All Japan 9/30/05
review by Kevin Wilson

Date: September 30th, 2005
Location: Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Attendance:  1,900

In case you have not been keeping track of All Japan, you might not recognize it.  First, there have been a lot of former WWE stars showing up, including Palumbo, D-Lo Brown, Stamboli, Jamal, The Dudleys, and Giant Bernard (many of which are on this show).  Satoshi Kojima is the current Triple Crown Champion, with Bernard and Jamal his main competitors at the moment.  Kawada is no longer a full time wrestler of All Japan, but does still make occasional appearances.  TAKA Michinoku is trying to break the record for longest All Japan Jr. Heavyweight Champion run over, and my man Mutoh is taking a back seat and mostly participating in tags.  The main feud is RO&D (led by Michinoku) versus The Voodoo Murderers (led by TARU).  Well that is your one paragraph update of the All Japan scene, here is the full card for tonight's show:

- Masanobu Fuchi and Taichi Ishikari vs. Nobutaka Araya and Kikutaro
- Kaz Hayashi and Space Lone Wolf vs. TAKA Michinoku and PSYCHO
- Jamal vs. Shuji Kondo
- Bubba Ray and D-Von vs. Tomoaki Honma and Kohei Suwama
- Satoshi Kojima and Arashi vs. TARU and Giant Bernard
- Keiji Mutoh and Taiji Ishimori vs. Kensuke Sasaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima

Since this is a TV taping there are a lot of interviews, but since I am not well acquainted with the Japanese language I can't really comment on them.  Michinoku talks a few different times on the event though as he is currently a big part of All Japan.  Like the last event I reviewed, the matches tend to be clipped, but all the matches are still long enough to give a rating to.

Masanobu Fuchi and Taichi Ishikari vs. Nobutaka Araya and Kikutaro
Kikutaro was formally known as Ebessan.  Fuchi and Kikutaro start things off.  Kick to the gut by Fuchi and he gets Kikutaro to the mat with a single leg takedown.  Fuchi twists on Kikutaro's leg, but Kikutaro makes it to the bottom rope.  Fuchi pushes Kikutaro into the corner and puts his legs up on the ropes before kicking Kikutaro low.  Fuchi and Ishikari pull on Kikutaro while he is still straddling the second rope before Kikutaro finally gets free.  Kikutaro rakes Fuchi in the eyes and tags in Araya, but Fuchi gets Araya down with a drop toehold.  Fuchi applies a leg submission, Kikutaro tries to help, but he ends up giving Fuchi more leverage with the submission hold on accident.  Fuchi tags in Ishikari and Ishikari kicks Araya in the legs.  Araya tags Kikutaro back in, Irish whip by Kikutaro and he shoulders Ishikari.  Side headlock by Kikutaro, Ishikari Irish whips out of it, but when he drops down for Kikutaro to jump over him, Kikutaro kicks him in the head.  Snapmare by Kikutaro and he hits a Flash Elbow (with Mutoh pose, of course).  Kikutaro elbows Ishikari, Ishikari strikes him back, and the two trade blows.  Kikutaro squeezes Ishikari's nose, the referee tries to help, but isn't ends up hurting Ishikari's nose more then Kikutaro was.  Araya goes up top with the intention of jumping down onto Ishikari, but Kikutaro snapmares Ishikari too far away for Araya to reach him so he just climbs down.  Kikutaro chops Ishikari in the corner, Irish whip, he hits a running clothesline, but Araya (who Kikutaro had to convince to come in to help) gets a boot to the face when he charges Ishikari himself.  Kikutaro has a new idea, he Irish whips Araya to Ishikari to help him gain speed, but again Ishikari kicks Araya in the face.  Araya goes back to argue with Kikutaro and gives him a push, Kikutaro hits a running forearm in the corner to Ishikari, Araya tries as well, but again Ishikari gets his foot up and this time Araya goes down to the mat.  Kikutaro and Ishikari trade shots, with Kikutaro pausing to kick Araya who was in the way.  Dragon screw leg whip and Shining Wizard by Kikutaro, cover, but Fuchi breaks it up and hits a backdrop suplex.  Ishikari hits a DDT on Kikutaro and kicks down Araya at the same time.  Ishikari kicks Araya in the back of the head and makes the tag to Fuchi.  Fuchi kicks Kikutaro, goes off the ropes (accidentally knocking Araya off the apron) and boots Kikutaro in the face.  Another boot to the face by Fuchi, Kikutaro tries to avoid a second one, but still gets hit with it anyway.  Backdrop suplex by Fuchi, Kikutaro quickly gets to his feet and gives a battle cry, but then collapses and has Terry Funk-like convulsions on the mat.  Cover by Fuchi, but it gets a two count.  Front cradle by Fuchi, but again he only gets two.  Another cradle by Fuchi, but it gets another two.  Kikutaro then tries one, but he has no luck as well.  Boot to the face by Fuchi, he applies a small package and gets the three count pinfall!  Your winners:  Masanobu Fuchi and Taichi Ishikari

