Patrik Watches: All Japan from February 12 2016

AJPW
Excite Series
February 12 2016

Jr. Battle of Glory: Soma Takao vs SUSHI
Our first match in AJPW's yearly junior tournament features AJPW stalwart SUSHI taking on DDT's Soma Takao. AJPW's personal vlogger (Sushi hosts a talkshow on their youtube, a sort of recap show. I'm also going to just write his name regularly instead of the standard all caps going from here because of laziness.) vs the original all red everything. The match starts off slow but quickly ups the pacing. Takao takes control fairly early on and Sushi has to fight back from underneath. Takao displays some bullyish tendencies I have not seen out of him before and plays the defacto heel against AJPW's lovable underdog, working over his back with kicks and powerslams before going for a half crab halfway through the match. Sushi eventually manages to fight back and we get a sequence were he gets to prove that behind that comedy gimmick and goofball look hides a very solid workhorse wrestler. We then go into a very nice a crisp finishing stretch which the crowd gets nice and loud for before Takao steals the win with a rollup. Very entertaining match and the perfect opener for the show in my opinion.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

A quick note before we move on. For those who only watch New Japan or Dragon Gate this type of Junior style is probably a bit odd. All Japan's junior division relies much more on matwork, grappling and strikes than on high flying and spotfests, making the high flying spots that do happen more special. That doesn't mean that the matches aren't high tempo, but don't expect every junior match to contain a 450 or a Sasuke special.

Jr. Battle of Glory: Kazuki Hashimoto vs Ryuji Hijikata
Next up is BJW up and comer Kazuki Hashimoto (not related to the king of destruction, but teams with the legit son of Shinya, Daichi Hashimoto) vs AJPW veteran, now freelancer Ryuji Hijikata. Again this match starts slowly and the two go to the ground pretty quickly trying to outwrestle each other. But this match isn't any less heated since it works the veteran vs cocky upstart formula. Kazuki disrespects Hijikata during a rope break, slapping him in the face a couple of times only to get a straight shot to the face in return from the veteran. Getting the anger as well as the crowd going. They then spend the rest of the match trying to force the other to submit whilst throwing in stiff strikes and generally hating each other in between the holds. Hijikata takes aim at Kazuki's right knee and that becomes his main target for the rest of the match. Kazuki ain't no scrub tho, and after an aggressive rebound and finishing stretch chokes Hijikata out, resulting in a referee stoppage. Something which is a bit rare in the house Baba built.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Kazuki ends up going on quite the run in this tournament, actually being supposed to face Aoki in the finals later on, something which had been built for through the build up to this tournament and on both D-Rize and AJPhoenix shows. But sadly he ended up breaking his arm in his final block match and missed the final. He's as good as guaranteed a title match once healthy tho and I am looking forward to seeing more of him in AJPW.

Jr. Battle of Glory: Atsushi Maruyama vs Hikaru Sato
Atsushi Maruyama is more commonly known as Eagles and Tigers Mask on the independent circuit (not Tiger Mask, Tigers Mask), but is working out of the mask here against Hikaru Sato, today showing up without GillyMan in his corner (never forget).
If you like grappling, this match is for you. This match starts off with a real feeling out process and slick grappling. Logical since Hikaru has a legit MMA background in Pancrase, and Maruyama shows that he can hang as well. Maruyama then hits the so far only high flying move out of the ring with a big tope con hilo straight into the guardrail, ouch! Maruyama hints at hurting his knee on the dive and Hikaru zeroes in on it like a shark tasting blood in the water. And Maruyama sells it like a god. Some of the best selling of a specific body part I have seen in a while. But swerve! It was all a ruse! Maruyama was faking the injury all along and Hikaru pays for it. We then go into what is the snuggest and best third act of a match so far this show. With both men trading some real nifty offense before Hikaru gets the win with the armbar. This was my first time seeing Maruyama but I definitely want to see him back after this showing.
Rating: 3.8 out of 5.

Jr. Battle of Glory: Atsushi Aoki vs Takeshi Minamino
Here comes the worst match on the card….But it is intentionally bad? Minamino promised before the tournament began that he didn't really care about winning it by honest means, but rather that he just wanted to fuck with everyone else involved and was going to cause as much ruckus as possible. And that's just what happened. His opponent is the stoic top junior in the company, Aoki. And Miniamino takes it to him before the bell even rings. This isn't as much a match as it is a prolonged brawl on the outside, with Minamino throwing Aoki into things and Aoki giving chase, with hints of a match sprinkled in. Resulting in a double countout. Making this match hard to rate. It's not a “good match” but it also isn't supposed to be, which means it served its purpose I guess? Never the less this is probably the only match you can skip on this show with good conscience.
Rating: No rating.

