2AW “Rina Shingaki Retirement Show” on 11/23/21 Review

A2W on 11/23/21 Poster

Event: 2AW “RINA SHINGAKI RETIREMENT SHOW”
Date: November 23rd, 2021
Location: Chiba 2AW Square in Chiba, Japan
Announced Attendance: 148
Broadcast: PPV on NicoPro and KIPz

As everyone knows, I kind of have a thing for retirement events. I enjoy the emotions and seeing what a wrestler’s vision of what their final match should be. Rina Shingaki debuted in 2018 and has mostly been a midcarder during her time in wrestling, but she is a submission-based wrestler so she has a decent fanbase from those that enjoy that style of wrestling. She  was a member of 2AW her entire career but also wrestled in various Joshi promotions such as Ice Ribbon, Diana, WAVE, and AgZ. For her retirement match, she is going back to where she started, as she wrestles Ayame Sasamura. Shingaki’s debut match was also against Sasamura, so its a fitting conclusion. I will only be reviewing the matches on the event with Joshi wrestlers involved, so here are the matches being reviewed:

All Joshi wrestlers on the show have a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their names above to go straight to it. Onto the show!

Itsuki Aoki & Ricky Fuji vs. Kakeru Sekiguchi & Shiori Asahi
Itsuki Aoki and Fuji vs. Kakeru Sekiguchi and Shiori Asahi

To kick off the Joshi wrestler portion of the show, we start with… whatever this match is. Ricky Fuji is a pretty well known wrestler on the indie scene but is in his 50s, and while he was never a high-end wrestler his better days are certainly behind him. He teams with Itsuki Aoki, a young Joshi Freelancer that is always full of energy and spunk. They battle Kakeru Sekiguchi, representing AgZ (for now) who teams with male 2AW wrestler Shiori Asahi. Since 2AW only has two Joshi wrestlers (soon one), they frequently have Intergender matches but I’m not really sure how these four are going to mash up.

Fuji and Satsuki start the match, headlock by Fuji but Satsuki gets out of it and the two trade holds. They end up in a stalemate and both tag out, the action immediately gets more fast-paced and interesting as Kakeru and Itsuki get into a quick exchange. Drop toehold by Itsuki but Kakeru avoids her strike and delivers a dropkick. She tags in Asahi, both put pails over their heads and headbutt Itsuki. Asahi picks up Itsuki, elbows by Itsuki and she eventually shoulderblocks Asahi to the mat. She tags Fuji, Fuji punches Asahi in the head and delivers a delayed vertical suplex. He tags Itsuki, Itsuki picks up Asahi and throws him into the corner. Running back elbow by Itsuki and she hits a face crusher, body press by Itsuki and she covers Asahi for two. Itsuki picks up Asahi again, elbows by Itsuki and she goes off the ropes but Asahi catches her with a neckbreaker. This gives him time to tag Kakeru, dropkick by Kakeru to Itsuki and she hits another one in the corner. Another dropkick by Kakeru and she covers Itsuki for a two count. Kakeru applies a Fujiwara Armbar but Itsuki inches to the ropes and makes it for the break.

Kakeru sets up Itsuki in the ropes, she then goes out to the apron and dropkicks Itsuki in the arm. Back in the ring, elbow by Kakeru but Itsuki returns fire and the two trade blows. Itsuki trips Kakeru onto the second rope and jumps down on her back, bridging suplex by Itsuki but Kakeru kicks out. Running double kneedrop by Itsuki, but that gets a two as well. She tags in Fuji, Fuji punches Kakeru but Kakeru slides away and hits a dropkick. She tags Asahi, punches by Fuji to Asahi and he hits the Kamikaze. Cover by Fuji, but Kakeru breaks it up. Irish whip by Fuji, Asahi goes for a sunset flip but Asahi blocks it. Kakeru comes in and tries for a sunset flip but Fuji blocks that as well, however in the process Kakeru accidentally pulls his pants down. Fuji doesn’t care as he hits a few hip attacks on Asahi, but Asahi trips him and covers Fuji for two. Itsuki tries to help but Asahi hits her with the Cobra, Kakeru holds Fuji while Asahi forces Itsuki’s face into his bare ass. I really didn’t know this was this type of match. Schoolboy by Asahi to Fuji, and he picks up the three count! Kakeru Sekiguchi and Shiori Asahi are the winners!

I really didn’t know what to expect going into this match, but they still managed to surprise me. Maybe Fuji has an ass gimmick and I just wasn’t looped in, but that wasn’t the path I was expecting the match to take. Up to that point the match was pretty middling, nothing bad but nothing memorable or exciting either. I don’t know if Itsuki gets paid more for having her head shoved into a bare 56 year old ass. I hope so. I don’t have much else to say about this one, I’m sure that this is someone’s type of comedy (probably DDT fans) but not really my kind of thing.

