wrestling / Video Reviews
Puro Fury: AJPW Summer Action Series
Loading...AJPW Summer Action Series
July 23 2016
The big match that All Japan has been hyping up this summer is champion, and new ace, Kento Miyahara vs. Jun Akiyama. It’s pretty astonishing to think it’s taking place in Hakata Star Lanes, in front of 600 people in Fukuoka. That’s weird right? You’d think it’d be Korakuen Hall, at the very least. In an attempt to be venue positive, it’s always nice to see graps take place in different venues and I’ve only seen a couple of shows from Hakata Star Lanes. If it sounds like a bowling alley that’s because it is but it’s a big complex and it has a hall, which is where the show takes place. Although you don’t see enough wrestling shows in bowling alleys on the internet. I want shows where you can see people bowling in the background.
Yuma Aoyagi vs. Yutaka Yoshie
This must be a rib on junior Yuma, having to bounce off the Flying Pink Tank for nine minutes. Yoshie isn’t keen on the idea of working hard in front of a small crowd and doesn’t leave his feet too often. Not that he normally does, on account of his girth. Yoshie is at his most entertaining when someone strong is hurling him around the ring. Him bullying Aoyagi and winning with a fucking splash doesn’t work for me.
Final Rating: *
Ultimo Dragon & Yohei Nakajima vs. Atsushi Aoki & Hikaru Sato
Ultimo is over like nobodies business. He’s 50 at the end of this year. You would never know it as he’s still pretty fluid and hasn’t felt the urge to slow down or alter his style in any way. This is a marked contrast to the first match as everyone looks energised and eager to put on a good contest. Sato looks to be having a particularly good time as a grappler. He’s a serious lad but he has a sly sense of humour and seems to enjoy daft spots as much as barefoot kicking. He’d be a good match for Mike Bailey. Aoki is on top form here and just kills Nakajima with the Backdrop Hold. Match ran a tad over ten minutes and was a solid sprint. Ultimo shouldn’t be able to move like he does. I may have to take on a diet involving sushi or whatever the hell these old Japanese guys are eating.
Final Rating: **3/4
Ryoji Sai, Atsushi Maruyama & Masahi Takeda vs. Suwama, Super Tiger & Naoya Nomura
Suwama missed six months and only returned to action last week after tearing his Achilles tendon. The Achilles is the largest tendon in the human body so six months is a rapid recovery. Most people can’t even walk properly for 12 weeks. Let alone do something as athletic as wrestling. He looks protective of himself here, taking very basic looking bumps and not launching himself into spots. Instead focusing on trading in the middle of the ring. He wants to make sure he doesn’t re-injure that tendon. A highlight from the trios match up is Maruyama vs. Super Tiger as they both love a bit of MMA style grappling. When you’ve got chemistry, good things can happen. Takeda has gone blonde since I last saw him and is again impressive. I have a bad habit of overlooking deathmatch guys until they prove me wrong. Despite his horrifically scarred torso, Takeda knows his way around the graps. Suwama gets comfy as the match progresses and I’m glad AJPW gave him a tour of nothing matches to work him back into ring shape. Especially as the intention is Suwama-Miyahara soon. Nomura gets a fiery run down the stretch where he nearly pins Sai, the strongest man on the opposing team, a dozen times. This upset situation is routinely teased but not for minutes at a time like it is here. Naturally he doesn’t win and naturally Sai comes back and hits the double stomp off the top for the actual pin…but for a moment there the teases were getting so frequent that Nomura almost won. Almost.
Final Rating: ***1/4
Jake Lee vs. Takao Omori
These two do not fuck around and go after each other with meaty kicks from the bell. Jake is improving at a frankly ridiculous rate and Akiyama smells money on the poor kid so he’s getting the Okada treatment until he gets good enough to main event. This involves veterans like Omori beating seven shades of shit out of Jake until he learns the business. Speaking of which, he’s got entrance music down. He’s coming out to Shipping Up To Boston by the Dropkick Murphys. Excellent choice, even if it feels totally weird to hear it in Japan due to the Irish-American overtones and the bagpipes. Lee is starting to get really good at wrestling, as is demonstrated by a few flying kicks. It’s all about timing and fluidity and as that slowly slides into place you’re looking at a great wrestler. This one has a stunning finish where Lee hits a backdrop driver and Omori eats the pin clean as a fucking whistle. I know Omori’s stock has dropped recently but that shows how badly All Japan want Lee to get over as a star. Which is needed because those spots at the top need filling by someone other than Suwama and Akiyama.
Final Rating: ***
AJPW World Tag Team Championship
Strong BJ (c) vs. Big Guns
The first match between these two teams was really good, apart from Bodyguard. This is more of the same. Four big dudes bashing into each other in burly fashion. Zeus carries the weight for his team and leaves the easy stuff to Bodyguard, which is basically uncomplicated strike duels. Okabayashi is seriously fired up and doesn’t give a shit that there’s only 600 people in the crowd. He’s going to work his ass off. Zeus appreciates that and their segments are the best in the match. The pacing is somewhat leisurely compared to the first match. It doesn’t feel as important and Strong BJ generally seem less motivated outside of Big Japan. Sekimoto in particular looks like he wants to bust ass for the company that made him, rather than in an All Japan ring. The champs repeat the murderous spot where Sekimoto German suplexes his partner while he’s got another man in the Torture Rack. Sekimoto switches up the finish though by hitting an excellent frogsplash to pin Zeus. This was good but not on the level of the first match due to them taking it easy until the stretch.
Final Rating: ***1/4
Triple Crown Championship
Kento Miyahara (c) vs. Jun Akiyama
This starts an hour and twenty minutes into the show and I am fucking fired up to see AJPW’s Super Ace go head to head with the booker who made him the ace. Quite why Akiyama booked this to take place in a bowling alley is anyone’s guess. Maybe the tours need beefing up because All Japan have been doing terrible numbers. Some of the Champion Carnival shows were worked in front of less than 300 fans. That’s pretty tragic compared to the numbers other promotions are doing. Akiyama doesn’t want to sell or take bumps or anything and Kento has to get creative and he works Akiyama’s neck over. Akiyama’s response is remarkably violent. He goes after Miyahara’s neck like he doesn’t care if Kento gets injured and ruled out for a year because at least he’d have a money match in a year. He kills the neck! It’s wonderful. The big apron spot is an Exploder off there, although Jun does it from the floor. Kento tries some junior no selling and Akiyama is all in on that. Akiyama’s response is to choke Kento out and knee him in the face. When he headbutts Kento in the shoulder he could easily break his collarbone. For a company that’s been having injury issues you’d think they’d take it a bit easier but I love that they don’t give a shit and go all out. The near falls are fantastic and they hammer each other. Just about every finish either man has ever done crops up. The wrist clutch exploder is a superb near fall and the crowd get really excited. Akiyama does fantastic work in refusing to go onto his back after taking knees, thus avoiding a pin. Akiyama survives a couple of German suplexes but after the barrage of knees Kento finally puts Jun down with a third German suplex. This was deliciously violent. Miyahara has been made into a star this year and he’s beaten everyone in the process. Akiyama busted a gut in this match and it’s probably his best match in around four years. For an aging forty-something booker this was outstanding work.
Final Rating: ****1/2
