{"id":13684,"date":"2014-09-19T19:53:18","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T23:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/?p=13684"},"modified":"2014-09-19T19:53:18","modified_gmt":"2014-09-19T23:53:18","slug":"fighting-spirit-review-all-japan-champion-carnival-2014-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/reviews\/fighting-spirit-review-all-japan-champion-carnival-2014-day-1\/","title":{"rendered":"FIghting Spirit Review: All Japan \u201cChampion Carnival 2014\u201d Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.puroresucentral.com\/img4\/ajcc14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"333\" height=\"350\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><strong>Date:\u00a0 April 13th, 2014<br \/>\nLocation:\u00a0 Belle Salle Shinjuku Central Park<br \/>\nAnnounced Attendance:\u00a0 611 (Super No Vacancy Full House)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Since I just finished the G1 Climax, I figured it would be proper to go back a bit and do the Champion Carnival.\u00a0 The Champion Carnival is significantly smaller than the G1 Climax, particularly in 2014, with half of the number of wrestlers.\u00a0 Which makes sense, as All Japan doesn\u2019t have near the roster that New Japan currently does.\u00a0 Here are the brackets for the tournament:<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 35%;\" border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"col\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><\/p>\n<p>Block A<\/span>: <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nAkebono<br \/>\nKendo Kashin<br \/>\nKento Miyahara<br \/>\nOsamu Nishimura<br \/>\nSuwama<br \/>\nTakao Omori<\/strong><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><\/p>\n<p>Block B<\/span>: <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nGo Shiozaki<br \/>\nJoe Doering<br \/>\nJun Akiyama<br \/>\nKENSO<br \/>\nYutaka Yoshie<br \/>\nZeus<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Also unlike the G1 Climax, each card has many matches that are not related to the Champion Carnival\u00a0 Here is the full card for the opening event:<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8211; Naoya Nomura vs. Ryuji Hijikata<br \/>\n&#8211; Kenichiro Arai and K-ness vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and SUSHI<br \/>\n&#8211; Mitsuya Nagai and Takeshi Minamino vs. Osamu Nishimura and Ultimo Dragon<br \/>\n&#8211; Kendo Kashin and Atsushi Aoki vs. Kento Miyahara and Kotaro Suzuki<br \/>\n&#8211; Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie vs. Joe Doering and Hikaru Sato<br \/>\n<em>&#8211; Champion Carnival &#8211; Block B: <\/em>Jun Akiyama vs. Zeus<br \/>\n<em>&#8211; Champion Carnival &#8211; Block B: <\/em>Go Shiozaki vs. KENSO<br \/>\n<em>&#8211; Champion Carnival &#8211; Block A: <\/em>Suwama vs. Takao Omori<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Onto the matches!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><strong>Naoya Nomura vs. Ryuji Hijikata<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nNomura and Hijikata circle each other to start, tie-up, Hijikata pushes Nomura into the ropes and he gives a clean break.\u00a0 Tie-up, waistlock by Hijikata, Nomura reverses it and Hijikata applies a wristlock.\u00a0 Hijikata applies a cross kneelock but Nomura gets to the ropes.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Waistlock by Nomura but Hijikata applies a Wakigatame.\u00a0 Nomura gets to the ropes to get the break, and back up Hijikata elbows Nomura in the arm.\u00a0 Hijikata applies an armbar but Nomura gets a foot on the bottom rope.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 They trade shots in the middle of the ring, knee by Hijikata and he goes off the ropes, hitting a big boot.\u00a0 Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Hijikata picks up Nomura but Nomura hits a few elbows but Hijikata boots him back.\u00a0 Irish whip by Nomura to the corner, reversed, but Nomura hits an elbow followed by a dropkick.\u00a0 Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Nomura picks up Hijikata, elbows by Nomura and he goes for a scoop slam but Hijikata blocks it.\u00a0 More elbows by Nomura and he finally hits the scoop slam.\u00a0 Nomura goes up to the top turnbuckle and he hits a missile dropkick.\u00a0 Cover, but it gets another two.\u00a0 Nomura picks up Hijikata but Hijikata grabs his arm and applies the Wakigatame.\u00a0 Nomura tries to get to the ropes but he can\u2019t, and he has to submit.\u00a0 Your winner:\u00a0 Ryuji Hijikata<\/p>\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0Nomura has terrible strikes that have no impact, I know that he is still new but someone needs to help the kid out.