All Japan Champ Cany line ups announced

[Guest MrDanger]

Tons of great stuff here, the Champ Carny looks pretty decent but I'd love to see some of the six mans from this tour:

 

AJPW, 3/23/02

Tokyo Korakuen Hall

 

1. Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura vs. Yoji Anjo & Nobukazu Hirai

2. Keiji Muto, Taiyo Kea & Satoshi Kojima vs. Steve Williams, Mike Barton & Jim Steele

3. Champion Carnival - Block B: Nobutaka Araya vs. George Hines

4. Champion Carnival - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Arashi

5. Champion Carnival - Block B: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Mike Rotundo

 

AJPW, 3/24/02

Tokyo Korakuen Hall

 

1. Taiyo Kea & George Hines vs. Arashi & Nobutaka Araya

2. Toshiaki Kawada, Hideki Hosaka & Tomoaki Honma vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Masato Tanaka & Nobukazu Hirai

3. Champion Carnival - Block A: Yoji Anjo vs. Mike Barton

4. Champion Carnival - Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Mitsuya Nagai

5. Champion Carnival - Block B: Keiji Muto vs. Steve Williams

 

AJPW, 3/26/02

Toyama Techno Hall

 

1. Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma vs. Mike Barton & Jim Steele

2. Toshiaki Kawada, Shigeo Okumura & Hideki Hosaka vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Nobutaka Araya & Masato Tanaka

3. Champion Carnival - Block A: Mitsuya Nagai vs. Arashi

4. Champion Carnival - Block B: Taiyo Kea vs. Mike Rotundo

5. Champion Carnival - Block B: Keiji Muto vs. George Hines

 

AJPW, 3/27/02

Okayama Orange Hall

 

1. Arashi & Nobutaka Araya vs. Mike Barton & Mike Rotundo

2. Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuya Nagai & Kazushi Miyamoto vs. Keiji Muto, Satoshi Kojima & Kaz Hayashi

3. Champion Carnival - Block A: Yoji Anjo vs. Jim Steele

4. Champion Carnival - Block B: Taiyo Kea vs. George Hines

5. Champion Carnival - Block B: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Steve Williams

 

AJPW, 3/28/02

Kure City Gymnasium

 

1. Toshiaki Kawada, Shigeo Okumura & Tomoaki Honma vs. Steve Williams, Mike Barton & George Hines

2. Taiyo Kea & Satoshi Kojima vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya

3. Champion Carnival - Block A: Arashi vs. Jim Steele

4. Champion Carnival - Block A: Mitsuya Nagai vs. Yoji Anjo

5. Champion Carnival - Block B: Keiji Muto vs. Mike Rotundo

 

AJPW, 3/29/02

Osaka Central Gymnasium

 

1. Shigeo Okumura, Hideki Hosaka & Tomoaki Honma vs. Steve Williams, Mike Rotundo & Yoji Anjo

2. Keiji Muto, George Hines & Kendo Ka Shin vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi & Nobukazu Hirai

3. Champion Carnival - Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Jim Steele

4. Champion Carnival - Block B: Taiyo Kea vs. Nobutaka Araya

5. Champion Carnival - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mitsuya Nagai

 

AJPW, 3/31/02

Ishikawa Industrial Exhibition Hall #1

 

1. Hiroshi Hase & Kazushi Miyamoto vs. Masato Tanaka & Kendo Ka Shin

2. Keiji Muto, Taiyo Kea & Satoshi Kojima vs. Jim Steele & The Harris Brothers

3. Champion Carnival - Block B: Steve Williams vs. Mike Rotundo

4. Champion Carnival - Block B: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Nobutaka Araya

5. Champion Carnival - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mike Barton

 

AJPW, 4/1/02

Nagaoka Welfare Hall

 

1. Taiyo Kea & Tomoaki Honma vs. Masato Tanaka & Kendo Ka Shin

2. Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuya Nagai & Hideki Hosaka vs. George Hines & The Harris Brothers

3. Champion Carnival - Block A: Mike Barton vs. Jim Steele

4. Champion Carnival - Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Arashi

5. Champion Carnival - Block B: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Keiji Muto

 

AJPW, 4/2/02

Miyagi Sports Center

 

