Friday, May 20, 2016

Patrik reviews: The 2016 Champion Carnival




Well. It's been a while hasn't it? All I can say is that real life things such as work kind of got in the way since last time. But it's time to play catch up on all things All Japan.

This time, we're doing this a bit differently. Since my last post, All Japan has spent the month of April hosting the oldest active tournament in pro wrestling, the Champion Carnival. It took place over a total of 7 shows, starting in Tokyo and ending in Osaka. Luckily all of these shows made tape and I have had the time to sit down and watch them all. But rather then doing one review for every single show, I figured we'd go over some of my takeaways from this year's tournament, go over what matches I thought was best and some recommended viewing, and of course who was the MVP of the tournament.

Lets start with the negatives.

Injuries: Originally Joe Doering, the promotion's top gaijin was supposed to make his return from a knee injury in this tournament, taking part in the B block. But Joe had to pull out before the tournament began to go in for brain surgery to remove a tumor. Luckily the surgery was a success and Joe is now recovering at home, get well soon big guy. This of course put a bit of a spanner in the works for block B, which as a result got a bit predictable on paper. And midway through the tournament, BJW representative Hideyoshi Kamitani suffered a rib injury and had to pull out, as a result he had to forfeit his remaining matches. This was a downer since Kamitani came off of one hell of a run in BJW's own big tournament, the strong climb, and would probably have put in another strong showing in the carnival.

Not as much star power as previous years: The Carnival hasn't exactly been the G1 for the past decade or so, but there was still noticeable that a couple of big names were missing since last year. As mentioned Joe was out recovering from his bout with cancer, Suwama is still out after taring his Achilles tendon, and both Go Shiozaki and Akebono are no longer affiliated with the company. Akebono, Joe and Suwama being the bigger names here since all three of those were proven draws for the company. No disrespect for Shiozaki but there was never really any proof of him as a draw and the All Japan crowds never really took to him. This one however can be turned into a positive, which we will touch upon below in...

The positives.

The booking: All Japan has been hitting a new stride recently, with some very interesting and good booking as Akiyama establishes himself more as the guy who runs the promotion, and stakes out his own vision for it. And this carnival was a good showing of Akiyama's ideas and his booking team's work, with the seemingly on paper B Block becoming a very fun to watch chase, with Zeus going on a strong run leading into the final day, but with Yoshie, Sai, Omori and Aoki gunning for him just 2 points behind. And over in the A block, newly crowned Triple Crown champion Kento Miyahara was put through the ropes, starting off the tournament with a draw against K-Dojo ace Kengo Mashimo, which set him up for a hard climb up the rankings in the block. By the final day he had managed to claw himself up into the lead with 7 points, but Jun Akiyama, BJW's Daisuke Sekimoto and RJPW's Super Tiger were all just one point behind him, and his final opponent in the A block? Daisuke Sekimoto. Both blocks ended up being very well booked and entertaining to watch in my opinion.

Elevating performances: Part of Akiyama's new vision for All Japan is allowing the younger talent to step up. This is part out of necessity after the Wrestle-1 exodus and guys like Akebono, Shiozaki, Suzuki and Kanemaru leaving. But also part because Akiyama obviously sees something in all these young guys. And in this tournament the young heavyweights got a chance to shine. Naoya Nomura and Jake Lee were placed as underdogs in their respective blocks, but put in impressive showings against their opponents, and both picking up one win each (Nomura over tag team champion the Bodyguard, and Lee over All Japan legend and former world champion Takao Omori). And then there was Kento Miyahara's run in the A block which was mentioned above. Kento got to prove that he had the spirit of a champion in this tournament, fighting back from an early setback to finish the tournament strong. We also got to see Kento bring out his main eventer swagger. I touched upon this in a previous post, but it is obvious that Kento is the anointed future ace of the company, but unlike over say in New Japan, Akiyama is willing to still present Kento as human. He's not unstoppable like Okada, rather still presented as what he is, the youngest triple crown champion ever who now has to prove that he belongs on top. And that is going to be an interesting story to follow. A story which is working since the fanbase is already invested in him, and they want to see him succeed.

