Cero Reviews All Star Junior Festival 2023

[cero2k]

All Star Junior Festival 2023
March 1st, 2023
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Pre-Show Match
Akira Jumonji (JTO), Fuminori Abe (Freelance) & Ryo Hoshino (ZERO1) vs. Kazuma Sumi (DDT), Soma Watanabe (GLEAT) & YOH (NJPW) - 6.5/10
Good match overall, but it for sure felt like the pre-show match. Abe was fantastic as usual, YOH mostly worked an undercard match, and Watanabe made sure he was going to be the one that people would remember the most after the match, he has so much potential, that I wouldn't be surprised if NJPW tries to pick him up down the line when he gets a bit more work under his belt. For that matter, guys like Sumi, Hoshino, and Jumonji's match list doesn't hit the three digits, and they're already doing good.

Match mostly showcased the younger guys and ones like YOH put them over hard, YOH especially gave so much, even though he was the one who got the win at the end. Kinda unfortunate that Watanabe and Abe were in the pre-show, as I think they could have made a bigger impact down in the card.

Opening Ceremony - Jyushin "Thunder" Liger opened the show with a speech of his own, the significance of this show and how it felt like the old Super J Cups. He also read a letter sent by Shinjiro Otani, who is still recovering. Tatsumi Fujinami came out for a speech too and between the two, opened the show.

AMAKUSA (NOAH), Fujita "Jr" Hayato (Michinoku Pro) & Hiromu Takahashi (NJPW) vs. HAYATA (NOAH), Kazuki Hashimoto (BJW) & YAMATO (Dragongate) - 7/10
Like a decent and proper promoter and booker, Hiromu booked himself into the opener, so he can give the spotlight to everyone else. He also booked the champions of the major promotions in the same match, not only for the spectacle, but to straight up avoid politics going down the line. Hayato was definitely over, in a way, this was the first big showing he has had since coming back from his long hiatus and potential retirement a couple of years ago, it was really nice seeing them together and seeing Hayato re-connect with some of the guys.

Match was great, but unfortunately short for the talent involved. Everyone looked really good,

Onryo (666) & SHO (NJPW) (w/ Ram Kaicho) vs. Isami Kodaka (BASARA) & MAO (DDT) - 5/10
Ok match, it definitely suffered a bit from Onryo not being great, and SHO straight up turning on his partner for the DQ finish at the end. Kodaka felt a bit out of his environment for some reason, and MAO could also just do as much. Not much was happening until SHO for no reason turned on Onryo, tried to attack people with his wrench, and instead got attacked by everyone, including a plancha by Ram Kaicho. SHO would end up getting himself DQd for the finish.

Jun Kasai (FREEDOMS), Minoru Tanaka (GLEAT), TAKA Michinoku (JTO), Tatsuhito Takaiwa (Freelance) & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NJPW) vs. Chicharito Shoki (2AW), Kota Sekifuda (BJW), LEONA (Dradition), MUSASHI (Michinoku Pro) & Shoki Kitamura (ZERO1) - 6/10
This was pretty much an Otani celebration match, as most of these men had some sort of story with Otani.

This was just a bit all over the place and too many people for only ten minutes. Everyone got a chance to do stuff, but the overall story was that Kasai and Tanaka wanted to use Kasai's fork. They didn't get to, so instead Kasai used the skewers on Sekifuda. The real match took place between old timer Takaiwa and Chicharito, with both looking quite good for their respective ages and experience levels. Takaiwa ended up getting the win with a great Lariat and DVD combo.

Post-match - Sekifuda tried calling out Kasai for a deathmatch down the line.

Hikaru Sato (Pancrase Mission), Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW) & Yumehito Imanari (Ganbare) vs. BattenxBurabura (Kyushu), The Great Sasuke (Michinoku Pro) & Tigers Mask (Osaka Pro) - 6.5/10
This was the comedy match of the night. Sato, Taguchi, and Imanari came out wearing those weird back-windowed sweaters that got popular on social media a couple of years back. That immediately told you this was going to be a Pheromones type of match. It was actually kinda uncomfortable how homophobic some of Kevin Kelly's comments came off as, using 'wrestling seriousness' as an excuse.

Match mostly revolved about Taguchi feeling awkward wearing no gear, but as the match went on, he eventually also got into the vibe with Sato and Imanari. Sasuke and Tigers did some stuff, but nothing noteworthy. Burabura was the real spectacle from that side of the ring, he's just an interesting wrestler. Match built up to a Pheromone style butt spot where everyone ended in each other's crotches and butts, leaving Sato and Burabura going at it until Sato reversed Burabura into a cross armbreaker and tapped him out.

El Desperado (NJPW) & Volador Jr. (CMLL) vs. DOUKI (NJPW) & HANAOKA (Secret Base) vs. El Lindaman (GLEAT) & Yuki Ueno (DDT) - 7.5/10
HANAOKA and DOUKI are both representing the Japoneses del Mal, its their connection from their time in Mexico.

