Andrew’s AJPW Champion Carnival A Block Ratings & Analysis: Part 1

Andrew works on the A Block this year for the Champion Carnival! Not as star studded as last year, does it still stack up well?

So this is the second year Mathew and I will be covering the Champion Carnival as a tag team. Last year we both anticipated Marufuji winning, but he came from the block I was covering…so we started a small game.

We covered 4 tournaments last year, and my block won 3 of the 4 tournaments, Stardom’s 5 Star Grand Prix being the one that went Mathew’s way.

I’ve got some heavy hitters, and all of my pizza snacks are on Zeus. So let’s see how this one rides!

Ratings:

• Kento Miyahara vs Atsushi Aoki: Miyahara wins via Shutdown Suplex @13:30 – **** 1/2
• Shuji Ishikawa vs Yuji Okabayshi: Okabayashi wins via Golem Splash @ 22:35 – **** 1/4
• Dylan James vs Ryoji Sai: James wins via Lariat @8:20 – * 
• Yuma Aoyagi vs Yuji Okabayashi: Okabayashi wins via Golem Camel @5:30 – **
• Atsushi Aoki vs Shuji Ishikawa: Ishikawa wins via TSUNAMI @7:55 – ***

Analysis:

Miyahara took the junior lightly early and it came back to bite him numerous times. Nearly getting counted out due to Kyohei Wada (the senior referee’s) personality. Much like Red Shoes in NJPW, his discretion is dependent on the participants. Kento was locked behind the gate around the 5 or 6 count and Aoki threw a chair at him when he got close, dazing the Champion. Instead of restarting the count at 1, Kyohei sometimes picks up where he left off, or counts faster as a way to say “hurry the hell up”. This time, he started at 7 and Kento scrambled to the gate but the latch was stuck and you see Kyohei generously allow Kento back, and then they had a few words which gave Aoki an opening.

All in all, this was a great back and forth match especially considering Aoki is a last second replacement since Kengo Mashimo got injured about 2 weeks before the carnival started. Great match and great start to 4/4 A Block!

This was an old fashioned Hoss fight. Both men have been embroiled in the war for the World Heavyweight Tag Team titles. So this fight was a little personal and showed that each were familiar with the other’s offense. Shuji landed a ton of knees to the chest and stomps to the midsection, while Yuji seemed to stick with more of his normal power game. Lariats, Torture Racks, Powerbombs, this was just a tough fight. My only complaint is with how much Shuji was working over the midsection, I would’ve liked to see Okabayashi struggle a bit more for some of his maneuvers.  It doesn’t stop the match from being a hell of a slug fest, but it could’ve been better with a little more selling from Okabayashi.

Kicking off the 4/6 show for the A Block is Dylan James versus Ryoji Sai. Dylan has been positioned strongly as the number 2 gaijin and a good performance here could push him as a real main event contender. However, this match was a dumpster fire. Dylan trips Ryoji on the apron and then Sai proceeds to sell a knee injury for about 3 minutes to the point of awkward referee stops and excessive checking. Then Ryoji pulls off a Vertical Suplex, on a man about 6’3″ 275, knee doesn’t buckle, but then he tries to sell it after. Then he goes to the top rope and asks audience members to move, so that’s a painfully long stall for him to do nothing, but then runs back up after getting knocked off for a Superplex, and tries to sell the knee again. This was just bad psychology. Dylan James was the worst performer to me in last year’s Carnival, but this match wasn’t his fault at all. In fact, he was the highlight since he used his power eventually to stop the shenanigans and pick up the win the old Stan Hansen way. God this was painful.

Well as a stark contrast to the last match, this starts off before the bell even rings. Aoyagi tries to take the fight to the bigger man, but Okabayashi eventually has his way. An evil looking Boston Crab, followed by an Argentine Backbreaker all set up for the Camel Clutch and a rather quick tap out with the smaller man getting in a small flourish, but frankly, never looking like he had a prayer.

Well boys and girls, if you thought there was a size disparity last match, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Aoki is 5’7″, Ishikawa is 6’5″. Now Aoki is an alternate, and he was definitely placed into the group of death, but he has been the standard bearer for the Junior Division, so he’s not a push over. Early on Shuji tries to make fun of the size difference by holding his hand way up for a test of strength. Aoki counters by crouching and holding his hand up, making the bigger man come to him. The early portion was a lot of bobbing and weaving, with Aoki trying to use his quickness…that didn’t last long. Aoki did get a couple near falls, but the power of Ishikawa was effectively too much. Both of these guys are members of Evolution (Suwama’s stable, not Triple H’s), so there’s no bad blood. So for what it lacked in physical conflict, it made up for in physical comedy.

Overall Score: 7.5/10

A Block started hot out of the gates, and then on the second day of the tournament it tripped and fell into some ice. Yes I know tournaments ebb and flow, but the stark contrast to the first two days is a little surprising. Doesn’t stop it from being generally enjoyable and telling appropriate stories…except for the Sai and James match.

Solid start to things, let’s just hope for more 4/4 than 4/6 moving forward.

Current Standings:
Yuji Okabayashi (2-0) – 4 Points
Shuji Ishikawa (1-1) – 2 Points
Dylan James (1-0) – 2 Points
Kento Miyahara (1-0) – 2 Points
Yuma Aoyagi (0-1) – 0 Points
Ryoji Sai (0-1) – 0 Points
Zeus (0-0) – 0 Points
Gianni Valletta (0-0) – 0 Points
Atsushi Aoki (0-2) – 0 Points