All Japan Pro Wrestling - Champion Carnival 2019 Day 17 and Day 18 FINALS - 4/28-4/29/2019

All Japan Pro Wrestling - Champion Carnival 2019 Day 17 and Day 18 FINALS - 4/28-4/29/2019

Pics/gifs to come later. Only Day 15 remains for me.

Daichi Hashimoto vs Sam Adonis
Sam gets kicked early and fires a hard forearm back. Sam hits a Northern Lights Suplex for 2. Slow pace as you would expect. Sam goes down after taking some kicks from Hash. Sam bounces back in with a running boot to the face. They fight over a suplex and then Hash turns it into a falcon arrow before kicking Sam again. Sam pushes Hash down on the mat and hits a Cattle Mutilation. Sam gives it up for some reason and takes a spin kick to the face. Sam catches a shining wizard and turns it into a death valley driver. Sam then wins it with a frog splash, though the ref never counts 3. This was nothing special as expected.

Takashi Yoshida vs Yoshitatsu
I swear I've seen 17 Yoshida matches in this tournament. I don't have any real hope for this. Yoshida knocks over Yoshi early with a shoulder. Yoshi gets thrown outside and runs back in as Yoshida gets out. You see, Yoshi knows to look out for people going out of the ring early now, because it's been done in nearly every match this tournament. No difference here as they go out early. Yosh tries to fight back but gets stopped with an eye rake when they go back in. Yoshida then works over the nose and yells at the crowd. Yoshida yells at Yoshi and then chops him in the throat. Yoshi hits a suplex and tries to start a comeback. Yoshida hits some corner lariats and more throat chops. Yoshida hits a top rope diving elbow for 2. He then hits a tornado DDT and takes more throat chops. Yoshi hits his STO > Koji Clutch move. Yoshida hits a lariat for 2 then another for 3. Boring match as expected with nothing of note.

Jake Lee vs Joe Doering
I can just imagine the conversation that was had when putting this one together. It probably involved the question, "How can we possibly get all of the slowest and most boring wrestlers on the same card?". The only one missing is Valletta. They go outside early and Doering hits a nice forearm across the face then puts him in a boston crab. Joe hits a dropkick and the crowd and announcers make a big deal of it for some reason. It sends out Lee to the floor. Lee takes an abdominal stretch and gets beat on a bit more. Lee hits a DDT then a corner boot to the face. Lee then hits a gutwrench on Doering. But Doering gets back in it after kicks and puts a boston crab on him. Doering gets backdropped on a powerbomb attempt then DDT's for 2. Doering then drops Lee with a lariat for 2. Doering misses a lariat then gets backdropped for 2. I've seen worse out of Doering, but I can go without seeing him again. This wasn't anything special.

Naoya Nomura vs Suwama

They go even early and do the usual staredown spot. Nomura surprisingly takes down Suwama with a shoulder block early. Nomura takes control for a bit and then Suwama won't let go of a sleeper. They go outside(of course) ad Suwama rams Nomura's back into the post. Nomura gets slammed down by Suwama and booted across the face. We go back outside and Suwama belly to belly's Nomura on the mats. Suwama backdrops when he is back in for 2 and we go back to the boston crab. Suwama hits some forearms on Nomura and then hits double chops, a lariat and a belly to belly. Nomura wins the battle for the suplex and vertical suplexes Suwama. Suwama hits his bad flying forearm. Nomura got a lot more in than I expected so far. they trade shots but neither goes down and Nomura fights back. He gets release german'd but doesn't sell it, and then Suwama no sells his german. Nomura no sells another German and does a bad spear to Suwama's knees.They get back up and Nomura stretches Suwama. Suwama doesn't submit and hits a good running dropkick then a running lariat. Nomura no sells another german and gets whacked hard with a rolling lariat. Suwama then powerbombs him for 2. Suwama hits a hard delayed german that I think Nomura is forced to sell whether he wants to or not. Suwama tries to lariat him but ends up just punching him in the mouth as he can't get there fast enough, then lariats him. Nomura is legit dazed after the last german. Nomura no sells a superplex and hits a spear. Nomura hits a nice german for a nearfall then a splash for 2. Nomura takes another lariat and a german he doesn't sell then hits a bad spear for 2. He hits a flurry of elbows and drops down Suwama. Nomura then hits a northern lights bomb for 2. He hits a death valley bomb and finally wins this no-selling affair. Suwama was fine here as he usually is in the second half of a match, but the no selling ruined this one. "No-sell Nomura" has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

Block B Finals - Jake Lee vs Naoya Nomura

New Tenryu guh punch combo?

The finish

They charge each other with shoulderblocks to start then do a forearm exchange. Nomura hits a big forearm then his bad spear. We go outside, because we always do, and Lee hits a high kick. Lee lights up Nomura with some shots and DDT's him on the ground. Nomura sells on the outside for a while. Lee grounds him with a chinlock and seems inspired. Lee goes for some pins but can't put him away. Lee tries an elbow/back elbow combo a few times. Lee hits a big running knee to the gut for 2. Lee hits a big face kick in the corner and takes a spear. Lee gets german'd while he sits on top and it's good for a 2. Nomura goes for a splash from the top but Lee gets both knees up. They exchange forearms and Nomura puts him on his shoulders then drops him down to both knees. Nomura then hits a splash from the top and a second one for 2. Lee hits some big knees again. Nomura does his flurry and really hammers the last one in on Lee. Lee gets picked up but makes it into a high backdrop. Lee hits a big knee to the chest and wins it. This was good. Lee was into this and showed some fire and we got a little bit more than the usual fair we had been getting lately.

Thoughts on Day 17: Another skipable night. Lee/Nomura was good but that's really it.

4/29/2019 All Japan Pro Wrestling - Champion Carnival 2019 Finals Day 18 - Jake Lee vs Kento Miyahara

The finish

The crowd is into this one and they stare down. Then they hit some basic stuff and duck out of it and have a second stare down. They get tied up on the ropes and Jake teases a clean break but then kicks Kento. They go outside(because they always do) and Jake hits some hard shots on him with some fire. Jake hangs up his head off the apron and nails some knees. They go back in and slow it down a bit. Kento hits a forearm but Lee nails a better one. Kento gets him back and nails some headbutts. Lee gets in some kicks but Kento hits another headbutt. He then knocks Lee's head into the post. Kento hits another headbutt. He lays him on the top rope then dropkicks him down to the mat. Lee forearms him and Kento challenges him. He gets another and headbutts him. Kento goes low with a dropkick then goes high. Lee then hits a big knee and a gutwrench suplex. Lee hits some forearms on the apron and pushes his foot down on Kento's head onto the apron. Kento germans Lee from the apron to floor(while Kento is on the floor). Kento does a running knee, Lee does a running kick then Kento no sells a german. Kento hits a knee > german > knee for 2. They trade some forearms and Lee hits some palm strikes and kicks. The match slows down again and Kento hits a big knee in the corner. Lee hits a big knee and a doctor bomb for 2. Kento then pops up like usual and does a knee to the back and a delayed german. Kento charges in and eats a big knee. Lee hits a couple of more knees and a big one to put him down. Kento kicks out and then gets backdropped. Kento then does a surprise shotgun knee and eats a high kick when coming off the ropes. Kento hits another shotgun knee. Kento then pops up and hits another running knee. Kento then hits a straightjacket german and wins it. Lee had a pretty good showing here, really stepping up for the big match. Kento was just Kento as usual, though he didn't do the goofy post spot thankfully. I didn't love his performance, but it wasn't his usual no selling. This was longer than it needed to be, especially since Lee has little offense and I didn't think it was that special, but it was fine.