Event: All Japan "New Year Shining Series 2010"
Location: Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Announced Attendance: 2,000

This is a 2 out of 3 Falls Match.

First Fall: Suwama and Kojima start things off, tie-up, Suwama pushes Kojima into the ropes but he gives a clean break. They circle each other, tie-up, side headlock by Kojima, Suwama Irish whips out of it but they collide with no result. Kojima goes off the ropes but he can't knock Suwama down, Suwama goes off the ropes but Kojima manages to shoulderblock him to the mat. They trade blows, and Kojima delivers a DDT. Kojima picks up Suwama and tags in Nishimura. Tie-up, Nishimura pushes Suwama back and Soya tags himself in. Soya pushes Nishimura back into the corner and chops him in the chest. Elbows by Soya and he kicks Nishimura in the midsection. Nishimura reverses positions with him however and hits a pair of uppercuts, but Soya grabs Nishimura and puts him in a choke. Nishimura tosses Soya out of the ring and joins him, he goes to throw Soya into the railing but Soya reverses it and Nishimura goes into the steel instead. Soya pounds on Nishimura around the ringside area, but Nishimura comes back with an uppercut. Soya throws Nishimura back into the ring and kicks Nishimura while he is on the mat. Soya tags in Hama, and Hama clubs Nishimura in the back. Another club to the back by Hama, cover, but it gets a two count. Nishimura hits a series of uppercuts to regain the advantage and tries punching Hama in the stomach, but it has no effect and Hama sumo slaps Nishimura into the opposite corner. Irish whip by Hama but Nishimura avoids the charge and hits an enzigieri followed by a backslide for a two count. Nishimura tags in Akebono, Akebono and Hama collide but neither man goes down. Hama goes off the ropes with the same result, but Akebono finally shoulderblocks Hama to the mat. Elbow drop by Akebono and he gets a two count cover. Hama rolls out of the ring to re-group but Akebono follows him out, with Akebono throwing Hama into the ring post. Akebono puts Hama against the post but Hama moves when Akebono charges in. Hama slides Akebono back into the ring, clubbing blows by Hama but Akebono connects with a hard slap, sending Hama to the mat. Akebono tags in Funaki while Hama tags in Kono. Funaki and Kono circle each other, Kono goes for a takedown but Funaki blocks it. They jockey for position but neither wrestler can get a clear advantage. Back up, tie-up, Kono pushes Funaki into the ropes and slaps Funaki in the face as he backs off. Knees by Funaki, Kono tries to return the favor but Funaki takes him to the mat and punches Kono in the head. Back up, Irish whip by Funaki, reversed, and Kono delivers the jumping knee. Kono tags in Sanada, kicks by Sanada, Irish whip, and he hits a back elbow followed by a standing moonsault for a two count. Elbows by Sanada but Funaki slaps him back. Funaki tags in Mutoh, cover by Mutoh but it gets a two count. Mutoh picks up Sanada, snapmare, and Mutoh nails the Flash Elbow. Mutoh yanks back on Sanada's leg before applying the STF. Sanada manages to get to the ropes to force a break, Irish whip by Mutoh and he applies a sleeperhold. He reverts it into a side headlock but Soya breaks it up. Mutoh tags in Nishimura, Nishimura picks up Sanada and hits a drop toehold. Nishimura starts working on Sanada's leg, he picks up Sanada and slams him to the mat. Nishimura goes up to the top turnbuckle and goes for a diving kneedrop, but Sanada moves out of the way. They trade inside cradles, with Sanada picking up the surprise pinfall! Winners of the first fall: Suwama, Masayuki Kono, Ryota Hama, Seiya Sanada, and Manabu Soya

Second Fall: Sanada and Nishimura are still the legal men. Sanada pushes Nishimura into the corner and tags in Soya. Soya stomps on Nishimura, snapmare, and Soya applies a sleeperhold. Irish whip by Soya into the corner and he hits a back elbow. Another Irish whip and this time he hits a lariat, cover, but it gets a two count. Soya picks up Nishimura and drops him with a deadlift vertical suplex. Cover, but Nishimura gets a shoulder up. Soya waits for Nishimura to get up, he goes off the ropes but Nishimura ducks the lariat attempt and applies a sleeperhold. Cover by Nishimura but it only gets two. Nishimura picks up Soya and tags in Kojima, Kojima throws Soya into the corner and hits his rapid fire chops. Irish whip by Kojima, jumping elbow, snapmare, and he hits the top rope elbow drop. Cover, but it only gets two. Kojima picks up Soya but Soya chops him and the two trade blows. Roaring Elbow by Kojima, he goes off the ropes but Soya catches him with a powerslam. All of Soya's teammates run in to clear out the old guy team, while Soya hits a series of lariats onto Kojima. Cover, but Kojima barely gets a shoulder up. Soya goes off the ropes but Kojima catches him with a lariat, cover, and he picks up the three count. Winners of the second fall: Keiji Mutoh, Satoshi Kojima, Funaki, Akebono, and Nishimura

