Date: April 13th, 2014
Location: Belle Salle Shinjuku Central Park
Announced Attendance: 611 (Super No Vacancy Full House)
Since I just finished the G1 Climax, I figured it would be proper to go back a bit and do the Champion Carnival. The Champion Carnival is significantly smaller than the G1 Climax, particularly in 2014, with half of the number of wrestlers. Which makes sense, as All Japan doesn’t have near the roster that New Japan currently does. Here are the brackets for the tournament:
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Block A :Akebono Kendo Kashin Kento Miyahara Osamu Nishimura Suwama Takao Omori |
Block B :Go Shiozaki Joe Doering Jun Akiyama KENSO Yutaka Yoshie Zeus |
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Also unlike the G1 Climax, each card has many matches that are not related to the Champion Carnival Here is the full card for the opening event:
– Naoya Nomura vs. Ryuji Hijikata
– Kenichiro Arai and K-ness vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and SUSHI
– Mitsuya Nagai and Takeshi Minamino vs. Osamu Nishimura and Ultimo Dragon
– Kendo Kashin and Atsushi Aoki vs. Kento Miyahara and Kotaro Suzuki
– Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie vs. Joe Doering and Hikaru Sato
– Champion Carnival – Block B: Jun Akiyama vs. Zeus
– Champion Carnival – Block B: Go Shiozaki vs. KENSO
– Champion Carnival – Block A: Suwama vs. Takao Omori
Onto the matches!
Naoya Nomura vs. Ryuji Hijikata
Nomura and Hijikata circle each other to start, tie-up, Hijikata pushes Nomura into the ropes and he gives a clean break. Tie-up, waistlock by Hijikata, Nomura reverses it and Hijikata applies a wristlock. Hijikata applies a cross kneelock but Nomura gets to the ropes. Back up they jockey for position, Hijikata gets in the mount position but Nomura gets out of it and they return to their feet again. Waistlock by Nomura but Hijikata applies a Wakigatame. Nomura gets to the ropes to get the break, and back up Hijikata elbows Nomura in the arm. Hijikata applies an armbar but Nomura gets a foot on the bottom rope. Hijikata picks up Nomura, Hijikata applies a side headlock, Nomura eventually pushes Hijikata into the ropes and he hits an elbow to the chest before backing off. They trade shots in the middle of the ring, knee by Hijikata and he goes off the ropes, hitting a big boot. Cover, but it gets a two count. Hijikata picks up Nomura but Nomura hits a few elbows but Hijikata boots him back. Irish whip by Nomura to the corner, reversed, but Nomura hits an elbow followed by a dropkick. Cover, but it gets a two count. Nomura picks up Hijikata, elbows by Nomura and he goes for a scoop slam but Hijikata blocks it. More elbows by Nomura and he finally hits the scoop slam. Nomura goes up to the top turnbuckle and he hits a missile dropkick. Cover, but it gets another two. Nomura picks up Hijikata but Hijikata grabs his arm and applies the Wakigatame. Nomura tries to get to the ropes but he can’t, and he has to submit. Your winner: Ryuji Hijikata
Match Thoughts: Nomura has terrible strikes that have no impact, I know that he is still new but someone needs to help the kid out. Other than that it was a basic match that left no real impression one way or the other. I guess this is just Hijikata’s role now but at least he is still on the cards. Overall nothing worth seeing and a pretty dull opener. Score: 3.5
Kenichiro Arai and K-ness vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and SUSHI
Kanemaru and Arai start things off. They shake hands, Arai asks SUSHI for a handshake also but then takes his hand back. SUSHI is tagged in, SUSHI tie-up, Irish whip by Arai and he hits a back elbow. Arai goes off the ropes but SUSHI catches him with a jumping heel kick. Arai falls out of the ring and SUSHI sails out onto him with a pescado. SUSHI slides Arai back into the ring, he picks up Arai but Arai rakes him in the eyes and tags in K-ness. K-ness throws SUSHI in the corner and wants Kanemaru, so Kanemaru tags in. Kanemaru and SUSHI tie-up, K-ness applies a leglock on the mat but Kanemaru gets out of it. Side headlock by Kanemaru, K-ness Irish whips out of it but Kanemaru shoulderblocks him down. Side headlock takedown by Kanemaru, kick by K-ness and he goes off the ropes but Kanemaru catches him with a dropkick. K-ness fires back with a heel kick and both wrestlers slowly get back to their feet. Arai is tagged in, headbutts by Arai to Kanemaru, then Arai headbutts SUSHI. Arai rakes SUSHI in the eyes, Kanemaru drives Arai back into the corner and tags in SUSHI. Arai is stopped won by SUSHI and Kanemaru in the corner, he tries to make a tag but SUSHI grabs Arai from behind. Elbows by SUSHI but Arai hits him and tags in K-ness. Kicks by K-ness to SUSHI, he picks him up, double Irish whip and with Arai they hit SUSHI with a kick combination. Arai picks up SUSHI but SUSHI pushes him back, elbows by SUSHI to Arai and K-ness and he goes off the ropes, but he is caught by a double flapjack. Arai rakes on SUSHI’s eyes, he picks him up and slams SUSHI in front of the corner. K-ness goes up on the second turnbuckle while Arai goes up top, and Arai jumps of K-ness’s shoulders with a doublestomp by SUSHI. Cover, but Kanemaru breaks it up. Arai picks up SUSHI, Irish whip, but SUSHI collapses.
