The True Tall Tales of Talos: A Tournament of Champions

Editor’s Note: Jack Talos first reached out to Slamwrestling.net months ago and informed us he would be doing a tour for the All-Japan Pro Wrestling promotion.

While he and his tag team partner, Ren Ayabe, just went through the 2026 Crockett Cup on April 4th in Forney, TX, this column will focus on the Champion Carnival tournament he went through in All Japan, which took place from April 12th to May 17th, 2026. Per Talos’ request and his increasingly busy schedule, he asked us to proceed with this column, and the upcoming stories with him and Ayabe at The Crockett Cup will run on our website later.

Plus, who are we to argue with a seven-foot giant?

By Jack Talos – For Slam! Wrestling

In All Japan Pro Wrestling, there are more than a few tournaments held throughout the year. There’s the World’s Strongest Tag Determination League (which yours truly, alongside Ayabe, won this year), the King’s Road Tournament, the Junior Heavyweight Tournament, and more. But above all sits one tournament bigger, more demanding, and more prestigious than the rest: Champion Carnival.

The tournament began in 1973, just six months after the founding of All Japan Pro Wrestling itself, created by Giant Baba as the spiritual successor to the World League Tournament held by the old JWA (Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance). Since then, Champion Carnival has become one of the most respected tournaments in all of professional wrestling.

The format is simple in theory and brutal in execution. Competitors are split into two round-robin blocks made up of some of the best wrestlers in the world. The winners of each block then face off in the tournament finals to determine the overall winner.

Simple enough, right?

Except this tournament has a habit of bringing out either the very best or the very worst in people. The pressure is unreal. Underdogs suddenly become killers. Champions get upset. Bodies break down. Momentum swings overnight. One bad loss can sink an entire run, while one upset can completely change a career.

Past winners include names like Giant Baba, Abdullah the Butcher, Toshiaki Kawada, Vader, Keiji Muto, Suwama, and countless other legends and future Hall of Famers. So, when I say this tournament carries history behind it, understand that’s putting it lightly.

This year’s tournament kicked off on April 12th in the world-famous Korakuen Hall and featured competitors like Kento Miyahara, Hideki Suzuki, Xyon Quinn, and many more. As for me, I found myself placed in the ‘A’ Block alongside Go Shiozaki, Rei Saito, Kento Miyahara, Yuma Anzai, Kuma Arashi, Kengo Mashimo, and Oddyssey.

Now, as always, we’re not going to have a complete move-by-move breakdown of every match. The best way to experience these fights is to watch them yourself. But I’ll give you the road from my perspective.

(Editor’s Note: For those of you curious about seeing these matches, go to ajpw.tv and subscribe for ¥900 yen/month [which is about $5.66 USD/month])

My opening match was against the wily veteran Kengo Mashimo, a man I’m very familiar with through the tag circuit. Mashimo is one of those dangerous technicians who never seems rushed and never wastes movement. Every strike, every hold, every adjustment means something. Unfortunately for me, that night, his entire strategy centered around destroying my legs. No matter how hard I hit him, he kept coming back to them over and over until eventually he managed to catch me with a roll-up and steal the victory in the opening round.

Not exactly the start I wanted.

Next came Osaka and former Triple Crown Champion, Go Shiozaki.

Now let me tell you something about Go. For a man his size, he hits like a freight train. Every chop feels like somebody slamming a car door against your chest. Worse yet, he’s fearless. He had absolutely no issue standing in the middle of that ring, trading blows with me shot for shot.

But the thing about fights is sometimes all it takes is one opening.

And one chokeslam ends a whole lot of problems.

That night, it ended his.

My next stop was Saitama against Rei Saito, one-half of the Saito Brothers and one of mine and Ayabe’s biggest rivals in the tag division. Exactly like everybody expected, this match turned into a straight-up heavyweight collision. Every shot sounded like thunder bouncing off the walls of the building. We beat the hell out of each other.

Unfortunately for me, after a crossbody exchange, Rei managed to catch me with a palm strike directly to the throat and secured the three-count.

My second loss of the tournament.

And of course, it had to come at the hands of one of the Saito brothers. Ayabe is never going to let me live that down.

After that came the match I had circled from the moment the blocks were announced: Kento Miyahara.

The Triple Crown Champion himself.

Readers might remember that Kento defeated me around New Year’s to retain the championship. This was my chance at revenge and a chance to prove I belonged at that level. And in Sanjo City, the hometown of Giant Baba himself, I finally got that revenge.

The match mirrored our earlier war in many ways, except this time I found the opening first. One chokeslam. Ride the Lightning, Daddy. One. Two. Three.

Even without the championship on the line, this was one of the matches I cared about most in the entire tournament.

After that, I faced the young ace-in-waiting, Yuma Anzai.

Yuma is different from Kento. Younger. Faster. More explosive. But he has that same stubborn instinct to survive no matter what you throw at him. At one point, I launched him outside the ring with a gorilla press, and he rolled his ankle badly, but somehow the kid kept fighting.

Eventually, he managed to land a knee strike that stunned me just long enough to steal another roll-up victory.

That loss stung.

From there, I faced someone I know all too well: Oddyssey.

One half of HAVOC, the former tag team champions alongside Xyon Quinn, who we had beaten back in January for the tag team tournament and later for the championships.

I knew going in this was going to be one of those “big meaty men slapping meat” kinds of fights, and sure enough, it was exactly that. We beat each other all over the building. Eventually, he attempted a crossbody from the turnbuckle, and I caught him in midair before planting him with a slam and following it up with another chokeslam for the victory.

Six points.

Despite the rocky start, I was suddenly right back in the hunt.

My final block match came against my former Hokuto-gun teammate, Kuma Arashi.

Kuma is exactly what his name suggests: a bear. The man is ridiculously strong and more than capable of throwing just about anybody into that torture rack. He’s also crazy enough to launch himself around like a cruiserweight despite weighing as much as he does.

In the end, though, his aggression cost him. He launched himself from the turnbuckle, trying to crush me, but I rolled away and capitalized immediately to secure the win.

Eight points.

That was enough to force a playoff scenario between me, Go Shiozaki, Rei Saito, and Kengo Mashimo to determine the winner of ‘A’ Block.

Fate decided I would once again face the one man out of those three I had already defeated: Go Shiozaki.

So later that same night, we fought again.

This time, my strategy was simple. Earlier in the tournament, Go had injured his ribs, and I intended to target them relentlessly. And I did. But Shiozaki fought like a man possessed. No matter how much punishment I threw at him, he kept standing back up.

And worse yet… he kept throwing that damn lariat.

Eventually, he landed one too many.

Next thing I knew, I was being helped from the ring while the crowd chanted his name.

That’s where my Champion Carnival ended.

At the time, I felt frustration, disappointment, anger… all the usual things that come with realizing how close you were to something huge. But sitting here now writing this, I can honestly say I’m proud of the run I had.

I fought former world champions. I beat the Triple Crown Champion. I pushed one of the greatest tournaments in wrestling to the limit.

And most importantly, I got to be part of its history.

For that, I’m grateful.

Go Shiozaki would go on to defeat Rei Saito to secure his place in the tournament finals before facing the winner of ‘B’ Block, Hideki Suzuki. The two battled for over twenty minutes before Go’s body finally gave out, and Suzuki secured the victory, becoming the winner of the 49th Champion Carnival and earning himself a shot at the Triple Crown Championship.

As for me?

Next year I’ll come back bigger, smarter, stronger, and ready to win the whole damn thing.