1. Jim Steele & Shigeo Okumura vs. The Harris Brothers

2. Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi & Masato Tanaka vs. Steve Williams, Mike Rotundo & George Hines

3. Champion Carnival - Block A: Mitsuya Nagai vs. Mike Barton

4. Champion Carnival - Block B: Keiji Muto vs. Taiyo Kea

5. Champion Carnival - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Satoshi Kojima

 

AJPW, 4/3/02

Kesennuma City Gymnasium

 

1. Kendo Ka Shin & The Harris Brothers vs. Mike Barton, Jim Steele & Gran Naniwa

2. Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura vs. Keiji Muto, Satoshi Kojima & Kaz Hayashi

3. Champion Carnival - Block A: Yoji Anjo vs. Arashi

4. Champion Carnival - Block B: Genichiro Tenryu vs. George Hines

5. Champion Carnival - Block B: Taiyo Kea vs. Steve Williams

 

AJPW, 4/4/02

Hachinohe City Gymnasium

 

1. Mitsuya Nagai, Shigeo Okumura & Tomoaki Honma vs. George Hines & The Harris Brothers

2. Keiji Muto, Taiyo Kea & Kendo Ka Shin vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi & Nobukazu Hirai

3. Champion Carnival - Block B: Nobutaka Araya vs. Steve Williams

4. Champion Carnival - Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Yoji Anjo

5. Champion Carnival - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Jim Steele

 

AJPW, 4/6/02

Hakodate Citizen Gymnasium

 

1. Yoji Anjo & Nobutaka Araya vs. The Harris Brothers

2. Toshiaki Kawada, Hideki Hosaka & Tomoaki Honma vs. Keiji Muto, Satoshi Kojima & Kaz Hayashi

3. Champion Carnival - Block B: Mike Rotundo vs. George Hines

4. Champion Carnival - Block A: Arashi vs. Mike Barton

5. Champion Carnival - Block B: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Taiyo Kea

 

AJPW, 4/8/02

Kushiro Tottori Dome

 

1. Mike Barton, Jim Steele & Kaz Hayashi vs. Kendo Ka Shin & The Harris Brothers

2. Keiji Muto, Taiyo Kea & Satoshi Kojima vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi & Nobukazu Hirai

3. Champion Carnival - Block B: Nobutaka Araya vs. Mike Rotundo

4. Champion Carnival - Block B: Steve Williams vs. George Hines

5. Champion Carnival - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Yoji Anjo

 

AJPW, 4/9/02

Kitami Municipal Sports Center

 

1. Taiyo Kea & Tomoaki Honma vs. Steve Williams & Mike Rotundo

2. Toshiaki Kawada, Shigeo Okumura & Hideki Hosaka vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Arashi & Masato Tanaka

3. Champion Carnival - Block A: Mitsuya Nagai vs. Jim Steele

4. Champion Carnival - Block A: Satoshi Kojima vs. Mike Barton

5. Champion Carnival - Block B: Keiji Muto vs. Nobutaka Araya

 

AJPW, 4/10/02

Tsukisame Green Dome

 

1. Masa Fuchi & Kazushi Miyamoto vs. Kendo Ka Shin & Kaz Hayashi

2. Champion Carnival - Semi Final: Block A 1st Place vs. Block B 2nd Place

3. Champion Carnival - Semi Final: Block B 1st Place vs. Block A 2nd Place

4. Champion Carnival - Final: Winner of #2 vs. Winner of #3

 

AJPW "GRAND CHAMPION CARNIVAL", 4/13/02

Tokyo Nippon Budokan

 

1. Satoshi Kojima vs. Masato Tanaka

2. AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title: Masa Fuchi vs. Kendo Ka Shin (decision match)

3. All Asia Tag Team Title: Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura vs. Arashi & Nobutaka Araya (decision match)

4. AJPW World Tag Team Title: Keiji Muto & Taiyo Kea vs. The Harris Brothers

5. Triple Crown: Toshiaki Kawada © vs. Genichiro Tenryu

[Guest Tim Cooke]

Everything looks like 10x what they were able to put out from Summer 2000 through the Mutoh jump.  But I still don't understand the reasoning behind mixing the Juniors in with the heavies, especially with the aquisition of Kaz.  Ka Shin is nothing more than normal, Naniwa is comedy, Fuchi is/has been washed up for a while....why not let Hayashi build a new division with some other young talent.  I would have rather seen him go to NJ in some respects.

