Yuki Ishikawa vs. Shota Takanishi
Kings Road was this weird kind of low budget project that tried to simulate a classic All Japan feeling on a small stage. But they bring in Yuki Ishikawa to have a match against their bland rookie, so it's all good with me! About as good of a 6 minute rookie squash as you can ask for. Takanishi only has elbows and a boston crab and Ishikawa still makes him look like a threat while lookin like a badass himself. Check out how Ishikawa would put over a basic side headlock or Takanishis elbows. Really good brief mat-work section too. And then Ishikawa just choked the poor kid out. I'm guessing Takanishi was an AJPW Dojo reject because he kept working Zero1 never achieving much and quietly retiring 5 years later.
Yuto Aijima vs. Daisuke Ikeda
Aijima is a roided West Japan scum who surfaced in post-split AJPW. I'm guessing he owns the ring or something and that's why he's booked to look strong, that or it's just the fact they didn't have a roster for this fed. Ikeda mostly reverses Aijimas holds by doing biting, eye pokes etc. and does flash pins while Aijima huffs and puffs. Really not how you want this to be worked at all.
Gran Naniwa vs. Fake Tarzan Goto
Weird angle where real Tarzan Goto ands up coming in to kick ass. I don't get that if you have Actual Tarzan Goto and are running with a roster this thin why not just give him a match. Real Tarzan Goto vs. Gran Naniwa would rule.
Koichiro Kimura & Tomohiko Hashimoto vs. Shiro Koshinaka & Takao Ohmori
Slightly better match than you expect, as it had something resembling a story as the AJPW vets didn't take their indy scoundrel opponents very seriously at first only for Kimura and Hashimoto to isolate them. Kimura really can't abuse these vets like he can abuse random DDT and FUTEN undercarders to there was a ceiling to how good the match could be but it was solid. Koshinaka and Ohmori ate some stiff kicks and there were some big spots including a 3 man German suplex and Koshinaka busting out hip attacks left and right. Not much depth (Ohmori kind of no sells Kimuras arm work) but I would classify it as a working boots match for them.
Genichiro Tenryu vs. Kazushi Miyamoto
Kazushi Miyamoto was the guy they put their hopes in to carry this weird fed. At this point he was like every first guy you make in the CAW mode when you play around with a new wrestlin game, he had borrowed all the cool moves from popular guys and he was a solidly trained wrestler, so he was capable of having good matches. He reminded me a bit of Jumbo in the 70s as he was largely inoffensive and solid but really doesn't add many flourishes. And Tenryu works this in the Jumbo role, and they lay the match out kind of like Flair vs. Koko B. Ware in Memphis as they start basic and then build to increasingly intense strike exchanges where the star fools people into thinking the nobody could win. So it's 70s Jumbo vs. Tenryu playing 90s Jumbo worked like Flair vs. Koko Ware... IT'S KING ROAD BABY~! Tenryu is really good here and Miyamoto is game getting punched in the face and catching tables with his head. Really liked all of Tenryus selling that he got caught by surprise from Miyamotos attack. Like he's shrugging off Miyamotos chops then suddenly goes OW MY THROAT and the crowd wakes up and there's actual excitement in this. Really liked the bit where Miyamoto hit this reckless headbutt to Tenryus jaw and then followed up with an even more reckless moonsault that was like an avalanche Pele Kick that also caught Tenryu weirdly. And you can make fun of Miyamoto for being a CAW but he was smart enough to open up Tenryu with punches and then do the Kawada kicks to Tenryus bloody face and putting on the Stretch Plum. Really really fun 2000s Tenryu main event overall.
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