The 2021 AJPW Champion Carnival

[Curt McGirt]

Man Tanahashi has talked about Yoshi being full of himself and over-confident (and under-talented) but that takes the cake

[Control]

 

I watched day 3 of the CC and it was actually my favourite of the tournament so far! Thoughts~!

Spoiler

Jake Lee vs Koji Doi

• Jake squares off against his Total Eclipse lieutenant (?) Koji Doi. He demands Doi lay down for him and give him the easy win. And Doi does! But then at the last minute turns it into a sneaky pin of his own! Dastardly~!

• (Total Eclipse is a shit name. They could have gone for BLACK SUN which would have been awesome)

• Doi with a very convincing vertical-spike brainbuster, which he follows up with a kinda curb-stomp on Lee who gets suspended in the ropes through some convoluted movements

• Doi is impressive but I think gets winded very easily? He takes real long time-outs on the mat. Maybe he’s hurt. Or fat.

• The running knee to the back of the head that Lee is now doing regularly both doesn’t look as good as his regular running knee and seems way more likely to injure someone. So there’s that.

• Lee wins with his own, not-quite-as-impactful-but-much-taller vertical spike brainbuster.

• I don’t really know the best way to book two heels from the same stable wrestling. I guess this was fine.

• Side note: Hokuto Omori, who comes in at the end, is beefing up. He’d be short for a heavyweight, but also dreamy.

Shuji Ishikawa vs Yuma Aoyagi

• I really liked this match! Hard-hitting, fast-paced, and the winner was never obvious!

• They’ve done a really good job over the years setting up Ishikawa as a roadblock to the young generation. He plays this role moreso than even Akiyama or Suwama did. I think part of that was the implicit acknowledgement that the other veterans were probably on the downside of their career, while no such acknowledgement was made about Ishikawa. So, it’s it is/will be really meaningful when Jake, Yuma, or Noaya actually take him out.

• And I like Shuji! I know he’s maybe lost a bit in recent years, but he still bumps and sells a shit load, and is capable of real bursts of exciting energy. And all his moves look like potential death.

• Yuma wrestles like he’s got something to prove, and brings an energy lacking from the previous match.

• Yuma has been going for his submission a lot, which I don’t really like: it requires that he lock his opponent’s arm in such a way that the setup doesn’t look natural. Hard to explain. He used to throw that hook kick a lot more often, and that shit was great.

• Yuma starts trying to steal the win with pinning combinations, and Shuji outdoes him at it and takes the win.

• This works for long-term storytelling as well: Shuji’s still getting the win, but it’s more precarious each time.

Shotaro Ashino vs Kento Miyahara

• They had a match in last year’s Carnival which was totally fine but kinda marred by Enfants interruptions

• The fans are immediately into this, which helps

• Ashino has not given up his heelish ways just because Jake Lee kicked him out of his own group: he immediately goes after Kento’s leg, banging it against the apron and stretching it across the corner post.

• Kento works best when he’s working from under larger or more veteran guys, or if he’s fighting off a hot challenge from one of his subordinates. Ashino is a bit different because he’s not one of Miyahara’s NEXTREAM pals and he’s not his senior.

• However, Ashino does have something to prove: that he can play with the big dudes without his Enfants backup

• Everyone just muscles out of the shutdown german now, like all of them are Zeus. Zeus is a Greek God and thus can muscle out of moves. Find another reversal. Ashino, of all people, should be able to come up with some kind of grappling move—maybe hooking the leg with his own, like in a side-Russian-leg sweep, and pulling it up into his grip? I dunno. But a midget shouldn’t be busting out of Miyahara’s hold.

• Ashino keeps after Kento’s ankle and gets the tap. Good thing, too, because of Kento sat in the lock any longer without tapping, Ashino would have looked like a real jabroni.

• I wish Ashino had more than one go-to submission. Through in the occasional kneebar or shoulder lock or whatever. Basically, every AJ guy except Kento and Shuji have a submission as a secondary finisher, so if you’re the submission guy you need to bring more to the table.

• Both fans and Ashino himself seem pretty stoked. Good match, I thought.