 

"AJPW "GRAND CHAMPION CARNIVAL", 4/13/02

Tokyo Nippon Budokan"

 

1. Satoshi Kojima vs. Masato Tanaka

 

* Could, emphasize, could be good.  Could be great but it all depends on how they built Tanaka up through the series and how much they want to give this match.  Good match on paper, not sure about in execution.

 

2. AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title: Masa Fuchi vs. Kendo Ka Shin (decision match)

 

*Ugh.....this isn't 1992 with Danny Kroffat carrying Fuchi.

 

3. All Asia Tag Team Title: Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura vs. Arashi & Nobutaka Araya (decision match)

 

*Not too sure how this will be.  Probably watchable at the least.

 

4. AJPW World Tag Team Title: Keiji Muto & Taiyo Kea vs. The Harris Brothers

 

*I think for the next tour they should bring in Kronik and have them feud with the Harris'.  What a mess...

 

5. Triple Crown: Toshiaki Kawada © vs. Genichiro Tenryu

 

*Their 10/00 match is good but not a classic.  This should be good, but unless Kawada wins, it won't even be worth mentioning.

 

Tim

[Guest MrDanger]

Take away Arashi, Mike Rotundo and The Harris Boys and you have the best promotion in the world. A few matches that I REALLY want to see:  

 

AJPW, 3/24/02

Tokyo Korakuen Hall

Toshiaki Kawada, Hideki Hosaka & Tomoaki Honma vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Masato Tanaka & Nobukazu Hirai  

 

AJPW, 3/26/02

Toyama Techno Hall

Toshiaki Kawada, Shigeo Okumura & Hideki Hosaka vs. Genichiro Tenryu, Nobutaka Araya & Masato Tanaka  

 

AJPW, 3/29/02

Osaka Central Gymnasium

Champion Carnival - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mitsuya Nagai  

 

AJPW, 4/1/02

Nagaoka Welfare Hall

Champion Carnival - Block B: Genichiro Tenryu vs. Keiji Muto  

 

AJPW, 4/2/02

Miyagi Sports Center

Champion Carnival - Block B: Keiji Muto vs. Taiyo Kea

Champion Carnival - Block A: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Satoshi Kojima  

 

AJPW, 4/3/02

Kesennuma City Gymnasium

Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura vs. Keiji Muto, Satoshi Kojima & Kaz Hayashi

 

AJPW, 4/6/02

Hakodate Citizen Gymnasium

Toshiaki Kawada, Hideki Hosaka & Tomoaki Honma vs. Keiji Muto, Satoshi Kojima & Kaz Hayashi  

 

AJPW "GRAND CHAMPION CARNIVAL", 4/13/02

Tokyo Nippon Budokan

Satoshi Kojima vs. Masato Tanaka

Triple Crown: Toshiaki Kawada © vs. Genichiro Tenryu  

 

It looks like they're slowly building Masato Tanaka up to be Tenryu's regular partner, certainly a step up from Nobutaka Araya.

[Guest Jubuki]

"But I still don't understand the reasoning behind mixing the Juniors in with the heavies, especially with the aquisition of Kaz."

 

Because that's what they've always done.  Fuchi was always someone's #2/#3 guy, as was Ogawa, as was Kikuchi, etc.  It's good for deciding sides...but not too good for the career of the Jrs.

 

"Take away Arashi, Mike Rotundo and The Harris Boys and you have the best promotion in the world."

 

What?

 

CMLL?  AJW?  C'mon, All Japan's "depth" is Araya, Hirai, Okumura, Fuchi, Steele, Hosaka, has-beens like Anjo, Tenryu, Mutoh, Doc...however, they've got plenty of Fanboy Favorites in the cases of Kojima, Tanaka, Honma, Hayashi, etc., so I guess there's an explanation for a comment like that: the Figurative Spooging on the Keyboard Factor.

 

I've seen Kaz in person, and I saw a very good worker WWF-ized all to Hell.  AJ doesn't care about its Jr. division being strong.

[Guest MrDanger]

1) CMLL?  AJW?  