Totoro Satsuki & Tsukushi Haruka vs. Asahi & Tsukasa Fujimoto
Asahi and Fujimoto vs. Totoro Satsuki and Tsukushi Haruka

Next is an Ice Ribbon offer match! Ice Ribbon sent over some pretty good wrestlers here, with Fujimoto and Tsukushi being joined by two of the promotion’s less experienced wrestlers. Offer matches don’t tend be really high end as they don’t want to overshadow the home promotion’s matches, but I don’t think these four could have a bad match if they tried so it should still be pretty entertaining.

Tsukushi and Fujimoto start the match, they tie-up before Fujimoto applies a headlock, but Tsukushi Irish whips out of it before they trade armdrags. They end up back on their feet and tag out, shoulderblock by Satsuki to Asahi and she puts her in the ropes, but Fujimoto charges in and dropkicks Satsuki. Asahi and and Fujimoto double team Satsuki, with Tsukushi coming in but deciding to pose on top of her tag partner instead of helping. Typical Tsukushi. Satsuki elbows Fujimoto and Asahi before bopping Tsukushi on the head, Asahi runs from Satsuki but Satsuki catches her and throws her to the mat. Satsuki tags in Tsukushi, Tsukushi stands on Asahi’s hands before stomping down on them. Tsukushi sets up Asahi in the ropes and hits a dropkick to the back, picking up a two count. She tags Satsuki back in as the beatdown on Asahi continues, Satsuki throws Asahi in the corner but Asahi avoids her charge and sneaks in a schoolboy for two. This gives her time to tag in Fujimoto, dropkicks by Fujimoto to Satsuki but Tsukushi comes in to help Satsuki. Fujimoto dropkicks both of the before going back to Satsuki, putting her in an Octopus Hold. Satsuki gets to the ropes for the break, Fujimoto charges her but Satsuki catches Fujimoto with a scoop slam. Senton by Satsuki, and she covers Fujimoto for two. Satsuki tags Tsukushi, Tsukushi throws Fujimoto in the corner and delivers a dropkick.

Fujimoto fires back with her own dropkick and kicks Tsukushi in the back repeatedly, but Tsukushi ducks the PK and steps over her for a quick cradle. Fujimoto gets out of it and ends up near the ropes, Tsukushi charges her and hits the Murder Dropkick. Tsukushi picks up Fujimoto but Fujimoto gets away, cradle by Fujimoto but Fujimoto kips out of it and hits a PK. She tags Asahi, face crushers by Asahi, she picks up Tsukushi but Tsukushi blocks her scoop slam attempt. Asahi quickly applies a Fujiwara Armbar but Tsukushi gets to the ropes for the break, Asahi goes for a Tiger Feint Kick but Tsukushi ducks it. Asahi hits it anyway under the bottom rope, elbow by Asahi but Tsukushi returns fire as they trade shots. Tsukushi elbows Asahi hard to send her to the mat, more elbows by Tsukushi and she covers Asahi for two. Tsukushi goes up to the top turnbuckle but Fujimoto runs over and grabs her, Tsukushi shakes her off but when she goes for her diving footstomp Asahi has already moved out of the way. Enzuigiri by Fujimoto to Tsukushi, Asahi hits a seated senton on Tsukushi but it gets two. Asahi puts Tsukushi in an armbar but Satsuki breaks it up, cradle by Tsukushi to Asahi and she hits a footstomp. Satsuki returns to the ring and Tsukushi jumps on her arms, before Satsuki falls backwards onto Asahi. Tsukushi goes to the top turnbuckle but Fujimoto grabs her again, Asahi joins Tsukushi but Tsukushi knocks her into a Tree of Woe before hitting a footstomp. Running elbow by Tsukushi, but Fujimoto breaks up the cover. Tsukushi quickly goes back to the top turnbuckle and dives off with a diving footstomp, cover by Tsukushi and she gets the three count! Totoro Satsuki and Tsukushi Haruka are the winners!

About what you’d expect from a midcard Ice Ribbon match, but pretty solid. Tsukushi and Tsukasa needless to say have great chemistry so anytime they were in the ring they put on a good show. Asahi is far less experienced but didn’t hold the match back, and Satsuki delivered her power moves when needed. Tsukushi is one of my favorite Ice Ribbon wrestlers so always a pleasure to see her, nothing mind-blowing but a good match.  Mildly Recommended

Ayame Sasamura vs. Rina Shingaki
Rina Shingaki vs. Ayame Sasamura
Rina Shingaki Retirement Match

Time for Shingaki’s final match. Rina Shingaki may not be a big name in the Joshi scene, but in her three year career she has wrestled in a lot of different promotions and always seemed to be improving. A submission expert, Rina brought something a little different to the table than many other wrestlers and put on unique matches no matter where she was on the card. As 2AW has a limited number of Joshi wrestlers, Rina was active in Ice Ribbon, Diana, WAVE, and OZ Academy over her career which gave her exposure to a lot of different styles and a lot of fans. For her last match, she is wrestling the same wrestler she faced in her first match – Ayame Sasamura. Ayame is also a 2AW wrestler so its a fitting final match for her in what is sure to be an emotional affair for her and her fans.