\u00a0 Other than that it was a basic match that left no real impression one way or the other.\u00a0 I guess this is just Hijikata\u2019s role now but at least he is still on the cards.\u00a0 Overall nothing worth seeing and a pretty dull opener.\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Score:\u00a0 3.5<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Kenichiro Arai and K-ness vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and SUSHI<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong>Kanemaru and Arai start things off.\u00a0 They shake hands, Arai asks SUSHI for a handshake also but then takes his hand back.\u00a0 SUSHI is tagged in, SUSHI tie-up, Irish whip by Arai and he hits a back elbow.\u00a0 Arai goes off the ropes but SUSHI catches him with a jumping heel kick.\u00a0 Arai falls out of the ring and SUSHI sails out onto him with a pescado.\u00a0 SUSHI slides Arai back into the ring, he picks up Arai but Arai rakes him in the eyes and tags in K-ness.\u00a0 K-ness throws SUSHI in the corner and wants Kanemaru, so Kanemaru tags in.\u00a0 Kanemaru and SUSHI tie-up, K-ness applies a leglock on the mat but Kanemaru gets out of it.\u00a0 Side headlock by Kanemaru, K-ness Irish whips out of it but Kanemaru shoulderblocks him down.\u00a0 Side headlock takedown by Kanemaru, kick by K-ness and he goes off the ropes but Kanemaru catches him with a dropkick.\u00a0 K-ness fires back with a heel kick and both wrestlers slowly get back to their feet.\u00a0 Arai is tagged in, headbutts by Arai to Kanemaru, then Arai headbutts SUSHI.\u00a0 Arai rakes SUSHI in the eyes, Kanemaru drives Arai back into the corner and tags in SUSHI.\u00a0 Arai is stopped won by SUSHI and Kanemaru in the corner, he tries to make a tag but SUSHI grabs Arai from behind.\u00a0 Elbows by SUSHI but Arai hits him and tags in K-ness.\u00a0 Kicks by K-ness to SUSHI, he picks him up, double Irish whip and with Arai they hit SUSHI with a kick combination.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Arai rakes on SUSHI\u2019s eyes, he picks him up and slams SUSHI in front of the corner.\u00a0 K-ness goes up on the second turnbuckle while Arai goes up top, and Arai jumps of K-ness\u2019s shoulders with a doublestomp by SUSHI.\u00a0 Cover, but Kanemaru breaks it up.\u00a0 Arai picks up SUSHI, Irish whip, but SUSHI collapses.<\/p>\n<p>Arai picks up SUSHI again and he hits a scoop slam.\u00a0 Arai goes up to the top turnbuckle but SUSHI avoids the diving attack this time.\u00a0 SUSHI applies a figure four leglock to Arai, but Arai reverses it.\u00a0 Arai tags in K-ness, and K-ness stomps on SUSHI.\u00a0 K-ness goes off the ropes but SUSHI hits a Backstabber.\u00a0 SUSHI tags in Kanemaru, Kanemaru picks up K-ness but Arai attacks him from behind.\u00a0 K-ness dropkicks both Arai and K-ness, then he hits a diving crossbody onto K-ness for a two count.\u00a0 Irish whip by Kanemaru to K-ness in the corner, he hits a lariat followed by a split-legged moonsault.\u00a0 Cover, but K-ness kicks out at two.\u00a0 Irish whip by Kanemaru but K-ness kicks him into the corner.\u00a0 Irish whip by K-ness and he hits a corkscrew elbow strike followed by a face crusher.\u00a0 Cover by K-ness, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 K-ness picks up Kanemaru, Kanemaru goes off the ropes but K-ness hits an enzigieri.\u00a0 Kanemaru hits a lariat however and he tags in SUSHI while K-ness tags in Arai.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 SUSHI goes up to the top turnbuckle and he hits a diving headbutt.\u00a0 Cover, but K-ness breaks it up.\u00a0 Kanemaru throws K-ness out of the ring, double Irish whip to Arai but he ducks the double lariat.\u00a0 SUSHI hits Kanemaru by accident, but he hits a German suplex onto Arai.\u00a0 SUSHI goes off the ropes but K-ness trips him from the floor.\u00a0 Arai goes off the ropes and pretends like he was tripped to distract the referee.\u00a0 K-ness runs in and hits an atomic drop to SUSHI, then Arai hits an Inside Cradle on SUSHI for the three count.\u00a0 Your winners:\u00a0 Kenichiro Arai and K-ness<\/p>\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0 They kept up a pretty good pace which helped make a match that was average seem a bit better than it was.\u00a0 Arai doesn\u2019t 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.\u00a0 They really didn\u2019t 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.\u00a0 Nothing offensive though.\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Score:\u00a0 5.5<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Mitsuya Nagai and Takeshi Minamino vs. Osamu Nishimura and Ultimo Dragon<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong>Nagai and Minamino attack their opponents before the match starts and the brawl spills outside of the ring.