Apart from the young guys stepping it up this carnival was also used to elevate existing lower card talent, as well as introduce new talent to the All Japan landscape. Kengo Mashimo, who has worked All Japan, and the carnival itself in the past, had a borderline star making performance this year. Going on an early tare in the A block and coming off looking strong, and even putting himself in the line of title contention. And both Ryouji Sai, formerly of Zero-1 and Super Tiger of RJPW made their first appearances in the Carnival and got strong showings. As a result both men have now made it clear that they are going to keep working All Japan going forward. Sai especially had a strong showing and came off as a real good aggressive dickhead heel. And has now also put his name in the hunt for a title shot. Akiyama used the carnival much like Baba used it originally, to create title challengers for his champion. Making up for the loss of big stars by elevating existing talent from lower on the card as well as bringing in new talent and putting them in hot. You have to give the man and the company credit for going at it rather than just trying to revert to a safe status quo. And judging by the crowds taking to the younger talent and the crowds being up slightly but surely, it is paying off.

Don't expect All Japan to pull New Japan numbers just yet, but they have at worst stabilized.

That's enough on the positives and negatives. Let's get to some recommended matches from the tournament.

Zeus vs Ryouji Sai from day 1
Sai's first showing in All Japan as a whole and he goes one on one with one half of the tag team champions. Zeus is such a phenom in Japanese wrestling, with his jacked body, WCW inspired move set and overall mannerisms. Always a joy to watch the big guy work. And Sai came in as this aggressive dickhead, working with stiff kicks and submission work to take the master of the biceps explosion down. I enjoyed Sai going in as the aggressor and taking it to his much bigger opponent in an attempt to neutralize him. Well worth the watch.

Kento Miyahara vs Kengo Mashimo from day 1
Another match from day 1. Kento takes on the ace of K-Dojo in what could be argued to be his first big singles main event since winning the belt. Kengo was a real good heel in this match, going after Kento's arm like a rabid dog in an attempt to remove his german suplex finisher from his arsenal. Kento reponds in kind by proving that he's not a one trick pony, laying into Mashimo with hard knee strikes in an attempt to take out to villainous Mashimo. This match had a bit of everything, limb work, strike exchanges, crowd brawling and a wicked finishing stretch, with both men trying to take each other out before the time limit. This match is up fairly high on my match of the year list. Highly recommended.

Kento Miyahara vs Jun Akiyama from day 4
Another step in Kento's journey in this carnival. He's rebounded from drawing with Mashimo on day 1. But now in front of him stands the company president, legend of the 90s and arguably one of the greatest to lace on a set of boots in the history of the game. Jun Akiyama. This is a fun just over 10 minute sprint. Akiyama brings all his trademarks, and Kento responds in kind. Showing that he isn't threatened by the absolute emperor of sternness that is Akiyama. Recommended.

Kento Miyahara vs Daisuke Sekimoto from the final day
This is the final match in the A block. Kento has managed to claw his way back from his bad start, all the way to the leading position in the block with 7 points on the final day. But just behind him is his opponent for the day. BJW icon Daisuke Sekimoto. If Kento wins or draws, he moves on to the final. But if Sekimoto wins, he passes Kento in the block and steals the final spot. Both men go in hard from the start, trying to put the other man out early. Neither man wants a 30 minute draw since they'd have to wrestle later on in the night. A nice vicious sprint that showcased what these two could do, without giving away too much. Sekimoto gets the win and moves on to….

Champion Carnival Final: Daisuke Sekimoto vs Zeus
The final match of the tournament. Zeus, the tag team champion and Osaka native. Standing up against Big Japan's greatest non deathmatch wrestler. Strong BJ vs the Big Gun. This was a slugfest. Two big guys going ham on each other. Clubbing blow after clubbing blow. A lot of the intrigue in the match was built around power. Was Zeus as strong as Sekimoto? Could he overpower him perhaps even? That Sekimoto is a good worker is an understatement. And Zeus is one of those guys who has stepped up under Akiyama, proving that he can hang. Today he brought his working boots and they put together a real solid main event match. Not perfect, but still a good cap off to a good tournament. Sekimoto takes the win and earns a shot at Miyahara's triple crown (as of this writing set for the May 25 show at Korakuen hall).

As for a MVP of the tournament, I'd have to go with either Mashimo or Sai for how well they elevated/established themselves in the landscape during this run. That Nomura, Lee and Miyahara were moving up the card was already established, but these two played a hell of a game of catch up in this tournament without damaging the three already named's own elevation.

All in all, the 2016 Champion Carnival was a very enjoyable experience. With a lot of good matches, character development from both existing and new roster members. And overall a good feeling presented by All Japan. All Japan has earned a lot of positive buzz and vibes so far this year, and it feels like the company is slowly turning things around under Akiyama's leadership. I am looking forward to what is to come with All Japan and I see bright things in their future if they keep the course.

Their next televised show will be their Korakuen Hall show on May 25, headlined by Kento vs Sekimoto for the Triple Crown, which will air on tape delay on May 31. And you can expect a more classic review on that show once it has aired.


Until next time!