Break The Rules: Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki (All Japan Pro Wrestling, 2014-2015)

Hey yo Stud Muffins & Foxy Ladies,

One of the biggest disappointments in pop music for me this past year was Charli XCX's major solo single debut "Boom Clap". It was a solid pop song and I was entertained by it for the first couple listens. I think pairing with Fault in Our Stars for your first major American release was the smart business decision. However, at the end of the day, it did not sound unique. Charli has been a part of the writing and performing the hooks of two of the biggest songs of the past couple years, Iconapop's "I Love It" and Iggy Azalea's "Fancy". Two wildly different songs that are immediately recognizable and stand out from the pack. I eagerly anticipated Charli XCX's solo efforts and try as I might, Boom Clap fell short for me. As I was looking through some of her music videos recently, she is a total babe in case you were unaware, I found "Break The Rules", which I think was a perfect blend of snot-nosed punk and current electronic-based dance pop music. I hope that song gets a harder push in the current music scene as I think it could make a big splash with the huge anthemic chorus and because I am a pretty big Charli XCX fan.

My new future ex-wife

I am also a big Jun Akiyama fan. The last remaining Pillar of Heaven of the 90s All Japan scene has returned home to All Japan Pro Wrestling ousting Keiji Mutoh as president. Mutoh & Co. departed to form Wrestle-1 while Akiyama was left with an interesting hodgepodge of older All Japan talent (Akiyama & Omori), NOAH talent (Shiozaki), Mutoh-era AJPW (Suwama, Doering & Akebono) and Kensuke Office (Miyahara). All Japan of the 90s showed that you could run an effective promotion with 6-8 top wrestlers and while All Japan looks a bit thin they pack enough punch to put on quality matches.

It all begins and ends with Jun Akiyama, who is one of the greatest wrestlers to ever live Akiyama continues to add to his legacy by owning Jumbo Tsuruta/Mitusharu Misawa role of respect veteran legend that is going to beat respect into these punks. Akiyama is still more than capable of performing in this role as I think he was the God King of Offense in 2014. The Five Pillars of Heaven had crazy deep offensive arsenals. Even though offense is more critical than ever in America and Japan with "innovative" moves ruling the roost, no one comes close to the arsenal that Akiyama still possesses and  there is nothing "innovative" about it. It is about delivering maximum pain as his strategy dictates to win a match. It stands out even moreso without Misawa, Kobashi and Taue as opponents because it feels like he has too much offense. He is delivering such a beating to his opponent that when his opponent makes a comeback it is not credible, which was the problem with Omori especially. 

Takao Omori is one of the most pedestrian, lifeless puroresu stars of the 90s and 00s. His heralded 2000 classic against Kobashi in the Champion Carnival felt more like a Kobashi offensive exhibition. He just does not bring anything special to the table.  He was totally exposed in the Akiyama match with such mundane selling and comeback in what was the biggest match of his career. He is much better suited to be a bruiser in a tag team match like in the instant classic from December against Shiozaki & Miyahara where Akiyama and Miyahara can bring the personality.

Kento Miyahara is the great All Japan hope. If he can mature into a big star and they can put some pieces in place around him then All Japan has a shot at least competing for the number two promotion in Japan. I did not like the Akiyama/Miyahara match as much as some because it was a bit too back and forth, but Miyahara showed a ton of charisma and energy in the match that kept me engaged throughout the match. That finish is one of the best finishes of the year. Definitely check out the match! Then in a match where he is paired with the current ace of All Japan, Go Shiozaki, he totally stole the show by trying to prove himself to Akiyama sometimes to expense of winning the match. I love that attitude. The Akiyama/Miyahara story was compelling and I hope they continue to follow it up with more Akiyama & Miyahara tags ala Jumbo/Misawa in 1990-1992. 

Kento Miyahara: Next Big Thing?