\u00a0 Nishimura gets the better of Nagai outside of the ring while Minamino maintain control over Ultimo Dragon.\u00a0 Nishimura slides Nagai back into the ring, Nishimura picks up Nagai and elbows him in the head.\u00a0 Uppercut by Nishimura but Nagai elbows him back and tags in Minamino.\u00a0 Kick to the ribs by Minamino to Nishimura, Minamino goes for a snapmare but Nishimura blocks it and applies a Cobra Twist.\u00a0 Minamino quickly gets into the ropes, Minamino drives Nishimura back into the corner and hits a series of shoulderblocks.\u00a0 Nagai is tagged in, knees by Nagai to Nishimura, Irish whip, but Nishimura kicks Nagai in the chest.\u00a0 Elbows by Nishimura and he hits an uppercut.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Nagai picks up Ultimo Dragon and he tags in Minamino.\u00a0 Snapmare by Minamino to Ultimo Dragon and he rakes him in the eyes with his boot.\u00a0 Neck crank by Minamino and he stomps Ultimo Dragon in the back.\u00a0 Arm wringer by Minamino and he tags in Nagai.\u00a0 Nagai knocks Nishimura off the apron and then knees Ultimo Dragon in the arm.\u00a0 Nagai wraps Ultimo Dragon\u2019s arm in the second rope and clubs him in the back.<\/p>\n<p>Nagai tags in Minamino, wristlock by Minamino to Ultimo Dragon, Irish whip, and Minamino applies a sleeperhold.\u00a0 Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Minamino re-applies the hold, Ultimo Dragon elbows out of it but Minamino gets the move re-applied.\u00a0 Ultimo Dragon elbows out of it and goes off the ropes, he goes for a heel kick but Minamino ducks it.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Ultimo Dragon tags in Nishimura, elbows by Nishimura to Minamino and Nishimura knees Nagai as well.\u00a0 Scoop slam by Nishimura, he goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a knee drop onto Minamino\u2019s knee.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Nishimura and Ultimo Dragon hit a double vertical suplex onto Minamino.\u00a0 Cover by Ultimo Dragon but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Ultimo Dragon waits for Minamino to get up, Irish whip, reversed, Minamino goes for a back bodydrop but Ultimo Dragon lands on his feet.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Cover, and he picks up the three count.\u00a0 Your winners:\u00a0 Osamu Nishimura and Ultimo Dragon<\/p>\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts:\u00a0 <\/strong>This was a decent mid-card match but nothing special.\u00a0 Dark Kingdom did a good job at heeling it up but it felt empty at times as Dragon and Nishimura didn\u2019t really react to it with much fire.\u00a0 Nishimura isn\u2019t exactly Mr. Emotion and Dragon seemed to be coasting here for the most part.\u00a0 So it was a bit flat even though the action itself was solid.\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Score:\u00a0 5.0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><strong>Kendo Kashin and Atsushi Aoki vs. Kento Miyahara and Kotaro Suzuki<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nAoki and Suzuki start things off.\u00a0 Tie-up, side headlock by Aoki, Suzuki Irish whips out of it but Aoki rolls him up for a two count.\u00a0 They jockey for position but neither can get the advantage.\u00a0 Wristlock by Suzuki, Aoki rolls out of it and applies a hammerlock but Suzuki reverses it.\u00a0 Aoki applies a headscissors but Suzuki gets out of it.\u00a0 Back up they circle each other, Suzuki pushes Aoki into the corner but Kashin grabs Suzuki\u2019s arm from the apron.\u00a0 Kashin gets in the ring, Irish whip by Kashin and Suzuki tags in Miyahara.\u00a0 Kashin asks Miyahara for a handshake and gets it, but Kashin kicks Miyahara in the stomach and throws Miyahara out of the ring.\u00a0 Back in, Kashin throws Miyahara out of the ring and goes out after him, but Miyahara quickly slides back in again.\u00a0 Kashin returns and he tags in Aoki, Miyahara applies a wristlock but Aoki quickly reverses it.\u00a0 Miyahara goes for the cross armbreaker but Aoki gets out of it and pushes Miyahara back into the corner.\u00a0 Aoki tags in Kashin while Miyahara tags in Suzuki.\u00a0 Wristlock by Kashin, but Suzuki rolls out of it.\u00a0 Kashin grabs Suzuki\u2019s leg and tags in Aoki.\u00a0 Irish whip by Aoki and he hits a back elbow to Suzuki.\u00a0 Aoki picks up Suzuki and he tags in Kashin.\u00a0 Kashin and Aoki both stomp on Suzuki in the corner, but Suzuki fights back.\u00a0 Elbows by Suzuki to Kashin, Irish whip by Kashin to Suzuki but Suzuki hands the handspring elbow strike.