All Japan Pro Wrestling 4/28/2025 Champion Carnival 2025 Day 9
Atsuki Aoyagi, Dan Tamura, Rising HAYATO & Taishin Nagao vs. Saito Brothers (Naruki Doi & Rei Saito), MUSASHI & Ryo Inoue
Mu - Musashi
Ryo and Nagao trade wristlocks. Ryo headlock takeovers him, Nagao headscissors him and they stand off. Mu and Rising get in. Rising wristlocks him. Mu reverses it then Rising chops him.
Mu rolls Rising by the arm. Rising sweeps him. Rising then flying headscissors him. Rising boots him in the gut. Mu double stomps his back and basement dropkicks him. Rising chops him in the corner.
Dan chest forearms Mu then hits a suplex for 2. Dan crabs him and Mu ropebreaks. Mu hits forearms. Mu step up enzugiri's him. Doi gets in and hits back elbows and stomps on Dan. AA then basement dropkicks Dan in the corner. Doi fights off a double team.
Dan hits a double lariat on Doi and Mu. AA gets in. Mu double axe handles AA. AA handspring corkscrew kicks Doi then superkicks him. Doi hits doi fives then AA corkscrew kicks him.
Nagao and Rei get in. Rei shoulders him over and no sells his dropkicks. Rei knocks him over then boots him over. Nagao 2nd rope dropkicks him. Rei shoulders over all 4 opponents then takes offense from them. Nagao top rope dropkicks Rei for 2.
Rising springboard plancha's his opponents outside. Nagao tries to northern lights suplex Rei but can't. Nagao then rolls him up for 2. Nagao cradles him for 2. Rei blocks a sunset flip and slaps him. Rei then butt drops Nagao for 2. Rei chokeslams Nagao and pins him with one hand.
Thoughts: It was an okay opener with Nagao getting some surprising nearfalls on Rei. There were too many people in it and not enough time so we didn't get anyone's best work here.
Champion Carnival 2025 Block A Match - Takashi Yoshida vs. Hideki Suzuki
They lock up. HS clean breaks him. TY offers a handshake. HS side headlocks him then shoulders him. They shoulder battle. TY offers a handshake. HS takes it then is hit in the throat. TY chokes him with tape. HS hits shots to the gut then TY punches him in the head. TY claims it was an open fist.
TY grabs HS by the nose then fist drops him. TY misses an elbow drop. HS hits him in the throat several times. HS does a double shot to the throat then enzugiri's him. HS sentons him for 2.
They clothesline battle. TY hits him in the throat several times. HS unties the top part of the turnbuckle pad and hits more throat shots. HS pulls on his arms then bridge pins him to win.
Thoughts: It was not good as expected with TY doing very little but throat shots. It was quite boring and it went longer than it needed to.
Champion Carnival 2025 Block A Match - Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Shotaro Ashino
Sho takes him down and is booted away. The same thing happens to Davey. Davey armdrags him then Sho armdrags him. Davey then holds on and armdrags him off of it. Davey does another armdrag and they stand off.
Davey takes him down and has control on the mat. Davey rolling kimura's him. Davey armlocks him on the mat. Sho rolls him off of him then running euros him. They trade forearms. Davey butt drops Sho's arm. Davey armbars him.
Davey headstands while having him in a hammerlock and Sho ropebreaks. Davey euros him. Davey double underhook suplexes him then kimura's him. Sho double boots him out of the corner and runs into a facekick for 2.
Davey armlocks him and hits knees to the body. Sho sunset flips him and they trade pin attempts. Sho release germans him. Sho turns over on Davey's backdrop attempt. Davey then powerslams him for 2. Davey bakcdrops him for 2.
Sho rolls out of a powerbomb then ankle locks him. Sho grounds him with it and Davey taps out.
Thoughts: I was surprised to see Davey lose here. It wasn't bad. Davey did his usual stuff and Sho held onto the ankle lock until Davey tapped. I thought it was alright. Davey was in control for most of this until the finishing stretch.
