Destiny 03.25.07: Champion Carnival 2007 (Part 1)

Posted by Matt Adamson on 03.25.2007

A look at March Madness... in Japan? That's right! It's time for the 2007 edition of All Japan's Champion Carnival.

First days at work are always tough, you meet all new people and they point at you and laugh. Well, this week I experienced my first day at the world famous 411mania.com. The day started off rather rough as I forgot to zip my fly after having used the restroom (somebody NEEDS to clean that thing… Isn't that Rutherford's job?). As I walked through the sea of cubicles I noticed people like Nick Marsico and Andy Clark poking their heads out and chuckling. I was worried. Did I have something in my teeth? So I walk toward my cube whistling "Lips Like Sugar" by Echo and the Bunnymen as I hear "psst… psst." I look to my left and I see 411 Games writer Jordan Williams motion me over. I stand before this rather intimidating man and he introduces himself and asks me my name. "Matt Adamson" I nervously say. He stands up and as he's walking out of his cubicle he pats me on the back and whispers, "your fly is down, man" and continues on his way. Needless to say it wasn't exactly the best first day, but I'm thankful to Jordan Williams for his honesty and I'm thankful to have since not left my fly down or done anything else too embarrassing.

NOTE: Everything in the previous paragraph is a complete lie… except my name which as stated before is Matt Adamson and I am 411's newest puro columnist. I hope you enjoy my contributions to this site, and feel free to leave me feedback. Now, on with the column.

March Madness… in Japan?

It's easy to sit back and revel in all the interesting things going on in the sports world during this time of year. Spring, a time for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NBA Championship tournament and of course the beginning of the baseball season. For me none of these things compare to the excitement and drama that All Japan Pro Wrestling brings every March and April when they hold their Champion Carnival.

With a history top notch winners such as Toshiaki Kawada, Mitsuharu Misawa, Stan Hansen, Giant Baba, Kensuke Sasaki and Vader, it's no secret that when you win the Champion Carnival that you are made in All Japan. Not only is the winner rewarded with respect and notoriety, it also gets them, assuming they don't already hold it, a shot at the Triple Crown Championship. Last year, the winner of the Champion Carnival, Taiyo Kea, went on to win the Triple Crown by defeating then champion Satoshi Kojima. With that in mind, I'd like take a look at each of the competitors and offer my opinion on what their chances are of being this years winner of the Champion Carnival.

This year things are going to be a little different. This year there will be no semi-final match. In the event of a tie in either block a playoff match will happen to determine who competes in the finals, but if there are no ties, the points leader for each Block will face each other on the final night. For those of you who are new to puro or have yet to experience the greatness of the Champion Carnival, let me explain how it works. There are two blocks, called Block A and Block B. Each block consists of 5 wrestlers who compete in a round robin tournament. The winner of each block is determined by a points system, 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw. At the end of the round robin portion, there is a final match where the winners of each block face off to determine who gets an impressive trophy and a shot at the Triple Crown. Well, now that I've gone on explaining how it works, let's get on with the competitors.

Block A: Overall Block A is the toughest to predict of the two blocks this year. With long time stars in Mutoh and Sasaki as well as rising stars like Kea and Suwama, there is no way of knowing what is to happen in this block. As you'll see from my evaluations of the competitors, there is a lot of reason to believe almost all of these guys have a good shot at winning. As matches go, I'd say this one will be the less interesting of the two blocks but still provide with a few interesting matches. I'm looking for a stiff battle between Mutoh and Sasaki and for Kea and Owashi to have a good showing.

Keiji Mutoh – Competing in his sixth Champion Carnival, Keiji Mutoh stands a decent chance of taking home his third Carnival win. Since his last win in 2004, Mutoh has taken on the role of the guy who is there to draw people to the show, but not be in the spotlight. This has recently changed with his return to North America as The Great Muta. While I really don't see him being the winner, he does have a shot as he is the top dog in the company and can pretty much make the decision to put himself on top. Having won the Carnival twice before (2002 and 2004), this isn't something he needs to do. What I see happening is that Mutoh either ends up in the finals or narrowly misses them due to a draw with somebody like Sasaki to allow Suwama or Kea a spot in the finals.

