Kaho Kobayashi vs. TAKA Michinoku in Asuka Project on 12/28/15

Event: Asuka Project Taibo Nenkai
Date: December 28th, 2015
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

While it is very rare for me to just review one match from a show, this is a special occasion. Somehow I missed at the time that this match happened, but I try to track down as many of Kaho Kobayashi’s matches as possible. Kaho is one of my favorite Joshi wrestlers, and TAKA Michinoku is a seasoned veteran/owner of K-DOJO that rarely has a bad match. So their pairing was bound to be good. This was actually a pretty big show for Asuka Project as they invaded Korakuen Hall, however they haven’t run a show in awhile (they have one announced for 3/20) and as far as I know Kaho Kobayashi is no longer officially affiliated with them. Still, this should be a fun match.

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Kaho Kobayashi vs. TAKA Michinoku

They feel each other out to start, takedown by Michinoku but Kaho quickly gets out of it. Hammerlock by Kaho but Michinoku locks on a side headlock, which he is forced to release when Kaho gets into the ropes. Kaho goes off the ropes and tries to shoulderblock Michinoku over, she tries a few more times but isn’t able to knock him down. Michinoku responds with his own successful shoulderblock, but Kaho gets up angry and after a few more tries finally knocks Michinoku to the mat. Dropkick by Kaho, she goes for the fisherman suplex but Michinoku blocks it. Michinoku goes for the Just Facelock but Kaho quickly wiggles away, Michinoku then slaps on a chinlock but Kaho gets a break. Back up, headlock by Michinoku and he applies a figure four necklock, but Kaho again gets to the ropes. Michinoku rolls Kaho to the mat and applies a guillotine choke, he tries to stop Kaho from reaching the ropes but she does so anyway. Knee by Michinoku in the corner, Kaho fights back with elbows and hits an enzuigiri before finally knocking over Michinoku with a dropkick.

kahotakaKaho avoids Michinoku in the corner and dropkicks him again, she goes for the fisherman suplex but Michinoku blocks it. Dropkick to the knee by Kaho followed by another to the head, Kaho hits a pair of running sentons but Michinoku kicks out of the cover. Kaho goes for the fisherman again but Michinoku doesn’t budge, elbows by Kaho and she knees Michinoku in the head. Kaho goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Kaho but it gets a two. Elbows by Kaho and she hits a Roaring Elbow, elbow smash by Kaho and she finally hits the fisherman suplex hold, but Michinoku kicks out. Back up, Irish whip by Kaho but Michinoku spins her to the mat, Kaho gets away however and applies La Magistral for two. Kaho goes off the ropes and hits a hurricanrana, she goes for the 120% Schoolboy but Michinoku rolls out of it and knees Kaho in the face. Kaho gets back up and elbows Michinoku, but Michinoku levels her with a superkick. Michinoku puts Kaho in the Just Facelock, Kaho almost makes it to the ropes but Michinoku rolls her back to the middle of the ring and pulls back hard with the Just Facelock. Trapped in the middle of the ring, Kaho has no choice but to submit! TAKA Michinoku wins.

This was a simple match but very well done by a veteran master and one of the best underdogs in Joshi. Michinoku was the driver here (no pun intended) as it was his game – him trying to get Kaho down with a submission but Kaho continuing to get away and using fast paced offense to keep the upperhand. And it worked for awhile, Kaho was able to get out of the early submissions and had a nice run using her feistiness, but once Michinoku took back over the young Kaho was out of chances. A smart and fun match, everything that I was expecting from these two, and while it is not something that would make any MOTYC lists it still is a satisfying match to watch.  Recommended

This was the only Joshi-related match on the show, so no ‘full’ review of the event. As I mentioned, I don’t think Kaho is affiliated with Asuka Project anymore, but smaller promotions like them is why we get fun unique match-ups like this so always support the small indies if you can!