Sho does a promo after and says, "break a leg". Davey says Sho was the first man to make him submit in AJPW. He says he needs to work on his submissions and says the ring being smaller helped out Sho. He said he might have been able to survive but he had to save himself for the rest of the tournament. He says he can still make first place and says he still loves Zen Nippon. Davey says he wants him in the ring again.
Champion Carnival 2025 Block A Match - Xyon vs. Jun Saito
They lock up and let go. X clean breaks him and does his hair taunt. Jun backs him up on the ropes and does his hair taunt. They shoulder battle then do a double clothesline. Jun lariats him down and they go out. X is sent into the post then Jun chokes him with a towel outside.
Jun is sent into the post. Jun is dropped face first on the apron. Jun's head is then rammed into the post. X hits a punch flurry in the corner and throws him hard into the buckles for 2. X does a trapezus hold. X pulls Jun's arms back. X throws him down backwards and headbutt drops him.
X does a grounded cobra clutch then he hits a death valley driver for 2. Jun back body drops him. Jun hits corner facekicks then suplexes him. Jun stands on him and plays with his hair. They trade shots. Jun then hits a nice spear.
Jun misses a top rope diving lariat. X then pump kicks him for 2. They trade forearms. Jun headbutts him and gets suplexed. X kips up and flying shoulders him for 2. X comes off the top and is chokeslammed. Jun flying kicks him while he's down and pins him for the win.
Thoughts: Like the last show, it was one of Xyon's better matches. These two did not look like a good match on paper but they stuck to the heavyweight stuff and did okay with it. They didn't reinvent the wheel here, but there were no botches, they had a few highlights and they generally did seem to work well together.
Xyon does a promo after. He says he came to Japan for an opportunity and saw The Saito's. He says Jun is hard-hitting and strong and he can't wait for the next match. He says he's had a hard couple of days with some losses but he's still standing and nothing will keep him down.
Kento Miyahara, Ren Ayabe & Ryuki Honda vs. Hokuto-gun (Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi) & Madoka Kikuta
Kuma and Ken go at it. Kuma backs him up on the ropes. Ken facekicks him twice then Kuma shoulders him over. Ken goes out to stall. Omori and Ren come in. Omori blows him a kiss then Ren messes with his hair. Omori bites the hand. Omori dropkicks him in the knee then Ren slams him.
Honda chokes Omori on the ropes with his leg. Honda spinebusters him. Omori takes a forearm and Ken facekicks Honda on accident. They all go outside to fight. MK boots Honda in the corner and buts his butt in his face. Honda then bites his butt. They trade forearms.
Honda hits forearms on Kuma. Kuma then slams him. Kuma hits a senton for 2. Kuma stands on Honda's gut. Honda then hits a running spear.Ken comes in and facekicks Kuma. He then dropkicks him in the knee and the side of the head.
Kuma racks and torture rack drops Ken. Kuma then sentons him. Omori top rope dropkicks Ken. Omori hits forearms on Ren then Ren flying neckbreakers him. Omori low blows Ren and Honda at the same time when the ref isn't looking. Ken's team is all stacked up in the corner and MK's butt is rammed into them. Omori's team fails on the tower of doom spot and Omori is double powerbombed by his partners.
MK flying hip attacks Omori then Honda hits a big lariat on Omori. Ren spinning falcon arrows Omori and pins him.
Thoughts: It was what I expected. You could tell by the spot on the card and by so many people being involved that it wasn't going to be great or super serious and it wasn't. I suppose it was okay enough but if you were looking for a classic, this wasn't it.
Champion Carnival 2025 Block B Match - Mike D Vecchio vs. Yuma Anzai
Mike shoves him off of the lock-up. Mike waistlock takedowns him and Yuma front facelocks him. Mike shoulders him over then running facekicks him. Mike is dropkicked off the apron. Mike enzugiri's him front the apron and does a botched springboard chop for 2.
Yuma 2nd rope dropkicks him then hits a corner forearm. Mike gorilla press drops him then does a standing moonsault. They trade forearms. Mike chops him over for 2.
