Things are starting to pick up with AJPW 2002. 

Arashi vs Satoshi Kojima (04/01): Fantastic heavyweight battle! Arashi being a super heavyweight is fun. Cozy can basically hit him as hard as he wants. Arashi/Isao Takagi is big enough that he can toss and pummel Cozy with confidence. His sleeper hold looks great & don't forget his awesome frog splash! Exactly what you want in a 13 minute Carnival match. Maybe I'm getting old but, I'm really enjoying these shorter matches... there's no fluff.

Tenryu vs Muto (04/01): Rough around the edges at times but in a good way. Muto bled and Tenryu was in his element - chops, punches and lariats. I am appreciating Muto's explosive offense more than I have in the past. It works here since he's fighting from underneath most of the time. What was also cool is Tenryu wouldn't let Muto capitalize on his dragon screw and kneecap drop kicks. My favorite bit was when he jabbed him in the jaw right when he was going to sink in the Figure Four. Nearly a great match... but at 14 minutes, I think that was their goal. Glad I saw this in full.

Muto vs Kea (04/02): Whoa shown in full & pretty long too! It was pretty good too. The beginning with all the wrestling was excellent stuff. They transitioned into Kea working over Muto's leg the Muto working over Kea's leg. I think Muto could have sold his preexisting damage a little better especially given his tendency to spring up & attack. This honestly is what held it back from being a great match. The finish was nice and played off the parity they were selling. Kea looked really good here by the way.

Kea vs Dr Death (04/03): Another match shown in full!? Sweet! More very good stuff. Doc tricks Kea from the outset and this is on. Solidly paced match with lots of good moves throughout. We even see Doc do some Muto like moves!

Kojima vs Anjo (04/04): Really good match! Another edited one where I can't tell what was cut. Says it's 18 minutes but I saw 12 here. A little bit of dueling legwork. Nice to see Anjo as most of his Carnival matches are clipped to show the last minute or two.

Muto vs Kojima CC (04/10): This isn't the final but it should have been and for my blog, it is the final Champion Carney match...the real final stinks. That said it isn't wrestled like a big time match but is totally unique. Muto's eschews his usual leg attack and instead opts to go after Kojima's arm. Kojima doesn't actually bring too much to the match and it feels a little phoned in...but again the victor has another match this night. 

Kaz Hayashi & Jimmy Yang & Hi69 vs. Kazushi Miyamoto & Gran Naniwa & Ryuji Hijikata (04/13): Don't get me wrong there area few Jr. matches over this period of AJ that make TV. Most don't look worthwhile or shown in full but this one did...and it's probably Kaz Hayashi. And without a doubt the highlight is Kaz vs Gran Naniwa channeling Michinoku Pro '96 for a couple minutes. Jimmy Yang has some cool moves too...and everyone else looks good as well. This was fun!

Arashi & Nobutaka Araya vs. Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura (04/13): Was tempted to skip this for time but so glad I didn't! This was great! This was a tank emptying big time match with mid card guys. This reminded me of something you'd see in IWA Japan. There were some flubs but they make up for it in heart & intensity. I dug this one.

Muto vs Tenryu (04/13): Pretty sure this is shown in full but it's not very long...another masterful AJPW edit? Perhaps... anyhow this isn't pretty but it's scrappy and full of twists. And that is what I want from a Tenryu match and even 2002 Muto as well. I thought this was great because of the twists and the little things they do.

This 04/13 show feels like WAR lives on.

Muto & Shinzaki vs Kojima & Hines (05/01): Muto is doing his monk persona so he and Shinzaki are a really cool looking tag team. Hines and Kojima aren't going to be out done. Hines is wearing Muto's pants and Kojima is the Great Kojika (Muta homage). About half shown...this was a lot of fun.

Arashi, Genichiro Tenryu & Nobutaka Araya vs. Keiji Muto, George Hines, & Kaz Hayashi 
(AJPW TV 05/12): In a bit more fun, Hines & Hayashi are dressed as Muto. Kaz even has his head shaved! Team WAR doesn't give a fat crap! They will beat all of them up! This is a blast. Exactly the fun 11 minute 6 man match you want. Only thing missing is a super crazy Kaz dive but I'm not complaining

Nothing too crazy this time but, a lot of enjoyable wrestling. Both Tenryu vs Muto matches are worth your time. But Arashi & Nobutaka Araya vs. Mitsuya Nagai & Shigeo Okumura (04/13) was probably my favorite match overall. I really enjoy the tone of AJ at this time...it's very much dream booking WAR.

Thanks for reading! Stay safe!