ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING
DREAM POWER SERIES 2021
MARCH 6, 2021
SHIN-KIBA 1ST RING
TOKYO, JAPAN

Watch: AJPW.TV

RISING HAYATO DEF. FRANCESCO AKIRA (7:14)

This started with some fun grappling and chain wrestling. Both wrestlers would have a pretty equal amount of control time in this match. The finishing stretch saw both guys getting in a bunch of cradle attempts but HAYATO came out on top with a slightly sloppy looking Victory Roll for the win. This was a good opener and the kind of match you want to put out there first to warm up the crowd. ***1/4

TAKAO OMORI & BLACK MENSO~RE DEF. YOSHITATSU & RYUKI HONDA (8:37)

For two older guys, Omori and Yoshitatsu have decent chemistry. They had a decent opening and from there the match settled into an extended period of Honda versus Menso~re. After a brief Yoshitatsu versus Menso~re sequence, it came down to Honda and Omori. Honda managed to survive some double team moves but eventually Omori pinned him after an Axe Bomber. This was decent. Despite the look of this match on paper, Omori and Menso~re are an underrated tag team that often deliver. ***

SHUJI ISHIKAWA DEF. KUMA ARASHI (8:42)

Arashi was wearing new gear with a logo that said “Total Eclipse.” That may be the name of Jake Lee’s new unit. This match spilled to the outside almost immediately which allowed Arashi a chance to do a little cheating and gain control. Back in the ring, Arashi slowly worked over Ishikawa for a bit, but managed to put Ishikawa in an Argentine Backbreaker which was a cool visual. They did some more back-and-forth stuff, but Arashi gained the advantage and got a couple of near falls on Ishikawa. Ishikawa intercepted a top-rope Senton attempt from Arashi by hitting an impressive looking Superplex. Soon after that, Ishikawa hit a Thesz Press for the win. After the match, Arashi attacked Ishikawa until the ring attendants broke it up. This match was slow but had a couple of cool looking spots given the size of the competitors. But this match also demonstrated why I won’t really be missing Arashi in the Champion Carnival. He’s great in tag matches but his singles matches are often lacking, though not horrible. **3/4

PURPLE HAZE (ZEUS, SHIGEHIRO IRIE & IZANAGI) DEF. NEXTREAM (KENTO MIYAHARA, YUMA AOYAGI & ATSUKI AOYAGI) (12:31)

Yuma Aoyagi and Zeus demonstrated that they don’t like each other with lots of slapping each other to open the match. At one point Atsuki Aoyagi, while the legal man, attacked Zeus who was standing on the ring apron. This also caused the elder Aoyagi to run into the ring and referee Nikkan Lee temporarily lost control of the match. I really dug this attempt to try to turn the upcoming Nextream versus Purple Haze matches for the World Tag and All Asia Tag championships into a blood feud. Irie and Miyahara had some good sequences against each other as well. Surprisingly, Izanagi didn’t stand out here, though he often does, his role here was basically taking high flying moves from Atsuki Aoyagi. There were little things in this match to help build up the feud, like Miyahara kicking Zeus in the face just to break up a pin attempt. The match came down to Yuma Aoyagi and Zeus. Zeus brutalized Yuma with chops and multiple stiff looking lariats. Zeus pinned Yuma after the fourth big lariat. Those lariats looked painful as hell. This was really good and helped to give Nextream versus Purple Haze some real juice. Irie & Zeus challenging for the World Tag Championship later on this tour on 3/14 was a match that was just announced with no build, but now we have one. There was some brawling after the match between Nextream and Purple Haze after the match and Zeus attacked Yuma with a chair. ***1/2

5 VS. 5 ELIMINATION MATCH
TOTAL ECLIPSE (JAKE LEE, KOJI DOI, YUSUKE KODAMA, TAJIRI & HOKUTO OMORI) DEF. SUWAMA, SHOTARO ASHINO, KOJI IWAMOTO, HIKARU SATO & DAN TAMURA (29:48)

Total Eclipse had a cool entrance where they individually entered, and stood on the ramp until they all came out. Every member has new gear too with a black and silver motif. Lee now has black long tights, channeling his inner Masahiro Chono. Match began with lots of tags in and out, also establishing all of the individual feuds in this angle like Lee versus SUWAMA and Omori versus Tamura. And all of the old Enfants Terribles members also made sure to gang up on Ashino when he was in the ring. Ashino’s stomach and lower back was all taped up which would play into things later. While I appreciated the storytelling, it did make the first few minutes of this match somewhat slow. Tamura was the first eliminated after being pinned by Lee. It was around this point that business began to pick up. TAJRI was eliminated second after Ashino made him tap to the Ankle Lock. Get that deadweight out of there early. After TAJIRI’s elimination, Total Eclipse worked over Ashino’s midsection for quite a while. Sato was eliminated third after a Lariat from Doi. Doi and Sato also had some good chemistry with each other which is something I had not noticed before. Doi and SUWAMA, the fourth and fifth eliminations were eliminated at the same time by Lee who knocked them off the apron after they had both gone over the top rope to fight on it. Total Eclipse may have sacrificed one of their own men, but they retained the numerical advantage. The sixth elimination was Omori who tapped out to Ashino’s Ankle Lock. It was now down to Ashino and Iwamoto versus Lee and Kodama. Iwamoto went hard on Lee and really got to shine. Total Eclipse battled back and Lee threw Iwamoto over the top rope for the seventh elimination. Kodama and Lee brutalized Ashino for a bit then Lee hit a brutal looking running knee to the back of Ashino’s head for the pin and victory for Total Eclipse. After the match, both teams got back into the ring and brawled.

This was not a flashy elimination match full of fast action and big spots and it started a bit slow. But from a storytelling standpoint, it hit a home run. Lee was great as a stoic heel, Ashino played the ultimate babyface in peril and the match set up all sorts of future singles feuds. Total Eclipse is looking to be the real deal folks. While someone who doesn’t follow All Japan closely might not get much out of this, devoted All Japan fans will love this match. ****

FINAL THOUGHTS

This was great for a Shin-Kiba 1st Ring show. The undercard was solid and the main event delivered. The story telling in the semi-main and main event were great and gave me the most excitement I’ve had for All Japan in a long time. All of the remaining Total Eclipse tag matches on this tour should also be great. If you tuned out of All Japan after a disappointing and frustrating second half of 2020, now is the time to at least give the Total Eclipse stable and angle a chance.