OZ Academy 2016 Year In Review

Promotion Details

Contracted Wrestlers

Other Wrestlers Regularly Used

OZ Academy Openweight Champions

OZ Academy Tag Team Champions

Major Storylines in 2016

Ozaki Army vs. MISSION K4
- The members of the Ozaki Army changed throughout the year, but included at various times: Mayumi Ozaki, Yumi Ohka, Arisa Nakajima, Maya Yukihi, Mika Nishio (manager), Police (manager), and MIO (referee)
- MISSION K4 included: Kaho Kobayashi, Sonoko Kato, AKINO, and Kagetsu (and briefly Dynamite Kansai)
- Ozaki Army was the lead “heel” faction in OZ Academy in 2016, frequently cheating and using weapons to beat their opponents. Most of their matches were no DQ by default, particularly if their referee (Mio Shirai) was in charge.
- The two teams battled throughout the year but nothing was settled as the sides traded victories. The feud often was not the primary focus on any given show, but more in the background as their battles against each other ranged from the mid-card up to the main event.
Sonoko Kato vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto
- Kato and Matsumoto battled for the OZ Academy Openweight Championship twice in 2016 and had a total of seven matches on opposite sides. Hiroyo Matsumoto ultimately won the war as she took the OZ Academy Openweight Championship from Kato on November 13th.

Two Retirements
- Mika Nishio already had taken a role outside of the ring, but she retired for good on March 20th, 2016.
- Dynamite Kansai, a true legend of Joshi, retired on December 11th, 2016.
Hikaru Shida and Syuri dominate the tag division
- After Syuri left REINA in the Spring of 2016, she soon made her home in OZ Academy as she wrestled on almost all of the promotion’s events the rest of the year. As a tag team, they were 8-0 in OZ Academy, with wins over AKINO/Kato, Ozaki/Ohka, Yoneyama/Kuragaki, Kansai/Yamashita, and Matsumoto/Yamashita. They go into 2017 as one of the most dominate tag teams in all of Joshi.

Top Matches of 2016

January 10th – Sonoko Kato vs. Arisa Nakajima
March 20th – Atsushi Kotoge and Maybach Taniguchi vs. Minoru Suzuki and Mitsuhisa Sunabe (Nishio Retirement Match)
March 20th – Sonoko Kato vs. AKINO
April 24th – Sonoko Kato vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto
August 12th – Sonoko Kato vs. Mayumi Ozaki
August 12th – Aja Kong, Amazing Kong, and Ayako Hamada vs. Chihiro Hashimoto, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Rina Yamashita
August 14th – Hikaru Shida and Syuri vs. Mayumi Ozaki and Yumi Ohka
August 21st – Mayumi Ozaki vs. Yumi Ohka
September 11th – Kaori Yoneyama and Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Hikaru Shida and Syuri
September 11th – Sonoko Kato vs. Dynamite Kansai
October 23rd – Hikaru Shida and Syuri vs. Dynamite Kansai and Rina Yamashita
November 13th – Sonoko Kato vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto
December 11th – Dynamite Kansai vs. Mayumi Ozaki (Dynamite Kansai Retirement Match)

Going into 2017…

Kaho Kobayashi is leaving for an extended stay in Mexico, and will no longer be wrestling in OZ Academy for the foreseeable future.
Mission K4 appears to be breaking up with Kaho leaving, as Kagetsu will be teaming with Hiroyo Matsumoto in January for a title challenge and AKINO accepted an offer to join the “Regular Army” in OZ Academy.
The last half of 2016 focused on Dynamite Kansai and her retirement, leading to more interest in the media and larger crowds. OZ Academy will try to maintain that momentum even after Kansai’s retirement, and with Mission K4 no longer a faction it will likely lead to other long-term changes in the promotion.