Breaking this tournament down into bite size, chunk pieces – Mathew shares his analysis and knowledge on this second part of the Champion Carnival B Block!

Welcome back to the Champion Carnival as we continue onward with the next three shows for this little piece right here.

Our first two days gave us solid matches with nothing considered bad, which gives me hope for my block going forward. We got 3 days and seven matches to cover for this one and time to see who will get some points on the board. Who will conquer the rankings this time around?

Let’s find out as we…dive right in.

Rating System:

• 0 Stars: Dave Meltzer
• 1 Star: Vince Russo
• 2 Stars: Tony Schiavone
• 3 Stars: Eric Bischoff
• 4 Stars: Bruce Prichard
• 5 Stars: Jim Cornette

4/7/2019
Champion Carnival B Block Match
Jake Lee vs. Daichi Hashimoto

Review: Our first match of the show is Jake Lee taking on Daichi Hashimoto. This will be Daichi’s third match as he’s one win and one loss under his belt while Jake Lee only has one loss and zero wins. Daichi winning here will have him at the top next to Nomura while Jake getting a win would help him into a better position in the standings. Which one will get two points added to their score?

A little more ground-based than I anticipated it to be but I was okay with it since they were both able to pull it off quite well. After seeing Daichi in his previous matches during the Carnival, I’m slowly growing quite fond of him and while I wouldn’t say he’s a favorite of mine, he’s showing that he is at least a solid worker. Jake Lee I don’t need to say much since if you’ve been following my columns, you know how talented I think he is and how he was able to match Daichi’s style in the match. Daichi does have a very nice Dragon Screw as he would use it to work on Jake’s leg a little bit to try and weaken it for a possible submission victory. Daichi had Jake down on the mat as he went to go for a Shining Wizard as Jake ducked it and got up to knee him in the chest for a two count. It looked like Jake was gonna go for the Backdrop Driver but Daichi would knee him in the chest to knock him down and he finally hits the Shining Wizard to get him down and gets a second victory. Two losses for Jake isn’t a great start but a solid match.

Rating: Eric Bischoff

Champion Carnival B Block Match
Yoshitatsu vs. Joe Doering

Review: Our main event for this show is Yoshitatsu taking on Joe Doering. Joe currently has one loss after being choked out by Suwama but he looks to get back in the game as Yoshitatsu will have his first match in the carnival. Yoshitatsu could use this chance to not only impress me and his viewers but to show he can hang with the top guys more. Will Joe redeem himself from his first loss or does Yoshitatsu knock the giant down?

Kyohei Wada, who is our senior referee that likes to pull Kento’s hair now likes to mess with Yoshitatsu a little bit as he would give him really fast counts than doing it at a normal pace. When Yoshi told the ref to count Joe out, he would do it really slow too, so I don’t know what the deal it but I enjoy him and it’s funny. If you wanted to see Joe’s dominating side, you would get it in this match since that is what he did throughout the majority of the match where he would just manhandle Yoshitatsu both inside and outside of the ring. While it had a slow beginning during the match, it would pick up a little bit during Yoshi’s comeback after he grabs the ropes to break the hold, which Kyohei slapped his head calling him stupid.

Joe called for the Brainbuster but Yoshi would roll him up for a cradle as Joe kicked out of it, only to meet a Backslide which Joe would kick out of it again. Yoshi is trying to get pumped up to try and take the big man down with a Lungblower and a Tornado DDT but Joe still fought out of it to kick out. Yoshi finally was able to get him down with the Koji Clutch as it looks like Joe could lose with another TKO but Joe would answer the ref and have his foot on the rope. Yoshi called for the Codebreaker of Jericho as Joe fought him off and rushed him with a Lariat. Joe throws Yoshi into the turnbuckle only to get kicked in the face as Yoshi went to the middle rope to jump and hit the Codebreaker of Jericho! Joe is still standing as Yoshi would hit one more for the road and Joe’s as Yoshi gets his first victory!

Rating: Eric Bischoff and a quarter

4/9/2019
Champion Carnival B Block Match
Joel Redman vs. Jake Lee

Review: Our first match on this show is Jake Lee taking on Joel Redman. Jake currently has two losses and zero wins under his belt, so he’s gonna need to win here if he has any chance of making it further or his chances will drastically decrease if he loses here. Joel only has one loss but can ruin the momentum of Jake if he can score a victory here. Joel has impressed me in his first match, so let’s see if he can continue to do so. Will Jake get some points or does Joel ruin his chances?

