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[2018-04-30-AJPW-Champion Carnival] Kento Miyahara vs Naomichi Marufuji


Boss Rock

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A fitting final match for a great tournament. It was almost as if the more battle-hardened Marufuji was looking at a younger version of himself. The two are rather similar with their fast-paced offense and reliance on knee strikes. Some really great offensive sequences and inspiring comebacks from Kento, who's as good a babyface as he is a cocky dick. Experience won out for Marufuji, but Kento made him earn it as he survived multiple kicks, knee strikes, an apron piledriver, and even a Shiranui before Marufuji had to resort to the Fisherman Flowsion.

 

Am interested to see the direction this goes in as Marufuji is not quite ready to challenge for the Triple Crown (he has a GHC match with Sugiura coming up) but offered to face Kento on his turf. Either way, a fantastic match to wrap up the tournament. ****1/2.

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This match meant a lot to both companies, Maru is older and past his prime which to me was the early 2000s and as a heavyweight ace he failed, he was not a good heavyweight as many of his big matches have always felt forced and trying too hard. But every-so often he can still pull something special out such as his carry job of the awful Okada from 2016 or this performance here. despite Maru having a great performance it was blown away by the brilliance that is Kento Miyahara who is easily the best wrestler in the world his selling and connection with the crowd was second to none almost at Kobashi levels of love from the crowd maybe only comparable to the crowds love for Daniel Bryan.

 

They built slow going on a different tack from that of the meatheaded and angry semi main. They did not do limb work but the match most certainly did not meander for me, this was good as many modern 'epics' do limb work but it is always there to just fill time and is ignored once the finishing sequence begins. Here they built organically and without the need for a reliance on headrops and big kickouts, no big match finisher was kicked out of and there was no stupid fighting spirit no-sell. This was a 90s match done with a couple of modern moves such as the shiranui and the knee strikes. Maru was great, Kento was magnificent and the crowd was out of this world. I loved this ****3/4 extremely close to 5 and maybe the best match I have seen since 2015 outstanding wrestling. It is going to take something extremely special to beat this.

 

This may be my favorite match since 2015

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Mehhhh. Marufuji's control segment felt like it went on for 2 hours - incredibly dull stuff; his offense looked shitty, especially those godawful vintage Superkicks of his. One positive about this thing is that Kento's selling was pretty damn great throughout it, it's a shame that his opponent didn't offer anything interesting in return. *

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  • 4 weeks later...

I didn't think this was 5 stars but, no way is it one star. That would be like an Abdullah the Butcher squashing a jobber match.

 

I'm going to rewatch this since I watched a shit ton of CC 2018 matches tonight and finished it off with this. I'd have it in that ****+ range. It was a excellent final to a really remarkable Carnival.

 

I disagree with the praise of Miyahara however. I have liked him in the past but, I really don't like his comebacks here and in all of the round robin matches as well. I don't know if its because I watched a bunch tonight but, I get the impression that he's brushing off the fatigue selling.

 

In 2018, I don't expect 1990's AJPW selling but, at least carry the notion that you're tired/hurting throughout the match. Its not a fighting spirit thing or a one time adrenaline rush. Its like he pops up or reverses an Irish whip for some reason and then hits a move or two. Then I feel he doesn't do well controlling the flow/pace or direction of the match afterwards. So, its a transition to nothing as if he's looking/waiting for his opportunity to do a surprise burst attack and having the upper hand plays against that tactic/mindset.

 

Marufuji was pretty great though. Awesome performance in the Carnival.

 

Again, I should rewatch this :)

 

Rewatch: The part after the swan dive drop kick is a key example of my issue with Kento. He gets a piledriver on the apron, the above drop kick then, blocks 'Fuji's Shiranui and does a sweet German. Ok then he gets his bearings and hits a great knee in the corner. Adrenaline burst would explain this so, a cover or perhaps taking a chance to recover from the abovementioned apron piledriver & drop kick to the face. Instead, he suplexes and covers. Then, Randy Orton tribute and running knee attempt like he's fresh. On the otherhand, Marufuji blocks/avoids this and hits a combination and collapses from fatigue after his defense. Great cutoff and helped reign in Miyahara. Frankly, 'Fuji does this a few times and keeps Kento from coloring outside the lines.

 

Another example is right after the Shiranui hits, Kento kicks out and Marufuji is setting up a Fisherman move. Kento like a fucking T-1000, immediately shakes off the past 2 moves and hits a knee. Ok, nice. But instead of sorting himself out, he does a Randy Orton thing again and goes to town with 2 big moves despite Marufuji having to pull him to his feet seconds earlier. Maybe try a couple small moves or a hold instead of exploding all of the time...

 

The only reason this is so apparent is because Marufuji isn't doing it too. He's selling the long term damage. So, we have one guy who looks hurt and another who looks full of vigor.

 

This finish helps matters as the NOAH veteran kicks, knees, and drops the spirit out of the champ. It was his hail Mary and it paid off.

 

All in all still pretty great but, it has its flaws :) Nonetheless, psyched to watch their Title match from a few days ago :)

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I think the criticisms regarding Kento's comebacks are pretty fair. I love his explosiveness and willingness to go all-out in every exchange, but some long-term selling would definitely help.

Yeah, I think if I would have watched ONLY this match I wouldn't have as big an issue with it. The fact the Marufuji would cut him off "in the narrative" really helped me. Sorta like the errors of youth meeting the wisdom of age.

 

But, if they play off this in their Triple Crown match, man that'd be sweet!! :)

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  • GSR changed the title to [2018-04-30-AJPW-Champion Carnival] Kento Miyahara vs Naomichi Marufuji

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