All Japan 9/15 in Korakuen: Show of the Year Contender, Mos Def

Royal Road Tournament 2014

(2014/9/15)

1.      Yohei Nakajima vs. Masanobu Fuchi

Damn good match, a part of Yohei’s rough road of paying dues after the unmasking. This was not as great as the fabulous Kotaro match, but that’s only because Fuchi is in his 60s so Yohei’s selling can seem kind of far-fetched in certain moments, but it’s not as bad as it may sound on paper, this was a very good match.

***1/2

2.      SUSHI, Ryuji Hijikata, Kaji Tomato vs. Ultimo Dragon, Hikaru Sato, Keisuke Ishii

About 30% of the match is missing due to TV editing and it’s a shame, because this was definitely a fine 6-man tag, full of fast and dynamic pacing, good shit right there. Loved the finish, that was tight.

***1/4 (at least)

3.      Takao Omori & Yutaka Yoshie vs. Akebono & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Technically, this was fine, but for some reason I just couldn’t get into it. However, it did make me wanna see Omori/Kanemaru.

**1/4

4.      Royal Road 2014 – Round 1: Kotaro Suzuki vs. KENSO

Korakuen Hall sure as hell loves a good underdog, and Kotaro is the underdog here. This was your classic power vs. speed play which they executed down to a T, you have KENSO as the big bad wolf working stiff and rough, controlling the pace, and on the other side you have the small and agile Kotaro whose game plan is to catch KENSO off guard, bring him down on the mat and pull off a couple of tricks from his sleeve, this was so great.

****

5.      Royal Road 2014 – Round 1: Atsushi Aoki vs. Suwama

This was more competitive than Kotaro/KENSO, and the opening portions were not very exciting to me, which is why it didn’t reach the “great match” territory, but on its own - this was quite smashing. Aoki is the latest addition to Suwama’s Evolution faction and the current reigning Junior Champion, so it made sense that he tried to match Suwama’s gnarly viciousness here, but Suwama is just super tough, those head sweeping lariats can hit you from anywhere. Damn good match.

***3/4

6.      Royal Road 2014 – Round 1: Kento Miyahara vs. Jun Akiyama

Not gonna lie here, I expected a great match based on what I witnessed earlier from these two feuding, but not THIS great. Seriously, check it out ASAP, words cannot do it any justice. And you know the most shocking part? With someone more sympathetic than Miyahara this would’ve been a five star megalodon. Yep, Akiyama was THAT glorious.

****1/2

7.      Royal Road 2014 – Round 1: Go Shiozaki vs. Joe Doering

Joe’s previous two big main events, title matches with Suwama and Akebono, were quite unremarkable and disappointing, the big fella was running out of credit, but boy oh boy, what a redemption this was! No feeling out process, no defense, Doering was going HAM on Shiozaki from the very sound of the opening bell. Destruction and domination, and the best part is this was one of those matches where Go didn’t transform into Gobashi, he let it come to him naturally instead, it made for such a marvelous match, awesome selling and perfect comeback spots. The most pleasant surprise of the year, fantastic match, Joe, you magnificent bastard, just keep on rolling, big man, and watch everyone go crazy for you, it’s only a matter of time if you keep up with hard/smart work like this, awesome shit.

****1/2