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[2013-04-29-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Jun Akiyama vs KAI


Loss

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  • 4 years later...

Kai comes to the ring with some kind of massive burn or scar on his chest. I think we know where this is going. Akiyama responds to an elbow with some chops and gets the advantage using the injury. Kai being below Akiyama (his strikes don't have much of an effect slowing Akiyama down, but he does sell them) makes this more of an underdog match. Problem for me is you never really get the impression Akiyama is actively trying to stop a lot of the impact moves Kai does. He just takes them because he knows he can. Then he is up faster than you would think and needs to be beaten down more or comes back. Kai's offense is perfectly good in a flashy junior who idolizes Kawada way, but it doesn't really lend itself to the story the match wants to tell. If he had stuck with more of the big (too obviously leg slappy) kicks it would have worked better than the suplexes and a powerbomb on a uy way above him and 20 pounds heavier. Akiyama didn't exactly go out of his way to put Kai's suplexes over either. He sold great for the strikes as the match progressed, but didn't seem to have much respect for the backdrop or the German.

 

It's nothing really against either guy or this match. Just not my cup of tea.

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  • GSR changed the title to [2013-04-29-AJPW-Championship Carnival] Jun Akiyama vs KAI
  • 3 years later...

Now we have the story of KAI's battered chest driving the last few matches, will Akiyama use that weakness?...shit I'll answer it for you- yes! 2013 Akiyama is the guy you want to structure a match that continues an arc within a single show (Kai fought Shiozaki earlier in the night). That's to say he's a cerebral veteran that is going to tell the story with nuances rather than overt actions. For instance, he targets the chest of KAI as a defensive strategy rather thinking he's going to win by chops like Shiozaki. Jun is more similar to Kawada than Kobashi at this point. KAI makes sure to play his role and man! All things considered this adds up to a near classic match and an excellent end to the 2013 Champion Carnival.

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