<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0 Miyahara picks up Kashin and hits an elbow strike, but Kashin fires back with an uppercut.\u00a0 Kashin tags in Aoki, Aoki picks up Miyahara, Irish whip, but Aoki avoids Miyahara\u2019s dropkick.\u00a0 Kick by Aoki to Miyahara, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Neckbreaker by Suzuki to Aoki, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Miyahara picks up Aoki but Aoki rolls up Miyahara for a two count cover.\u00a0 Miyahara goes off the ropes but Aoki dropkicks him in the knee.\u00a0 Kashin comes in and picks up Miyahara, double Irish whip, and they hit a double back elbow onto Miyahara.\u00a0 Kashin holds Miyahara for Aoki but Miyahara ducks and Aoki hits Kashin by accident.\u00a0 Kashin kicks Miyahara to the mat, Aoki picks up Miyahara and holds him but again Miyahara ducks and Kashin slaps Aoki.\u00a0 Suzuki comes in the ring, double Irish whip to Aoki but Aoki fights them both off.\u00a0 Punches by Suzuki to Aoki, and Miyahara hits a horizontal cradle on Aoki from behind for the three count!\u00a0 Your winners:\u00a0 Kento Miyahara and Kotaro Suzuki<\/p>\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0 These matches are all kind of blending together.\u00a0 They have wrestlers with similar sizes wrestling similar styles all with about the same match times.\u00a0 Anyway I thought this match had no flow or structure whatsoever, even though these guys have all wrestled together before it was just disjointed.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I know all four of them are capable of more but this one just didn\u2019t work.\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Score:\u00a0 4.0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie vs. Joe Doering and Hikaru Sato<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong>Yoshie and Sato start things off.<strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>Sato tries kicking Yoshie in the stomach but naturally it doesn\u2019t fade him.\u00a0 Waistlock by Sato but Yoshie butt thumps his way out of it.\u00a0 They lock knuckles, Yoshie gets Sato down to the mat but Sato gets a foot on the ropes to force a break.\u00a0 Waistlock by Sato and he pushes Yoshie into the corner before tagging in Doering.\u00a0 Yoshie tags in Akebono, Akebono pushes Doering back into the corner but he gives a clean break.\u00a0 Doering pushes Akebono in the corner, punches by Doering but Akebono pushes him back.\u00a0 Doering goes off the ropes and goes for a shoulderblock, but Akebono doesn\u2019t go down.\u00a0 Doering goes off the ropes again with the same result, eye rake by Doering and he clubs Akebono in the back.\u00a0 Sato comes in the ring, they go for a double Irish whip but Akebono rams them into each other.\u00a0 Yoshie and Akebono crush Doering, and Akebono hits an elbow drop.\u00a0 Cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Akebono tags in Yoshie, and Yoshie stands on Doering by the ropes.\u00a0 Yoshie picks up Doering and chops him against the ropes.\u00a0 Irish whip by Yoshie and he hits a body block.\u00a0 Yoshie picks up Doering, snapmare, he goes off the ropes and hits a rolling attack.\u00a0 Cover, but Doering kicks out.\u00a0 Yoshie stomps on Doering and tags in Akebono.\u00a0 Akebono clubs Doering in the back and stands on him hear the ropes.<\/p>\n<p>Akebono crushes Doering in the corner and hits an elbow drop.\u00a0 Cover, but Doering gets a foot on the ropes.\u00a0 Akebono tags in Yoshie, elbows by Yoshie to Doering into the corner, Irish whip by Yoshie but Doering levels him with a lariat.\u00a0 Doering tags in Sato and Sato kicks Yoshie in the corner.\u00a0 Snapmare by Doering to Yoshie and Sato hits a running kick.\u00a0 Sato applies the cross armbreaker but Yoshie quickly gets a foot on the ropes.\u00a0 Stomps by Sato, double Irish whip to the corner and Sato hits a running elbow on Yoshie.\u00a0 Akebono comes in and knocks Doering out of the ring, Sato grabs Akebono but Yoshie squashes him from behind.\u00a0 Yoshie tags in Akebono, and Akebono hits a body avalanche in the corner.\u00a0 Elbow drop by Akebono, cover, but it gets a two count.\u00a0 Akebono goes for a body press but Sato rolls out of the way.\u00a0 Sato punches Akebono and delivers a kick combination, Sato goes off the ropes but Akebono hits a body block, sending Sato into the corner.\u00a0 Yoshie comes in the ring, lariat by Akebono in the corner and Yoshie follows with a running butt smash to Sato.\u00a0 Snapmare by Yoshie and Akebono hits a body press.\u00a0 Cover, but Doering breaks it up.\u00a0 Yoshie throws Doering out of the ring and then hits a senton onto Sato.