April 4, 2019
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Champion Carnival 2019 Opening Ceremony - All participants came to the ring. After the ceremony, some men started eyeing each other, getting face to face and all. Joe Doering got the biggest ovation of them all.
Takao Omori, Masanobu Fuchi, Yusuke Okada, Dan Tamura, & Hokuto Omori vs Jun Akiyama, Koji Iwamoto, Black Menso-re, Atsushi Maruyama, & Atsuki Aoyagi - 4.5/10
Nothing opener, we got some comedy with Fuchi hiding the fist strikes and then missing dropkicks, and then Okada and Aoyagi came in for a minute exchange where once again, Okada shined with his vicious application of the Boston Crab to submit Aoyagi.
Joel Redman, Sam Adonis, Gianni Valletta, & Dylan James vs Ryoji Sai, Zeus, Yoshitatsu, & Yuma Aoyagi - 5.5/10
Foreigners worked the heel side with the exception of Redman. Dylan and Aoyagi started with a good exchange, then we got Dylan vs Zeus in a chop fest. We kept getting quick pairings with all men as the match went on until they all got their chance, and as the match was barely breaking down, Valletta distracted the ref while Sam Adonis low blowed Yoshitatsu and pinned him. The pairings worked out nicely, there is some potentially good matches coming.
AJPW Champion Carnival 2019 B Block Match
Takashi Yoshida (0) vs Daichi Hashimoto (0) - 6/10
Takashi Yoshida, the former Cyber Kong, is representing Dragon Gate. Daichi Hashimoto is representing BJW. Back and forward match, the tory here was that Yoshida had the strength advantage, but once Hashimoto took him down, that advantage was virtually gone. Yoshida still pulled off the power moves of the match, but it was never a really advantage anymore.
Finish saw Yoshida went inside the ring, when he went back up, he pushed the ref and sprayed red mist on Hashimoto, getting the opening to a big lariat to win the match. Pretty lackluster finish considering the match died when Yoshida went under the ring. Match was nothing special.
Kenta Kobashi Announcement - Kobashi came out to announce some matches for the Fortune Dream 6 show. One of the 'matches' was Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Maeda in a Talk Battle.
AJPW Champion Carnival 2019 B Block Match
Jake Lee (0) vs Naoya Nomura (0) - 8/10
This was a great, hard hitting, back and forward match. Two young guys beating the shit out of each other, both inside and outside the ring, no shenanigans, just straight up strikes and moves. As great as Jake Lee is, Nomura's fire, comebacks, and near falls were the best thing in this match. Nomura locked in a Buttlerfly Lock and transitioned into modified Abdominal Stretch to submit Jake Lee. This was great glimpse of the future of AJPW.
AJPW Champion Carnival 2019 A Block Match
Kento Miyahara (0) vs Atsuki Aoki (0) - 9/10
Crowd is hyped for Aoki tonight. Match saw Aoki had a slight technical advantage over Miyahara, so the champ started going after Aoki's head with headbutts and some illegal ringpost work. Miyahara had the strength and speed advantage, so Aoki had to wrestle the smarter match, going for the countout win on two different occasions with different approaches, which wasn't favorable for Miyahara who kept antagonizing the ref. Aoki got a few good near falls, but I never really saw him pinning Miyahara tonight.
Last few minutes were awesome, Miyahara went to kill Aoki, but he kept kicking out of everything Miyahara was throwing at him. At the end, after surviving several knees and Germans, Miyahara hit a Straightjacket German Pin for the win. This was a really well planned and smart wrestled match.
AJPW Champion Carnival 2019 B Block Match
Joe Doering (0) vs Suwama (0) - 6.5/10
Good hoss fight, but kinda short, it was barely hitting second gear when the finish came. Doering had the size and strength advantage, but Suwama had more heart. Doering dominated most of the match, while Suwama had small comebacks leading up to the finish where Suwama hit a powerbomb for a two count, followed by backdrop and the Manriki Sleeper to choke out Doering.
Post-match - Both men shook hands.
AJPW Champion Carnival 2019 A Block Match
Shuji Ishikawa (0) vs Yuji Okabayashi (0) - 8.5/10
Okabayashi is representing BJW. This was a hell of a hoss fight, they went 60mph and did a ton of stuff, but the thing with hoss fights is that sometimes we you just want to do the 'who is tougher?' story, you really need to master the timing and intentisy. This match definitely had the intensity and it grew as it went on, but if I thought Suwama vs Doering went short, I felt that this went a bit long. Having said that, I liked it, I think both men were great in their crazy men style.
There was a spot with Ishikawa getting three straight two counts with foot-stomps in-between each pin. Okabayashi soon after responded with a Suplex while Shuji was on his knees! Finish saw Okabayashi pin Ishikawa with a top rope Splash.
So much for all the teases of Ishikawa having this new awesome move that he worked with Ibushi. I saw the Kamigoye and a few weak running knees, but that was about it, unless I missed it.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
An ok opening for the tournament. It may just be the weekend that it opened that there is just so much going on that the show felt a bit underwhelming. There was some good wrestling nonetheless, just not something that I'd tell everyone to cancel their weekend plans for.
Block A Block B |
Kento Miyahara [2] Joe Doering [0] |
Atsushi Aoki [0] Jake Lee [0] |
Yuma Aoyagi [0] Yoshitatsu [0] |
Zeus [0] Takashi Yoshida [2] |
Gianni Valletta [0] Daichi Hashimoto [0] |
Ryouji Sai [0] Suwama [2] |
Dylan James [0] Sam Adonis [0] |
Shuji Ishikawa [0] Joel Redman [0] |
Yuji Okabayashi [2] Naoya Nomura [2] |