Match Thoughts:  A cute comedy match, Kikutaro is better known as Ebessan, a comedy wrestler that became popular in Osaka Pro Wrestling.  It is difficult to show humor in play by plays, but I chuckled aloud in several places, and since it is an opening match obviously not a lot was expected.  Araya played his part well of constantly being on the wrong end of things, and Kikutaro has the comedy bits down pat (his tribute to Funk was hilarious).  Fun opening match.  Score:  6.0

Kaz Hayashi and Space Lone Wolf vs. TAKA Michinoku and PSYCHO
Hayashi and TAKA start things off.  Tie-up, waistlock by TAKA, reversed, TAKA goes for a head scissors, but Hayashi quickly gets out of it and both men are back up.  Waistlock by TAKA, Hayashi reverses it into an arm wrench, but TAKA rolls through and reverses it.  Hayashi uses the ropes to assist himself in flipping out of the move and applies a key lock on the mat.  TAKA gets to his feet and reverses the hammerlock into a reverse chinlock.  Hayashi struggles to his feet, he tries to Irish whip out of it, but TAKA maintains the hold.  Snapmare by TAKA and he applies a head scissors.  Hayashi handstands out of the hold, but TAKA quickly re-applies it.  This time Hayashi kip-ups out of it and both men are back to their feet once again.  Kick to the gut by TAKA, side headlock, Hayashi Irish whips out of it, and both men collide with no result.  Again they collide with neither man budging, Hayashi goes off the ropes again, ducks a clothesline, and delivers a flying headscissors.  Hayashi goes off the ropes, but TAKA catches him with a release overhead suplex.  TAKA picks up Hayashi and chops him against the ropes.  He charges Hayashi, but Hayashi recovers and bodydrops him to the outside (right by Kondo, who is watching from the crowd).  TAKA stays on his feet, but Hayashi knocks him back again with a baseball slide.  Hayashi tosses TAKA back in the ring and tags in Lone Wolf.  Kick to the gut by Lone Wolf, but TAKA gets Lone Wolf back in his corner and tags in PSYCHO.  Side headlock by PSYCHO, Lone Wolf Irish whips out of it, but PSYCHO shoulderblocks him down.  PSYCHO goes off the ropes and arm drags him down, they trade pin attempts, PSYCHO goes for a spinning heel kick, but Lone Wolf ducks it and delivers a Shining Wizard.  Lone Wolf picks up PSYCHO and punches him back into the corner.  Irish whip, but PSYCHO gets his foot up when Lone Wolf charges and flips back in the ring before hitting a swinging face crusher.  PSYCHO tags in TAKA, TAKA chops Lone Wolf into the corner, Lone Wolf kicks him, but TAKA continues with the chops.  Irish whip by TAKA and he hits a knee strike in the corner followed by a snapmare and a dropkick to the back of Lone Wolf's head.  Lone Wolf hits a side thrust kick though and tags in Hayashi.  Irish whip by Hayashi and he hits a spine buster followed by a quebrada.  Cover, but it only gets two.  Hayashi applies a dragon sleeper, TAKA tries to reverses it, but Hayashi blocks it and rolls him up.  There is no count since TAKA is in the ropes however, Irish whip by Hayashi from the corner, but TAKA ducks a splash and kicks Hayashi hard in the face.  Hayashi returns with a kick of his own, Irish whip, reversed, Hayashi goes for a handstand springboard strike, but TAKA moves out of the way and nails two super kicks.  TAKA goes for the Michinoku Driver, but Hayashi reverses it into the Final Cut.  Both wrestlers tag out, and PSYCHO hits a heel kick on Lone Wolf.  Irish whip by PSYCHO, but Lone Wolf kicks PSYCHO in the head and delivers a pump-handle pick-up into a side face slam (almost like a Doi 555).  Cover by Lone Wolf, but PSYCHO kicks out.  Lone Wolf picks up PSYCHO and goes for a German suplex, but PSYCHO lands on his feet and hits a heel kick.  Lone Wolf rolls out of the ring, and PSYCHO follows him out with a pescado.  Hayashi then gets in the ring and hits a tope suicida down on PSYCHO.  TAKA goes to do the same, but when he goes off the ropes his feet are grabbed by Kondo, who then gets in the ring and brawls with TAKA.  The match is called a no contest.

