April 9, 2019
Matsue, Japan
Hokuto Omori & Koji Iwamoto vs. Yoshitatsu & Yuma Aoyagi - 5/10
The stuff with Yuma and Iwamoto was great. Hokuto got worked on by Yoshitatsu and Yuma until the end when Yuma pinned him with a high angled backdrop. Would have love more Iwamoto in the match.
ALL Mighty Inoue, Hikaru Sato, Jun Akiyama, & Yusuke Okada vs. Black Menso-re, Dan Tamura, Lowther, & Takao Omori - 6.5/10
Inoue may be my new favorite looking wrestler, he's like a combination of Jorge Falcon, Brazo de Plata, and the breadmaker that lives around the corner from my house. Okada and Tamura were the MVPs of the match, adn Akiyama continued his feud with Black Menso-re. Okada submitted Tamura with a Boston Crab.
Atsushi Maruyama, Futoshi Kyoboku, & Joe Doering vs. Violent Giants (Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama) & Atsushi Aoki - 6/10
Suwama and Doering went at it again. Ishikawa paired up with Kyoboku, and Aoki with Maruyama, the former pinning the lariat with a roll. This was short, so we didn't get much out of anyone, but I can say Aoki looked great.
Champion Carnival 2019 Block A Match
Dylan James (2) vs. Gianni Valletta (0) - 5/10
Valletta jumped James and worked on him for a while, mostly big dude moves, in and outside the ring, he went for a countout victory at one point. James made a comeback and fought his way back into the match. Finish saw a ref bump with James getting a clear pin, when he went to check on the ref, he got low blowed and rolled up, but not even then could Valletta get the job done. James won with a chokeslam. Nothing match, Valletta looked weak.
Champion Carnival 2019 Block B Match
Jake Lee vs (0) vs Joel Redman (0) - 7.5/10
This was a great technical contest, but you could tell that Jake Lee had some trouble understanding what Redman was going for with some of the submissions. Actually, Redman was soo good that he kinda made Lee look like a chump, especially when he had to resort to strikes to turn the match around. Redman worked the leg, Lee worked the torso.
After Redman worked over Lee for a while, Lee made a comeback and we got more strikes, and when Redman was barely getting back into it, Lee kicked Redman so hard that he pinned him. Good match, underwhelming finish. Lee finally picks up a win.
Champion Carnival 2019 Block B Match
Naoya Nomura (4) vs Sam Adonis (0) - 6.5/10
Adonis actually kept the volume down for this match, he'd been pretty vocal and loud in all the tag matches leading up to his singles debut, but he ended up focusing more on Nomura than playing to the fans. He's still Adonis and his charisma showed.
Match saw Adonis work over Nomura from the start. It wasn't until Adonis started to get cocky that Nomura got some shots in, building up to surviving a Cattle Mutilation and starting a proper comeback, and minutes later, winning with a sitting stretch. Adonis tapped out CMLL style. This was one of those matches we've seen that are completely one sided and then after a short comeback, the other guy wins. I don't mind them, but it's underwhelming.
Champion Carnival 2019 Block A Match
Kento Miyahara (2) vs Zeus (2) - 9/10
Fucking great back and forward match. Kento worked the head with a ton of running knees and Germans, Zeus chopped the shit out of Miyahara, and in a way, also went for the head as he chased the chokeslam. There was a fantastic near fall when Zeus hit two beautiful violent lariats, but Kento wouldn't survive the Jackknife that followed. Currently my second favorite match of the tournament, just under Miyahara vs Aoki.
Post-match - Zeus cut his show closing babyface promo. Talked about defeating the champion, thanked the crowd, and taught the fans to chant with him.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
A solid show tonight, we had ups and downs, but overall, it was fun and easy to watch. The main event was worth checking out if you're only chasing the top matches.
Block A Block B |
Kento Miyahara [2] Joe Doering [0] |
Atsushi Aoki [0] Jake Lee [2] |
Yuma Aoyagi [0] Yoshitatsu [2] |
Zeus [4] Takashi Yoshida [2] |
Gianni Valletta [0] Daichi Hashimoto [4] |
Ryouji Sai [1] Suwama [2] |
Dylan James [4] Sam Adonis [0] |
Shuji Ishikawa [3] Joel Redman [0] |
Yuji Okabayashi [4] Naoya Nomura [6] |
