[2003-04-11-AJPW-Champion Carnival] Carl Contini vs Jimmy Yang

[Ma Stump Puller]

So yeah this is from Carl Greco's random AJPW Jr heavyweight run as apart of the Junior Champion Carnival, which (spoilers for a 20 year old event!) Carl will win, because he kicks ass. This is more of a novelty match, because Yang/Greco is such a random pairing that you've never thought about before somehow also really want to see, somehow? That was the case for me, anyway. Shame the matches he had with Hamada/Naniwa weren't aired because those were also interesting matches on paper. 

Anyway, this was a sprint: Greco works some hard kicks and knees to start off, hurling around Yang both in and outside the ring as they hit a big clothesline dive to the outside before Yang takes a big running chair bump as he flies into the crowd in a pretty wild bit. Greco takes some wild bumps over the barricade as Yang also throws him around as well, which was just surreal to see. In-ring we get some frantic stuff as Yang goes for flips and big spots while Greco sticks to submissions wrangling and knee shots whenever he can, leading to a really cool mix of Yang's wacky spots with the shoot-guy working for small pockets to grab arms and legs. It's a bit too short however as Yang misses a Whisper in the Wind and gets countered into a smooth Carl Shackle for the shock win. As stated, this is REALLY short and could've needed with a few more minutes to make it a proper good match. Yang is sloppy in places and isn't always on the mark but he's fine in throwing himself around the place, something which he'll pay for in the future with a ton of injuries and a transition to a less intensive style down the line. Greco was the real highlight here, mixing in big knee shots and explosive work alongside some good submissions. The only issue is how short this is but the frantic energy helps this stand out far more than the "big epic" bloated NJPW 30+ minute style, honestly Jr superstar Carl Greco in a alt timeline is one of the greatest missed opportunities in AJPW history, easily. Dude might have been busy with PRIDE/MMA but he looked like a absolute killer here. Very fun for a quick watch.