Due to Miyahara's youth, the smart play is to use veteran and former GHC Champion, Go Shiozaki as the interim Ace. You can't deny Shiozaki's experience as a heavyweight champion of a major promotion, but I found him to very disinterested in the three matches I saw from the past year. He was totally hidden in the classic tag for the most part. In the Doering & Suwama matches, he looked like the second best wrestler by far. He reminds me of Nakamura circa 2008 just someone there to hit a few big moves and collect a paycheck. I hope he can add a some fire going forward as I am trying to keep up with All Japan this year.

His singles opponents, Suwama & Joe Doering, a couple powerhouses impressed me in their matches. Doering has a good bit of Stan Hansen of him and I have no problem with that. I liked how he was always moving forward in that Triple Crown match and he was very effective in selling Shiozaki's offense. He has a great cross-body and I definitely like him as a gaijin powerhouse on the roster. Suwama is someone that impressed me during Best of 2000s Japan project when he appeared. He is a stout powerhouse, but versatile enough to have interesting matches with people as different Tanahashi, Takayama and Shiozaki. In the Shiozaki, I really got to see him lead a match and I thought he did a fantastic job. His use of the sleeper as a way to sap energy of Shiozaki to set him up for bigger and bigger moves was a genius strategy and he was on top of his timing of cut offs and selling for Shiozaki.

Going forward, I think All Japan needs about two more pieces to flesh out its roster (*cough* Katsuhiko Nakajima *cough* *cough* Naoya Ogawa *cough*), but they are a great heavyweight alternative to New Japan and I look forward to dig back into their archives between 2010-2014 and look forward to watching their future work.

Match Lisitng:

Jun Akiyama vs Takao Omori - AJPW 6/15/2014 Vacant Triple Crown Championship ***1/2

Kawada/Kojima II. Cant believe Akiyama choked. Akiyama offense great. Omori <<< Kojima.

Jun Akiyama vs Kento Miyahara - AJPW 9/15/14 ****

Superb finish. Great veteran vs rookie match. Too many momentum shifts

Go Shiozaki vs Suwama - AJPW 9/15/14 Royal Road Tournament ****1/4

Best use of the sleeper. Suwama on point with cutoff and selling. Go Shiozaki needs to add emotion

Wild Burning (Akiyama & Omori) vs. Xceed (Shiozaki & Miyahara) -AJPW 12/6/14 ****1/2

Akiyama/Miyahara story rules all. Feels like Jumbo/Misawa of this generation. Exciting

AJPW Triple Crown Champion Joe Doering vs Go Shiozaki -  AJPW  01/03/15 ****

Doering's urgency engages while Shiozaki's disinterest hurts this. 

Akiyama may have lost his hair, but he has not lost a step in the ring

Jun Akiyama vs Takao Omori - AJPW 6/15/2014 Vacant Triple Crown Championship

Wow, this is like an exact copy of Kawada vs Kojima 2005 for the Triple Crown. You have the super worker kick the dogshit out of the generic create a puroresu  wrestler in really entertaining fashion only to choke in ridiculous fashion to a barrage of lariats. The only difference was that Kojima was actually over. In defense of this match, I think if you plug in a wrestler with more charisma than Omori this match would be a lot better. Omori is about the most bland wrestler I think I have ever seen. He does the bare minimum in almost every regard, but never really excels at any one thing and especially anything involving emotion. Nothing he did felt earned or like he was overcoming anything because he just started hitting moves. To give Kojima some credit, he does have charisma and there is an energy when he starts to make his comeback. Omori is just so flat. On the other hand, I thought Akiyama's asskicking of Omori was more entertaining than Kawada's asskicking. Akiyama just absolutely destroyed the arm. I love he would just take Omori down at will by the arm whenever he tried to fire up. Akiyama has so many weapons at his disposal strikes, submissions and my favorite throwing Omori's arm into steel objects. At one point, Akiyama hits a crazy cool combination of piledriver into a Boma Ye Knee so sick. Akiyama is grooving into his usual finish stretch (Boma Ye Knee, Guillotine Choke, Exploders)  and I am just like this is way too easy and alarm bells start going off. Akiyama is going to choke. Choke big time. Omori hits some weird lariats, which I am going to chock up to selling. Akiyama bursts out with an Exploder, a quick Boma Ye Knee and then another Exploder. Omori kicks out? Bullshit! Omori wins with a barrage of lariats, wow, that was lame. I have said this before matches like don't make Omori look resilient, it makes Akiyama looks like a choke for not being able to polish him off with all his big moves. Omori was perfectly fine at selling, but his comeback was pathetic. Akiyama crushed it offensively. This was probably the best offensive performance of the year in terms of limb psychology and the two EXPLOSIVE big move combinations.  Did I watch the wrong match? It is a good match and worth to match Akiyama be a boss, but this seems far away from match of the year to me. I am disappointed because I really want All Japan and Akiyama to be awesome. Here's hoping the rest is great. ***1/2

