April 11, 2019
Fukuoka, Japan
Dan Tamura vs. Yusuke Okada - 6.5/10
Great hard hitting match between two of my favorite wrestlers in All Japan. Like even the shoulder tackles sounded stiff. Match saw Tamura get a lot of offense in, but at the end, Okada won with his super cool Boston Crab execution. This was obviously short, but great for the time it got.
Futoshi Kyoboku, Hokuto Omori, KING, & Koji Iwamoto vs. Atsushi Aoki, Hikaru Sato, Koji Niizumi, & Shuji Ishikawa - 5.5/10
Can someone confirm or deny that KING is a character from Kinnikuman? Anyway, good match overall, the stuff with Iwamoto vs Sato was great. Aoki was great. Ishikawa, for as little as he did, was good, he pinned KING with a driver.
Post-match - Ishikawa tried to unmask KING.
Atsushi Maruyama, Joe Doering, Joel Redman, & Jun Akiyama vs. Black Menso-re, Naoya Nomura, Takao Omori, & Zeus - 6.5/10
YES! Akiyama vs Black Menso-re continues! They did this match right, the way the transitioned pairings was perfect. We got to see Zeus vs Doering, Zeus vs Akiyama, Nomura vs Akiyama, and Nomura vs Redman. At the end, it all circled back to Doering and Menso-re, with the former winning with a crossbody.
When Redman was about to finish Omori with a piledriver, Maruyama interrupted him and said the Piledriver was his, could be please be tagged so he could hit the piledriver instead? It unfortunately backfired.
Champion Carnival 2019 Block A Match
Gianni Valletta (0) vs. Yuma Aoyagi (2) - 6.5/10
I don't think the match went long, but it felt like it was going forever for some reason. They brawled all over the place, into the stands, pushing fans around, at one point Valletta even chased a fan around. Yuma was a total babyface fighting from underneath. This was Valletta's best performance so far and it made him look somewhat dangerous, even getting a credible near fall with a Tiger Bomb, but at the end, Yuma still got the win by submission. There's not many men that Valletta can get credible wins over, and after this loss, his record is not likely getting any better.
Champion Carnival 2019 Block B Match
Jake Lee (2) vs. Yoshitatsu (4) - 8.5/10
Man, when Yoshitatsu shows more personality that you, you know you really need to work on your character side of wrestling. The match was good, the wrestling was good, Jake Lee is a great wrestler and he played well to Yoshitatsu's size and style, actually coming off as a big heel at times. Lee went after the arm, while Tatsu went for the head. Lee won with a set of knees to the core and the high angle backdrop.
Champion Carnival 2019 Block B Match
Sam Adonis (0) vs. Suwama (2) - 7/10
Adonis looked good here, he not only defeated Suwama, but looked like a big personality out there, and that is saying something since Adonis has been toned down a lot since debuted, at least compared to his stuff in Mexico. The negative side from this is that Suwama's age showed in this match, he's not exactly 'Old Man Suwama' yet, but looks wise, Adonis just looked like a superstar while Suwama looked kinda gassed out. A lot of that has to do with the match itself that saw Adonis work over Suwama most of the match.
Finish saw Adonis bring a chair to the match, but the referee took it away, and among the distraction, Adonis low blowed Suwama for a near fall. Adonis would follow up with a brainbuster to pin the tag champ.
Champion Carnival 2019 Block A Match
Dylan James (4) vs. Kento Miyahara (2) - 9/10
Great match and overall, a great performance by Miyahara, being the babyface that had to fight off against a giant. Dylan James beat the shit out of Miyahara for about two thirds of the match and then the champion came back with a great run. James almost took Miyahara's head off with lariats, he had several great near falls, especially one with a huge powerbomb as they were heading to the end. Miyahara on his side, hit a buck of kicks and knees, and at one point a BEAUTIFUL deadlift German which he suspended mid air. At the end, Kento won with a Straighjacket German.
They made me think that James was going to be one of Miyahara's losses and that is saying a lot.
As a side note, during his entrance, Miyahara was given flowers for the photo-op. After the photo, I just saw him throw them out of the ring, I don't know if someone was there to catch them, but it sure gives Miyahara's personality a unique rebel touch.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
A sleeper of a show, but I'll have to say, I had to rewatch some of the tournament action because at first viewing, it just wasn't keeping my attention. I have to admit that some traits of AJPW have taken me time to understand and accept, but i'm slowly getting there and I'm starting to appreciate the old school-ness of All Japan.
Block A Block B |
Kento Miyahara [4] Joe Doering [2] |
Atsushi Aoki [0] Jake Lee [4] |
Yuma Aoyagi [4] Yoshitatsu [4] |
Zeus [4] Takashi Yoshida [2] |
Gianni Valletta [0] Daichi Hashimoto [4] |
Ryouji Sai [1] Suwama [2] |
Dylan James [4] Sam Adonis [2] |
Shuji Ishikawa [3] Joel Redman [2] |
Yuji Okabayashi [4] Naoya Nomura [6] |