Third Fall: The referee clears the ring so that the next fall can start, with Kojima kicking on Soya. Kojima stomps Soya in the head before throwing him into the corner and tagging in Mutoh. Kicks by Mutoh and he throws Soya into the corner. Shoulder tackles by Mutoh, snapmare, and he applies a Scorpion Deathlock. Soya gets out of it but Mutoh keeps working on his legs before tagging in Funaki. Funaki picks up Soya, Irish whip, and Funaki kicks Soya in the leg. Funaki applies a cross kneelock but Soya quickly gets to the ropes. Kicks to the knee by Funaki and he applies another leg lock while chopping Soya in the chest. Funaki picks up Soya, Irish whip, but Soya delivers a diving lariat and tags in Suwama. Suwama picks up Funaki, Irish whip from the corner and Suwama hits a lariat. Belly to belly suplex by Suwama, cover, but it gets a two count. Suwama picks up Funaki, he picks him up and hits a running powerslam. Cover, but again it gets two. Suwama tags in Kono, they pick up Funaki, double Irish whip and they deliver a double shoulderblock. Cover by Kono but Funaki kicks out. Kono picks up Funaki and hits a backdrop suplex, another cover, but it is another two count. Kicks up Kono, he picks up Funaki, Irish whip, and Kono nails the jumping knee. Cover, but Funaki barely kicks out. Back up, Kono goes off the ropes but Funaki catches him with an Abisegeri and tags in Mutoh. Dropkicks to the knee by Mutoh, all of Kono's teammates run in but they all get Dragon Screw Leg Whips, with Kono getting one as well. Mutoh slaps on the Figure Four while the rest of the old guys hold down the young guys in submission holds in the ring. Sanada finally manages to break it up, Mutoh and Kono slowly get up but Kono catches Mutoh with a dropkick and tags in Hama. Hama picks up Mutoh and throws him back into the corner, Irish whip by Hama and he squishes Mutoh in the corner. Irish whip again and again Hama hits a running body press. Suwama joins him as does Kono, Suwama throws Mutoh into the corner and all five of his opponents hit running strikes in the corner. Suwama hits a belly to belly suplex, then Hama delivers an elbow drop for a two count. Hama picks up Mutoh, headbutt by Hama, Irish whip, but Mutoh rolls out of the way and dropkicks Hama to the mat. Mutoh tags in Akebono, Akebono picks up Hama, Irish whip by Akebono to the corner and he hits a running body press. He goes for a second one but Hama moves out of the way and rams Akebono into the corner. Running butt smash by Hama, he picks up Akebono and goes off the ropes, but Akebono catches him with a lariat. Akebono tags in Kojima, and Kojima drops Hama with a Koji Cutter (funny moment: when Akebono stumbles into the ropes to tag in Kojima, he actually accidentally knocks Kojima off the apron, so Kojima has to regain his composure before Akebono can tag him in). Akebono comes back in the ring, double Irish whip to Hama and they hit running strikes in the corner. Nishimura comes in to his an enzigieri and Funaki adds in a kick of his own. Shining Wizard by Mutoh, Kojima waits for Hama to get up and nails him with a lariat. Cover, but Suwama barely breaks it up in time. They leads to a bit of a melee as one would imagine, with Kono and Suwama double teaming Kojima. Kojima goes off the ropes to lariat Suwama but Suwama moves, allowing Kono to grab Kojima and chokeslam him to the mat. Suwama picks up Kojima and slams him with the Last Ride, Hama follows with a body press, cover, but Akebono breaks it up. Hama takes off his strap as he means business, he picks up Kojima and nails the Ryota Hammer. Cover, and he picks up the three count! Your winners of the third fall and the match: Suwama, Masayuki Kono, Ryota Hama, Seiya Sanada, and Manabu Soya

Match Thoughts: A really fun multi-man match that allowed everyone an opportunity to shine while putting over the "young guard" as catching up to the old guard. Aside from a little blip here and there, the match flowed well and the time flew by as there was always something going on. The match was worked really smart as they didn't blow any big moves early, but slowly built up to the ending with Kojima taking perhaps the "best" move that his opponents had to offer to finish the nearly 30 minute match. Kono and Suwama in particular I thought came out looking beast, particularly with Kono's chokeslam onto Kojima. Just an old-fashioned fun match, and matches like these are why I have some faith in All Japan's roster going forward. Score: 8.0

Back to Match Reviews