All Japan Pro Wrestling 5/12/2024 Champion Carnival 2024 Day 11

All Japan Pro Wrestling 5/12/2024 Champion Carnival 2024 Day 11

I skipped one match here: 

Act & Riko Fukunaga vs. Marino Saihara & Yufa

MS = Marino Saihara

Yufa and MS attack as Act's team enters. Other AWG girls help tie them up on the ropes and pose on them. Act dropkicks Yufa then snapmares her by the hair.  Act straightjacket chokes Yufa then bulldogs her. Riko dropkicks Yufa then Yufa slams Riko. Yufa double stomps her for 2.

MS dropkicks Riko then Riko gets on her back for a sleeper. Riko armbars her and MS deadlift powerbombs her out of it. Riko kicks MS in the back. Act dropkicks MS. Yufa dropkicks Act when she gets in. Yufa double stomps Act and Act's team are put in stereo submissions.

Riko and Act hit stereo dropkicks. Yufa straightjacket chokes Act and is snapmared. Act powerslams Yufa. Act is stuck up top and shoulder thrown off the 2nd rope. AWG girls come in and beat up on Act. Yufa does a horrible straightjacket drop on Act for 2.

Act flatliners Yufa. Riko dropkicks MS then they trade chest forearms. MS hip throws her then torture racks her. MS samoan drops her out of it for 2. MS back body drops Riko onto Act then hits something like a bangarang for 2. Riko high kicks MS then pump kicks her. Riko sliding kicks her in the back for 2.

Riko and MS trade forearms on their knees. MS rolls her up for 2. Act swings Yufa out of the front facelock then top rope dropkicks MS. Riko rolls up MS off the slam. Riko then rolls her up off the casadora and wins it.

Thoughts: It wasn't good. It went too long as these matches always do. The crowd didn't care. The interference was BS and both Yufa and MS looked green here. Yufa in particular had issues doing a lot of things.

Hartley Jackson & Lord Crewe vs. Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi

We have the fake Omori there as usual and Omori gives Kuma a bear mask. Kuma and Hart go at it. They lock up and shoulder battle. Hart shoulders him over then Kuma slams him. They stand off with karate poses.

Omori and Crewe go at it. They lock up and Omori clean breaks him. They should battle and Omori forearms him over. Crewe spinebusters Omori then twists his head. Crewe legdrops him for 2. Omori hits forearms on Hart. Hart then forearms him over.

Hart slams Omori then elbow drops him for 2. Crewe puts Omori's horse mask on Omori and pounds him. Omori 2nd rope dropkicks Crewe. Kuma sentons Crewe for 2. Kuma racks Crewe then throws Crewe at Hart. Crewe step up knees Kuma. Hart splashes Kuma in the corner then lariats him for 2.

Kuma dropkicks Hart. Omori gets in and dropkicks Hart in the knee. Omori spinning forearms him then suplexes him. Kumra corner lariats Hart. Kuma powerbombs Omori on accident on a filed tower of doom spot and Hart top rope crossbodies Kuma. Omori takes a face kick + russian legsweep combo for 2. Crewe cannonballs Kuma off the apron then Hart lariats Omori for 2.  Hart death valley drivers Omori and wins it.

Thoughts: It was just an average match that went longer than it needed to. Nobody did anything too wild here minus Hart's top rope crossbody. 

AKIRA, Shiro Koshinaka & Yuma Aoyagi vs. Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Seigo Tachibana & Shotaro Ashino

Yuma is in karate attire here. Jiro goes after him and everyone fights outside the ring. Akira is stomped by Seigo then double teamed. Shiro takes a double team double axe handle. Seigo and Akira trade then Akira enzugiri's him.

Akira takes a double shoulderblock for 2. Sho bodyscissors Akira. Seigo atomic drops and face kicks Akira. Sho karelin's lfits Akira. Akira face kicks him out of the corner the n flying lariats him. Shiro gets in and hits hip attacks then russian legsweeps Jiro.

Sho takes a double team hip attack. Shiro hits Sho with his his hip more and Yuma tries to do it to the ref. Yuma tries to hip attack Sho but is german suplexed. Jiro jacket punches Yuma hard and corner enzugiri's him. Jiro bullies Yuma around and 2nd rope double stomps him.