Jun Akiyama, Takao Omori & Masanobu Fuchi vs Shigehiro Irie, Shuji Ishikawa & Ultimo Dragon
Team veterans vs Team not so veterans. Match starts with Irie calling out “baldy” pointing at Akiyama, but this causes confusion since Fuchi also is bald, and ref Wada is balding. Ahh, Japanese comedy. Match starts properly with Irie vs Akiyama and their early work makes me realize that I'd be all in on Irie getting a spot in next year's Carnival (he's not in this years) or whatever the Royal Road tournament morphs into this year, or him getting a bigger spot in general. Which he is likely to get since he is the DDT guy they bring in the most and he seems over both with management and fans. We then get Ishikawa trying to murder Omori with kneestrikes and Omori selling them like he's hit in the chest with a baseball bat.

Ishikawa continues with an impressive performing before tagging in Dragon who goes at it with who is arguably the original junior heavyweight, Masanobu Fuchi. It's always impressing seeing Fuchi work since he is old as hell and looks the part. This man has worked for All Japan since it started (1972 for those wondering). Dragon vs Fuchi mainly starts off as more banter than wrestling. All in all this is your typical All Japan six man match, solidly worked and well paced to get the best out of everyone involved. With Fuchi bringing the comedy considering the fact that he is older than father time and the other five men bringing the ring work. And in a match involving Akiyama, Omori, Dragon, Ishikawa and Irie it is hard to put together a bad match. Not a perfect five star match, but a well put together and enjoyable multiman match that the AJPW style lends itself so well to. Ultimo ends up getting the win for his team with a la magistra pin and his awesome theme sends us into the next match.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Jake Lee vs Naoya Nomura
AJPW's main focus this year is the elevate the younger generation of stars, and this match is a prime example of that idea. Jake is the tag team partner of new ace of the company, Kento Miyahara and Nomura is set up to be Jake's rival coming out of the events at the world tag league final (Suwama turned on Kento, and rather than help Jake help Kento, Nomura joined up with Suwama instead). And it is obvious from the start, this match doesn't start out slow but rather with a brawl, with both men throwing kicks and punches and trying to beat each other up. Nomura even getting the cheap start before the bell rings to set up who to boo and who the cheer. And both men are already over with the crowd, which is very good. Nomura slows things down and starts working over Jake. Jake manages to fight back and sends Nomura to the ground with a hard knee, proving that Nomura ain't shit. You can clearly see what is to be the fire and hatred that is so typical of the old school AJPW rivalries starting to burn in these two and the commentary sells it as such as well. And I am looking forward to these two guys continuing to develop that rivalry going forward. These guys only being in their early 20s tells me this can be quite the ride. Jake wins with a killer backdrop after a hot finishing stretch.
Rating: 3.9 out of 5. Highly recommended.

Gaora TV title match: Yohei Nakajima (c) vs Yuma Aoyagi
Another match in the push the younger generation movement. This one pits Akiyama's personal disciple Aoyagi vs the Gaora TV champion Nakajima. This one is hot out of the gate with high pace offense and we go outside of the ring pretty early on. Aoyagi is a house of fire in this one, hitting Nakajima with everything he has it seems. And Nakajima responds by playing the wily veteran, countering the hungry young contenders offense to get out ahead. Nakajima wins a very entertaining match through murder by kicks to the head. Post match Sushi comes out and lays down the challenge for the title he never lost, being forced to vacate the belt in the summer due to a orbital bone injury which led to Nakajima winning the belt. So he is the next logical challenger.
Rating: 3.9 out of 5. Highly recommended.

Triple Crown decision match: Kento Miyahara vs Zeus
Main event time! Before we get to the match itself, time for some backstory. Suwama beat Akiyama for the Triple Crown on the January 2 Korakuen show, only to snap his achilles tendon a week later. Kento and Zeua had been the two top forerunners to become his first challenger and a match was made between the two to crown a new champion following Suwama's injury. Far from the ideal scenario since I am pretty certain that the original plan was for Kento to win the belt at the Sumo Hall show in November, but faith forced All Japan's hand and like with all other backlashes they have felt, they dust themselves off and try to make the best of it. As a result this match has a pretty big changing of the guard feel to it, with Zeus and Kento being the two top young stars in the company, Zeus is currently enjoying a run with the world tag team titles as a result. And Kento is clearly placed in the spot as the new ace of the company, with reason.

