All Japan Reviews

All of these are on youtube.

AJPW 3/1/2012 - Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuji Okabayashi vs (SMOP) Akebono/Ryota Hama

This was a really good match. The words bad match and Daisuke Sekimoto will never be found in the same sentence and there's not much more raw of a younger talent than Oka. Akebono has improved tremendously over the years. I remember seeing him at a Zero-1 One show in 2010 and I thought he was going to die from a heart attack. Now he looks alot more comfortable in the ring. Hama definitely has some natural talent but his weight is what makes him interesting but is what will hurt him in the long run. I enjoyed this match. The fat guy vs power wrestler theme rarely even goes wrong. I would have liked to have seen more offense from SMOP though. This match felt short and I think more could have been done with it. Still it was good and there wasn't a dry moment in it. Rating: ***1/2

AJPW 6/11/2011 - Big Daddy Voodoo vs Akebono

Let's put it this way, after looking at Hama for about 14 minutes, these two almost seem thin. AJPW had some really odd guard rails for this show. They looked like lighting fixtures. This match was only 3:28 long and it wasn't much. They should have played up the King of the Monsters theme and it needed to atleast go 7 minutes. Rating: 1/2*

AJPW 7/2/2011 - Big Daddy Voodoo vs Ryota Homa

 Everytime the announcer tries to say Vis's name it comes off as Big Daddy Doodoo. BDV threw Hama into the guardrail at one point and the fans ran. Good call there, I love it. The crowd was really dead for this. That's unfortunate because in these type of matches, the crowd will make it or break it. BDV won win the big splash but it didn't do much for me. Rating: *

AJPW 3/5/1994 - Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi vs Giant Baba/Stan Hansen

I'm always fascinated when Baba puts on the tights during the 1990's. Baba was 56 at this point and it's pretty fascinating that a man of his size is even in the ring. He is the probably the oldest tallest wrestler to get in the ring. Baba could even run! Baba did a fireman's carry here that was pretty nifty for an old guy. Baba even did some lucha style armdrags. GIANT BABA was doing armdrags at age 56. Baba even takes Kobashi's leg roll at one point. Baba worked so smart in this. He'd take moves near the corners to avoid having to take extra bumps that he probably shouldn't be taking and he used the ropes to help leverage moves. Misawa got the win here over Baba. This match is pro wrestling. It was a beautiful match. The booking was good and Baba brought it. You need to see this. Misawa and Kobashi have to be in consideration as the best tag team ever. Rating: ****1/2

AJPW 4/15/1994 -Mitsuharu Misawa/Jun Akiyama/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Dan Kroffat/Doug Furnas/Johnny Smith

Kikuchi for me is like Misawa's younger kid brother. It's a crime that Kikuchi wasn't about 3 inches taller as the Big Four would have become the Big Five. He's a totally underrated talent. Doug Furnas hits the GREATEST release german ever in this. He throws Kikuchi like a WWF wrestling buddy. The gaijin team has to high five each other after that. Smith hit a really strange rotating splash/elbow. Akiyama got the win over Smith with a sweet exploder. Rating: ***. WATCH IT FOR THE GERMAN!

AJPW 6/19/2011 - Masakatsu Funaki vs Kyotaro

Funaki has a Rocky Balboa look going on here and I love it. Kyotaro was a champion in K-1 until it closed down. Really sucks for him as if he had been born a few years sooner he would have been what K-1 needed to fend off all those evil gaijin.  Kyotaro may win the prize here for the goofiest hair ever. It looked like someone spilled fruity pebbles on his head.  Kyotaro looked like a PRO in this. I know I said Yuhi's debut may have been the best debut I've ever seen, but Kyotaro was great. He even did a capoeria style kick that I've never seen before. This was a darn good match. Someone sign Kyotaro NOW. This guy is already better than most of the AJPW roster. Rating:***3/4