 

2) C'mon, All Japan's "depth" is Araya, Hirai, Okumura, Fuchi, Steele, Hosaka,

 

3) has-beens like Anjo, Tenryu, Mutoh, Doc...

 

4) however, they've got plenty of Fanboy Favorites in the cases of Kojima, Tanaka, Honma, Hayashi, etc

1) EMLL? Sure they've got some great workers but they also have their fair share of utter garbage, the likes of Los Capos, Scorpio Jr, Bestia Salvaje, Super Porky and Rayo are far worse than a Mike Rotundo for instance.

 

2) Mutoh and Tenryu has beens? That's a pathetic comment since early reports say that the pair both had matches in the **** range at the last Budokan show.

 

3) Nobutaka Araya: Solid lower mid card guy, better worker than the likes Yutaka Yoshie, Hiro Saito and Tatsuhito Gotoh

Nobukazu Hirai: Decent

Masa Fuchi: Working a grand total of two matches on the Champ Carny tour.

Jim Steele: Very carryable these days as evident by Kojima/Tenzan

Hideki Hosaka: Has always been a solid worker stretching back to W*ing Alliance days in 1995.  

 

So amongst that lot there's one bad worker and even he's only working two matches. Add them to the rest of the mid card guys like Honma,Tanaka, Hines, Hijikata, Kaz and Okumura and you have fairly impressive "Depth" (Just need to get rid of Anjoh, Arashi and Rotundo)

 

4) Fan boys? They are all popular amongst net fans because THEY'RE DAMN GOOD!  

 

Some people

[Guest Jubuki]

Scorpio and Bestia are worse than Mike Rotundo?  I've seen the same amount of matches from both in the last year, and the Lucha guys have been just as good.  Of course, Rotundo isn't exactly terrible himself.

 

And yes, Mutoh and Tenryu are has-beens.  They were having great matches 5-10 years ago.  They aren't having them anymore.  And, if you want to take the word of the ever-nebulous "early reports" -- which always go with several grains of salt considering how most overreact to seeing something live -- about how good their matches are (and how 'pathetic' my comments are), chances are it'll be your mistake, rather than being mine for trusting what I see with my own 2 eyes when those 2 wrestle.

 

And try making a claim for Araya being a decent midcarder that's a little more justified than, "Well, he's better than shitty wrestler X in the opposing promotion."  Same for the your word vs. mine crud you're trying with the others.

 

And, finally, yes, Kojima, Tanaka, and Honma are "Damn~~~ Good~~~" if you're a fan of the ***1/4 match.  What have they done that's "great"?  Kojima's tag team carry job of two gaijin in a stripped-down Southern tag?  Tanaka's dizzying ability to have very good matches with all of two people?  Honma's "revolutionary" deathmatches that pulled a bait-and-switch on their audience by pretending to wrestle for 15 seconds?  Some people, indeed.

[Guest Stuart]

Tanaka's dizzying ability to have very good matches with all of two people?

I'd have to dispute this, having followed Tanaka's career closely. Tanaka's had good matches with far more than two. Hayabusa, Gannosuke, Kanemura, ONITA, Jado, Gedo, Kuroda, Fuyuki, Oya, Gladiator, Araya, Hijikata, Kawada, Kamikaze, VAN DAM, with the more impressive good matches (considering the opposition) being capitalized. A case can also be made for the Tanaka vs. Pogo Street Fight, which wasn't good by normal standards, but was by Pogo's. He even made Super Leather watchable. That's not bad for a guy who's entire career almost has been in a company with a limited roster. Only now is he starting to explore other places, and he's had some quality matches with guys like Kamikaze in Dai Nihon and Araya in All Japan. Tanaka's late FMW work (early 2001) was some of his best, with Jado and Gedo teaming with him a lot.