Jiro goes to dive on Yuma, Siego stops him and tries to dive but Akira trips him. Akira planchas Sho outside. Shiro hip attacks Jiro off the apron through the rail door. Jiro enzugiri's Yuma. Jiro holds yuma for a double team and Seigo ends up nailing Jiro. Akira top rope splashes Akira then Sho top rope hip attacks Jiro. Yuma top rope elbow drops Jiro while holding his mirror and wins it.

Thoughts: It was a quick and light-hearted tag that continued to push the interesting Yuma vs Jiro feud. These two have something together and I'm curious as to where it goes next.

Yuma takes Jiro's jacket after and puts it on, doing Jiro's pose.  Jiro then chairs Yuma and beats him up some. Jiro then takes Yuma's karate headband and gi.

Ren Ayabe vs. Rei Saito

Ren backs him up and messes with his hair. Rei slaps him then shoulders him over. Rei is sent into the post and rails. Ren is sent into the rails then he sends Rei into the rails. Rei slams Ren then hits a chop flurry inside. They trade shots and Rei sumo palm strikes him then chop flurries him. Rei corner splashes him for 2.

Rei shoulders him over and splashes him for 2. Ren flying neckbreakers him. They go up top and fight. Rei superplexes him and Ren no sells it. Ren shotgun dropkicks him. They trade chops for forearms. Ren dropkicks Rei.

Ren slams Rei. Rei hits a slap combo then hits a shotei palm strike for the win.

Thoughts: It was a solid big man slugfest here. Not great or anything but we got some strike trades here. I could have done without some of the usual outside fighting that didn't accomplish much.

Masakatsu Funaki & Masayuki Kono vs. Hideki Suzuki & Suwama

HS and Funaki go at it. They grapple without doing much. Suwama and Funaki go at it. Suwama crawls around the ring going for Funaki's legs. Konog gets in. Suwama takes him down by the arm. Suwama front facelocks him and forearms him against the ropes. They trade forearms and Suwama double chops him.

HS euros Kono then takes a boot to the face in the corner. Funaki chest kicks HS and drops him. Funaki hits kicks to the body and the chest. HS tombstone piledrivers him. Suwama gets in. He corner lariats Funaki then belly to belly suplexes him.

Funaki hits knees to the body then Suwama ankle locks him. Funaki rolls him into his own ankle lock. They trade shots and Suwama headbutts him. Funaki snapmares him then PK's him for 2. Kono flying knees Suwama then backdrops him for 2.
 
HS misses a dropkick on a double team with Suwama. Suwama takes corner attacks then Kono running knees him for 2. HS enzugiri's Kono then Kono takes a double dropkick. Suwama backdrops Kono for 2. HS puts an octopus on Funaki while Suwama sleepers Kono. Suwama turns it into a bulldog choke and submits Kono.

Thoughts: It was about as bad as you would think. It was slow with very little happening, little personality and a total borefest.

Cyrus & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. New Period (Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai)

Cy and Yuma start us off. Cy backs Yuma up and clean breaks him. Yuma hits forearms and Cy powerbombs him off the flying knee attempt. Honda and Davey go at it. They lock up and trade forearms. Honda trips him into the ropes, chokes him on the mand counts along with the ref. Honda hits forearms then is facekicked.

Davey slams Honda. He forearms Honda in the back then holds him for shots from Cy. Cy stands on Honda then ubtt drops his back. Cy hits snake eyes on Honda then Cy flying single leg dropkicks him. Honda hits forearms and is dropped with a lariat.

Davey legdrops Honda for 2 then chinlocks him. They trade forearms and Honda is knocked back. Davey forearms him in the spine then sideslams him for 2. Davey chinlocks him. Honda back body drops Davey. Yuma gets in and hits forearms on Davey. Davey headbutts him then Yuma dropkicks him. Yuma hits a belly to belly suplex for 2 then facelocks him.

Davey germans Yuma for 2. Davey reverse ddt's him then hits knees to the gut. They trade forearms. Davey spinning forearms him then hits a german. Yuma no sells it and germans him back. Cy and Honda get in. Cy shoulders him over and body blocks him. Cy misses a senton then Yuma flying knees him. Honda spears Cy for 2.