Post match:  All four men team up on Kondo, finally getting him out of the ring. 

Match Thoughts:  Not an awful match, although it seemed disconnected at times and there really wasn't a feeling that the match was going anywhere.  Of course, the match ended with a melee, so the match seemed to end before it was really over because... well, it did.  Space Lone Wolf is NOSAWA if I have read correctly, and all four wrestlers looked fine in the ring.  The match was perfectly watchable as far as in-ring action goes, but just seemed like it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things and the whole affair was more about the post-match then the match itself.  Score:  4.4

Jamal vs. Shuji Kondo
Tie-up to start, waistlock by Kondo and he goes for a German suplex, but Jamal muscles out of it.  Kondo then goes for a scoop slam, but he can't get Jamal up and Jamal pushes him to the mat.  Kondo rolls out of the ring to re-group before finally getting back in.  Kondo ducks a strike by Jamal, goes off the ropes, but Jamal elbows him down.  Jamal goes off the ropes, Kondo ducks down, but Jamal steps on him.  Punch to the head by Jamal and he throws Kondo into the corner before kicking him hard in the head.  Jamal hits a scoop slam, Irish whip from the corner, and Kondo hits hard.  Another Irish whip by Jamal and he hits a splash, but while the referee is distracted Palumbo hits him with a superkick.  YASSHI and Stamboli get into it as well, and all three of them attack Jamal outside the ring while the referee isn't paying attention.  Jamal is eventually thrown back in the ring, and Kondo kicks him in the leg.  Dropkick to the leg by Kondo, he applies a leg submission, but Jamal makes it to the bottom rope.  Jamal slide out to get at Stamboli and Palumbo, but Stamboli gets the better of him and slides Jamal back in.  Kondo goes off the ropes and hits a lariat, Jamal stays up, so Kondo hits another one.  Jamal still isn't down, Kondo hits a third with the same result, but a low blow/suplex finally gets Jamal on the mat.  Kondo charges Jamal, but Jamal catches him and hits a powerbomb.  Clothesline by Jamal, another one, and he nails a spinning heel kick.  With Kondo crouched in the corner, Jamal hits a running hip attack before knocking YASSHI off the apron.  Kondo tries to hit Jamal from behind with a crutch, but TAKA comes in and hits a superkick to Kondo.  This allows Jamal to deliver a killer Samoan Drop, hit the Flying Sausage, and get the three count pinfall.  Your winner:  Jamal

Match Thoughts:  A good match that drove the point home that Jamal is a monster by fending off four men.  Obviously this was necessary if they want to keep him in the title picture down the road, as Kondo is not quite on that level yet.  Jamal really has developed since joining All Japan and is a pretty good wrestler now.  This match really showed the faction aspect of All Japan, as the Voodoo Murderers helped constantly in the match to try to help Kondo pick up the upset win.  Not a wrestling clinic, but the match did a good job at pushing along the current storylines in the promotion.  Score:  6.0