Yuma hits a belly to belly suplex. Yuma dropkicks him then double underhook suplexes him for 2. Yuma facelocks him. They trade forearms. Yuma runs the ropes and Mike crossbodies him over the top. Mike suplexes him on the floor.
Mike is up top and Yuma knees him. Mike springboards and is caught with a dropkick. Mike then hits a big lariat for 2. Yuma is dropped gut first on the top rope. Yuma 2nd rope butterfly suplexes him for 2. Yuma catches Mike's springboard and germans him for 2. Yuma hits a stiff jumping knee. Yuma then gimlets him for the win.
Thoughts: It was a good one and Mike's best match so far in AJPW. Yuma wasn't going to do all the crazy indy stuff and it forced Mike to settle down some. It made for a much better match. The two worked pretty well together and I'd really like to see them do this again on a bigger star.
Mike does a promo in the back after. He says he was close but it slipped away. He says it hurts as he knows he is better than that. He says he's coming back stronger next time and says there's no way out.
Champion Carnival 2025 Block B Match - Yuma Aoyagi vs. Aigle Blanc
Yuma wristlocks him and AB rolls out. AB side headlocks him. Yuma armdrags him, AB headscissors him then uses the ropes to headlock takeover him. Yuma headscissors him and they standoff. Yuma then headflips up and kips up to show off.
AB side headlocks him. Yuma side headlocks him and tries to flip over him but hurts his back. AB dropkicks him. AB corner euros him then headscissors drops him. AB topes him outside. They trade forearms. AB sends him in and Yuma goes out the other side. Yuma then does it again.
AB is caught on the 2nd rope outside and pulled down. Yuma tries to untie his mask. They both go under the ring. Yuma comes out and has AB's mask on. Yuma goes under the ring again and AB gets his mask back on.
AB hits chops and Yuma eye rakes him. Yuma piledrivers him for 2. AB springboard twisting crossbodies him. AB then enzugiri's him. AB twisting suplexes him. AB then 2nd rope moonsaults him outside. AB goes up top and does a coast to coast dropkick on Yuma for 2. AB misses a top rope 450. Yuma 2nd rope crossbodies him. Yuma hits a top rope crossbody for 2 then guillotines him.
AB superkicks him then short hurricanrana spikes him into the mat. AB then triangle ddt's him on the apron. They get back in and AB springboard dropkicks him. AB flying facekicks him in the corner. They trade forearms. Yuma dropkicks him then AB dragon suplexes him. Yuma brainbusters him. Yuma lariats him.
They trade forearms. AB upkicks him. Yuma backdrops him then hits a top rope elbow drop for 2. AB hits a top rope spanish fly for 2. Yuma hits forearms then takes a tombstone. AB top rope splashes him. AB then 450's him for 2.
AB goes up top and is superplexed down. AB no sells it. Yuma flips him with a lariat then brainbusters him for 1. Yuma does a fisherman buster for 2. Yuma twisting fisherman busters him and wins.
Thoughts: Like all Blanc matches, he did his whole moveset. Yuma also sadly brought some of the comedy when this didn't need it. I thought it dragged on too long, I thought Blanc did way too much and Blanc's no selling wasn't good at the end. It had a lot of potential and Blanc has the tools of paper but he's just not there as a worker yet. If he could just smarten up as a wrestler and work on selling and being more fiery, he'd have a contract somewhere tomorrow.
Yuma talks on the mic after. In the back, Blanc talks. He says he doesn't know if he can still win the tournament. He says he's a kid who wanted to be a wrestler and says he's here in the main of an AJPW show. He says he's proud to represent himself today.
Overall thoughts: The opener was okay for what it was. Yoshida/Suzuki was lousy as expected. Davey/Ashino wasn't bad. Xyon and Jun had a surprisingly decent match. I guess the trios match was okay. Yuma/Mike was good as Yuma kept Mike in check. Blanc/Aoyagi went too long and Blanc did too much without selling much as usual. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 as the semi main was good, Davey's match wasn't bad and Xyon/Jun was a decent heavyweight match. Maybe Mike/Anzai is worth seeing but it wasn't their best work possible.
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