Zeus vs Suwama

• I will never not be excited by Zeus craptacular theme song

• Suwama’s theme song is also great and I’m pretty sure I just thought it was the AJPW theme song

• You really have to admire Zeus’s lats. On great display during the slow, grapple-oriented opening minutes

• Zeus gets Suwama in an extended arm triangle (?) which pays off with Wama unable to hoist him in a power bomb. Also allows Zeus to double axe-handle Suwama’s lariat and fuck him up.

• Love how effortlessly Zeus gets to the top rope, like he’s Rob Van Damme or some shit

• Zeus takes forever to set up the airraidcrash, which is a pretty shit move but whatever, and then Suwama sells it like his jaw was dislocated.

• This seems like the wrong body part to sell, so I am engrossed, wondering if he’s injured

• But it seems that he’s just masterfully setting up the drama for Zeus’s facelock!

• But before that~! Zeus hits a chokeslam that has Suwama rebound and look at the camera like “can you believe I just got chokeslammed? Holy shit!” Then Zeus with the frog splash.

• Zeus is a workrate machine

• Suwama hits a very nasty looking belly-to-back suplex that is highly gif-able. Jesus

• Zeus hits a similarly nasty jackhammer for the win. Holy shit!

• I thought this was great.

Complete and Objective Match Rankings

Spoiler

1. Zeus vs Suwama (4/11)
2. Miyahara vs Zeus (4/9)
3. Lee vs Suwama (4/10)
4. Aoyagi vs Ishikawa (4/11)
5. Ashino vs Miyahara (4/11)
6. Ohtani vs Miyahara (4/10)
7. Ohtani vs Aoyagi (4/9)
8. Zeus vs Ishikawa (4/10)
9. Ishikawa vs Doi (4/9)
10. Suwama vs Sato (4/9)
11. Aoyagi vs Ashino (4/10)
12. Lee vs Doi (4/11)
13. Doi vs Sato (4/10)
14. Lee vs Ashino (4/9)

 

[Curt McGirt]

The Air Raid Crash disappointed me because he fell flat-back on it. It's like the Muscle Buster where it can look real good or real bad. And I guess, sometimes it can look real good and fuck you up real bad (see: Tyson Kidd with the MB. I'm sure there's somebody in joshi that got fucked up by the ARC). 

It was a really good match that I got distracted with due to texting and actually went back and watched again. Wish they would have done more with the arm but twas a good one. 

Edited April 15, 2021 by Curt McGirt

[Control]

29 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

The Air Raid Crash disappointed me because he fell flat-back on it. It's like the Muscle Buster where it can look real good or real bad. And I guess, sometimes it can look real good and fuck you up real bad (see: Tyson Kidd with the MB. I'm sure there's somebody in joshi that got fucked up by the ARC).

After how much trouble he had getting Suwama’s head in the right position, Zeus might have decided to err on the side of caution.

[Curt McGirt]

Good point. 

[Kang]

For the CC show on the 29th:

AJPW TV  Six Man Tag Team Championship match

Champions 

Takao Omori, Black Menso-re, Carbell Ito

vs the challengers

TAJIRI, Hokuto Omori, Yusuke Kodama

[Kang]

Yoshitatsu won the different martial art style fight match. Wouldn't mind at some point they give this gimmick to Jake instead later on.

Otani wants to add Shuji to Hot-Japan unit wise.

If there are any more news later on.. I will just slap the news in here in this post.

The CC somewhat seems more like the old G-1's of old.

[Belgian_Waffle]

Spoiler

With two big wins for Yuma now I'm wondering if he isn't going to the finals (or, more likely, just being protected because he isn't going to the finals but will remain a TC contender in days to come). 

 

[Control]

I watched Day 4 of the Champion Carnival. Thoughts~!

Spoiler

April 17

 

Shotaro Ashino vs Kohei Sato

• “I hit you, you hit me, together we are wrest-l-ing!”

• This fucking sucked

• If you’re going to go all in on strikes, at least look interested, Sato

• Sato wins with a piledriver? Ok.

 

Koji Doi vs Suwama

• Beefy, like a hearty stew

• They’re certainly giving Doi more to do than Kuma Arashi in last year’s carnival

• Honestly, I’m surprised they let him do this much against the TC champ.

• Doi is a bit goofy with some of his mannerisms but otherwise I’m into him

• After getting the best of Suwama for a while, the TC Champ lands a big lariat, a belly-to-back suplex, and then chokes Doi out with the (I’m gonna say) manriki sleeper.