Bubba Ray and D-Von vs. Tomoaki Honma and Kohei Suwama
"We Want Tables" chant to start the match, showing that those in attendance were well aware of who Team 3-D are.  D-Von and Honma start things off.  Tie-up, waistlock by D-Von, reversed by Honma, but D-Von hits a drop toehold.  Arm wrench by Honma, reversed by D-Von and he snapmares Honma to the mat.  Honma reverses it with a headscissors, but D-Von gets out of it and applies a side headlock.  Back up, D-Von pushes Honma down again.  Honma gets back to his feet, side headlock by D-Von, but Honma hits D-Von with a forearm.  Irish whip, but D-Von hits a flying shouldertackle.  Irish whip to the corner and D-Von hits a splash followed by a slam.  Leg drop by D-Von, cover, but it gets two.  D-Von tags in Bubba, double Irish whip and they hit a double clothesline.  Elbow drop by Bubba, cover, bit gets a two count.  Bubba clubs Honma in the back, scoop slam, and he hits another elbow drop.  Bubba picks up Honma, throws him to Suwama, and tells Suwama to tag in.  Suwama gets in the ring, tie-up, side headlock by Bubba, Irish whip by Suwama, but Bubba shoulderblocks him to the mat.  Suwama gets back up, tie-up, side headlock by Suwama, Bubba Irish whips out of it, and again shoulderblocks Suwama down.  They circle each other, tie-up, and Suwama knees Bubba in the stomach.  Bubba fires back with a slap, and the two exchange blows.  Bubba eventually ducks one of Suwama's forearms however and hits a man-sized German suplex.  Suwama slowly gets to his feet, forearm shots by Suwama, Irish whip, and now it is Suwama that hits the shoulderblock, sending Bubba sprawling.  Suwama tags in Honma, Honma kicks Bubba and goes off the ropes, but Bubba hits a side slam.  Cover, but Honma kicks out.  Bubba tags in D-Von, who forearms Honma in the ribs.  Elbow to the back by D-Von, snapmare, and he hits a headbutt.  Cover, but it only gets a two count.  D-Von applies an arm submission, but Suwama breaks it up.  D-Von runs over to knock Suwama off the apron, Honma tries to fight back on D-Von, but D-Von pushes him back into his own corner and tags in Bubba.  Bubba picks up Honma and delivers a delayed (at least 10 seconds) vertical suplex.  Cover, but it only gets a two count.  Bubba goes back to the arm and applies a shoulder nerve hold.  Scoop slam by Bubba, he goes to the second rope, but Honma rolls out of the way of the senton.  Honma tags in Suwama while Bubba tags in D-Von, and Suwama hits a jumping knee.  Suwama gets D-Von to the corner, Irish whip, and he hits a jumping knee strike.  Belly to belly overhead suplex by Suwama, cover, but it gets a two count.  D-Von begins to fight back, the two trade blows, but Suwama knees D-Von in the stomach and hits a running powerslam.  Cover, but it gets another two count.  Suwama tags in Honma, who comes off the top with a missile dropkick.  Enzigieri by Honma, but Bubba bounces to his feet and hits a powerslam.  Cover, but Suwama breaks it up.  Bubba runs over and knocks Suwama out of the ring, while in the ring Honma punches D-Von in the corner.  Bubba comes in though and puts Honma up on his shoulders, D-Von comes off the top turnbuckle with a clothesline, cover, but Suwama runs in to break up the pinfall attempt.  Irish whip by Bubba on Suwama, reversed, but Bubba hits his series of punches and elbows.  Scoop slam by Bubba on Suwama, he holds Suwama for D-Von, who hits the WASSUP from the turnbuckle.  Honma slowly makes it back to his feet, and Team 3-D hits the 3-D on him.  Cover, and the match is over.  Your winners:  Team 3-D

Post match:  Suwama comes back in the ring and hits D-Von from behind, which gets him a 3-D as well. 

Match Thoughts:  I can admit to being ignorant to the fact that Bubba Ray and D-Von actually know how to wrestle, but I can't take all the blame for it since I had not seem them outside of their hardcore background of ECW and their cookie cutter days in the WWE.  But I was impressed.  This was actually a very good match, as it put over Team 3-D while still giving Suwama and Honma their moments.  Team 3-D had a lot to prove since they were in a new environment with fans that expected more of them, and they delivered.  Now I almost wish that NWA:TNA had not signed them, for I fear that there they will be wrestling the same style they have for ten years while in Japan they apparently will be trying different things (mat wrestling, Bubba's German suplex, delayed vertical suplex, etc.) while still doing their signature spots.  Much better then I was expecting, and I honestly think dropping them was a mistake by Vince considering their abilities and how over they are with fans wherever they go.  Score:  7.5