Arai picks up SUSHI again and he hits a scoop slam. Arai goes up to the top turnbuckle but SUSHI avoids the diving attack this time. SUSHI applies a figure four leglock to Arai, but Arai reverses it. Arai tags in K-ness, and K-ness stomps on SUSHI. K-ness goes off the ropes but SUSHI hits a Backstabber. SUSHI tags in Kanemaru, Kanemaru picks up K-ness but Arai attacks him from behind. K-ness dropkicks both Arai and K-ness, then he hits a diving crossbody onto K-ness for a two count. Irish whip by Kanemaru to K-ness in the corner, he hits a lariat followed by a split-legged moonsault. Cover, but K-ness kicks out at two. Irish whip by Kanemaru but K-ness kicks him into the corner. Irish whip by K-ness and he hits a corkscrew elbow strike followed by a face crusher. Cover by K-ness, but it gets a two count. K-ness picks up Kanemaru, Kanemaru goes off the ropes but K-ness hits an enzigieri. Kanemaru hits a lariat however and he tags in SUSHI while K-ness tags in Arai. SUSHI hits a trio of lariats onto Arai, he throws Arai into the corner, reversed, SUSHI flips out to the apron and he hits a swandive missile dropkick. SUSHI goes up to the top turnbuckle and he hits a diving headbutt. Cover, but K-ness breaks it up. Kanemaru throws K-ness out of the ring, double Irish whip to Arai but he ducks the double lariat. SUSHI hits Kanemaru by accident, but he hits a German suplex onto Arai. SUSHI goes off the ropes but K-ness trips him from the floor. Arai goes off the ropes and pretends like he was tripped to distract the referee. K-ness runs in and hits an atomic drop to SUSHI, then Arai hits an Inside Cradle on SUSHI for the three count. Your winners: Kenichiro Arai and K-ness
Match Thoughts: They kept up a pretty good pace which helped make a match that was average seem a bit better than it was. Arai doesn’t move too fast these days but the other wrestlers did, it is interesting as all of these guys are former quick Jr. Heavyweights that are now slightly slower and slightly broken veterans that still wrestle the same basic style. They really didn’t do any big moves or anything to make the match memorable, and even though I just watched it I am struggling to come up with things to say about it. Nothing offensive though. Score: 5.5
Mitsuya Nagai and Takeshi Minamino vs. Osamu Nishimura and Ultimo Dragon
Nagai and Minamino attack their opponents before the match starts and the brawl spills outside of the ring. Nishimura gets the better of Nagai outside of the ring while Minamino maintain control over Ultimo Dragon. Nishimura slides Nagai back into the ring, Nishimura picks up Nagai and elbows him in the head. Uppercut by Nishimura but Nagai elbows him back and tags in Minamino. Kick to the ribs by Minamino to Nishimura, Minamino goes for a snapmare but Nishimura blocks it and applies a Cobra Twist. Minamino quickly gets into the ropes, Minamino drives Nishimura back into the corner and hits a series of shoulderblocks. Nagai is tagged in, knees by Nagai to Nishimura, Irish whip, but Nishimura kicks Nagai in the chest. Elbows by Nishimura and he hits an uppercut. Nishimura tags in Ultimo Dragon, Ultimo Dragon kicks Nagai in the legs and goes for a vertical suplex, but Nagai blocks it and hits a vertical suplex of his own. Nagai picks up Ultimo Dragon and he tags in Minamino. Snapmare by Minamino to Ultimo Dragon and he rakes him in the eyes with his boot. Neck crank by Minamino and he stomps Ultimo Dragon in the back. Arm wringer by Minamino and he tags in Nagai. Nagai knocks Nishimura off the apron and then knees Ultimo Dragon in the arm. Nagai wraps Ultimo Dragon’s arm in the second rope and clubs him in the back.