\u00a0 Running body press by Akebono, cover, and he picks up the three count.\u00a0 Your winners:\u00a0 Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie<\/p>\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0This was a solid fat man match, even though having Sato in there was a bit of a giveaway on who was being pinned.\u00a0 Not a big fan of when they telegraph that so obviously.\u00a0 But Doering already has a feud with Akebono so they played off of each other well, and there wasn\u2019t anything wrong with the match.\u00a0 It was pretty basic, nothing exciting, but solid throughout.\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Score:\u00a0 6.0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Jun Akiyama vs. Zeus<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong>This match is part of the Champion Carnival.<strong>\u00a0 <\/strong> 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&#8217;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&#8217;s leg into the ring post. Akiyama slide Zeus back into the ring and slams Zeus&#8217;s leg into the ring post. Akiyama does it again before twisting Zeus&#8217;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&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>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<\/p>\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts:<\/strong> Well this wasn&#8217;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&#8217;t that Akiyama didn&#8217;t give Zeus anything, he did, but even though it wasn&#8217;t really a long match it just crawled. The last few minutes were fine but the path to get there just wasn&#8217;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. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Score: 4.0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><strong>Go Shiozaki vs. KENSO<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nThis 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&#8217;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&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>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<\/p>\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts: <\/strong>Speaking of limited wrestlers&#8230;. KENSO doesn&#8217;t bring a whole lot to the table. But still this match wasn&#8217;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. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Score: 6.0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><strong>Suwama vs. Takao Omori<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nThis 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&#8217;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&#8217;s arm in the corner until the referee forces a break, but Omori twists Suwama&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;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<\/p>\n<p><strong>Match Thoughts: <\/strong>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&#8217;s standpoint it was a logical thing to do so I can&#8217;t hate on it too much. By the end it became almost a &#8216;heavyweight sprint&#8217; as they were just trading bombs, which did negate a bit the early arm work by Omori but he doesn&#8217;t have any moves that focus on the arm so it wasn&#8217;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. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Score: 7.0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Final Thoughts:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Best Match:<\/strong>\u00a0 <strong>Suwama vs. Takao Omori.\u00a0 <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MVP:\u00a0 Suwama.\u00a0 <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overall:<\/strong> This was a pretty flat event up until the main event. I don&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"smallbrand\"><strong>Grade: \u00a0C-<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Suwama vs. Takao Omori, Go Shiozaki vs. KENSO,  Akebono and Yutaka Yoshie vs. Joe Doering and Hikaru Sato, Jun Akiyama vs. Zeus, and more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":13685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[399,40],"tags":[285,571,233],"class_list":["post-13684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fsreview","category-reviews","tag-all-japan","tag-champions-carnival","tag-puroresu"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13684"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13686,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13684\/revisions\/13686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crazymax.org\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}