Ok, so first thing’s first: I know virtually nothing about any of these wrestlers. The only exception is Daisuke Sekimoto, and even then I’ve had a very limited viewing experience with him. So, I’m essentially going into this cold.
Lately, I’ve felt a need to avoid letting WWE be the sun around which my wrestling world revolves, so I’m going outside my normal comfort zone so that I can discover and enjoy wrestling from everywhere else. It’s with that in mind that I’ve decided to embark on a journey by watching as much of the 2017 AJPW Champion Carnival as possible.
I hope, for those still reading, this will bring something of an outside perspective on wrestlers you’re already familiar with, if you’ve kept up with current day All Japan. Please keep in mind that I’ll be writing this pretty informally for the sake of keeping this about my gut reaction to new wrestlers.
Also, I’d like to give a shoutout to RealHero? for making this process so much easier via his Twitter acct.
Here we go!
Daichi Hashimoto vs. Naoya Nomura (Block B)
- Both of these wrestlers look really young. I don’t necessarily trust my own sense of age, but that was the first thing that stuck out to me.
- Hashimoto’s kicks look awesome but Nomura is really exciting when he gets fired up during comeback sections.
- This is pretty short, but also pretty damned fun too. I kinda wanted Nomura to win because it felt like he was positioned as an underdog and he seemed very sympathetic taking a beating like he did, but I can’t complain.
The Bodyguard vs. Kengo Mashimo (Block B)
- The Bodyguard’s music is really funny to me for some reason. What I could make out sounded like a lot of grunting, but more like in a “South Park parody of Bob Seger” sense than in a death metal sense.
- They start the match charging each other like bulls and I’m already in love. Big beefy people colliding into/beating each other mercilessly is my ideal wrestling. Running into things at ringside doesn’t seem to be
- The Bodyguard’s strong suit. He hesitates a lot when running into both the barricade and into the ring post.
- I like the dynamic of Mashimo as being the more agile and quick and The Bodyguard being essentially an awesome tree stump.
- I love the way The Bodyguard sells his leg, like I believe the fuck out of his limp every time he hobbles as he runs.
- I guess it’s stating the obvious to say I think The Bodyguard’s the more interesting of the two for me. Mashimo is really good, but Bodyguard is such an overwhelming personality by comparison.
- That high kick at the finish was nuts! I feel like I would love a 10 minute match of The Bodyguard and Tomohiro Ishii just chopping each other to death.
KAI vs. Zeus (Block A)
- What the hell is up with KAI’s entrance? That shit was awkward as fuck. Without any context, it looks like he keeps getting ready to sprint around the front row to slap hands, but he realizes nobody has their hands out and impatiently fidgets in the aisle way until people start to reluctantly put their hands out for physical contact. Once the bell rings, KAI seems less awkward, so I don’t know what the hell that was about.
- This starts with a big running collision, almost exactly like Bodyguard/Mashimo, so is this like a common start to matches in All Japan? This match also spills out to the floor quickly and leads to Zeus missing into the barricade as The Bodyguard did in the previous match.
- I feel kinda bad because KAI seems pretty fired up and people seem off put by his enthusiasm. It’s like KAI is a Dad that’s really excited about going on a fishing trip at 4am, and the crowd is just trying to sleep the fuck in.
- Zeus has a tremendous “mean guy” face. The face he makes just clenching his fist before rearing back for a chop was chilling.
- KAI no-sold a fucking superplex and Zeus, understandably, gave him a murderous lariat and chokeslam for it. If he’d crowned him with a lead pipe, I’d have mailed the All Japan office a check in gratitude.
- KAI wins, and I start drinking. I don’t know these wrestlers from from Adam, but I do know that KAI can fuck off starting yesterday.
Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Joe Doering (Block A)
- Daisuke Sekimoto is the one wrestler in this tournament I’ve actually seen a match from in the past, and he’s right up my alley. Big, beefy mean, and he hits hard.
- Joe Doering looks promising during his entrance. Looks like a cross between Stan Hansen and JBL, but lord only knows JBL was sort of an under-cooked Stan Hansen himself. Still, I’m hopeful.
- We start with TESTS OF STRENGTH, which Doering eventually ends indecisively with a boot to the gut. Sekimoto hits a terrifying topé shortly after that which looks like getting hit by a train.
- The match is really short as it seemed like Doering just started a comeback and won without a ton of back and forth compared to the previous matches. Daisuke’s already won me over and Doering looked solid here.
Shuji Ishikawa vs. Suwama (Block B)
I’m not sure what to make of either wrestler before the match starts. Ishikawa seems kinda like he’s a bored dad at his kids baseball game, only he’s not wearing a shirt. Suwama gives me like Greg Valentine in WWF vibes for some reason, but who knows.
They’re both so austere and rigid that it seems like this might just be a really intense business meeting among big dudes. Anyway, let’s find out how wrong I am!
Once this picked up in the second half, this match got pretty good. I definitely prefer Ishikawa of the two. Ishikawa drops a smile every now and then when shit’s getting serious and that just works for me.
I feel like I was feeling too impatient to be fair the first half of the match. I didn’t really warm up to, or at least catch on to either personality until the second half. The first half was technically sound but, in the moment, felt pretty dull.
Overall thoughts:
Without knowing anything about the current hierarchy/pecking order; the wrestlers that I enjoyed most, or that stood out most were Zeus, Daisuke Sekimoto, The Bodyguard, Joe Doering, Naoya Nomura, and Shuji Ishikawa.
Am I supposed to hate KAI? Because I really fucking hated him by the end of his match with Zeus. Why on God’s green earth would you ever put this superplex no-selling try-hard over a naturally charismatic God-Man like Zeus? Without any context, it defies explanation.
Will my feelings towards any of these wrestlers change as I continue through the tournament? We’ll find out as I continue on my noob’s journey through the world of All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2017.