Touru Owashi – I'll say it now, Owashi is this years jobber of the Carnival. With such star power in this years Carnival, and Owashi being the least familiar face of the Carnival, don't expect him to take it home. I will say this however, with talk of Owashi being the newest member of Voodoo Murders, and with his history with them in Dragon Gate, he could be a difference maker in a few matches. His matches should be good and I want to see the Kea vs. Owashi match.

Taiyo Kea – Last years winner and former Triple Crown Champion. Kea has really stepped it up in the last year since his win by have a tremendous match with Kawada and for his title loss to Suzuki back in September. He is the golden boy for the future of All Japan if he sticks around. The top gaijin for certain and with a win this year will solidify his place. However, Kea, as many other top stars of today's puro suffers from inability to get over at the level of their predecessors. While he is quite over, fans have yet to get behind him to the point where they are going to see him as they go to see guys like Kawada, Sasaki and Mutoh. Maybe a win this year will be what does it, but maybe his not winning this year will be a result of that which has plagued puro for the last few years.

Suwama – Kohei Suwama is a long shot to win the Carnival this year, but stranger things have happened. Lately All Japan has been playing up his bad attitude toward the company. What this is for is beyond me, but if he does poorly in the tournament, look for this to be one of the things All Japan points to as being the reason. Is he a longshot? No, because he is a solid performer who is widely regarded as one of All Japan's biggest and most over heels. While I don't expect him to win, I expect him to make a difference in somebody not winning. He had a good showing last year and with this being his third participation, look for him to be a force.

Kensuke Sasaki – 2005 Champion Carnival winner and 3 time previous participant, Kensuke Sasaki is my pick as winner of Block A. He is a freelancer, running his training school Kensuke Office. The reason I pick him is that it makes for a potentially fresh match in the finals. Sasaki has not had too many meetings with the participants of Block B while guys like Kea, Mutoh and Suwama have. His name is enough to make the final seem important and can make the winner look incredibly strong. He is a former IWPG Champion and can still work a good match. If he isn't the one, Kea is my second choice.

Block B: Block B seems to be a little bit easier to predict. Knowing where the company has been and where it might be going, I can only think that their plan is to move toward the future, using the past to make it possible. I feel that block B is where there will be a dominating force who is able to really make an impact and secure his place. With guys like Suzuki, Kawada and Tajiri in this block I'm looking forward to some really fun and interesting matches.

Minoru Suzuki – The current Triple Crown Champion, making his second appearance in the Carnival is my pick to win the whole thing. He has been booked thus far as a very strong champion. His reputation as Triple Crown champion needs this win to secure his place as strong champion. If Minoru doesn't get the win, I'm really hoping for Sasaki to take it and Suzuki to miss the finals, because I would love to see that match down the road. However, I expect Suzuki to dominate in the round robin portion and make an easy trip to the finals. Be certain that his unusual comic ways will abound in each of these matches without ruining his fierce reputation.

RO'Z – A very strong contender making his first appearance in the Carnival, RO'Z, or Rosey as he was called in the WWE, is the guy I'd pick to make the impact that would change Suzuki being the one who makes the finals. Having already received a Triple Crown shot recently, I feel RO'Z is less likely a candidate for Carnival Champion. His size is a big deal in All Japan and thus will certainly play a role. He will be competitive and a force but will fall short of the finals. Of course his association with Voodoo Murders could change that and make things much more interesting. They are impact players and can make waves to change the face of the Carnival like nobody has before. I'm hoping for VM to make some moves during RO'Z's matches. It'll help spice up the tournament and make for some real entertainment from the best stable in wrestling today.

Satoshi Kojima – Former Triple Crown and IWGP Champion Satoshi Kojima is a tough one to predict going into his sixth appearance in the Champion Carnival. He is clearly part of the future of All Japan, but it seems as though they have taken Kojima everywhere he can go. His overness however is something to behold for somebody his age in this era. If Kojima makes the finals I won't be surprised because he has earned his spot at the top of All Japan. If I were in charge of booking, I would not have him make the finals, but a draw between he and Suzuki keep them both from making it to the finals allowing any of the other three that most coveted spot.