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Jun Akiyama vs Kento Miyahara - AJPW 9/15/14

In 2014, Akiyama was the God King of Offense. Usually, offense is one of the first things to go for the greats, but I would argue he actually almost has too much good offense that it has been working to the detriment of these matches until the unbelievably awesome finish. The problem with Akiyama dissecting opponents like Omori or Miyahara is that they don't have the cache of a Misawa or Kobashi that I believe in that comeback as much. Miyahara was way better at showing fire than Omori, which helped greatly. I loved the beginning the sense of urgency of both to pounce on each other's mistakes. Then it devolves into who will back down first in an elbow where neither gives an inch. Akiyama wins the battle and then slams Miyahara onto the parquet floor. I love Akiyama jawing with the ref while wrenching Miyahara's head around the railing. Akiyama has so many ways to hurt you and they were all on display as he kicked some Miyahara ass. Miyahara wins a suplex struggle and begins a comeback, but just does not have much in the tank. I have to say Akiyama seems to lost his ability to sell well. This is the guy who made Tenzan tolerable by selling, I would have liked to seen more of that selling here. Stuff like Akiyama walking over to hit a superplex just killed the spot for me. I don't mind more explosive type cutoffs like his Exploder off the apron. Then were selling issues with Miyahara who takes a huge knee to the chin and then armdrags out of an Exploder to hit a nice scissors kick, but before you know it Akiyama is back on offense. It is not like these cutoffs felt like they were fighting through something rather they were just false momentum shifts and they were used a couple times too many. I have decided against giving away the finish because the finish is what takes the match to the next level. What I will say it is the perfect credible ending to to how match had been built at that point. Akiyama rocked on offense per usual. Miyahara gave a pretty good young lion performance, he definitely has a lot of potential. I think what was missing was a more rousing comeback for Miyahara, who I think has it in him. There were too many momentum shifts for their own good. Still that finish takes this from a very good match to a great match. ****

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Go Shiozaki vs Suwama - AJPW 9/15/14 Royal Road Tournament

I really enjoyed Suwama in the two matches I watched for the Best of Japan in the 2000s and the trend continued here. Suwama understood Shiozaki's greatest asset to be his energy. He continually sapped that by effectively using the sleeper. This did not achieve the level of the famous sleepers match between Pegasus Kid and Black Tiger in 1996, but it was a perfect use of the sleeper. The sleeper/chinlock is best used to drain the energy of an explosive babyface and let a heel regain his wind. Too often it is misused and thus triggers people's attention to drift. Shiozaki is all about those chops, but Suwama is going to make sure there is nothing behind those chops after the sleeper. You see how Suwama modulates his selling. Suwama sells the chops at the beginning of the match, but after the sleeper he stands tall. Shiozaki did a great job selling the first sleeper as really knocking him out. He is great at peppering in the hope spots, but his selling leaves a lot to be desired. He just does not have enough emotion. As good as Shiozaki's chops look, Suwama's double chop is so sick and maybe my favorite move in wrestling now. Suwama was wrestling perfectly. He took his time and was cocky when it was time, but anytime Shizaki started to fire off, he would immediately snuff the fire out with  a double chop or a powerslam. Go finally mounts a bit of a comeback and is looking for a macho pissing contest so Suwama says fuck that and grabs him by the hair and applies a sleeper. Suwama is my hero. Suwama obliterates Shiozaki with a lariat and then a belly to belly suplex. With the match firmly back in his hand, Suwama looks to polish him off with his powerbomb. Shiozaki escapes and looks for refuge on the apron. Suwama comes flying across the ring with a HUGE dropkick and follows up with a suicide dive. Suwama returns to the sleeper to set up the powerbomb, but Misawa-rana. Man copying Misawa AND Kobashi, now that is just not fair! Suwama immediately clamps on a sleeper. I love Suwama's urgency. Suwama tries to gain the pin three times. Go busts out the classic collapse on a rope run and he really exaggerates his chops not having much. This is some really good shit here. Suwama is all over him, but looks to get a running start and Go roars out of the corner with a lariat. Ruh roh! Shiozaki hits a big lariat to send Suwama tumbling out and HUGE plancha by Go! Shiozaki goes all in on the lariat. Suwama is not going down without a fight, but he is on jelly legs. Suwama is selling like a boss. The double chop crushing a roaring burning lariat attempt was awesome! Eventually, Go hits a big time lariat to set up the Go Flasher & Limit Break for the win.