I really am liking Joel from the two times that I’ve seen him so far in this tournament as he’s very technical and also aggressive with it, which is a really nice combo to work with as he would do that to Jake’s knee from when it was hurt on the last show. Jake was able to match his style as he did with Daichi previously and would almost get even with him a few times. Liked the little humor Joel had with Jake when they were trying to shoulder tackle each other or when he would bow to the referee and shake her hand before attacking his knee on the turnbuckle again. Joel really had Jake up into a corner both figuratively and literally as he just looked really strong in this match. Joel had Jake up on the top rope to go for a Brainbuster and Jake pushed him off as he attempted a Dropkick as Joel moved out of the way. Joel went to grab his leg as Jake hits an Enziguri and a knee to the chest as Joel kicked out at two. Jake wasted no time as he quickly picked him up and hits the Backdrop Driver and gets his first victory in the Carnival. Very nice technical match.

Rating: Eric Bischoff and a half

Champion Carnival B Block Match
Sam Adonis vs. Naoya Nomura

Review: Our next main event during this show is Naoya Nomura taking on Sam Adonis. This is Sam’s first match in the Carnival as he’s another one I don’t really know of or follow currently to have an opinion of him but if All Japan wanted to try him out for this tournament, then I guess they have some faith in him. Nomura is currently in the lead with two wins and zero losses when he defeated Jake Lee and Takashi Yoshida in both very impressive matches, so a win here would give him a solid spot in the lead. Will Nomura stay undefeated or does Sam win in his Carnival debut?

So how did Sam Adonis fair here? I’m not sure if I can say I’m a big fan of him just yet but he does have the look and size with decent in-ring ability, however, he actually did to really well with Nomura here when he played with his strengths in the match. Nomura showed he can work with just about anyone and is slowly becoming my MVP of 2019 so far if he can keep up with performances like this. Nomura would hit most of the stops like the Spear to have Sam kick out of it still and he hit him hard on that one. Sam for some reason calls himself the sexy boy but I’ll roll with it as he taunts the crowd before going up to his a Superplex onto Nomura from the actual top rope, which looked really nice and quickly goes for the Cattle Mutilation but Nomura didn’t tap.

Nomura starts to get another comeback as he forearms him in the face and when he ran the ropes, Sam…just fell without touching him, did Nomura just trip him when I wasn’t looking? Anyway, Nomura hits another Spear for a two count and goes to the top rope to hit a Splash as Sam lifted his knees up and rolled him up for a two count. Sam is getting frustrated now as he charged towards him for Nomura to pick him up for the Death Valley Driver as Sam struggled off leading Nomura to flip him around to apply the Nomura Lock as Sam tapped out, remaining undefeated! Nomura is now in the lead with three wins and zero losses as he’s in a good spot right now, just hope he can win another one so he can stay in that position.

Rating: Eric Bischoff and a half

4/10/2019
Champion Carnival B Block Match
Joel Redman vs. Sam Adonis

Review: Our first match on this show is Joel Redman taking on Sam Adonis. Joel is in a similar position as Jake Lee where he has two losses and zero wins, so if he wants to stay in the game, he’s gonna have to win here. Sam may have lost in his first match but he has time to bounce back now rather than later if he can defeat Joel right here. Sure to be an interesting match and wonder what the outcome will be. Which one of these two gaijins will win here?

I see Joel decided to change his gear up a little bit on this one and decided to wear a singlet for his match here. I was having a great streak with almost all of my matches being three stars and up and it now looks like that came to an end here with this match. Not that it’s a bad match or anything but also not a lot to make it special either. Out of the two, I can safely say that I like Joel better than Sam in this one so far as Joel is more technically sound and showed Sam’s flaws a little bit when he was out-wrestled. Joel would hit a diving knee drop off the top rope and it looks like he’s got it but Sam kicked out at two. The two would exchange blows at each other until Sam would knee him in the gut a few times before picking him up for a Powerslam, but Joel would get off him to roll him up as he gets the pinfall victory and stays in the game.

Rating: Tony Schiavone and a half

Champion Carnival B Block Match
Naoya Nomura vs. Joe Doering

Review: Our next match is Joe Doering taking on the undefeated, Naoya Nomura. Nomura is in the lead with six points right now and hasn’t lost yet, so if he can win here then he’ll be in a much better lead than he is right now. Joe doesn’t have any wins on the board right now and currently has two losses to both Suwama and Yoshitatsu, so a win here would be much needed for him. Nomura would defeat Joe last year when they were both on the A Block and he could possibly make it happen again. Will Nomura stay undefeated or does Joe get revenge with some points up on the board?