[Guest Luke Argyle]

Chris, I'm guessing that ***1/4 is your rating on the tag main from 12/11/01.  Before I start, I'd like to say that I think that is a fair rating.  Maybe the problem is that we as wrestling fans see a match in the *** star range objectively as a bad match.  I fall into this trap all of the time.  I am constantly in search of the flawless match which, many have pointed out, does not exist.  However, what is it as a fan that makes me, myself, and I rate the Kojima/Tenzan vs. Barton/Steele match higher?  So high, even, that it ranks among the most favorite matches that I have ever had the pleasure of viewing?  It all comes down to these wrestlers, be it Honma, Kojima, Mutoh, Ohtani, or Tanaka provide something, perhaps on a deep contextual or artistic level that speaks to one in a certain manner.  In terms of the CC for 2002, I think that this group of wrestlers have what it takes to deliver the goods.  I don't think that it can be conceptualized in terms of great matches, but what it does provide the playing field for the wave of the future and the past to meet headlong in hopes of a ***** tomorrow.  This is not the era for perfect wrestling and I think we will be better able to conceptualize that after the April Triple crown bout.  This is a transitional period where workers like Kojima and Honma are doing what they have to do to be the faces of tomorrow.  That's what I have to say.  I'm half in the bad and sleepy to boot, but I had to say something...

Luke, hoping for a better tomorrow

[Guest Luke Argyle]

That was supposed to be half in the bag, kids... Molson Ice + The Dismemberment Plan on the radio does wonders to a man's cohesive thinking abilities...

[Guest MRFTW]

"A case can also be made for the Tanaka vs. Pogo Street Fight"

 

Is that the same match whear Pogo wins after hanging Tanaka with his chain(if I remember correctly)?

[Guest Stuart]

"A case can also be made for the Tanaka vs. Pogo Street Fight"

 

Is that the same match whear Pogo wins after hanging Tanaka with his chain(if I remember correctly)?

I actually don't remember the finish, now that I think about it. They had two matches, one of which Tanaka won (big upset) when Pogo was being phased out. I just remember being amazed that Masato was able to drag the thing opposite him to something.

[Guest Jubuki]

Actually, Luke, I was just referring to those wrestlers being of that level in general: that the "really good" stuff people typically attach to them is stuff I find to be "eh, that's all right."  That one tag match was something of a miracle, if you ask me...I'd probably have it in the 3 1/2-to-4 range, probably on the upper end of it.  I have my sticking points with how it developed, which you'll be able to see next Wednesday, but I did enjoy it quite a lot (in stark contrast to nearly everything else on the card).  In fact, if you've kept up with what I've written over the last, oh, 5 months or so, you'd see I don't even hand out snowflakes unless I think of it as a good match.  And, typically, *** is enough of a quick & dirty indication of 'good' for me (although I'm loathe to rate Lucha or shootstyle just because I don't feel I've seen a large enough sample size).  I suppose I'm trying to follow the WON & JDW/CNJ methods re: AJPW TV of combing through the matches I've seen.

[Guest MrDanger]

1) Scorpio and Bestia are worse than Mike Rotundo?  I've seen the same amount of matches from both in the last year, and the Lucha guys have been just as good.  Of course, Rotundo isn't exactly terrible himself.

 

2) And yes, Mutoh and Tenryu are has-beens.  They were having great matches 5-10 years ago.  They aren't having them anymore.  And, if you want to take the word of the ever-nebulous "early reports" -- which always go with several grains of salt considering how most overreact to seeing something live -- about how good their matches are (and how 'pathetic' my comments are), chances are it'll be your mistake, rather than being mine for trusting what I see with my own 2 eyes when those 2 wrestle.

 

 

3) What have they done that's "great"?  Kojima's tag team carry job of two gaijin in a stripped-down Southern tag?  Tanaka's dizzying ability to have very good matches with all of two people?  Honma's "revolutionary" deathmatches that pulled a bait-and-switch on their audience by pretending to wrestle for 15 seconds?  Some people, indeed.

1) Please, stop the comedy. Mutoh and Tenryu are has beens but Rotundo isn't terrible?

 

2) 10 years ago? I'm sorry to break this to you but a lot of people's pick for the Puroresu match of 2001 was Mutoh vs Tenryu from last June.  Quite an achievement for two has beens.

 

3) Oh dear lord, this all some strange joke isn't it? Anybody doubting Kojima's talents really need to stop watching Puroresu. If you're sticking around then go and watch Masato Tanaka's FMW work, like Stuart said, he's had belters with everyone from Atsushi Onita to Hayabusa.

 

Congratulations Jubuki, you're made a right arse out of yourself yet again.