Cy upkicks Honda then suplexes him into the buckles. Cy is double powerbombed by Honda and Yuma for 2. Honda running lariats Cy and wins it.

Thoughts: I would have liked the bigger guys to beat down the Japanese a bit more. I would have liked Yuma to have been the face in peril, then have Honda make the hot tag and have he match end from there. It was just mostly average otherwise aside from the finish and was only over 10 minutes so it wasn't an epic. 

AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title Match - Rising HAYATO (c) vs. Kaz Hayashi

Kaz wristlocks him. Rising headflips out and chops him. Kaz forearms him down then is pulled over the top. Rising moonsaults off the ropes and poses. Rising armdrags Kaz out and misses a springboard plancha. He ends up going face and neck first into the rail.

Kaz is sent into the rails and he flatliners Rising into the rails. Kaz trips him into the bottom rope and moonsaults him while he's laying on the bottom rope. Kaz straightjacket chokes him then pulls him back onto his knees. Kaz crossfaces him. Kaz stomps on him then hits chops in the corner.

Rising shotgun dropkicks him then running back elbows him. Rising springboard plancha's him. Rising springboard legdrops him on the back of his neck for 2. Rising footslaps him. Kaz hits forearms then Rising single leg dropkicks him. Rising superkicks him and Kaz hook kicks him.

Kaz hits kicks then is tripped into the 2nd rope. Rising slingshot bridging ddt's him onto the apron. Kaz blocks an asai moonsault then handspring enzugiri's him. Rising asai moonsaults him for 2. Kaz hits a kudo driver for 2 then Rising package tombstones him for 2. Rising springboard top rope moonsaults him and wins it.

Thoughts: It was just an average juniors match. I thought they maybe had something here with Kaz being the underdog and not being able to hang with Rising but they didn't explore the concept too much before it ended.

Champion Carnival 2024 Final Match - Kento Miyahara vs. Jun Saito

They lock up and Jun clean breaks him. Jun side headlocks him. Kento boots him, gets headscissored and they stand off.  Jun wristlocks him. They do some grappling and Jun hits a big chest forearm on the ropes. Kento trips him into the ropes then Kento is facekicked off the apron. Kento is thrown into the rails outside and drops Jun neck first on the rails outside.

Kento headbutts him and hurts his own head on it. Kento hits more headbutts. Jun sends him into the rails and shoulders him against them. Jun chokes Kento with a towel. They trade shots outside and Jun stuffs the towel in Kento's mouth.

Kento hits chest forearms inside then is slammed and elbow dropped. Jun stomps on Kento in the corner and foot chokes him. Jun then stands on him. Jun running facekicks Kento while he is down and Kento fires up. Jun hits knees to the body then Kento dropkicks him in the knee and the side of the head.

Kento sits on the top rope and is knocked off down to the floor. They fight on the apron and Kento piledrivers him on the apron. Kento pumping knees him in the corner. They trade forearms and Jun drops him with a chest forearm. They trade forearms and Jun chops him. Kento suplexes Jun then Jun running knees him in the back of the head.

Kento is sat on the buckles then Jun superplexes him. Kento no sells it and Jun spears him for 2. Kento germans him then pumping knees him on the ropes. Jun chokeslams him for 2. Kento cradles him off a suplex attempt and backrolls him into a bridge for 2.

Jun jackhammers him for 2. Kento pumping knees him off a cobra clutch slam attempt. Jun then lariats him and running knees him but Kento no sells it. Jun strike combos him with an uppercut. Jun chokeslams him for 2. Kento flying pumping knees him and Jun lariats him. Kento does another flying pumping knee for 2. Kento straightjacket germans him for 2. Jun headbutts him then Kento straightjacket germans him to win it.

Thoughts: I would have just had Jun dominate Kento for a while and then have Kento make his big comeback and win. There was a little of it but not that much. Kento did a lot of no selling here like he tends to do in his bigger matches and brought things down. I thought that Jun did well in one of his first bigger matches, not looking out of place but Rei would have done better in this role than him. I still somewhat liked it overall but it wasn't as good as it should have been.

Yuma Anzai comes out to challenge Kento after.

Overall thoughts: It should have been a bigger show for AJPW but really wasn't. I didn't really like anything on here all that much and I thought Ren/Rei was probably the best thing on here. I wouldn't recommend this one.