Sendai Girls’ on 2/28/16 Review

Event: Sendai Girls’ 
Date: February 28th, 2016
Location: Miyagino Ward Cultural Center in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Announced Attendance: 300

After the excitement of the SEAdLINNNG show, this one will be a bit more mellow. No title matches here, nothing controversial, just a standard show from Sendai Girls’ today. That doesn’t mean we won’t get some good matches, as all the rookies are here and we get the veterans KAORU and Chisako in the main event. Here is the full card:

As always, click on the names above to go straight to the wrestler’s profile on the website. The matches generally got enough time to do something memorable, lets see if there are any hidden gems here.

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Alex Lee and Mika Iwata vs. Meiko Tanaka and Sareee

Tanaka and Sareee’s conquest of other promotions continues, as the young Diana pair stop by Sendai Girls’ for a match. Their opponents are an odd combination, as Iwata is a Sendai Girls’ rookie while Lee is a Freelancer that seems to be on every show that I watch. Tanaka and Sareee have been having success the last few months teaming together, but Lee has been wrestling the longest which does give her a slight advantage.

Tanaka and Iwata kick things off, they trade hard elbows until Tanaka shoulderblocks Iwata and tags Sareee. Dropkick by Sareee but Iwata returns the favor, Lee comes in and together they superkick Sareee. Sareee comes back with a slam and  a dropkick, giving her time to tag in Tanaka, and Tanaka takes Iwata to the mat. Stomps by Tanaka and she tags Sareee, Sareee stomps down Iwata and throws her down by her hair. Dropkick by Iwata and she finally tags in Lee, kicks by Lee and she delivers a knee in the corner. Suplex by Lee but Sareee hits a dropkick, Tanaka runs in and they take turns attacking Lee. Sareee tags Tanaka in, hard shoulderblock by Tanaka and she headbutts Lee. Big spear by Tanaka but Lee catches her with a superkick, kick to the head be Lee and she covers Tanaka for two. Lee gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, she tags in Iwata and Iwata hits a series of dropkicks on Tanaka. Iwata kicks Tanaka into the corner but Tanaka picks up Iwata and drives her into the corner.

kickRunning shoulder tackle by Tanaka, she picks up Iwata but Iwata sneaks in an inside cradle for two. Tanaka makes her pay for it with a spear, she tags in Sareee and Sareee dropkicks Iwata three times. Iwata goes up top but Lee grabs her, Iwata recovers and throws Sareee to the mat. Dropkick by Iwata and she covers Sareee for two. Sareee and Iwata trade elbows, Irish whip by Sareee but Iwata rolls her up for two. Enzuigiri by Iwata, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody. Vertical suplex by Iwata, she goes off the ropes but Tanaka runs in and spears her. Dropkick in the ropes by Sareee, then both she and Tanaka dropkick Iwata from the apron. They get on different corners and both hit missile dropkicks, she covers Iwata but Lee breaks it up. Fisherman suplex hold by Sareee, but Iwata gets a shoulder up. Lee runs in and kicks Sareee in the head, kick by Iwata and she goes off the ropes, but Sareee catches her with a German suplex hold for the three count! Sareee and Tanaka win the match.

Not as smooth as I was hoping for but still some solid action. Iwata and Sareee both really stood out here (Iwata by design since Lee wasn’t in the match much) when they were both in the ring the exchanges were great. Other times however they didn’t seem to be on the same page, not all the moves were hit crisply and there was a bit of dead time in the match. Good here and there, but overall a bit disappointing.


Cassandra Miyagi vs. Rabbit Miyu

I call Miyagi a rookie even though she technically isn’t, because she has been wrestling under this gimmick for less than a year. So she is rookie-esque. Miyu is only 20 years old so is younger than Miyagi, but she has been wrestling for JWP for almost five years so she has the experience edge on the Sendai Girls’ youngster.

sendai2.28-2I like Miu’s new ring gear, looks more grown up, she is really short but at least she looks like a more serious wrestler. Miyagi gets the early advantage with a shoulderblock but Miu comes back with a dropkick. Miyu charges Miyagi, Miyagi holds down the top rope so Miu tumbles out of the ring but Miu doesn’t make it (she is really short) so Miyagi throws her out anyway. Miu regains the advantage out on the floor and hits Miyagi with a water bottle, scoop slam by Miyagi and she throws Miu into the crowd. They finally return to the ring, elbow by Miyagi and she hits a face crusher for a two count. Dropkicks by Miyagi and she hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Miu elbows Miyagi away and they trade shots, hard elbows by Miu but Miyagi blocks the suplex. Tornado DDT by Miu and she finally hits a suplex for a two count. Miu goes off the ropes but Miyagi catches her with the airplane spin. Miyagi goes up top and hits a missile dropkick and she hits an atomic drop, picking up two. Miu blocks the suplex attempt and rolls up Miyagi for two, Stunner by Miu and she hits a running elbow for a two count. Crossface by Miu but Miyagi gets a foot on the ropes, she hits a running boot and a sliding elbow strike for another two.  La Rabitstral by Miu, and she gets the three count! Miu is your winner.

