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Furious Flashbacks: All Japan Royal Road Tournament Final 2014
Loading...AJPW Royal Road Tournament Finals
28th September 2014.
Another show, another tournament! The Royal Road tournament is a relative newcomer to the Japanese tournament scene. This is only the second tournament to be contested. It differs from Champion Carnival as it’s single elimination, with no blocks, and no weight classes. It’s an openweight tournament. Akebono won last year, beating Go Shiozaki in the final. This year has seen some interesting booking to say the least. Jun Akiyama continues his insistence at putting others over in his new position of power, jobbing to Kento Miyahara in the first round. Also out in Round 1 was Triple Crown champion, Joe Doering, bested by Go Shiozaki. There was very nearly a re-match from last year’s final until Suwama went ahead and submitted Akebono in the semis. Go Shiozaki overcame Miyahara to set up Suwama vs. Shiozaki for the tournament. Winner gets a shot at Doering’s Triple Crown in October.
We’re in Osaka, Japan at the Bodymaker Coliseum. Turnout for this was a paltry 859. To put that into perspective, New Japan ran the Dominion PPV out of the same building in June and drew over 7,000. True that was a PPV with a typically strong NJPW card but there’s a massive disparity between the two numbers. All Japan was running the smaller hall at the same venue and sold out but that shows the difference in size between two companies that used to dominate the Japanese scene between them. For a true comparison AJPW ran the bigger venue back in April (Champion Carnival) and drew less than 3,000. They’re definitely lagging in the attendance and popularity stakes.
Ultimo Dragon & Billy Ken Kid vs. Yoichi Uchida & Eisa8
Okinawa Pro is Eisa8’s home promotion. Billy Ken Kid is from Osaka Pro. Uchida works all over the place. It’s part of AJPW’s aim to bring in talent to pad out their undercard. Ultimo has actually become an All Japan regular in 2014, basing himself there, which would his first run in a major Japanese promotion since the brief NJPW run after he left WWE in 2004. He’s been slumming it in Dradition and Michinoku Pro. Considering his success in North America, it often surprises me how few high profile Japanese runs he’s had. He’s taken to training the next generation rather than showcasing his own abilities. It’s unfortunate as he’s still got it but he’s not flaunted it since WCW. Nobody else in this match can operate on his level, which results in somewhat clumsy exchanges. Eisa8 at least has the common sense to just take whatever’s coming. Which is kicks! Lots and lots of kicks. Uchida is far more ambitious so Ultimo stops trying with him and finishes Eisa8 with the Asai DDT. It’s really weird having a showcase match for someone who’s 47 and has already worked for the WWE and New Japan but that’s what we got here.
Final Rating: *1/2
Atsushi Aoki & Hikaru Sato vs. Kotaro Suzuki & Yohei Nakajima
Nakajima used to be Menso-re Oyaji. I’m quite glad he ditched the gimmick as he sucked under the mask. He’s now in the same faction as Suzuki; Xceed. Aoki & Sato are the juniors in Evolution, the same stable that Doering & Suwama belong to. Suzuki & Aoki have worked each other so many times that they could probably hit *** in their sleep. Nakajima is certainly better without the mask but he’s not quite on the same level as the rest of these guys. You can see him thinking before executing something. He’s not a natural. Sato looks a bit frustrated by it. Aoki isn’t bothered. If he’s given an inexperienced guy he’ll just beat the crap out of him. It’s a pity Nakajima can’t quite carry his end as the rest of the match is terrific. Sato cutting off Kotaro’s flying spots is particularly impressive. Unfortunately Aoki & Suzuki, perhaps getting over-comfy, manage a massive botch where Aoki just runs into Suzuki and Kotaro back bumps it with Aoki falling on top. Oops. They stop off for a conflab after that so it doesn’t happen again. I know I mentioned them doing *** in their sleep but they actually were asleep on that collision. Aoki has a spot of confusion with Nakajima too, cutting off his comeback in mid punch with a lariat and then re-doing the spot. Aoki finishes with the Texas Cloverleaf but that’s not clean either and the botches in this were a big disappointment. Good wrestlers here, having an off-day. The match was never boring though and clipped along at a decent rate.
Final Rating: **1/2
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & SUSHI vs. KENSO & Takeshi Minamino
KENSO used to be Kenzo Suzuki in the WWE. He’s still terrible and his gimmick reflects that. As if AJPW know he’s terrible and have a few laughs with it. He and Minamino represent Dark Kingdom, which is a cool name but a dreadful stable. This starts out as a sloppy brawl with KENSO lumbering over to SUSHI with a table and SUSHI having to stand around waiting to be hit by it. Kanemaru is often used by AJPW to get something over that would otherwise suck but even he can’t save this. KENSO only has a slap but he manages to do that without exposing the business here so that’s a bonus. It’s a pity that SUSHI gets stuck in this match as all he gets to do is sell and it doesn’t give him the chance to show what he can do. It’s the wrong match for him. Kanemaru, as per usual, manages to drag some great sequences out of Minamino. The biggest surprise of the match is KENSO suddenly deciding he’s going to sell for SUSHI and throwing himself into a few bumps. His timing isn’t great but it’s nice to see the bigger man willing to put SUSHI’s cruiserweight style over. KENSO still makes everything really obvious by slapping himself or other people. If you’re watching carefully you can tell what code he’s using. He then finishes with a fuck-ugly Shining Wizard. Stick to your strengths, mate.