Satoshi Kojima and Arashi vs. TARU and Giant Bernard
Arashi jumps TARU to start the match and throws him out of the ring.  Bernard clubs Kojima in the back inside the ring, but Kojima gets a metal object and hits Bernard with it.  Outside the ring, Kojima slams Bernard into the ring post while Arashi and TARU fight in the crowd.  Kojima punches Bernard around the ring, eye rake by Kojima, and Bernard stumbles up the entrance way into the crowd.  Meanwhile, we see that Arashi is still manhandling TARU at the top of the bleachers.  Finally, Arashi brings TARU back to ringside and slides him into the ring.  Kicks to the head by Arashi, and Kojima brings the bloody Bernard back to the ringside area and punches him repeatedly in the head.  In the ring, Arashi picks up TARU as Bernard stumbles in the ring.  Arashi smacks down Bernard and hits a suplex on TARU.  Cover, but it only gets a two count.  A side headlock is applied by Arashi, Bernard gets back in the ring, and Kojima kicks him to the mat.  Arashi forearms TARU in the head and tags in Kojima.  Kick to the gut by Kojima and he chops TARU in the chest.  After biting TARU, Kojima runs over and knocks Bernard off the apron.  Snap suplex by Kojima on TARU and he stomps on his head.  Kojima runs over to hit Bernard again, picks up TARU and chops him against the ropes.  TARU is knocked out of the ring, but Arashi tosses him back in.  More chops by Kojima, Irish whip, and Kojima hits a sit-down spinebuster.  After knocking Bernard off the apron again, Bernard gets pissed and throws a chair in the ring.  Kojima hits him with the chair however, goes back to TARU, but TARU reverses a suplex and kicks Kojima down.  TARU tags in Bernard, he throws Kojima into the corner and chops him repeatedly in the chest.  Irish whip by Bernard, but Kojima avoids the splash.  Kojima strikes Bernard in the corner, Irish whip, and he hits a jumping forearm strike.  Snapmare by Kojima, he hits a series of mounted punches, but TARU comes in to break it up.  TARU holds Kojima for Bernard, but Kojima moves and Bernard hits TARU on accident.  Kojima nails Bernard with the lariat and hits more mounted punches.  Again TARU comes in to help, but Kojima fights him off.  Bernard grabs Kojima from behind, hits the Baldo Bomb, cover, but Kojima kicks out of it.  Bernard tags in TARU, TARU kicks Kojima against the ropes, but Kojima fires back with chops.  They struggle for position, Irish whip, and TARU slams Kojima to the mat.  Cover, but he only gets two.  Kicks by TARU, he goes off the ropes, but Kojima hits the Koji Cutter.  This gives Kojima time to tag in Arashi, Arashi punches TARU into the corner, Irish whip, and he hits a clothesline followed by a double armed suplex.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Arashi hits a uranage on TARU, cover, but again it gets two.  Arashi applies a reverse chinlock, but Bernard comes in to break it up.  Arashi goes off the ropes, but TARU kicks him in the back and hits a scissors kick.  TARU tags in Bernard, but Arashi delivers a belly to belly suplex when he comes in the ring.  TARU sneaks in the ring and hits Arashi with his metal stick, allowing Bernard to hit a running clothesline in the corner.  Bernard then nails his reverse splash, cover, and he gets the three count before Kojima can get in the ring to break it up!  Your winners:  Giant Bernard and TARU

Match Thoughts:  A decent match, although nothing to get excited about.  The referee didn't help by doing a delayed third count for the final pinfall, but it really didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things.  TARU showed almost nothing in this match, and most of it was just brawling until the final three minutes or so when they really seemed to get something going.  Kojima made Bernard look really stupid at times, but since he got the pinfall victory in the end I guess it made up for it a little.  I would liked to have seen more from the Triple Crown Champion, as he really didn't hit any of his moves except for the Koji Cutter to make the hot tag to Arashi.  Overall fairly entertaining, although it didn't come across as an important match which is a problem since it contained the Triple Crown Champion and his next challenger.  Score:  5.5