Suwama totally outclassed Shiozaki here carrying him to a great match and the second best AJPW match of the year. Suwama was wrestling at such a high level. He was using the sleeper to debilitate his opponent and set himself up for the powerbomb. He was cocky when it was time and snuffed out Go when appropriate. Go Shiozaki needs more emotion and his selling for the majority of the match left a lot to be desired. The finish run was typical late 2000s puroresu and was fine for what it was. Suwama is underrated and this is a great showcase for him. ****1/4

Suwama: Master of the Sleeper

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Wild Burning (Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori) vs. Xceed (Go Shiozaki & Kento Miyahara) 

AJPW 12/6/14

There have been strecthes in all these 2014 AJPW matches where they are wrestling at a ***** level and it feels like you are watching 90s AJPW again. The action is explosive, urgent, but also with a sense of purpose directed towards winning the match. The best example of this high-caliber of work is towards the beginning. Miyahara has out worked the bigger, older Omori exposing a midsection weakness. This was not enough for Miyahara who was became obsessed with getting his shots in on Akiyama on the apron. Of course, he paid for his negliglence in the form of a wicked big boot by Omori. Akiyama without missing a beat, seized Miyahara and flung him outside to whip him in the railing. He explosively DDTs him all over the floor. It was like nothing else you would see in modern wrestling landscape. Maybe Brock is that explosive, but that is the only thing that comes close. The problem is unlike 90s AJPW they can not maintain the caliber of wrestling throughout a match rather these are fleeting moments of excellence. These stretches elevate the matches from the usual late 00s NOAH fare. I would say the matches are more similart to early NOAH than anything else.

Back to the match, I am 100% sure now that Akiyama was the best offensive wrestler in the world last year. It is scary how deep his arsenal is, but without Misawa, Kobashi, and Taue it is going to waste. Akiyama blasts Miyahara with knees and hits a piledriver in short order. When he does not get the pin, he tags out with authority. I am sure Akiyama has a chip on his shoulder regarding Miyahara. Omori bouncing Miyahara head off the top of the steel post for the super back suplex was the best thing Omori has ever done. Miyahara is such a great young talent. I love how when he gets piledriven he is searching for the bottom rope because he knows he does not have the power to kick out. That is a wrestling acumen very few ever reach. As always, since 2000, a suplex struggle signals Miyahara hitting a hard-fought suplex to tag Shiozaki. I will give Akiyama-Miyahara their suple struggles look hard-fought and having seen a lot of perfunctory suplex struggles I am appreciative of it. Miyahara does the smart thing and tags in Shiozaki.

I like Shiozaki's hot tag. It is simple but effective. His chop is the great equalizer. It is the only thing Akiyama has consistently sold all year so it feels like a real weapon. He actually blasts through both Akiyama and Omori. I like Akiyama's desperation to stop the bleeding with one of his bombs but Shiozaki has too much spunk to go for that. Shiozaki is looking lariat but eats a knee and Akiyama clamps on a choke. That is good shit. Shiozaki looks to put his team firmly in position to win, but gets caught quickly. Shiozaki powers out. I like how they are putting over Go. Omori comes in and hits his generic offense and the heat dissapates quickly. Shiozaki chops Omori's lariat arm and tags out to Miyahara.