• Doi gets the attaboy clap from the crowd, so I guess they were pleased with his performance

• This was fine.

 

Shinjiro Otani vs Jake Lee

• They have to fix the ring because a board is misplaced. Wada and the announcer take terms jumping on it to try to flatten it.

• I guess Jake and Otani agree that it’s OK enough to land on.

• Anyway, I admit that I just can’t get into this one. They seem a bit low energy, but I think it’s more that the quiet crowd is killing it for me.

• In any event, Jake won without shenanigans, which is at least the right result.

 

Zeus vs Yuma Aoyagi

• This is the best match of the card but I have a splitting headache

• Zeus and Aoyagi are the two who have been most consistently bringing energy to the tournament, and this is definitely more upbeat than the previous matches on this card

• Zeus hits an absolutely devastating lariat.

• Goes for another, and Yuma gets a kinda crappy crucifix pin for the win.

• Zeus picks up his first loss. Now, no one is undefeated.

Weakest show so far.

Complete and Objective Match Rankings:

Spoiler

1. Zeus vs Suwama (4/11)
2. Miyahara vs Zeus (4/9)
3. Lee vs Suwama (4/10)
4. Aoyagi vs Ishikawa (4/11)
5. Ashino vs Miyahara (4/11)
6. Ohtani vs Miyahara (4/10)
7. Ohtani vs Aoyagi (4/9)
8. Zeus vs Ishikawa (4/10)
9. Zeus vs Aoyagi (4/17)
10. Ishikawa vs Doi (4/9)
11. Suwama vs Sato (4/9)
12. Aoyagi vs Ashino (4/10)
13. Doi vs Suwama (4/17)
14. Lee vs Ohtani (4/17)
15. Lee vs Doi (4/11)
16. Ashino vs Sato (4/17)
17. Doi vs Sato (4/10)
18. Lee vs Ashino (4/9)

 

[Belgian_Waffle]

I'm really enjoying this thread and the reviews. Finally caught up and watched Suwama/Zeus, Miyahara/Zeus, and Lee/Suwama and thought they were all stellar. I've been Brand Loyal to AJPW possibly to a fault since I first got into puroresu in 1999 so it's always quietly vindicating when I feel they're objectively putting out a better product than NJPW. Suwama is and always has been so great, and as he slowly deteriorates it's great to see Zeus already in line to fill his spot as the big stiff AJPW dude who can also move real well. Zeus was moving SO FAST in that Miyahara match making sure everything Miyahara threw at him landed as crisply as possible, even when they were both slightly out of position. If only Soya would come back and Ishii jumped ship, they would have something pretty close to a personal dream roster in my sick world. 

[Spontaneous]

I enjoyed day 4 and 5 enough. I think Lee is facing Aoyogi in the final. Aoyogi singing along to Zeus's theme on day 4 was funny.  I'm enjoying Doi's performances, he is taking to his role this tournament well.

I honestly would have preferred that swap Sato out for someone else. He has been the worst in this so far. He's not bad, he's just there. I guess if it was him or Yoshitatsu then ok.

[Control]

20 hours ago, Belgian_Waffle said:

If only Soya would come back and Ishii jumped ship, they would have something pretty close to a personal dream roster in my sick world. 

The 2017 CC had almost my dream roster. Imagine if they’d permanently gotten Shingo and Yuji Hino at that point? Obviously, Marufuji wasn’t a real possibility, but that would have been a great roster. Pick up Okabayashi the following year...

More realistically, I wish they’d  book Ayato Yoshida more frequently. They’d never go for it, but it’d be great if Lee wins the CC, and they bring Yoshida in for a first defence. Make it out like he’s pissed about everything that went down with JIN. Set up for Nomura’s return (hopefully).

[Control]

I watched Day 5 of the Champion Carnival! Which was good! Thoughts:

Spoiler

4/18

Koji Doi vs Kento Miyahara

• This was great! And what a surprise for an opening match!

• Doi’s plan is to mug Miyahara, and for a while it works. He mashes the Ace around the ring, curb stomps his head into the mat, and then DDTs him on the entry ramp. What a stud.

• Kento works from underneath the bulky Doi, and really makes it look like he’s getting overwhelmed.

• Kento still gets the win with a shutdown suplex, but Doi really impresses here. Easily his best match of the tournament.

