Phrederic Reviews AJPW — page 4

Welcome back for some more scintillating Champion Carnival action, we’re definitely in the thick of it these days and I guess I should do something resembling standings so we can understand the stakes involved.

MUSASHI, Seigo Tachibana & Shotaro Ashino vs. Dan Tamura, Hikaru Sato & Lord Crewe

Background: Shotaro and Crewe are in the Carnival but they aren’t in the same block. The other guys are part of the endless All Japan mid card circus. Dan really wants Seigo’s singles title and Tamura and Hikaru are the mid-card tag champs.

The Match: Shotaro and Crewe start to a stand-still. We get Seigo and Tamura next and Tachibana is irked and wrestles angry and violent against the guy who has whooped him frequently the last couple weeks. Seigo’s team takes apart Tamura and Seigo makes them all squat to mock Dan. Musashi in solo leads to Tamura taking over and we get to Dan’s crew piecing apart MUSASHI until Shotaro comes in for another showdown with Crewe who takes over until a Shotaro suplex brings in Seigo and Dan. Both sides interfere but a Seigo lariat puts Dan down for 3.

Welcome back for some more fine Champion Carnival action. We’re hitting the middle of the tournament and I swear I will actually do a run-down of the standings soon, I promise, I swear on all that is holy that I will do that soon.

Hartley Jackson, Ryo Inoue & Seigo Tachibana vs. Dan Tamura, Hikaru Sato & Rei Saito

Background: Hartley and Rei are both in the Carnival, everybody else is in the midcard and junior mix. Tamura is partnered with Sato and hold the All-Asia tag titles and he wants Seigo’s belt. Ryo is a punching bag.

The Match: Rei and Hartley start with the big lockup but neither can gain an advantage, the other guys tag in and do their sequences before Ryo gets isolated and worked over in the corner. Long heat segment on Inoue but he reverses a Rei chokelsam and brings in Hartley for more clash of the titans stuff. Rei actually catches a Hartley crossbody (?!) and that brings in Tamura and Seigo for some stuff and Tamura powerbombs Seigo straight to hell for the stack pin and the win.

If you haven’t noticed I’ve been trying to review some of current AJPW’s wrestling output and I’ve realized that I’ve been bogged down trying to explain what and why is happening in the company. Who is this guy? Why are they wrestling like this? What do they want? And so at the request of my adoring fans I have written this snapshot of what All Japan is right now.

And for the assuredly numerous fans of my writing that don’t really know what AJPW is, let me tell you what’s happening.

I don’t want to get bogged down in the weeds and recount information I hastily ripped from wikipedia and quote dates and figures that are almost assuredly wrong, but here’s a big picture situation. All Japan is a very old puroresu promotion that has gone through a lot of changes, from Giant Baba, to the Four Pillars, to when everybody stopped talking about it for 20 years, and to right now when they’ve finally gotten some buzz again. I don’t want to dismiss the history of the promotion, it is rich and deep and interesting and much smarter and more knowledgeable people than myself have written about it, I am hoping to write this from the perspective of somebody who has followed this promotion for a few years and is hoping to inform other people about this promotion and do a bit of proselytizing.

Let’s dive in.

Welcome back for more Champion Carnival action, in beautiful Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall #4 to a pretty good house.

Ayato Yoshida, Chicharito Shoki, MUSASHI & Ryo Inoue vs. Daiju Wakamatsu, Hikaru Sato, Lord Crewe & Seigo Tachibana

Background: So some of these guys are new to me so either they’re freelancing or perhaps AJPW is taking advantage of a local promotion and giving their guys a spot on their card. Ayato Yoshida is taller than a traditional junior, is in good shape, and has a nicely permed floppy undercut, he’s wearing black trunks with a pattern on them. Shoki is notably shorter and has a blonde fringe at the end of his shaggy hair and is wearing boxing shorts. Ryo we know and is wearing his spiderweb shorts this time. MUSASHI is in his one outfit. Daiju is new for me and has buzzed sides on his hair and blonde on top, he’s wearing disturbingly flesh-toned shorts in what I would describe as a fashion disaster. Hikaru Sato is an AJPW regular, he has long blue tights and a pale, flabby build, he wears a blue gi top to the ring and has a mask and an undercut. Seigo is in his red suit and Lord Crewe is in what looks like tights with a Bengals pattern on them.

Hey guys, I’m back after some technical difficulties of my own making but we got some more fantastic AJPW Champion Carnival action coming up for you.

Hikaru Sato & MUSASHI vs. Rising HAYATO & Ryo Inoue

Background: So MUSASHI was the prior challenger for HAYATO’s World Junior title and Sato has been a general thorn in Rising and Ryo’s sides as well. It’s youth vs. experience with Sato and MUSASHI being the vets and HAYATO and Inoue being in their 20s.

The Match: Basic technical stuff from HAYATO and MUSASHI to start as nobody is really busting their ass. Inoue and Sato trade martial arts sequences. HAYATO tags in again and does a Poetry In Motion and I’m starting to be disturbed by the Jeff Hardy comparisons between him and the Charismatic Enigma, MUSASHI returns with his 2000s American indie guy offense and this is all pretty basic in a not very good way. MUSASHI gets a few German Suplexes on Ryo to set up the Frog Splash for the win.

Hello everybody, it is officially that time of the year that All Japan Pro Wrestling’s signature annual tournament has begun, the Champion Carnival and I am delighted to cover it. I’m not much of a historian and I don’t think I need to explain the history of All Japan to you, but basically it’s their version of the G-1 and is a pretty prestigious deal, former winners include Baba, Abdullah, Jumbo Tsuruta, Stan Hansen, Kawada, Misawa, Taue, Vader, Kobashi, and Mutoh. It’s a round robin tournament and there are two blocks.