AJPW Champion Carnival 1994

 

This was an interesting Carnival. Backstage booking angles, great matches, key booking decisions that’ll affect the next year or two. 

Champion Carnival 1994 First Round Match: Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jun Akiyama - AJPW Champion Carnival 1994 - Day 1 19/03/1994

This is going to be the only Misawa match of the Carny this year that I cover. The reasons for why are some of my favourite booking choices of all time. Giant Baba realised that Misawa shouldn’t be losing as Triple Crown champion but he didn’t want him to win the Carnival so he has Misawa feign a serious neck injury in a match against Doug Furnas in order to take him out of the rest of the tournament (although it wasn’t so serious as he kept on wrestling in undercard matches but rules are rules, you miss one match, you’re out of the tournament). And Stan Hansen, unaware of the worked injury, got into a serious argument with Furnas backstage about it. 

The match was a solid Top Dog vs Young Rising star match. Misawa never looked in total danger although Akiyama had a long period of being on top, dishing out offence and getting a few near falls on Misawa. The folding powerbomb pin attempt was the closest you’re gonna get to Akiyama winning at this stage. ***

Champion Carnival 1994 First Round Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Akira Taue - AJPW Champion Carnival 1994 - Day 5 24/03/1994

20 out of 30 minutes is a good time. Kobashi pulled out all the stops hitting Taue with his absolute best shots only just failing to put him away before the time bell rang. Kobashi worked hard to make a compelling comeback after Taue’s focused assault on Kobashi’s neck and turn the match on its head. The crowd was super into Kobashi winning and some of the nearfalls were tremendous. Great match. ****

Champion Carnival 1994 First Round Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams - AJPW Champion Carnival 1994 - Day 9 29/03/1994

One of the big matches of the year. The first match was setting up Kawada and Williams for the rest of the year. They go to a 30 minute draw but the video skips 8 minutes in. They got hot and heavy with the strikes and all the impact moves as far as Kawada is concerned. He was very keen on avoiding anything Williams would dish out, escaping from any Oklahoma Stampede and the Backdrop Driver while Kawada was throwing his powerbombs and kicks wildly. Williams looked great being able to take it all and stick keep on ticking, even while on the defensive. Williams down the stretch had some cool defensive up kicks to keep Kawada at bay for a brief while to recover. The work on the leg was a good side story. Kawada’s selling was particularly top-notch and Williams did a superb job of attacking it. Great match. ****1/4

Champion Carnival 1994 First Round Match: Kenta Kobashi vs. Stan Hansen - AJPW Champion Carnival 1994 - Day 17 10/04/1994

The underappreciated match between these two. I love the house show feel of it. While it doesn’t have the atmosphere of Budokan Hall, it had something a bit more close and personal. They laid in the hard strike. Kobashi was going mental with his chops while Hansen, taped fists and all, was throwing short elbows and punches. The match got better once Hansen injured his rips by crashing into the barricade. Kobashi took advantage with some big body shots and big knee lifts. Hansen’s selling is sublime as well. His response and actions scream wounded animal desperate to survive but Kobashi is relentless with his kicks and submissions. Hansen mounts a brief comeback with an irishwhip where Kobashi runs hard into the turnbuckle chest first. The crowd was really antsy whenever Hansen got offence because they were dying to see Kobashi get his first win over Hansen in singles action. The nearfalls were super intense and dramatic. Kobashi and Hansen sold it perfectly throughout their expressions. ****1/2

Champion Carnival 1994 First Round Match: Stan Hansen vs. Akira Taue - AJPW Champion Carnival 1994 - Day 18 11/04/1994

A cool match where Taue attacks the ribs and Hansen sells it for all its worth. This just didn’t capture my true investment though. ***

Giant Baba, Stan Hansen & Takao Omori vs. Super Generation Army (Jun Akiyama, Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuharu Misawa) - AJPW Champion Carnival 1994 - Day 22 16/04/1994

This was an awesome six man tag. Loved the hierarchy tropes implemented in the match. Akiyama and Omori basically were even, as shown via their mirror/staredown spot, but against Misawa or Kobashi, they were toasted. Hansen screaming at Omori like a coach or a trainer was pretty cool as well. Kobashi nailing Hansen with an elbow, a precursor to Kawada kicking Misawa off the apron, leading to an awesome but brief scrap in the middle of the ring was awesome. Omori trying to get some shots in while it happened was an amusing moment in the middle of a serious fight. Kobashi pulled out the Orange Crush too which looked sick. ***3/4 

Champion Carnival 1994 Final Match: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Steve Williams - AJPW Champion Carnival 1994 - Day 22 16/04/1994

What a day 16/04/1994 was. Not only did you have the finals of the Champion Carnival, a pivotal moment in All Japan’s yearly plans involving the elevation of Williams and Kawada. You have the Super J Cup taking place 3 miles down the road at Ryogoku, the launching pad for Junior Heavyweight wrestling of its generation. Just to follow up on the All Japan side. While Kawada wins this match, setting up the next Misawa vs Kawada title match, getting to the Finals solidifies Williams as the top gaijin of All Japan now. This is the second match between these two of the Carnival themselves, previously going 30 minutes earlier in the tournament. And this is a brilliant follow up from that. 

Kawada is on the counter defensive, actively avoiding Williams’ biggest moves (Oklahoma Stampede, Backdrop Driver) while looking to get his stiff strikes in to knock Williams loopy. Kawada hung onto the ropes for dear life when Willaims first went for the Stampede. Fantastic work by Kawada who made everything Williams was trying to do that much more dangerous by his sheer desperation to get out of those signatures. Williams worked the back with hard slams and kicks to the back early on which Kawada sold wonderfully with his screams of agony. It’s not often you hear Kawada audibly sell but he went that route in this case. Williams brought out a few out of the box offensive moves, such as the Tiger Suplex which got a close two count and some awesome punches to the jaw. Kawada had some brilliant combo strikes near the finish, hitting a spinning backfist and then a rolling kappou kick which was the turning point for Kawada’s eventual win. The mach excelled at milking the drama for all it’s worth in the near falls and submission holds. Williams did his best to make Kawada earn that finish and it made the win much more satisfying. Now give Kawada the Triple Crown, Baba! ****1/2