Onto the match itself. They start off slow, with an extended feeling out process, which maybe isn't everyone's favorite thing in wrestling, but it makes sense with this being the first big singles match between the two, they don't have a reason yet to just go clubbing from the start, but I am sure we'll get that in the future. Eventually both these young studs tire of playing it safe and start going at each other in earnest, which they do so well. Both these guys are unique specimens, Zeus being a legit ripped muscle monster with surprising agility, something rare in Japan, where heavyweights usually are more stocky. And Kento has this mix of Tenryu and Mutoh to him, with the way he looks, moves and his presence, you can see why Akiyama has Kento pinned as his top star. Fairly quickly we end up outside of the ring and we get a nice physical brawl to help rile up the already active crowd some more. Kento starts working over Zeus inside the ring, but pays for it when going to the top, when Zeus lariats him out of the ring, stepping up the physicality of the match some more. This is the point were Zeus starts working the more clear cut heel, making the crowd side more with Miyahara, which is the desired effect so well done to them. Zeus also ramps up his aggressiveness in his offense, looking very much like a big, muclebound bully. It was also during this segment that I realized how much of Zeus' moveset which he has lifted from 90s WCW, Stinger Splash, Chokeslam with The Giant/Big Show taun, Arn Anderson inspired spinebuster, Scoropion Deathlock. What a legend he is.

Kento eventually starts fighting back to the delight of the crowd, and this is when the match starts hitting third gear, and we get treated to some real beautiful offense, a highight being Zeus diving out of the ring onto Kento (JESUS!). Kento, who has spent most of the middle of the match taking offense, finally gets to start dishing out in earnest as we head into the finishing stretch. And boy is it great. The crowd is eating up what these two are throwing at each other. These are two hungry, young stars who want to win the top prize in their promotion, and they have no problem knocking the shit out of each other to achieve it. And it is awesome. The finishing stretch is hot as fire and both men fight out of everything the other throws at them, but eventually Kento proves the better man and comes out on top. A new champion is crowned, a new top star has arrived and a new era has begun for All Japan. Awesome.

If I have to pinpoint my critique of this match, is that maybe the slow start was a bit too long. It felt like it took too long to get from the slow start to the fierce end, and maybe I would have trimmed like five minutes off sometime in the start or in the middle to fix that. I'd also maybe have had Kento come up with another finish to use on bigger guys like Zeus. But all in all it was a good well put together and deserving main event. These two proved why they are the top two young stars in the company and worthy to play in the same wheelhouse as Suwama, Akiyama and Omori. And All Japan needs top stars that can carry them forward.
Rating: 3.9. Highly recommended

A couple of final thoughts on this show: This was supposed just to be a regular show for All Japan, but Suwama's injury forced this rather normal tour starter in Korakuen to become a show which much more importance for the company. The focus became on establishing the younger generation, showcasing the young stars and proving that they can deliver when called upon. And I'd say they succeeded. Akiyama and company deserves some kudos for sticking to their gameplan instead of panicking the belt back on Akiyama after the injury, allowing the youngsters to prove that they can deliver. All top three matches on this show had the future generation on display, and the crowd was very receptive towards them. And that is a positive. All Japan now knows that the crowd enjoys watching their youngsters, so now they just have to put in the grind to further establish them, and in a year or two we should start seeing the pay off. Kento especially needs it now that he is the ace. The Suwama match at Sumo Hall can and should still be the gameplan, only with the role of champion switch. Kento needs to prove that he can beat the man who never lost the title to begin with.

People tend to post doom and gloom about AJPW primarily these days online but I really came out of this show with a positive vibe. I highly recommend the show since there was only one bad match, and it was intentional to begin with. This is going to be an exciting year for to follow All Japan, as they look to build for the future, seemingly move more of their main business to the Osaka region (smart move in my opinion considering how over saturated the Tokyo region is) and try to draw a decent house at Sumo Hall in November. And I'll keep documenting this journey right here.

Until next time!