After the tag to Miyahara he trades some moves with Omori. One second Miyahara eats a superplex and the next he is kicking off someone's head with a scissors kick. Once Akiyama is in, he is looking for the win and the match kicks into the big finish stretch. I like Akiyama looking for the Exploder seeing Go coming so he lets go to cut him off, but it is too late and eats the lariat. Miyahara gets a flash triangle and his scissor kick/deadlift German combo as nearfalls. He goes for his kill finish the Butterfly Piledriver, but nothing doing and Omori BLASTS him with a wicked lariat. Omori is good for something. I liked the Boma Ye knee/Lariat combo to a sitting up opponent. Go saves. Akiyama runs through his usual offense of knees to the head and an Exploder head drop to polish off the young hotshot.

Easily my favorite of the touted 2014 All Japan match as this one combined a ton of action with the great Akiyama/Miyahara story. Omori dragged shit down a bit. I thought Go wrestled well in the beginning and was a decent hot tag. I liked how they treated his chop and his interactions with Akiyama were good. Still, Akiyama/Miyahara made this match special. If they could just replace Omori with the recently retired Sasaki or someone like that, this match would have a real shot at match of the year. As is, it stands as the one All Japan match that can hang with the best of New Japan. ****1/2

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AJPW Triple Crown Champion Joe Doering vs Go Shiozaki -  AJPW  01/03/15

Hansen vs Kobashi 2014?

Hey if you are going to imitate, then imitate the best and there ain't much better than Hansen/Kobashi. Shiozaki is not nearly as histrionic as Kobashi and Doering is not as wild as Hansen, but together they still put together a great match. Unusual for a puroresu match, the eventual winner actually takes most of the offense in this one, but it still feels like Doering was a big mountain to climb. Early on, Go just could not get anything going with his vicious chops. Doering would just steamroll him with shoulder tackles and overwhelm him with power. Go got pissed off after one too many shoulder tackle and took it to Doering with some rapid fire chops. A thrust kick to the head finally stuns the big man. The one thing Doering really captured from Stan was always moving forward. Even when wounded, he was still coming at Shiozaki and you always felt like Go was in trouble. Three DDTs were not enough to keep the champion down because he just kept coming. Finally, Shiozaki threw a lariat so fierce that Doering just collapsed. It was one of the best sell jobs of the short year of 2015 so far with him just hanging out on the middle rope only to topple over. Doering tries to regroup with tag partner, Suwama, but is obviously discombobulated. Shiozaki lets him back in the ring, what a gentleman, only to dump him back over with a lariat and hitting a monster plancha over the top rope. I don't like the Frankensteiner at all during a comeback sequence. As a transition fine, but in the middle of the sequence, it just does not make sense. First Go Flasher only gets two and when he goes for Limit Break (put away Suwama back in September), Doering pushes off and hits a spinebuster to level the playing field. Doering gives Bray Wyatt a run for his money in the best cross body department. He hit two vicious ones. Shiozaki teases the Burning Hammer, which gets the announcers, the crowd and me excited, but he just hits a normal slam. Lame. Doering collapses on his own powerbomb and things do not look good for the champion. Go Shiozaki pays tribute to Kobashi with spinning back chops and a Burning Lariat to win the match and his first Triple Crown Championship.

There were way too many strike exchanges in this one for me. I thought Doering outworked Shiozaki, but Shiozaki had looked like the lesser of the workers in all his matches of the past year. Doering sold the wounded animal lashing out really well and you really believed that one of his big bombs could take out Go. Go was able to persevere, keep him at bay, until he could crush him with a Burning Lariat. Go is just bereft of emotion and the needless strike exchanges keep this from being a true classic, but Doering is awesome and this is a great match. ****