Yoshihiro Tajiri – Oh Tajiri, the guy who I expect to make this tournament interesting. He can still work a hell of a match and being in the same block as Minoru Suzuki and Toshiaki Kawada will make for some truly interesting matches. I don't really know where All Japan plans on taking Tajiri in the future, but I'd hope they would keep using him to his fullest potential. I will be surprised if Tajiri is the winner of Block B, but stranger things have happened. My thinking is that he will become victim to most of the competitors, but will manage to be the guy who puts on the best matches. I'm looking forward to seeing this tournament just for the matches Tajiri will be in.

Toshiaki Kawada – As former Triple Crown Champion, two-time Carnival winner and one of the greatest wrestling talents in the world, Kawada has as good a chance of winning the tournament as anybody. He still has the reputation he had many years ago and is over like nobody's business in All Japan and everywhere else. His loyalty to the company gives him great respect with the fans and the company itself. If they build up something involving Kawada, the fans will come. If Suzuki isn't the guy to win the whole Carnival, Kawada is the guy I want to win it. Why? Because Kawada is the type of guy you want to build your main event scene around. The fans still clamor for him. When Kea announced his first Triple Crown title defense would be against Kawada, the crowd ate it up and it made Kea look that much better. If Kawada wins, we win as we will get Kawada vs. Suzuki sometime down the road and that sounds like a match I want to see, and it would be the perfect match for their big late April show.

Well, there you have it. A look at the 2007 Champion Carnival. It looks to be one of the better Carnivals in a couple years. Once the Carnival is over I am going to take a look at the winner, the losers and what we can expect to see from here. Will it be Minoru Suzuki or will we see somebody getting a shot at his Triple Crown in the upcoming months?

Catching up with Puro!

This is the part of the column where I will recommend a relatively recent puro show (within the last couple years). I realize that this is nothing new, and that I'll be recommending quite a few shows that people have already recommended numerous times throughout the recent history of the beloved/despised IWC. I hope you take my recommendation seriously and hunt down these shows and expose yourself to puro (of course not in the naked way, unless that's your bag) and find out what you're missing. You can typically find most of these shows from anywhere between $3 and $8 USD at a variety of places online. So, here is my first recommendation.

All Japan – Pro Wrestling Love in Ryogoku - 8.27.06

I really enjoyed this show as it was one of the biggest shows All Japan has done in quite some time. What really makes this show special is that it is the retirement match for puroresu legend Hiroshi Hase, and it features the return of Toshiaki Kawada to All Japan. Taiyo Kea had his first Triple Crown defense against Kawada in a very solid and entertaining match. My favorite match on the show however, is the Junior Heavyweight title defense by Shuji Kondo against Kaz Hayashi. If you want to see how two guys are able to excite a crowd with some real fast paced yet quality action, this is a good match to see. It went almost 25 minutes for goodness sake. TNA's X-Division needs to take some notes.

Here's the card:

1. AHII vs. Voodoo Mask
2. Masanobu Fuchi, AKIRA & Ryuji Hijikata vs. Nobutaka Araya, Nobukazu Hirai & Kikutaro
3. RO'Z (WWE's Rosey) vs. Akira Raijin
4. D-Lo Brown, Buchanan & TAKA Michinoku vs. Minoru Suzuki, NOSAWA Rongai & MAZADA
5. Junior Heavyweight Title: Champ Shuji Kondo vs. Kaz Hayashi
6. Great Muta vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri
7. Triple Crown: Champ: Taiyo Kea vs. Toshiaki Kawada
8. Hiroshi Hase, Satoshi Kojima & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. TARU, Suwama & "brother" YASSHI.

Give The Newbie Some Love!

Thanks for reading my spankin' new column. I'd love to hear what you think about what this years Champion Carnival holds and feedback regarding the column is always appreciated. Until next time.