The issue with Miyagi is that she still has a ways to go in-ring as she still seems a bit awkward and unsure of herself. The gimmick itself is good, we need more crazy wrestlers in the world, but her actual wrestling isn’t at a high enough level to compete against the bigger stars in the promotion. Miu isn’t the type of wrestler to rescue another wrestler that is struggling, she is a solid hand but at this stage that is about it. So they worked the match smartly, keeping it under ten minutes and having some outside the ring action to kill time, but once they were exchanging blows in the ring the match suffered a bit. Not an unwatchable match but just pedestrian and with some rougher spots, Miyagi is still young but isn’t quite there yet.

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Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Chikayo Nagashima

While Miyagi was up against a smaller wrestler with only a few years more experience than her, the rookie Hashimoto is facing a 20 year veteran in Chikayo Nagashima. Hashimoto has perhaps shown the most potential in Sendai Girls’ as she has a strong amateur wrestling background which can translate well to professional wrestling with the right training. Nagashima was an Oz Academy wrestler for the bulk of her career, but resigned from the promotion in August to become a Freelancer.

Nagashima quickly goes on the offense and throws down the rookie by her hair, Nagashima slams Hashimoto to the mat and puts her in a camel clutch while raking her face. Hashimoto gets out of it and hits a fireman’s carry takeover, she goes for Nagashima’s arm but she blocks the hold. Scoop slam by Hashimoto and she returns the favor with a camel clutch, eye rake by Nagashima but Hashimoto knocks her into the corner. Hip attacks by Hashimoto but Nagashima boots her back and hits a face crusher. Dropkick by Nagashima and she boots Hashimoto out of the ring before throwing her into the crowd. After battling outside the ring they return, Nagashima gets a chair and hits Hashimoto with it a few times. Nagashima sits Hashimoto in the chair and hits a big boot, she hits another one but Hashimoto fires back with elbows. Hip attack by Hashimoto and she hits a couple more, cover by Hashimoto but it gets a two count.

sendai2.28-3Headscissors by Nagashima and she dropkicks Hashimoto, she gets the chair again but Hashimoto kicks it out of her hand and hits a hard elbow. Somersault senton by Hashimoto and she puts Nagashima in a crab hold, but Nagashima gets into the ropes. Hashimoto picks up Nagashima but Nagashima elbows her and hits a Stunner. Nagashima gets the chair and boots it into Hashimoto, she goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick. German suplex hold by Nagashima, but Hashimoto gets a shoulder up. Hashimoto and Nagashima exchange elbows, Nagashima gets the triangle choke applied and then puts Hashimoto in a short armbar, but Hashimoto gets into the ropes. Boot by Nagashima but Hashimoto ducks the next one and suplexes Nagashima, she picks her up but Nagashima hits a sunset flip. Nagashima gets the armbar re-applied but Hashimoto gets out of it. Uranage by Nagashima, but Hashimoto barely kicks out of the cover. Nagashima goes off the ropes but Hashimoto catches her with a bodyslam, Nagashima comes back with a big boot and she goes up to the top turnbuckle, and she hits a missile dropkick. She goes for a cover but the bell rings as the time limit as expired. The match is a Draw.

I talk up the rookies of Sendai Girls’ on a pretty regular basis but they aren’t doing them a lot of favors on this show. Hashimoto’s impressive features are her strength and her wrestling, but she did little either here as this was a “Nagashima” style of match. Which meant mostly brawling, some weapons, and generally very little structure to speak of. I never got the sense that either were ever on the brink of winning, yes they hit some of their bigger moves but neither got more than a couple in a row before the other was back in control. No doubt a good match for Hashimoto’s experience, wrestling different type of matches is a good thing, but just watching it today it wasn’t much better than average.

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Meiko Satomura vs. Rydeen Hagane

This may be the most bizarre match on the card, which is saying a lot. Hagane is a 23 year old wrestler from JWP, and this is her first match in Sendai Girls’ since early 2015. Satomura is the owner and biggest star of Sendai Girls’, a 20 year veteran and one of the top Joshi wrestlers in Japan. What brought these two together I have no idea, but we end up with veteran ace Satomura vs. JWP young wrestler Hagane.