Keiji Mutoh and Taiji Ishimori vs. Kensuke Sasaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima
Ishimori and Nakajima start things off.  Nakajima kicks Ishimori in the leg, and Ishimori back off.  Ishimori takes down Nakajima, Nakajima reverses positions with him and applies an arm wrench.  Nakajima rolls out of it, but Nakajima reverses it back.  Headscissors by Ishimori, he applies a side headlock, Nakajima Irish whips out of it, but Ishimori shoulderblocks him down.  Ishimori goes off the ropes, but Nakajima catches him with a dropkick.  Irish whip by Nakajima, Ishimori applies the Christo hold, but Nakajima makes it to the ropes.  Ishimori tags in Mutoh, and Nakajima tags in Sasaki.  Waistlock by Mutoh, reversed by Sasaki, and Sasaki rolls him up for a one count.  Back up, they go into a Test of Strength, and Sasaki gets Mutoh down on the mat.  Mutoh struggles back up to his feet, but Sasaki is too strong and he pushes Mutoh into the ropes for a clean break.  Mutoh tags Ishimori back in, Sasaki asks for a Test of Strength and promptly picks up Ishimori, slamming him back into his corner. Sasaki tags in Nakajima, and Nakajima kicks Ishimori hard in the chest.  Irish whip by Nakajima and he hits a dropkick.  Chop by Ishimori, Nakajima returns with a forearm shot, but Nakajima floors Ishimori with a kick to the head.  Forearm shot by Nakajima, he hits a scoop slam and applies an elevated crab hold.  Ishimori makes it to the ropes however, Nakajima picks him back up, but Ishimori drives Nakajima into the mat and tags in Mutoh.  Mutoh kicks Nakajima, snapmare, and he nails the Flash Elbow.  Key lock by Mutoh, but Sasaki comes in and kicks Mutoh in the back.  Mutoh applies another arm submission into the cross armbreaker, but Nakajima is too close to the ropes.  Mutoh goes back to the key lock, but again Sasaki runs in to break it up.  Mutoh tags in Ishimori, and Ishimori elbows Nakajima repeatedly in the arm.  Arm breaker by Ishimori and he applies an armbar on the mat.  Nakajima gets a foot on the ropes, hammerlock takedown by Ishimori and he goes for the cross armbreaker.  He finally gets it, but Nakajima quickly gets a foot on the ropes.  Ishimori tags in Mutoh, and Mutoh elbows Nakajima in the arm.  Armbar by Mutoh into a modified crossface, but again Nakajima gets a foot on the ropes.  Mutoh dropkicks Nakajima while he is still on the mat and dropkicks him again as he gets up.  Key lock submission by Mutoh and he tags in Ishimori.  Ishimori kicks Nakajima in the arm and hits a chop, but Nakajima fights back and knocks him down with a kick.  Nakajima tags in Sasaki, scoop slam by Sasaki on Ishimori, and he hits another scoop slam.  Elbow drop by Sasaki, cover, but Ishimori kicks out.  Sasaki chops Ishimori, Ishimori comes back with forearm shots, but Sasaki knocks him down with another chop.  Sasaki tags Nakajima back in, and Nakajima stomps Ishimori while he lays on the mat.  Forearm by Nakajima, Ishimori slowly gets to his feet, and Nakajima forearms some more.  Nakajima goes off the ropes, hits a jumping forearm shot, cover, but Ishimori kicks out.  Snapmare by Nakajima, and he tags in Sasaki. 

