All Japan Pro Wrestling completed its Champion Carnival tournament on Monday with the final between Kento Miyahara and Zeus from Korakuen Hall.
The three-week annual tournament began last month with ten participants spread out over the two blocks.
Zeus won the A Block, finishing with eight points ahead of Jake Lee, Kuma Arashi, Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio, and Triple Crown holder SUWAMA. The key match of the round-robin stage was on September 21st when Zeus defeated SUWAMA with the Facelock after a referee’s stoppage.
In the B Block, Miyahara bested Shuji Ishikawa, Shotaro Ashino, Yuma Aoyagi, and Yoshitatsu to advance to the final to attempt to win back-to-back Carnivals.
Early in the match, Miyahara was driven into the post and dropped on the guardrail before responding with headbutts to Zeus. Miyahara proceeded to choke Zeus by placing his throat on the turnbuckle.
In a big moment of the match, Zeus countered and hit an Air Raid Crash on the edge of the apron that Miyahara sold effectively holding his back in pain.
Zeus showcased a lot of fire and dipping outside his arsenal to present a well-rounded offensive display. Zeus utilized the Facelock that he’s been using but it didn’t play a significant portion in the match.
Zeus was hit with several Blackouts and after a Herculean effort by Miyahara for the Shutdown German, Zeus blocked the maneuver and countered with a lariat and the jackhammer to win the match in 31 minutes and 5 seconds.
It was an excellent main event and one of Zeus’ best matches ever.
The 38-year old wins his first Champion Carnival and sets the stage for a Triple Crown match with SUWAMA.
Afterward, the two shook hands and displayed mutual respect after the strong main event performance from each.
All Japan’s next major show is at the smaller Edion Arena on Saturday, October 17th and they return to Korakuen Hall the following week on October 24th.
