Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Do That VOODOO-MURDERS That You Do So Well

Satoshi Kojima VS Hiroshi Tanahashi - AJPW Champion Carnival 4/9/2008

JJZ: Man. When I hear Champion Carnival I think of Kawada, Misawa, Kobashi, Stan Hansen, Akiyama. I think All Japan Pro Wrestling. So when I saw this match and saw that it had two NJPW stars (even though Kojima had moved on to AJPW) it really caught my attention. This match is so story driven in more ways than one. You got the arm work that factored in till the very end. You had the fact that Tanahashi was the natural heel as the invading wrestler BUT Kojima was the company heel so you had a bunch of dirty deeds going on. Also Tanahashi in a way was one of Kojima's replacements so to speak in NJPW as a top guy and he was coming into Kojima's new home to take over that shit also. But Kojima said I don't think so and sacrificed his own arm, like a gentleman, for the greater good of the company. Wild ass match, hope you get a kick out of this like I did.

CJD: Wow, I totally missed that Kojima was in Voodoo Murders at some point?? I was confused by this because I have seen a bit of Tana in this CC and I remember him being a spectacular invading prick. So I was thrown off when this was all heel VS heel, at times with a little "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" with the crowd picking sides back and forth, but I totally dug what they were laying down and was along for the ride by the end. And so was that crowd because they were red fucking hot for that finish. I think this match had the most low blows of any Japanese match I've ever seen. I'd argue that even though Kojima had some success in NJPW that due to his Triple Crown legacy and rivalries with Tenryu and Kawada he's seen as much more of an AJPW guy. But I get what you're saying that there's different layers to the dynamic between these two here. I really need to watch everything on tape from this Champion Carnival because it seems like it was a rip roaring good time. Loved watching Kojima work heel and yet another gem in the all-timer career Tanahashi has to his name.

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