Andrew’s AJPW Champion Carnival Results & Match Rating: 4.25.2021

Well this was a little delayed because Mathew went out to be a responsible person and get his second shot, and it’s beating him up a little. So that means Andrew is back to fill in!

So last I left off, Zeus was undefeated, but then when Mathew took back over; he started losing. So maybe it was just a curse or something! Let’s get Zeus back on track!

Ratings:

• Shotaro Ashino vs Shinjiro Otani: Ashino wins via Grapevine Ankle Lock @11:08 – ***
• Shuji Ishikawa vs Kohei Sato: Sato wins via La Magistral @11:06 – *** ¼
• Zeus vs Jake Lee: Jake wins via D4C @15:50 – *** ½
• Suwama vs Kento Miyahara: Miyahara wins via Shutdown Suplex Hold @20:51 – **** ½

Results:

Shotaro Ashino vs Shinjiro Otani

Ashino started this tournament off very slowly, but he’s finally started to hit his stride. Ashino definitely was trying to prove himself early in this match. Ashino’s chops looked terrible and his strikes were a little wild, but it felt like it was part of how the story was building. Otani kept the wrestler in check, so when he took the match to the mat, Otani used veteran instincts to position himself well.

Otani managed to hit his Powerbomb and Facewash, before Ashino fired back up and they trades chops and forearm shivers. Otani finally got rocked, Ashino took him down, locked in the Grapevine on the Ankle Lock and Otani had to tap out.

Shuji Ishikawa vs Kohei Sato

Tag team partners squaring off! As we established Shuji is the Gaora TV Champion and Sato has been a little up and down in his matches, but he’s towards the top of the tournament.

This started off as a power match, with both hitting shoulder tackles and different attacks to try and force the other down. As both came to an understanding that crashing into one another wasn’t working well, we come to some power spots. Sato hits an impressive Falcon Arrow, but Shuji kicks out. Sato goes to the top rope for a King Kong style Knee Drop, but misses which gives Shuji the opening to apply an Indian Deathlock. Shuji captures Sato’s arms and starts Headbutting him to try and get him to submit; but Sato gets out of it.

Shuji fires up, hits a Kamigoye, Tsunami and grabs him for the Fire/Thunder Driver; but Sato slips out. They have another haymaker exchange, Sato gets up laughing, and you can tell that they are enjoying the challenge. A few more strikes, another Fire/Thunder Driver attempt, but one more slip from Sato, he picks the ankles and hits a La Magistral on Shuji for the victory!

Zeus vs Jake Lee

Jake took a clever angle early on in this match, trying to chop Zeus down and avoid most of the power contests. Zeus got knocked out of the ring, Jake hit a Baseball Slide and tried to stay on Zeus; but Zeus grabbed him mid kick as they were on the outside and drove him into the ring post.

This was a big part of the story, whereas Jake tapped more into the Light Yagami aspects of his new persona; Zeus stays resolute in being aggressive for the power game. Jake peppers in kicks and knee strikes while Zeus lays him out, hits a Powerbomb with a high stack cover for a near fall, and just continues to pour it on. Jake goes for the classic Kitchen Sink style knee to knock the air out of Zeus and then goes back and forth. A few Giant Killing variations, a Backdrop Hold, more Giant Kills and then finally the D4C to end the match!

Zeus put up a hell of a fight, but as I said when I started things, Jake is who I’d like to see win this. But I will always have a soft spot for Zeus!

Suwama vs Kento Miyahara

Kento is hunting for some revenge from last year when Suwama beat him to start his current Triple Crown title run. Kento also lost a World Tag Team Championship match with Yoshitatsu against Violence Giants. So Kento has had his struggles recently against the veteran champion. Can Suwama keep it up, or is his tank starting to finally run out?

We get a quick pace from Kento, and that keeps Suwama off balance as they spill to the outside, and we see a lot of early desperation to help to get across his recent failures. Suwama does manage to finally stifle Kento’s assault, and some big lariats and suplexes take the air out of our Best of the Best ace. Kento hits his flurry of Blackouts, but even though he’s rocked, Suwama keeps fighting back. Double Chops, Lariats, and a Manriki Sleeper attempt inside out on the apron nearly has Kento hung in a compromising position.

Suwama hits a bunch of Suplexes and Backdrops before attempting the Backdrop Hold, and Kento counters by twisting mid Backdrop. As Suwama tries to regain his momentum, Kento hits the flying Bicycle style Blackouts. Suwama is rocked, tries to hit his Rolling Lariat, but he’s disoriented and basically dead to rights. After fighting off the first Shutdown Suplex attempt, a few more Blackouts makes the second attempt a keeper. Kento gets a hard fought victory!

Overall Score: 8/10

Now this was a great day, there was even a Junior Championship match during this day of action. So the Carnival itself was solid and there was more on the line.

Miyahara is still feeling some of the ebbs and flows of his current position in the company, but getting a win over Suwama is pretty big on pushing him back to the top. Jake Lee and Kohei Sato really helped their cases in winning the tournament as well. So it’s nice to see a little more space in the tournament, even though we do have a close race currently.

Hopefully the Pfizer shot stops kicking Mathew’s butt and he’s back for the next shows! Let’s look at the standings!

Champion Carnival Standings:

1. Kento Miyahara: (4-2) (8 Points)
2. Kohei Sato: (4-2) (8 Points)
3. Jake Lee: (4-2) (8 Points)
4. Suwama: (3-3) (6 Points)
5. Zeus: (3-3) (6 Points)
6. Shotaro Ashino: (3-3) (6 Points)
7. Yuma Aoyagi: (3-3) (6 Points)
8. Shuji Ishikawa: (2-4) (4 Points)
9. Shinjiro Otani: (2-3-1) (4 Points)
10. Koji Doi: (1-4-1) (2 Points) (Eliminated)