Final Rating: *1/2
Joe Doering vs. Kento Miyahara
Miyahara’s reward for beating Akiyama and only missing out on the finals courtesy of Go Shiozaki, is a non-title bout with incumbent Triple Crown champion Joe Doering. Miyahara looks up for it too and unloads with unanswered elbows in the early going, which make the champ look lethargic. Somebody, presumably Akiyama, has lit a fire under Miyahara and he’s looking extremely motivated. He’s had that ‘future star’ tag hanging over him for long enough. Now it’s time for him to step up. Doering is a tremendous opponent for him because he’s willing to take abuse from Miyahara. His own offence is unusually soft, as if he doesn’t really want to put a beating on Miyahara. As if he’s treating him lightly. Or he’s carrying an injury. He does seem to be favouring his back and takes over half the match to hit anything resembling a power move. It works though as it makes Miyahara look more energetic, more dynamic and more exciting than him. Miyahara looks more determined to win and both an armbar and a delayed German suplex get the crowd into potential near falls. There is a vibe that if Doering takes matters more seriously he can win but when he does fire up, going after a powerbomb, Miyahara slips out over the top into a sunset flip. Following that Miyahara does get planted with a few big moves and gets to kick out but the Spiral Bomb finishes. I’d love to see a fully motivated Doering go against this Miyahara. It has potential to be magic. Doering didn’t give this match his all. The last 2 minutes were special though.
Final Rating: **3/4
Akebono, Yutaka Yoshie & The Bodyguard vs. Jun Akiyama, Takao Omori & Zeus
This is a bit weird as Bodyguard and Zeus are normally a tag team called Big Guns. They’re both very muscular. Akebono and Yoshie are both very fat. Akiyama gets no joy out of Akebono and it is getting to the point where he’s putting everyone over. He must be a nice boss. I can’t think of anyone else who got the book and then jobbed to everyone. Zeus & Omori do a solid job of making Yoshie fun by chopping the crap out of the Flying Pink Tank. Bodyguard sees all the chopping going on and gets jealous so he unloads with a load of chops on Omori. It’s Chopamania out there! To really ramp it up we get Zeus vs. Bodyguard as the best muscle buddies chop the bejesus out of each other. It’s actually a really good contest and it leaves me wanting to see a singles match between the two muscleheads. It would be manly. Considering some of the weak links in this thing, the match ticks along nicely with frequent tags that freshen up the action. Obviously Yoshie or Akebono would struggle to work 15 minutes but their cameos are fine and this is the kind of match that AJPW need to have work. It gives them a link to their 6-man tag past. It’s all about how hard everyone works and I appreciate that. Unfortunately the hard work is slightly undone by the usual ‘match breaks down’ conclusion. Akebono manages to isolate Omori and squashes him a few times before finishing with the piledriver. This match was a lot better than I was expecting and the weaker team (Akebono & Co) kept it fresh with frequent tags. I think this was made better by how unexpectedly good it was. So go in with no expectations and enjoy.
Final Rating: ***1/4
Royal Road Open Championship Final:
Suwama vs. Go Shiozaki
I always felt Go Shiozaki was destined for greatness. The only major complaint I ever had about him was the inconsistencies in selling and that’s not a major flaw in the modern day as everyone seems to have the same problem. It’s never quite happened for him, despite two GHC title runs. Across the ring Suwama’s motivation levels tend to vary quite dramatically but he’s been on form since Akiyama took over AJPW. They start on the mat, which differentiates them from the standard striking duel, and it’s good action. Both guys are capable mat wrestlers. When they do go into the striking Shiozaki tends to dominate with a better variety of strikes. Suwama has good elbows but some of his other strikes look a bit weak. Not his double chops though! Those send sprays of sweat off Go’s chest. It’s already a very solid contest, reminiscent of All Japan of old. For example: Suwama steps on Shiozaki’s face before applying a Boston Crab. Yes! More of that! Suwama runs through his array of power moves, hoping it’ll be enough to keep Go down. It isn’t. Shiozaki gets to come across as the plucky underdog, given his size disadvantage. The striking starts to get really violent as Go tags Suwama with a superkick, which the big man shrugs off. Suwama follows that with a massive lariat in the corner, which seems to come from nowhere.
Go continues to impress though and his last gasp kick-outs are brilliant. He makes me believe that Suwama is on the verge of winning and as the ref’s hand is about to hit the mat for three, up comes the shoulder. Timing is essential to make good wrestling into great wrestling. What really astonishes me is how he sells those pins. His eyes are shut! There’s no looking out for the ref’s hand. It totally feels like a pin, every time. His fatigue selling is beautiful too. He looks like he’s run out of gas. Collapsing on an Irish whip and then struggling to get to his feet without the ropes. It’s clever because it allows them both a breather as Suwama hangs back, allowing Go recovery time. They’re resting and yet it remains dramatic. Suwama does come across as foolish for not following up and as soon as Go is up and about he’s able to come back into the match. In particular with an insane suicide dive. Batteries recharged then! Now it’s Suwama’s turn for the last gasp kick-out, which appears after a super rana. Great timing on his part too. Luckily they’ve saved some energy for the stretch and Go starts unloading with ridiculous lariats. The stiffest strikes of the entire contest. Two guys wailing on each other after 25 minutes of wrestling action. It makes me all nostalgic for 90s AJPW when we got matches like this every week. Suwama’s double chops really are marvellous. Suwama won’t stay down for the lariat and then kicks out of the Go Flasher too. Go won’t be thwarted and busts out the Limit Break for the pin. Suwama took a real beating down the stretch but both guys put a tonne of effort into this. Great match, one of the year’s best from All Japan.
Post Match: Joe Doering strolls down with the Triple Crown belt. “Title shot?” asks Go. Joe nods and they shake on it.
Final Rating: ****1/4
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