davey puts him on the top again…and Jun counters that into a super chokeslam for 2. That was…clunky. Another chokeslam is attempted but Davey counters into a German…but Saito pops up into a reverse Bomaye and we have the double-down. Slugfest that Davey wins with a backdrop driver and the Bulldog Bite Powerbomb gets 3.

**¼

This was dull, I do appreciate that Davey wrestled the match differently than the one he lost (well until the end) and was just trying to grind out the more dynamic Jun, but man Saito just…isn’t built to be trading holds, it’s not his style and he’s not that kind of seller. Just boring.

Post-match Davey poses with some sponsors and it looks like he won some soup. Cuts a promo, does the usual. It’s Davey, we know what we’re getting.