Nagai tags in Minamino, wristlock by Minamino to Ultimo Dragon, Irish whip, and Minamino applies a sleeperhold. Cover, but it gets a two count. Minamino re-applies the hold, Ultimo Dragon elbows out of it but Minamino gets the move re-applied. Ultimo Dragon elbows out of it and goes off the ropes, he goes for a heel kick but Minamino ducks it. Minamino picks up Ultimo Dragon and he hits a scoop slam, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and jumps off but Ultimo Dragon dropkicks him in the chest. Ultimo Dragon tags in Nishimura, elbows by Nishimura to Minamino and Nishimura knees Nagai as well. Scoop slam by Nishimura, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a knee drop onto Minamino’s knee. Nishimura applies the Spinning Toe Hold before applying a figure four leglock. Nagai and Ultimo Dragon come in the ring, Ultimo Dragon pulls down the ropes and Nagai falls out of the ring to the floor. Nishimura and Ultimo Dragon hit a double vertical suplex onto Minamino. Cover by Ultimo Dragon but it gets a two count. Ultimo Dragon waits for Minamino to get up, Irish whip, reversed, Minamino goes for a back bodydrop but Ultimo Dragon lands on his feet. Low blow by Minamino to Ultimo Dragon but Nishimura comes in to help, kick combination by Ultimo Dragon to Minamino and he plants him with the Asai DDT. Cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winners: Osamu Nishimura and Ultimo Dragon
Match Thoughts: This was a decent mid-card match but nothing special. Dark Kingdom did a good job at heeling it up but it felt empty at times as Dragon and Nishimura didn’t really react to it with much fire. Nishimura isn’t exactly Mr. Emotion and Dragon seemed to be coasting here for the most part. So it was a bit flat even though the action itself was solid. Score: 5.0
Kendo Kashin and Atsushi Aoki vs. Kento Miyahara and Kotaro Suzuki
Aoki and Suzuki start things off. Tie-up, side headlock by Aoki, Suzuki Irish whips out of it but Aoki rolls him up for a two count. They jockey for position but neither can get the advantage. Wristlock by Suzuki, Aoki rolls out of it and applies a hammerlock but Suzuki reverses it. Aoki applies a headscissors but Suzuki gets out of it. Back up they circle each other, Suzuki pushes Aoki into the corner but Kashin grabs Suzuki’s arm from the apron. Kashin gets in the ring, Irish whip by Kashin and Suzuki tags in Miyahara. Kashin asks Miyahara for a handshake and gets it, but Kashin kicks Miyahara in the stomach and throws Miyahara out of the ring. Back in, Kashin throws Miyahara out of the ring and goes out after him, but Miyahara quickly slides back in again. Kashin returns and he tags in Aoki, Miyahara applies a wristlock but Aoki quickly reverses it. Miyahara goes for the cross armbreaker but Aoki gets out of it and pushes Miyahara back into the corner. Aoki tags in Kashin while Miyahara tags in Suzuki. Wristlock by Kashin, but Suzuki rolls out of it. Kashin grabs Suzuki’s leg and tags in Aoki. Irish whip by Aoki and he hits a back elbow to Suzuki. Aoki picks up Suzuki and he tags in Kashin. Kashin and Aoki both stomp on Suzuki in the corner, but Suzuki fights back. Elbows by Suzuki to Kashin, Irish whip by Kashin to Suzuki but Suzuki hands the handspring elbow strike.