Sasaki delivers a vertical suplex to Ishimori, cover, but it only gets a two count.  Irish whip by Sasaki to the corner, but Ishimori gets his foot up and hits a double stomp to Sasaki's back.  This gives Ishimori time to tag in Mutoh, Mutoh dropkicks Sasaki in the leg and hits a dragon screw leg whip.  Irish whip by Mutoh to the corner, he hits his cartwheel back elbow and follows it with a Shining Wizard while Sasaki is still in the corner.  Mutoh puts Sasaki on the top turnbuckle and hits the Frankensteiner.  Cover, but Nakajima runs in to break it up.  Ishimori comes in to take care of Nakajima, Mutoh dropkicks Sasaki in the knee and hits another dragon screw leg whip.  The Figure Four is applied by Mutoh, but Nakajima breaks free and kicks Mutoh in the chest.  Mutoh goes off the ropes, but Sasaki catches him with a powerslam and tags in Nakajima.  Kicks to the chest by Nakajima, Irish whip, and he hits a jumping elbow strike.  Double armed suplex by Nakajima, he goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick.  Cover, but Mutoh kicks out.  Kicks to the chest by Nakajima, but Mutoh catches the one aimed at his head and hits a perfect dragon screw leg whip.  Mutoh tags in Ishimori, who throws Nakajima into the corner.  Irish whip by Ishimori, reversed, but Ishimori flips out to the apron and forearms Nakajima to the mat.  Ishimori re-enters the ring with a springboard quebrada, cover, but it only gets a two count.  Irish whip by Ishimori, Nakajima goes for a sunset flip, but Ishimori rolls through and dropkicks him in the face.  Ishimori goes off the ropes, but Nakajima catches him with a kick.  Irish whip by Nakajima, but Ishimori jumps up to the second turnbuckle and delivers a quebrada into a reverse DDT.  Cover, but again it gets a two count.  Ishimori goes to the top turnbuckle, but Nakajima is back up and hits a spinning heel kick while Ishimori is still on the top turnbuckle.  Nakajima tags in Sasaki, who picks up Ishimori and drives him into the corner.  After chopping Mutoh off the apron, Sasaki gives Ishimori an Irish whip and a running bulldog.  Irish whip by Sasaki and he judo throws Ishimori down.  Sasaki applies Strangle Hold Gamma, but Mutoh comes in to break it up.  Nakajima tosses Mutoh from the ring, but Mutoh throws him into the guardrail.  Sasaki and Ishimori struggle for position, but Mutoh runs in and hits a Shining Wizard.  Sasaki rolls to the corner and slowly get gets up, Ishimori goes for... well I don't know, I am 99% sure he missed it, but he lands on all fours and Mutoh catapults off his back with a Shining Wizard.  Sasaki stumbles forward, and Ishimori hits a springboard dropkick from the apron.  Shining Wizard by Mutoh, cover by Ishimori, but Sasaki kicks out.  Ishimori hits the Superstar Elbow to Sasaki's... leg.... cover, but Nakajima breaks up the pin attempt.  Mutoh rolls in, Nakajima goes for a kick, but Mutoh hits a dragon screw leg whip.  Ishimori rolls up Sasaki, but he only gets two.  Crucifix pin attempt by Ishimori, but again he gets two.  Ishimori goes for a front cradle, but Sasaki catches him, positions him up in the air for the Northern Lights Bomb and nails it.  Cover, and Sasaki gets the three count pinfall.  Your winners:  Kensuke Sasaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima

Post match:  The Voodoo Murders hit the ring, a big melee ensues with half the locker room coming out, but Team 3-D settles things down and put YASSHI through a table (much to the crowd's delight).  They then give a kid a piece of the table as the show goes off the air.

Match Thoughts:  A fun match, but the most interesting thing to watch here is the strong contrast between Ishimori and Nakajima.  Nakajima is only 17 years old, and yet is already making an impact in All Japan.  Ishimori is 22 years old and has wrestled for various promotions in Japan over the last year.  They are both young and have a lot of ability, but from what I have seen of each I would have to say that the younger Nakajima is more developed.  While he didn't do anything overly flashy, he was good at what he did and didn't make any mistakes in the match.  Ishimori does some nice high spots, but he also botches moves in almost every match I have ever seen him in, including two here.  While it isn't enough to ruin a match, it does take it down a peg.  Mutoh and Sasaki were what you would expect, and both looked good without doing anything real notable.  Mutoh's dragon screw leg whips to Nakajima were cringe-worthy, but Nakajima gets just as much credit as Mutoh does for selling the move so well.  The arm work ended up not meaning anything, although Nakajima did hold his arm throughout the match, so at least it wasn't forgotten.  A solid main-event, and the post-match helped since Team 3-D was the most popular act of the night.  Score:  6.5

Final Thoughts:

While not a major show, this is what All Japan is in a nutshell - fun, certainly entertaining, but not near the in-ring depth of the other major promotions in Japan.  In fact it is hard to even compare All Japan to New Japan and NOAH, for the whole direction of the company is different.  While there weren't any "must see" matches on the card, Team 3-D (formerly The Dudley Boys) really improved the show as a whole and if they stay in All Japan I think that they will have a positive impact on the company.  Overall this event isn't something you need to go out of your way to see unless you really like Team 3-D or just want a small taste of what All Japan currently brings to the table.

Mildly Recommended


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