They circle each other to start as they begin slow, they end up on the mat but quickly reach a stalemate. Side headlock by Ayame but Rina Irish whips out of it, they trade moves until Ayame knocks down Rina with a hard shoulderblock. Scoop slam by Ayame and she hits a second one, covering Rina for a two count. Ayame puts Rina in the corner and stomps on her, a bunch of other wrestlers come in the ring as is tradition and everyone hits a running strike on Rina in the corner. Ayame finishes the train with a running back elbow, snapmare by Ayame and she applies a sleeper. She switches to a camel clutch, but Rina gets to the ropes for the break. Ayame goes for a slam but sss blocks it and puts Ayame in a keylock. Ayame gets into the ropes for the break, Rina flings Ayame to the mat and puts Ayame in a Fujiwara Armbar. Ayame rolls out of it and kicks Rina, Ayame puts Rina on the second rope and jumps down on her back. Dropkick by Ayame and she covers Rina for two.

Rina and Ayame trade elbows until Rina re-applies the Fujiwara Armbar, but again Ayame gets to the ropes. Rina tries to get Ayame on her shoulders but Ayame blocks it, elbows by Ayame but Rina kicks her in the stomach. She goes off the ropes but Ayame delivers a hard shoulderblock. She goes to pick up Rina but Rina quickly applies a cross armbreaker, Ayame struggles as Rina switches it to a triangle choke hold, and eventually she is able to power out of the move and slam Rina into the corner. Ayame charges Rina but Rina moves and hits a double knee to Ayame’s arm. Rina returns to the Fujiwara Armbar, she switches it to a double armbar but Ayame forces the break. Rina picks up Ayame and gets her on her shoulders, delivering the Kamikaze for a two count. Ayame slides around Rina and drops her with a German Suplex, Ayame goes to the top turnbuckle but Rina recovers and joins her. Rina goes for Ayame’s arm but Ayame knocks her down into the Tree of Woe before delivering a footstomp for two.

Ayame picks up Rina and hits a side slam, but that gets a two count as well. Ayame waits for Rina to get up and they trade elbows, kick to the head by Ayame and Rina crashes back to the mat. Ayame waits for Rina again to get up, elbow by Rina and she slaps Ayame. Rina goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody, but it gets two. Fameasser by Rina, she picks up Ayame and puts her in a modified armbar. Ayame quickly gets to the ropes to force a break, Rina picks up Ayame but Ayame catches her with a release German. Slow cover by Ayame, but Rina kicks out. Ayame picks up Rina and hits a vertical suplex, she drags up Rina and connects with rolling German Suplexes. Ayame gets Rina to her feet and hits a bridging fallaway slam, but Rina gets a shoulder up. Ayame gets up Rina and nails a Tiger Suplex Hold, and she picks up the three count! Ayame Sasamura is the winner.

In the longest singles match of her career, Rina Shingaki put up a good fight but couldn’t overcome the younger but more experienced Ayame Sasamura. This was for the bulk of it a typical Shingaki match – lots of submission attempts from a lot of different angles, while trying to fight off her opponent’s offense. Ayame actually looked like the more impressive wrestler but that was likely by design, as Shingaki went out as many Joshi wrestlers do by making someone else look good. The end in particular was very dominate, as Ayame delivered a series of strong moves before holding down Shingaki for three. Aside from the usual corner gauntlet, they really didn’t lean heavily into the “retirement match” aspect, keeping it pretty on level with limited extra emotions. Overall a good match, maybe could have had a few minutes trimmed out of it but an enjoyable farewell for Rina Shingaki.  Mildly Recommended

Final Thoughts
1.5

 

2AW isn’t really known for putting on great full events, as they are a smaller promotion with mostly average or young wrestlers. The first match with Joshi wrestlers was certainly skippable, while the Ice Ribbon match was fun but if you want Ice Ribbon action you can just watch Ice Ribbon. I was really only here for the main event, as I enjoy retirement matches and retirement ceremonies, as they tend to bring more emotion. Shingaki’s retirement match was fine, pretty in-line with other big matches in her career as she is fundamentally sound, however they didn’t bring a lot of extra sizzle you may hope for from a retirement match. For fans of Rina Shingaki this event is a must-watch but for more casual fans this is a show that isn’t necessary to track down.