Nomura not wasting any time here as he rushed towards Joe and began his little assault, but that wouldn’t last long as Joe gave him a stiff shoulder tackle to knock him down and the ball is now in his court. Compared to their match last year during the Carnival, I thought this one was much better as they work well together and had more time compared to like five minutes. Plus, Nomura is a much better talent now than he was last year with everything he’s been through and it shows right here. Nomura had to pull a bunch of stops in this match to take out someone like him as he would first hit a Spear for a two count and it looked like he was gonna try to go for the Nomura Lock but Joe would stand up and lift him for a Fireman’s Carry Slam and they’re both down as Joe would slowly crawl to him for the pin as Nomura kicked out of it. Joe would hit Nomura with a stiff Lariat and it wasn’t enough and would try to apply the Boston Crab to make him tap as Joe saw him going for the ropes and let’s go to go for the Revolution Bomb, but Nomura flipped him over! Nomura would hit another Spear and rolls him up for a two count and would go to the top rope to hit a Splash and instead of pinning him, he would go up top again to hit another one but Joe still kicked out of it. Nomura would rush towards him as Joe ducks and hits a Diving Body Press and Joe would deliver Nomura his first loss in the tournament. Very fun match, worth watching.

Rating: Eric Bischoff and a half

Champion Carnival B Block Match
Yoshitatsu vs. Suwama

Review: Our main event and final match for this set are Yoshitatsu taking on one of his rivals, Suwama. Both men currently have one win and zero losses under their belt and one of them could be considered undefeated, meaning one of them is gonna have to suffer a loss. Last year on B Block, Yoshitatsu would actually defeat Suwama by making him tap out to give Yoshi that big win in his career. Suwama has a chance to fix that loss if he can defeat him here and move up to second place. Which one of these two will be currently undefeated?

Their rivalry seemed to have simmered down a bit this year but when they fought right here, they would act like that never faded away and would start going at it. I’m usually pretty critical when it comes to Yoshi and his performances as a wrestler but I do give credit when credit is due as he really did deliver this time around and can show signs of great talent when he wants to. You can give a lot of credit to Suwama for being a great opponent to bring out the best in him, but they both have great chemistry together when they share that ring. Yoshi wants to prove that he can do better and Suwama is pretty much telling him to show him when they fight in that ring. If I had to compare their carnival matches back to back, I would say this one was better out of the two.

Suwama would go for the Last Ride as Yoshi tries to fight it and fights out of it to kick him in the face as the two would start going back and forth with the kicks to the face, forearms, and headbutts. Yoshi would hit the last headbutt and hits Suwama with a German Suplex as Suwama quickly got up to hit him with one and Yoshi did the same, the two of them would do it again as Suwama delivered the last one and both men are down as the crowd cheers for them. Yoshi planted him down face first as he applied the Koji Clutch, the same way he defeated Suwama last year and he looks to do it again but Suwama was about to break the hold until Yoshi pinned him for a two count. Yoshi is attempting the Codebreaker of Jericho as Suwama hits him with a Lariat and a Backdrop as Yoshi kicked out at two. Suwama went for the Last Ride one more time as Yoshi flipped over him for the Sunset Flip as Suwama would kick out of it. Yoshi ran towards him and Suwama delivers another Lariat and throws him to the ropes. Yoshi would kick Suwama in the face and delivers the Codebreaker of Jericho off the second rope and he quickly applied the Koji Clutch and has it in tight this time around as Suwama would pass out to give Yoshitatsu the TKO in a great match!

Rating: Bruce Prichard

Overall: We had another solid three nights of wrestling matches except for one as the main event of the last show sent it home on a positive note. I’m glad there’s been more consistency with the matches I am giving and hope it goes up from here on out.

Favorite Match: Yoshitatsu vs. Suwama

Least Favorite Match: Joel Redman vs. Sam Adonis

Score: 7/10

Current Standings:
Naoya Nomura: (3-1) (6 Points)
Yoshitatsu: (2-0) (4 Points)
Daichi Hashimoto: (2-1) (4 Points)
Suwama: (1-1) (2 Points)
Takashi Yoshida: (1-1) (2 Points)
Jake Lee: (1-2) (2 Points)
Joe Doering: (1-2) (2 Points)
Joel Redman: (1-2) (2 Points)
Sam Adonis: (0-2) (0 Points)