Suzuki tags in Miyahara, Miyahara throws Kashin into the corner, Irish whip, and Miyahara hits a jumping elbow smash followed by a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count. Miyahara picks up Kashin and hits an elbow strike, but Kashin fires back with an uppercut. Kashin tags in Aoki, Aoki picks up Miyahara, Irish whip, but Aoki avoids Miyahara’s dropkick. Kick by Aoki to Miyahara, cover, but it gets a two count. Miyahara goes for a suplex but Aoki lands on his feet, drop toehold by Miyahara into the ropes and Suzuki hits a tiger feint kick to Aoki. Neckbreaker by Suzuki to Aoki, cover, but it gets a two count. Miyahara picks up Aoki but Aoki rolls up Miyahara for a two count cover. Miyahara goes off the ropes but Aoki dropkicks him in the knee. Kashin comes in and picks up Miyahara, double Irish whip, and they hit a double back elbow onto Miyahara. Kashin holds Miyahara for Aoki but Miyahara ducks and Aoki hits Kashin by accident. Kashin kicks Miyahara to the mat, Aoki picks up Miyahara and holds him but again Miyahara ducks and Kashin slaps Aoki. Suzuki comes in the ring, double Irish whip to Aoki but Aoki fights them both off. Punches by Suzuki to Aoki, and Miyahara hits a horizontal cradle on Aoki from behind for the three count! Your winners: Kento Miyahara and Kotaro Suzuki
Match Thoughts: These matches are all kind of blending together. They have wrestlers with similar sizes wrestling similar styles all with about the same match times. Anyway I thought this match had no flow or structure whatsoever, even though these guys have all wrestled together before it was just disjointed. It never felt one team was on the verge of winning, they just took turns doing mid-level moves for the most part with little meaning behind them. I know all four of them are capable of more but this one just didn’t work. Score: 4.0
Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie vs. Joe Doering and Hikaru Sato
Yoshie and Sato start things off. Sato tries kicking Yoshie in the stomach but naturally it doesn’t fade him. Waistlock by Sato but Yoshie butt thumps his way out of it. They lock knuckles, Yoshie gets Sato down to the mat but Sato gets a foot on the ropes to force a break. Waistlock by Sato and he pushes Yoshie into the corner before tagging in Doering. Yoshie tags in Akebono, Akebono pushes Doering back into the corner but he gives a clean break. Doering pushes Akebono in the corner, punches by Doering but Akebono pushes him back. Doering goes off the ropes and goes for a shoulderblock, but Akebono doesn’t go down. Doering goes off the ropes again with the same result, eye rake by Doering and he clubs Akebono in the back. Sato comes in the ring, they go for a double Irish whip but Akebono rams them into each other. Yoshie and Akebono crush Doering, and Akebono hits an elbow drop. Cover, but it gets a two count. Akebono tags in Yoshie, and Yoshie stands on Doering by the ropes. Yoshie picks up Doering and chops him against the ropes. Irish whip by Yoshie and he hits a body block. Yoshie picks up Doering, snapmare, he goes off the ropes and hits a rolling attack. Cover, but Doering kicks out. Yoshie stomps on Doering and tags in Akebono. Akebono clubs Doering in the back and stands on him hear the ropes.
Akebono crushes Doering in the corner and hits an elbow drop. Cover, but Doering gets a foot on the ropes. Akebono tags in Yoshie, elbows by Yoshie to Doering into the corner, Irish whip by Yoshie but Doering levels him with a lariat. Doering tags in Sato and Sato kicks Yoshie in the corner. Snapmare by Doering to Yoshie and Sato hits a running kick. Sato applies the cross armbreaker but Yoshie quickly gets a foot on the ropes. Stomps by Sato, double Irish whip to the corner and Sato hits a running elbow on Yoshie. Akebono comes in and knocks Doering out of the ring, Sato grabs Akebono but Yoshie squashes him from behind. Yoshie tags in Akebono, and Akebono hits a body avalanche in the corner. Elbow drop by Akebono, cover, but it gets a two count. Akebono goes for a body press but Sato rolls out of the way. Sato punches Akebono and delivers a kick combination, Sato goes off the ropes but Akebono hits a body block, sending Sato into the corner. Yoshie comes in the ring, lariat by Akebono in the corner and Yoshie follows with a running butt smash to Sato. Snapmare by Yoshie and Akebono hits a body press. Cover, but Doering breaks it up. Yoshie throws Doering out of the ring and then hits a senton onto Sato. Running body press by Akebono, cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winners: Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie
Match Thoughts: This was a solid fat man match, even though having Sato in there was a bit of a giveaway on who was being pinned. Not a big fan of when they telegraph that so obviously. But Doering already has a feud with Akebono so they played off of each other well, and there wasn’t anything wrong with the match. It was pretty basic, nothing exciting, but solid throughout. Score: 6.0