 

Shinjiro Otani vs Shuji Ishikawa

• Everyone in AJ is used to Big Dog, but Otani is like “oh shit look at the size of this guy”

• You gotta do the facewash spot, because it’s Otani’s big spot, the crowd loves it, but holy shit is it such an obvious stall and also makes the dude just sitting there for two minutes look terrible

• Someone was complaining in the Wrestling Hot Takes thread that wrestlers don’t know how to reverse submissions anymore. I am sympathetic to this criticism. Basically, every submission requires a rope break, and half the time the submission is a move that should completely immobilize you, but you still somehow can spend thirty seconds clambering for the bottom rope. Annoying!

• What are we calling Otani’s slapping axe bomber?

• Otani taps Shuji out with his cobra-lock choke or whatever. Good stuff! Would have liked a bit more offense from Otani to make his win a bit more convincing—dude was floundering like a fish only moments before—but otherwise both dudes brought it.

 

Kohei Sato vs Zeus

• I was really excited for this matchup before I realized Sato kinda sleepwalks through matches these days.

• Sato just wallops~! Zeus with some stinging kicks to the back~! Zeus responds by putting Sato in the kind of headlock that makes your vertebrae pop

• If someone’s gonna work a headlock, it helps if their biceps are enormous and pop out like softballs

• There’s been no commentary so far, and I really miss the cry of “BICEPS EXPLOSION!!!”

• I would yell it myself, but the wife is working from home.

• Sato with the shoot headbutt! You fucking dirtbag!

• Zeus sells it like it killed most of his brain cells (it probably did). Kicks out of the first pin attempt, eats a forearm to the face and kicks out of a second pin attempt, and then gets Germaned to his death.

• This was good! 3/3 on Carnival matches this show.

 

Jake Lee vs Yuma Aoyagi

• Two of the New Four Pillars in action!

• Ah fuck it’s Wada

• Jake does his new heel posturing and Yuma rightfully mocks him for it. Good work.

• They speedily grapple to show that they are evenly matched!

• Jake does some unnecessary spinning that ends up as a Steiner Recliner. I like the move, so that’s OK.

• Yuma lands that sweet hook kick he sometimes does. Unfortunately it’s not really sold as anything special.

• See, the super villain laugh that Jake is now doing is too affected to be a good heel move. Much better: him refusing to pin Yuma, and instead repeatedly kneeing him in the chest and trying to get a KO win. That part was nice.

• Yuma plays possum (I guess?) and reverses the brainbuster attempt into a roll-up and then his own submission hold, which gets him the victory.

• Good match—I didn’t think all the 10-counts played very well, but at least it was something different. 4/4

Pretty pleased that the put in that much effort in front of a small (and necessarily silent) 2AW Square crowd.

Complete and Objective Match Rankings:

Spoiler

1. Zeus vs Suwama (4/11)
2. Miyahara vs Zeus (4/9)
3. Lee vs Suwama (4/10)
4. Aoyagi vs Ishikawa (4/11)
5. Doi vs Miyahara (4/18)
6. Ashino vs Miyahara (4/11)
7. Ohtani vs Miyahara (4/10)
8. Ohtani vs Aoyagi (4/9)
9. Zeus vs Ishikawa (4/10)
10. Zeus vs Aoyagi (4/17)
11. Ishikawa vs Ohtani (4/18)
12. Jake vs Aoyagi (4/18)
13. Zeus vs Sato (4/18)
14. Ishikawa vs Doi (4/9)
15. Suwama vs Sato (4/9)
16. Aoyagi vs Ashino (4/10)
17. Doi vs Suwama (4/17)
18. Lee vs Ohtani (4/17)
19. Lee vs Doi (4/11)
20. Ashino vs Sato (4/17)
21. Doi vs Sato (4/10)
22. Lee vs Ashino (4/9)

Current tournament standings:

Spoiler

1. Zeus [6]
-. Jake Lee [6]
-. Kohei Sato [6]
-. Yuma Aoyagi [6]
5. Shuji Ishikawa [4]
-. Suwama [4]
-. Kento Miyahara [4]
-. Shinjiro Otani [4]
9. Koji Doi [2]
-. Shotaro Ashino [2]

 

[Belgian_Waffle]

11 hours ago, Control said:

The 2017 CC had almost my dream roster. Imagine if they’d permanently gotten Shingo and Yuji Hino at that point? Obviously, Marufuji wasn’t a real possibility, but that would have been a great roster. Pick up Okabayashi the following year...