They start slow as they lock knuckles and go to the mat, Satomura works the headlock but Hagane Irish whips out of it. Shoulderblock by Hagane and she applies a chinlock, but Satomura gets out of it and works on Hagane’s leg. Hagane gets out of it and slams Satomura to the mat before applying a chinlock, Satomura breaks the hold and elbows Hagane against the ropes. Satomura throws Hagane in the corner and hits a jumping elbow, rebound elbow strike by Satomura and she covers Hagane for two. Kicks by Satomura and she elbows Hagane to the mat, she goes off the ropes but Hagane catches her with a powerslam. Hagane puts Satomura in the corner and hits a body avalanche, lariats by Hagane and she hits a Reverse Splash for two. Hagane picks up Satomura but Satomura applies a short armbar, DDT by Satomura and she hits the cartwheel kneedrop for a two count. Irish whip by Satomura but Hagane shoulderblocks her.

sendai2.28-4Satomura quickly gets back up and hits uppercuts, kick to the head by Satomura and she gets a two count. She goes for a backdrop suplex but Hagane blocks it and hits a backdrop suplex of her own. Hagane goes off the ropes and hits a series of lariats, but Satomura kicks out of the cover. Hagane hits another backdrop suplex, she goes all the way up top and delivers the Reverse Splash, but Satomura barely gets a shoulder up. Hagane picks up Satomura and hits two short lariats, but Satomura catches the third and applies the armbar. Kicks by Satomura, Hagane hits a lariat but Satomura kicks her in the head. They trade blows with Hagane knocking down Satomura first, but Satomura comes back with a kick. Satomura blocks a lariat, she gets up Hagane and delivers the Death Valley Bomb for the three count! Meiko Satomura wins the match.

This just never clicked, even though there were a few great exchanges there was just no chemistry. I’m not really sure what was going on here but it was hurt by Hagane’s very limited move set and shaky transitions. There were a couple minutes towards the end that they seemed to be getting into it, but then it was suddenly over. For a ten minute match there was just too much time wasting towards the start, and it even ended flat as Satomura had issues getting Hagane up for the finish. Satomura is a world class wrestler but this is probably the worst singles match I have seen her have in while.

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DASH Chisako vs. KAORU

And we end the show with another unique match-up. Chisako is one of the bigger stars of Sendai Girls’, although she likely feels a bit lost without her partner and sister Sendai Sachiko still with her in the promotion. KAORU is a Freelancer with 30 years of experience and she has been wrestling regularly in Sendai Girls’ for the last year or so. After how this event has gone so far I have no idea what to expect, hopefully they have an entertaining match.

KAORU attacks Chisako from behind before the match starts, she gets her piece of table and whacks Chisako in the head with it. She tries to drop it on her too but Chisako catches it, KAORU kicks Chisako and slams her to the mat. Chisako takes over and and twists up KAORU in the ropes, Chisako applies a headlock on the mat but KAORU gets out of it. Now it is KAORU that puts Chisako in the ropes and rakes on her nose, facebuster by KAORU and she covers Chisako for two. KAORU picks up Chisako but Chisako dropkicks her and hits a flipping neckbreaker. KAORU kicks Chisako and boots her in the face, she picks her up but Chisako rebounds out of the corner and hits a facebuster. Chisako goes for a suplex but KAORU knees out of it and the two trade elbows back and forth. Bodyscissors into a roll-up by Chisako but her quick pin attempts don’t work, backdrop suplex by KAORU but Chisako is too close to the ropes on the cover. KAORU picks up Chisako but Chisako wiggles away, she goes for a suplex by KAORU blocks it.

sendai2.28-5Elbows by Chisako but KAORU levels her with a big boot, brainbuster by KAORU and she goes up top, but Chisako recovers and joins her. KAORU keeps pushing off Chisako but Chisako continues to charge in, and eventually Chisako hits the superplex for a two count. KAORU smacks Chisako with a piece of table and then hits a suplex onto it, cover by KAORU but the referee won’t count due to the table usage. KAORU goes to hit her with it again but Chisako blocks it and dropkicks the table into KAORU’s face. Northern Lights Suplex by Chisako but the cover only gets two. Chisako goes up top and hits the diving footstomp, but again KAORU kicks out of the cover. Chisako throws KAORU into the corner and hits a dropkick followed by a running cutter for two. Chisako goes up top again but KAORU rolls out of the way of the Hormone Splash. They trade boots back and forth, release German by Chisako and she gets on the top turnbuckle, but KAORU dropkicks her as she jumps off. Excalibur by KAORU and she delivers a second one, but it only gets two. KAORU hits a third Excalibur, she goes to the top turnbuckle and nails the Valkyrie Splash for the three count! KAORU wins!

By far the best match on the card, although that isn’t saying a whole lot. They had pretty good chemistry together and always appeared to be on the same page, which we haven’t seen a lot of on this show unfortunately. I was a bit surprised by the result, but KAORU is a very respected veteran so she can really win against any wrestler on any given day. I thought she worked in her weapon spots well, they enhanced the match without overwhelming it. Probably not overly memorable in the long run but I definitely enjoyed it, a fun match to end the event on a high note.  Recommended

Final Thoughts
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It is always a risk when you pair up wrestlers that are not familar with each other in the ring. What you hope for is to find a new pairing with chemistry, but there is always a chance the wrestlers will have no chemistry and they will put on a pedestrian match. That is what happened here, as while there were half a dozen quality wrestlers on this card they simply didn’t wrestle to their normal level. It wasn’t a lack of effort, the matches just didn’t click and fell flat, there were some good moments in each match but there were also dead periods, miscommunications, and moves that didn’t work. A disappointing show from a normally solid promotion.