Jun Akiyama vs. Zeus
This match is part of the Champion Carnival. They circle each other to start, Akiyama gets Zeus to the mat and applies a side headlock, Zeus gets back to his feet and Irish whips out of it, Akiyama goes for a shoulderblock but Zeus doesn’t go down. He tries again with no success, Zeus goes off the ropes but Akiyama boots him. Shoulderblock by Zeus, tie-up, waistlock by Akiyama, reversed by Zeus but Akiyama gets into the ropes. Kick to the stomach by Akiyama but Zeus chops him back. They trade strikes, which Zeus gets the better of. Akiyama falls out of the ring and Zeus hits an ax handle from the apron. Zeus throws Akiyama into the chairs at ringside and hits a few chops, but Akiyama kicks him back and throws Zeus’s leg into the ring post. Akiyama slide Zeus back into the ring and slams Zeus’s leg into the ring post. Akiyama does it again before twisting Zeus’s leg around the post. Akiyama gets back into the ring, he picks up Zeus and twists his leg around the second rope before kicking it. Akiyama pulls Zeus towards the middle of the ring and starts working on Zeus’s leg. Kneelock by Akiyama but Zeus gets a hand on the bottom rope. Zeus chops Akiyama but Akiyama dropkicks Zeus in the knee. Akiyama applies a figure four leglock but Zeus manages to reverse it and gets into the ropes. Back up Akiyama kicks Zeus but Zeus chops him and they trade blows. Akiyama goes for a suplex but Zeus blocks it and hits a vertical suplex. Punches by Zeus, Irish whip, reversed, and Zeus hits a jumping lariat.
Zeus goes off the ropes and hits another lariat before applying a bearhug. Suplex by Zeus, cover, but it gets a two count. Akiyama gets up, Zeus goes for a chokeslam but Akiyama elbows him off. Knee by Zeus, he goes off the ropes but Akiyama dropkicks him in the knee. Akiyama charges Zeus in the corner and hits a jumping knee. Snapmare by Akiyama, he goes off the ropes and deliver the running knee strike. Cover, but it gets a two. Akiyama picks up Zeus and goes for an exploder, Zeus blocks it so Akiyama hits a DDT. Akiyama goes up to the top turnbuckle but Zeus is up and joins Akiyama. Zeus hits a delayed superplex, he goes off the ropes but Akiyama catches him with an exploder. Zeus fires back with a lariat and both wrestlers are laid out, Zeus is up first and charges Akiyama but Akiyama boots him back. Zeus catches Akiyama with a chokeslam, cover, but it gets a two count. Zeus goes off the ropes and lariats Akiyama in the back of the head, he goes off the ropes and hits a lariat from the front. Cover, but it gets a two. Zeus picks up Akiyama and goes for the powerbomb, but Akiyama blocks it and applies a Front Necklock. Zeus tries to get out of it but Akiyama gets him to the mat, and the referee calls the match. Your winner: Jun Akiyama
Match Thoughts: Well this wasn’t very good. Zeus is a bit limited, we knew that going in, and takes some special match layout to play up his strengths. Akiyama was not up to that challenge here so the match was just slow, plodding, and overall lacked impact. It wasn’t that Akiyama didn’t give Zeus anything, he did, but even though it wasn’t really a long match it just crawled. The last few minutes were fine but the path to get there just wasn’t very exciting to say the least. A bit disappointing as I was hoping Akiyama with his experience would make this into an entertaining match. Score: 4.0
Go Shiozaki vs. KENSO
This match is part of the Champion Carnival. KENSO boots Shiozaki before the match starts, he picks Shiozaki up and slaps him in the corner. Another slap by KENSO but Shiozaki chops him back and they trade strikes. Eye rake by KENSO, Irish whip, reversed, Shiozaki charges KENSO but KENSO moves and Shiozaki falls out of the ring. Nagai attacks Shiozaki outside of the ring while in the ring KENSO unties a turnbuckle pad. Nagai picks up Shiozaki and hits an elbow, then KENSO sails out of the ring with a pescado. KENSO takes Shiozaki around the crowd and throws him into a table. KENSO then picks up the table so he can throw Shiozaki into it. KENSO gets a chair and he hits Shiozaki in the back with it. KENSO gets back into the ring and Nagai slides Shiozaki into the ring as well. KENSO picks up Shiozaki but Shiozaki applies a waistlock. KENSO throws Shiozaki into the referee, sending him to the mat. Dark Kingdom comes into the ring and Minamino hits a top turnbuckle double stomp. KENSO unties another turnbuckle pad while Shiozaki and the referee recover. KENSO hits Shiozaki with a turnbuckle pad but Shiozaki returns to his feet. KENSO slams Shiozaki’s head into the exposed corner but Shiozaki chops him back. Slap by KENSO, and Shiozaki falls down to the mat. KENSO works over Shiozaki’s arm but Shiozaki gets a foot on the bottom ropes to force a break. KENSO mounts Shiozaki in the corner and bites him in the head. The referee finally gets KENSO off and Shiozaki slaps KENSO in the corner. Irish whip by KENSO, reversed, and KENSO collapses in the corner. Shiozaki picks up KENSO and Shiozaki punches him in the head.