More realistically, I wish they’d  book Ayato Yoshida more frequently. They’d never go for it, but it’d be great if Lee wins the CC, and they bring Yoshida in for a first defence. Make it out like he’s pissed about everything that went down with JIN. Set up for Nomura’s return (hopefully).

I don't follow BJW as closely as I should but is Hideyoshi Kamitani someone AJPW could realistically headhunt? They may not need yet another big hoss on what is already less a roster than a hoss-ter but from what I've seen of Kamitani he might make a pretty versatile fit. 

Also it's been discussed a few times on here over the years but Hirooki Goto should just jump already. Would no doubt be a big paycut but he would instantly be a really compelling TC challenger rather than a ten time loser in the IWGP scene. 

[Kang]

No fans will be allowed at all for the 25th, 29th, May 3rd shows. The other shows will still have fans.

Edited April 23, 2021 by D.Z

[Control]

Woof. At least one of those is a Samurai TV show.

[Spontaneous]

I enjoyed the 4/24 show. I wasn't super stoked about the card but everything was stiff. My MOTN was either Otani-Doi or Ishikawa-Ashino.

The 4/25 show I also had lower expectations due to the lack of crowd. The CC matches were all solid and Sato-CIMA was about what to expect from a CIMA solo outing. That said, Miyahara-Suwama was great. One of my favorite matches of the tournament so far. It is worth going out of your way for.

[Control]

I watched Day 6 of the Champion Carnival. A carnival of champions, it was. Thoughts~!

Spoiler

Koji Doi vs Shinjiro Otani

• Starting to hate Otani’s facewash in the corner. I love the spot, but it only makes sense later in a match, when there’s a reason that an opponent might be tired or beaten enough to sit in the corner and take minimal damage. But he keeps pulling it out near the start of the match. Like, why is Doi just sitting there letting this old man scuff up his mush?

• This ends with a double count out. You should expect such finishes in a tournament, and certainly this is a better choice than a time-limit draw, but what an odd pairing to have lose a match because they’re too busy wailing on each other on the outside. Wouldn’t that be a more fitting finish for two wrestlers with beef (e.g. Ashino and a Total Eclipse guy)?

Shotaro Ashino vs Shuji Ishikawa

• Ashino beat Ishikawa in last year’s CC. It’s kinda funny that for Nomura/Aoyagi/Lee, he’s the guy they can’t beat, but bring in Ashino and have him go over first try.

• Ashino tries to out muscle Ishikawa, which doesn’t work, obviously.

• Shuji mauls Ashino in the corner with forearms and tries to end things quickly with a fire thunder driver.

• Predictably, Ashino goes for the ankle lock.

• They sort of play this as: Ishikawa can win at any moment with a big power move, and Ashino can win at any moment with a submission.

• And in this case Ashino wins with a submission.

• This was good, I just don’t have much to add by way of description. I still wish Ashino would mix in some different submissions, and hit a few more suplexes if he’s going to wear tights that say “master of the suplex”

• Fans seems onboard with Ashino, which is good.

Kento Miyahara vs Kohei Sato

• I was really looking forward to this before the CC, because I thought Sato would bring something new as an opponent for Kento. However, as the tournament progressed, I found Sato’s matches pretty underwhelming.

• However~! This was a pleasant surprise and actually quite good. Definitely Sato’s best match so far.

• They worked this just right: Sato hits stiff strikes and very convincing throws, and Kento tries to counter with speed, knee strikes, and his shutdown suplex

• Instead of having Kento get mauled, they acted like they were pretty evenly matched, which worked well

• I liked how Sato remains calm throughout. When he gets put in the shutdown suplex, he calmly looks down, takes aim, and mule-kicks Kento in the thigh.

• Aside from some very vicious knees, Sato also lands a very stiff falcon arrow (at least that’s the name I remember from some WCW video game back in the day).

• Kento wins by cutting Sato off with some quick knees and finally landing his finisher.

• Great match.

 

Suwama vs Yuma Aoyagi

• Terrific match, in my opinion.

• They’ve been working most Suwama matches like this: Suwama is a beast who can finish you off with a few moves, so to win you’ve got to cut off his offence and hope to wear him down.