This was my favorite match of the night. The participants are great and some of my favorites. The action was really good, with a good combo of fast paced action, some hard hitting, and bits of comedy and lightheartedness sprinkled around. Volador looked really crisp in his actions, Lindaman and Ueno as well. HANAOKA was great at breaking up the action, and Despy and DOUKI are just always solid dudes. Despy won for his team with Pinche Loco over HANAOKA.

Alejandro (NOAH) , Billy Ken Kid (Osaka Pro), Gurukun Mask (Ryukyu Dragon) & Mistico (CMLL) vs. Atlantis Jr. (CMLL), Black Menso-re (AJPW), BUSHI (NJPW) & Dragon Kid (Dragongate) - 6/10
This was the "everyone wears a mask" match, which was really the only thing linking these guys, this felt really random. The Mistico in this match, was THE actual Mistico, also known for the Sin Cara and Myzteziz runs, which warranted the "Legendary" notion by commentary, but it still sounds weird coming from the commentary team that realistically have seen more of the stuff he did in the US. Anyway, Gurukun Mask is the only wrestler I wasn't all that familiar with, and he didn't do much in the match to leave a lasting impression.

Match didn't do much for me. The biggest deal was Atlantis Jr. and Mistico going at it. Menso-re did comedy, Dragon Kid looked good, straight up physically good for a 47 year old man, by all means, Dragon Kid and Mistico meeting for the first time should had been the real showcase of this match. BUSHI worked as a rudo the whole match, was kinda making his corner look like heels even if they weren't. Finish came after a series of dives until Mistico and Menso-re were the last men in the ring, and then Mistico tapped out Menso-re with La Mistica.

Post-match - BUSHI misted Menso-re for no reason.

CIMA (GLEAT) vs. Kazuki Hirata (DDT) - 6.5/10
In a card with surprise matches, this was technically a surprise match, neither CIMA nor Hirata had been announced during the opening package or the press conferences. The match was kind of a comedy match since we have the Hirata dancing aspect, but they still delivered some action in between the comedy spots. At the end, CIMA won with the Meteora.

Post-match - CIMA and Masato Yoshino, on commentary, had a nice moment after the match.

Taiji Ishimori (NJPW) vs. YO-HEY (NOAH) vs. Soberano Jr. (CMLL) vs. Shun Skywalker (Dragongate) vs. Ninja Mack (NOAH) - 8/10
This was fun, just tons of action, but unfortunately, like some of the previous matches, the lack of space that Korakuen gives you, meant that guys like Mack and Soberano had to limit their flying a bit. They still pulled out some great spots.

Match was YO-HEY and Mack try to work together as the two NOAH guys, but it didn't always work. Soberano was the only true babyface, working by himself and pulling most of the fire spots. Skywalker looked like a beast, he's considerably bigger and more imposing than everyone else, so it looked like they were all in there with Darth Vader on spots. Ishimori felt like the one who did the least, he had a couple of spots here and there as a powerhouse, but it wasn't until the end that he made some noise, when he snuck in to steal the win from Skywalker, hit Bloody Cross to pin YO-HEY.

Master Wato vs. Atsuki Aoyagi - 8/10
This was good, but it wasn't a mind-blowing match. In a way, the best outcome of this match is seeing Wato grow a bit more. Along with his Wrestle Kingdom performance this year, and this match, you can see that NJPW is still invested in Wato and there is slow growth. He may not be Shota Umino, but Wato is not dead in the water and he is becoming what he has to become.

Match had Aoyagi be the heel from the start. Aoyagi is arguably a better established wrestler than Wato at this point, fanbase should definitely see him as the stronger of the two, so it was a good story for Wato to come in and have to overcome him. Aoyagi dominated most of the match, Wato made a slow comeback until he managed to block Aoyagi's 450. Wato ended up getting the win after a HIGH angle German and Recientemente.

Post-match - Wato cut a short winner's promo, but it didn't last long before Hiromu and the rest of tonight's roster came out for the big closing ceremony.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Overall, this was a success of a show. A really positive view of Pro Wrestling, when you can have most companies in the country come together for a show like this. I hope it becomes a yearly thing, that allows for talent rotation and even down the line, the inclusion of some of the "high speed" women in wrestling.

Wrestling-wise, this wasn't anything to call home about, this is not going to impress anyone who can only fathom watching five star matches, but surely the significance of watching all these companies mix it up was worth the time and money spent. As for commentary, I unfortunately had to watch it with the English feed, and as usual, it's abysmal, with Kevin Kelly's nerd-dad jokes, lack of respect commentary like questioning Hiromu's integrity and professionalism, and straight up butchering every single name on the show.

[Big Red Machine]

but surely the significance of watching all these companies mix it up was worth the time and money spent.

Yeah. When I saw what this was, it felt like a sort of final nail in the coffin of isolationism.