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.
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).
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!