• They didn’t play this match that way! Instead, Yuma and Suwama go toe-to-toe, and Suwama even gets the longest control segments.

• They also treat this like a TC match, in that most of the CC matches—even the main events—have been building to a decisive finish. But this one played with way more near falls.

• Suwama starts by smashing Yuma’s lower back into the ring post, and spends  a good portion of the match working over the younger wrestler’s lower back.

• Yuma gets lots of opportunities to turn things around, and lands some nice offence, including some sweet European uppercuts and that great hooking kick of his.

• Suwama wins only after completely wrecking Yuma with a vicious backdrop, a vicious lariat, and yet another vicious backdrop.

• The fans seem kinda deflated by Suwama’s win, actually. Seems they were pulling for Yuma.

Complete and Objective Match Rankings

Spoiler

1. Zeus vs Suwama (4/11)
2. Miyahara vs Zeus (4/9)
3. Aoyagi vs Suwama (4/24)
4. Lee vs Suwama (4/10)
5. Aoyagi vs Ishikawa (4/11)
6. Miyahara vs Sato (4/24)
7. Doi vs Miyahara (4/18)
8. Ashino vs Miyahara (4/11)
9. Ohtani vs Miyahara (4/10)
10. Ohtani vs Aoyagi (4/9)
11. Zeus vs Ishikawa (4/10)
12. Zeus vs Aoyagi (4/17)
13. Ishikawa vs Ohtani (4/18)
14. Jake vs Aoyagi (4/18)
15. Ashino vs Ishikawa (4/24)
16. Zeus vs Sato (4/18)
17. Ishikawa vs Doi (4/9)
18. Suwama vs Sato (4/9)
19. Aoyagi vs Ashino (4/10)
20. Doi vs Suwama (4/17)
21. Doi vs Ohtani (4/24)
22. Lee vs Ohtani (4/17)
23. Lee vs Doi (4/11)
24. Ashino vs Sato (4/17)
25. Doi vs Sato (4/10)
26. Lee vs Ashino (4/9)

 

[Spontaneous]

The more deeper we have got into this tournament I've been more and more convinced that Aoyagi is the guy going forward. I still think Lee is winning and is the right call at this time but Aoyagi is the one who should beat him. 

[Control]

I watched Day 7 of the Champion Carnival. Thoughts:

Spoiler

First show with commentary & first show with no crowd. I’m actually pretty good with this combo. The wrestlers and ring crew are louder than the COVID audience. Also! I get to hear theme songs because it’s a Samurai TV Broadcast!

Shotaro Ashino vs Shinjiro Otani

• Ashino’s theme song is Metallica’s “Fuel.” I did not know that.

• This is all perfectly acceptable if somewhat unremarkable. Otani and Ashino shake hands to show there is no beef between them

• They start with some mat wrestling so Otani can show that he can hang.

• Ashino catches Otani in the ankle lock and makes him tap. I’m sure there was more to it than that but that’s what I remember.

Kohei Sato vs Shuji Ishikawa

• The Twin Towers EXPLODAH~!

• Shuji starts things by working an extended headlock. It is at this point that I notice how impressive Shuji’s lats are. Good work Shuji.

• Sato can’t sell for shit. My god.

• Aw yeah, Shuji does a double-stomp off the mat to the floor. That should make you sell if nothing else will.

• Sato goes to the top rope?!? It’s a gambit that doesn’t pay off.

• Ishikawa traps Sato’s arms and delivers a half-dozen headbutts for a near fall. Ouch.

• OK, Sato lands one of his brutal shoot headbutts, and Shuji responds with a running headbutt, a running knee, and a giant knee for a near fall.

• Sato escapes a fire thunder driver and wins with a pinning combination, wtf?

• That was pretty good!

Zeus vs Jake Lee

• Jake Lee’s theme song is some operatic metal, fuck yeah.

• Zeus is the only guy who beat Jake in the last CC, so I’m sure Jake is looking to right things.

• Ah fuck it’s Wada

• Jake starts by locking up with Zeus, presumably forgetting that his opponent is a god

• If you’re wrestling Zeus, you ain’t getting a day off

• It’s good to hear “BICEPS EXPLOSION~!” again. That’s no lariat.

• Anyway, after eating several biceps explosions, Jake manages to land his running knee to the back of the head, and finish Zeus off with a brainbuster that was kinda vertical-suplexy

• This was fine but didn’t come together for me, for some reason. Like all the parts didn’t add up. But still fine.

