All Japan Pro Wrestling 4/11/2022 - Champion Carnival 2022 Day 3

All Japan Pro Wrestling 4/11/2022 - Champion Carnival 2022 Day 3

I watched the 4 Champion Carnival matches.

Champion Carnival 2022 Block B - Kuma Arashi vs Yoshitatsu

They shoulder battle early which Kuma wins. Kuma then ends up outside and is plancha'd by Yoshi. Kuma then gets put into the post. Kuma loses Yoshi when he has him on his shoulders then splashes him as he lays on the top rope. Yoshi falls to the floor. Yoshi hits some forearms when he is back in but Kuma just slams him in return.

Yoshi tries forearms then Kuma drops him with just one. Kuma then stands on him. Kuma goes for a suplex but gets it countered with a Yoshi suplex. Yoshi then face kicks and chest kicks him. Yoshi then dragon screws him. Kuma hits a nice standing dropkick then sentons him. Yoshi tornado ddt's him.

They trade forearms and Yoshi hits a knee to his gut. Yoshi then gets suplexed again and takes a stiff lariat. Kuma then gutwrench sitout dominators him for 2. Kuma misses his top rope senton then Yoshi jack knife pins him for the win.

The ending was kind of out of nowhere. They only had about 9 minutes here and it wasn't either guys best match. It was slower than it needed to be early but the rest of it was a little better.

Champion Carnival Block B - T-Hawk vs Shotaro Ashino

Ashino is wearing red today and they trade chops then euro uppercuts for chops. Ashino does a nice takedown and a back elbow then T dropkicks him in the knee. T hits more chops and Shotaro ties his arm up and gives him some freebies. T then uses the oppurtunity to punch him in the face instead.

Ashino goes out and T drops him on the apron face first. Ashino takes chops outside and more chops inside. Ashino then catches him with an overhead belly to belly. Ashino then hits him with Karelin's lift then walks around the ring with him in a stretch muffler position. Ashino lets him chop him then hits a euro uppercut. Ashino then running euro's him.

Ashino sits on the top and T chops him, making him fall off the buckles and roll into the rail outside. T then superplexes him for 2. T gets his running knee blocked and still has trouble chopping Ashino. Ashino gets popped up into a knee then germans him. Hawk hits an interesting knee then a reverse slam.

They run into each other and Ashino hits a huge lariat. Ashino then backdrops him for 2 and germans him for 2. Ashino hits his exploder into a slam then T reverses him on his pin attempt and wins it.

I thought they were going somewhere with T not being able to chop him down but they lost focus of it and it hurt the match. The finish was also randomly but that has been the norm as of late in this tournament.

Champion Carnival 2022 Block B - Suwama vs Takuya Nomura

Nomura tries to ankle trip him but Suwama gets on his back. Suwama mat wrestles him. The battle for control and Suwama takes him down. Suwana leg takedowns him then Nomura goes for a triangle. Suwama hits some weakish kicks and Nomura tries to chest slap back. Nomura hits a dropkick and hits some punches to the head.

Nomura then suplexes him for 2. Suwama then hits an interesting powerslam on him for 2. Nomura PK's him and germans him for 2. Suwama comes back with a belly to belly then a corner lariat. Suwama germans him to the side and they trade slaps. Nomura hits a near roll-up out of nowhere then Suwama lariats him. Suwama drags him by the hair as he is out of it. Suwama lariats him and Nomura does a fantastic sell for it for the Suwama win.

The first half was pretty boring but the second half picked up. Suwama jerked Nomura around like a rookie too much but Nomura did his best with the little he was allowed to do. Believe me, the gifs I posted of this were really the best parts and there wasn't a ton more to see. It was decent but it could have been a lot better if Nomura would have been treated equally.

Champion Carnival 2022 Block A - Shuji Ishikawa vs Jake Lee

Lee goes for a roll-up and Shuji falls to the side, either intentionally or unintentionally. They mat wrestle then shoulder battle, which Shuji wins. Lee hits a nice hurricanrana out of nowhere. and hammerlocks him. They go outside and Jake boots him in the face and throws him into the rails. Jake then boots him against the rails. They then do it again and Shuji goes over the rails this time. Shuji then recoers and powerbombs him on the apron.

Jake is stomped as he gets back in. They trade forearms and Jake is dropped. Jake goes out for a breather and comes back in with forearms but is downed with a knee to the gut. Shuji 2nd rope double stomps him. Jake then does some arm work on him. Jake goes for a kick to the arm but is blocked and forearmed. Shuji forearm flurries him in the corner and Jake rolls outside after it. Shuji dragon suplexes him on the inside then hits a running knee.

They trade forearms and Shuji lariats him. They trade more forearms then Jake goes for a flying triangle then turns it into a double reverse armlock that Shuji ropebreaks on. Jake hits a knee flurry to the chest for 2. Jake goes for a suplex but Shuji reverses it into a sitout driver. Shuji then hits a cobra clutch suplex then a v-trigger. Shuji then running knees him for 2.

Jake hits a high kick then a diving knee to the back for 2. Jake then backdrops him for another 2. Jake then hits a delayed suplex and wins it.

I wasn't a big fan of this. It was longer than it needed to be and it was slow. It was in front of a crowd that couldn't cheer and Jake really didn't have the offense to look like a real threat against Shuji.

Overall thoughts: Wasn't a big fan of what I saw. I thought all 4 matches could have been better in various ways.