Boot by Shiozaki, he goes off the ropes but is tripped by Nagai at ringside. Shiozaki fights them off and then moves when KENSO goes for a pescado. Shiozaki slides KENSO back into the ring, chops by Shiozaki in the corner, Irish whip, and Shiozaki hits a running chop. Fisherman suplex by Shiozaki, cover, but it gets a two count. Chops by Shiozaki, Irish whip, reversed, and Shiozaki hits a jumping shoulderblock. Kick by Shiozaki, cover, but it gets a two count. Shiozaki picks up KENSO but KENSO blocks the lariat. Slap by KENSO but Shiozaki chops him back. They trade chops and punches, spinning chop by Shiozaki and he hits a second one. Slap by KENSO and he drops Shiozaki on his head with a release German suplex. Shiozaki fires back with his own German suplex and delivers a superkick. Shiozaki goes off the ropes but KENSO hits a lariat. Boot by KENSO and he hits the STO. Cover, but Shiozaki gets a shoulder up. KENSO goes up to the top turnbuckle, Shiozaki joins him and he hits a superplex. Chop by KENSO but Shiozaki chops him back. Shiozaki goes off the ropes, KENSO tries to get Shiozaki with his sash but Shiozaki knocks him back. Shiozaki picks up KENSO and nails the short range strong arm lariat. Cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Go Shiozaki
Match Thoughts: Speaking of limited wrestlers…. KENSO doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table. But still this match wasn’t bad, a bit repetitive but nothing offensive. It came across as Shiozaki being the far superior wrestler as KENSO was cheating left and right before going down pretty easy. But with the constant shenanigans at least the time went by quickly and the right person won. Score: 6.0
Suwama vs. Takao Omori
This match is part of the Champion Carnival. They circle each other to start, tie-up, but they break cleanly. Tie-up again, side headlock by Omori, Suwama Irish whips out of it and Omori shoulderblocks him down. Omori goes off the ropes and he hits a hiptoss. Reverse chinlock by Omori but Suwama kicks out of it. Elbow by Suwama but Omori hits him back and they trade strikes. Uppercut by Omori, he gets Suwama into the corner but the referee gets them to break. Tie-up, Suwama pushes Omori into the corner and hits a big boot. Omori elbows him and they trade blows again, drop toehold by Omori and he goes for Suwama’s arm with an armbar. Suwama gets a foot on the ropes to force a break, chop by Omori but Suwama kicks him back. Wristlock by Omori and he takes Suwama to the mat while keeping a hold on the arm. Irish whip by Omori and he hits a hiptoss. Omori twists Suwama’s arm in the corner until the referee forces a break, but Omori twists Suwama’s arm in the top rope. Chop to the chest by Omori but Suwama absorbs the blow. More chops by Omori but Suwama chops Omori to the mat. Omori rolls out of the ring to re-group but returns after a moment, Suwama punches Omori as he gets on the apron and he goes for a suplex but Omori blocks it. Punches by Suwama and he rams Omori into the turnbuckles several times. Chop by Suwama and Omori falls down on the apron. Suwama pulls Omori into the ring and he hits a scoop slam followed by an elbow drop. Cover, but it gets a two count. Suwama picks up Omori and elbows him but Omori chops Suwama back. Sleeper by Suwama and he applies a choke, which the referee forces him to break. Omori is rather unconscious so the referee waits a minute and tries to wake him up. Finally Omori comes to and rolls out of the ring while the referee keeps Suwama back. Omori gets up on the apron, Suwama grabs him and drags Omori over the top rope while choking him. Suwama goes to pick up Omori but covers him instead, cover, but it gets a two count. Another cover but again it gets two. Suwama picks up Omori, Irish whip, and Suwama hits a lariat. Cover, but it gets a two count. Backdrop suplex by Suwama, cover, but again it gets a two.