 

Suwama vs Kento Miyahara

• First singles match since Suwama dethroned Kento as TC champion last year—right before the bad times started

• Ah fuck it’s Wada

• I just noticed that the previous CC matches have had way less outside brawling, and even less work on the edge of the canvas, probably because of COVID restrictions. It has helped, since those have become such standards of AJ matches. They’re doing it more now that the audience is gone, and it isn’t played out.

• Suwama takes early advantage by ramming Kento’s back into the ring post and then working over his back.

• Wama hits a double-arm suplex. Very nice. Haven’t seen one of those in a while.

• There’s a great spot where they’re battling for control while Wama has Kento up for a superplex. They trade strikes, until Suwama ups the ante with a headbutt and then plants Kento in the middle of the ring.

• Kento cuts off Suwama’s raging bull comeback with some jumping knees and finally plants him with the shutdown suplex. Great match.

 

Complete and Objective Match Rankings

Spoiler

1. Zeus vs Suwama (4/11)
2. Suwama vs Miyahara (4/25)
3. Miyahara vs Zeus (4/9)
4. Aoyagi vs Suwama (4/24)
5. Lee vs Suwama (4/10)
6. Aoyagi vs Ishikawa (4/11)
7. Miyahara vs Sato (4/24)
8. Ishikawa vs Sato (4/25)
9. Doi vs Miyahara (4/18)
10. Ashino vs Miyahara (4/11)
11. Ohtani vs Miyahara (4/10)
12. Ohtani vs Aoyagi (4/9)
13. Zeus vs Ishikawa (4/10)
14. Zeus vs Aoyagi (4/17)
15. Ishikawa vs Ohtani (4/18)
16. Jake vs Aoyagi (4/18)
17. Ashino vs Ishikawa (4/24)
18. Zeus vs Sato (4/18)
19. Ishikawa vs Doi (4/9)
20. Suwama vs Sato (4/9)
21. Aoyagi vs Ashino (4/10)
22. Doi vs Suwama (4/17)
23. Lee vs Zeus (4/25)
24. Ashino vs Ohtani (4/25)
25. Doi vs Ohtani (4/24)
26. Lee vs Ohtani (4/17)
27. Lee vs Doi (4/11)
28. Ashino vs Sato (4/17)
29. Doi vs Sato (4/10)
30. Lee vs Ashino (4/9)

Based on my rankings, Jake and Doi are battling it out for worst of the tournament. Weird thing is, Jake is the favourite to win, and Doi is likely to finish at the bottom.

Admittedly, I think Doi's low ratings have more to do with the booking than his performance. And I think Jake's ratings (regrettably) have more to do with his performance.

You know who is having a great tournament, though? Suwama. Dude is in four of the five best matches so far.

Current standings:

Spoiler

- Champion Carnival Standings:
1. Kento Miyahara [8]
-. Jake Lee [8]
-. Kohei Sato [8]
4. Zeus [6]
-. Yuma Aoyagi [6]
-. Suwama [6]
-. Shotaro Ashino [6]
8. Shuji Ishikawa [4]
-. Shinjiro Otani [4]
10. Koji Doi [2]

 

[Kang]

Art

I haven't finished watching day 7 yet.

[Kang]

Shinjiro Otani will miss the remaining 2021 Champion Carnival shows due to fracture of the proximal humerus and dislocation of the right acromioclavicular joint.

Edited April 29, 2021 by D.Z

[Control]

I watched day 8 of the Champion Carnival! It was pretty skippable! Thoughts:

Spoiler

Koji Doi vs Yuma Aoyagi

• This is at least the second time these guys have tangled in a singles match. Doi attacked Yuma during his CC match with Ashino last year, and Yuma got his revenge in a singles match at the end of the tour (or maybe the next tour—it’s a bit of a blur)
• Good match up. Doi gets to be beefier than Aoyagi and not as far behind him in terms of experience, so this is close to a battle of equals.
• Doi looked good, here, and deserves another win or two before this is all over.

 

Zeus vs Shotaro Ashino

• I’m intrigued by this matchup
• The two start trading chops, and they get applause for each one, which is fun
• Ashino starts working over Zeus’s arm, which will be interesting if it isn’t a setup for an ankle lock
• Zeus adjusts~! by doing an overhead belly-to-belly with only one arm. What a stud.
• There’s no announcer, so I have to yell BICEPS EXPLOSION myself.
• Match ends very abruptly with Zeus landing two biceps explosions and then jackhammering Ashino. Everyone forgot the jackhammer is Zeus’s finisher.
• This was fine but way too brief.

Kohei Sato vs Jake Lee

• Come on, Jake, do something!
• Lanky mat wrestling!!
• A lot of lanky mat wrestling!!!
• Then Jake KOs Sato with a knee, for a quick finish.
• They sell it like a shoot~! Maybe it was~!~! The Magic of Wrestling~!~!~!
• But otherwise this was unremarkable. Two duds in a row.

Shinjiro Otani vs Suwama

• Salty veterans~!
• Oh shit it’s Wada!
• Can Suwama keep up his hot streak?
• Otani starts favouring his shoulder very early on, after a senton off the canvas to the floor. Guess he fucked it up then.
• OK, well, so far this is just Suwama mugging Otani
• Otani must be hurt, because brought nothing. And then Suwama choked him out like he was his mortal enemy, which seemed uncalled for.
• Woof.

 

Kento Miyahara vs Shuji Ishikawa

• Up to these guys to save the show!
• OK, Big Dog mugs Kento, beats him up in front of the crowd(!?), and spends some time stretching him out in the ring.
• After some back and forth, they battle it out on the edge of the canvas, where seemingly 40% of all Kento/Shuji matches are fought
• The match culminates in a bunch of big moves~! Kento reverses a fire-thunder driver into a hurricanrana, tries for a shutdown suplex, but big dog busts out! Shuji hits a quick fire-thunder driver for a 2.9, then his big jacknife powerbomb (I’m going to say Splash Mountain?) for another 2.9, and then hits a couple of big knees, you guessed it, for a 2.9. Somewhere in there Kento attempts another shutdown suplex, and then Shuji gets one quick backdrop and then that really weird and complex backdrop he sometimes uses as a super finisher. And finishes it!
• I think I liked Doi-Aoyagi better, but this was fun.

Complete and Objective Match Rankings

Spoiler

1. Zeus vs Suwama (4/11)
2. Suwama vs Miyahara (4/25)
3. Miyahara vs Zeus (4/9)
4. Aoyagi vs Suwama (4/24)
5. Lee vs Suwama (4/10)
6. Aoyagi vs Ishikawa (4/11)
7. Miyahara vs Sato (4/24)
8. Ishikawa vs Sato (4/25)
9. Doi vs Miyahara (4/18)
10. Ashino vs Miyahara (4/11)
11. Ohtani vs Miyahara (4/10)
12. Ohtani vs Aoyagi (4/9)
13. Zeus vs Ishikawa (4/10)
14. Zeus vs Aoyagi (4/17)
15. Ishikawa vs Ohtani (4/18)
16. Aoyagi vs Doi (4/28)
17. Ishikawa vs Miyahara (4/28)
18. Jake vs Aoyagi (4/18)
19. Ashino vs Ishikawa (4/24)
20. Zeus vs Sato (4/18)
21. Ishikawa vs Doi (4/9)
22. Suwama vs Sato (4/9)
23. Aoyagi vs Ashino (4/10)
24. Doi vs Suwama (4/17)
25. Lee vs Zeus (4/25)
26. Ashino vs Ohtani (4/25)
27. Ohtani vs Suwama (4/28)
28. Doi vs Ohtani (4/24)
29. Zeus vs Ashino (4/28)
30. Lee vs Ohtani (4/17)
31. Lee vs Doi (4/11)
32. Ashino vs Sato (4/17)
33. Doi vs Sato (4/10)
34. Lee vs Sato (4/28)
35. Lee vs Ashino (4/9)

 

[Spontaneous]

Of the last two shows my favorite matches were Miyahara-Ishikawa, Aoyagi-Miyahara, Lee-Ishikawa and Miyahara-Doi.

Finals:

Spoiler

So I'm guessing it's coming down to Miyahara-Lee. I could see either one win. Lee had a kinda disappointing overall run but he and Miyahara are a great match up. I love their CC '19 final and 1/3/20 matches.

 

[Kang]

He did it

Spoiler

Also Kento may no longer be Ace anymore.