Suwama picks up Omori and goes for the Last Ride, but Omori blocks it and hits a back bodydrop. Omori goes off the ropes and hits a big boot, he goes off the ropes again and hits a jumping heel kick. Omori goes off the ropes and hits another big boot, waistlock by Omori, Suwama gets out of it but Omori hits a swinging neckbreaker. Cover, but it gets a two count. Omori goes off the ropes but Suwama avoids the boot and hits a jumping shoulderblock. Suwama picks up Omori and throws him into the corner before hitting a lariat. Belly to belly suplex by Suwama, cover, but it gets a two count. Suwama picks up Omori and applies a waistlock, reversed by Omori but Suwama reverses it back. Elbows by Omori, he goes for a boot but Suwama catches his leg. Omori elbows Suwama and slaps him, but Suwama elbows Omori back. Omori goes off the ropes but Suwama avoids the boot and applies a sleeper. Omori hits a backdrop suplex to break up the hold, Suwama gets back to his feet and both men lariat each other. Chop and a kick by Suwama and he goes for the Last Ride, but Omori again blocks it and reverses it into the Axe Guillotine Driver. Both wrestlers slowly get up and Omori hits a lariat on Suwama in the corner. Suwama puts Omori on the top turnbuckle and hits an avalanche backdrop suplex. Omori picks up Suwama and drops him with a piledriver, cover, but it gets a two count. Omori picks up Suwama, he goes for another Axe Guillotine Driver but Suwama blocks it and hits a powerbomb. Dropkick by Suwama and he nails the lariat. Suwama picks up Omori and hits a release German suplex. Lariat by Suwama, cover, but Omori barely gets a shoulder up. Suwama drags Omori to his feet and he goes for the Last Ride, but Omori reverses it with a hurricanrana. Dragon suplex by Omori, he picks up Suwama and hits a second Axe Guillotine Driver. Cover, but Suwama kicks out at two. Omori hits a lariat but he can’t knock Suwama down, and Suwama hits a roaring lariat. Backdrop suplex by Suwama, cover, but it only gets two. Suwama grabs Omori and plants him with the Last Ride, cover, and he picks up the three count. Your winner: Suwama
Match Thoughts: Even though it had its slow moments, it was still a well done match by both men. The choke part made the match crawl a bit but from Suwama’s standpoint it was a logical thing to do so I can’t hate on it too much. By the end it became almost a ‘heavyweight sprint’ as they were just trading bombs, which did negate a bit the early arm work by Omori but he doesn’t have any moves that focus on the arm so it wasn’t too big of a deal. Suwama looked great as he was able to hit all his big moves, and I still think the Last Ride is one of the more concussion-giving moves I can think of still being used in professional wrestling. Overall it started slow but had a hot ending, and was a pretty good main event after a lackluster show. Score: 7.0
Final Thoughts:
Best Match: Suwama vs. Takao Omori. This match was really the only one that made an attempt to stand out as memorable. Most of the matches were just flat and lacked emotion, but Suwama and Omori brought plenty of that as both showed how much they wanted to win by throwing bombs and even playing dirty. It was a hard hitting match between two veterans that knew when to turn up the action and keep it at that level until the end of the match. A fun heavyweight main event and the only tournament match that really felt important.
MVP: Suwama. Suwama is the ace of All Japan these days and he showed why here. He took a lot of hard hits but dished them back out, and even though Omori is not a small guy, Suwama had no issue hitting his big moves on him. Hitting the Last Ride on someone the size of Omori after wrestling for 25 minutes is impressive. I also liked that he showed a bit of an evil streak here with the choke, which just helped show how important the win was to him. A good performance overall by Suwama.
Overall: This was a pretty flat event up until the main event. I don’t know if it was the small venue, the small crowd, or if the All Japan wrestlers are just generally apathetic these days but it really felt like just another house show. Which is a shame since the Champion Carnival used to really mean something, but here it just felt like another day in the office. Suwama and Omori tried their best to change that and they did, but they can only do so much to make up for the event as a whole. This one is probably only for die-hard All Japan fans but the main event is worth seeing.
