Kairi Hojo vs. Konami in Wild Hero 2 on 11/5/16 Review

Event: WILD HERO 2
Date: November 5th, 2016
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown (announced as Sold Out)

I prefer not to only review just one match from an event, but the full show has not been released on DVD quite yet and I was dying to see this match. As I have mentioned before, it is rare for Stardom wrestlers to venture outside of Stardom, so I am always excited to see one of their wrestlers against a new opponent. This is a GPS produced show, I will only be reviewing Kairi Hojo vs. Konami but here are all the Joshi matches on the card:

• 12 Wrestler Battle Royal
• Mika Iida and Sumire Natsu vs. Misaki Ohata and Hiroe Nagahama
• Leon vs. Rydeen Hagane
• Jaguar Yokota and Megumi Yabushita vs. Kyoko Inoue and Sareee
• Kairi Hojo vs. Konami

They already announced the event will be coming out on DVD, as soon as it does I will buy it and do a more complete review.

Kairi Hojo vs. Konami
Everyone knows who Kairi Hojo is due to her popularity both in Stardom and in the United States, but Konami may be a bit more of an unknown. Konami debuted in early 2015 under the tutelage of Kana, and for the first six months generally just wrestled wherever Kana did. After Kana signed with WWE, Konami signed with REINA as she continued to train and improve. In August, she left REINA and later signed with GPS Promotions, a company that both runs its own events and represents wrestlers. What strings they pulled to get Kairi Hojo on the show I have no idea, Kairi came into the match as the Wonder of Stardom Championship, however the title is not on the line. A big opportunity for Konami to impress against one of the most popular Joshi wrestlers.

Konami pushes Kairi into the ropes to start the match, she goes for a high kick but Kairi quickly moves out of the way. The pair trade wristlocks and waistlocks, Kairi gets Konami to the mat but Konami gets away and they return to their feet. Takedown by Konami, Kairi gets in the dominate position and she puts Konami in a guillotine. Konami gets out of it but Kairi gets into the ropes for a break, they struggle for position on the mat before slowly getting back up as Konami works a headlock. A shoulderblock by Konami doesn’t send Kairi to the mat but a series of chest kicks does, Konami goes off the ropes but Kairi levels her with a spear. Kairi chops Konami in the corner but Konami swings Kairi’s leg onto the second rope before dropkicking her in the other leg. Konami starts working on Kairi’s leg on the mat, she applies a single leg crab hold but Kairi gets to the ropes for the break. Konami kicks Kairi into the corner and twists her knee in the bottom rope, snapmare by Konami and she kicks Kairi in the back.

Konami charges Kairi but Kairi holds down the top rope so that Konami winds up on the apron, they trade elbows until Kairi shouldertackles Konami to the floor. Kairi goes up to the top turnbuckle and she sails down onto Konami with a plancha. Kairi slides Konami back in and applies a crab hold, but Konami gets to the ropes. Kairi stomps Konami into the corner and hits a Sliding D to Konami’s back, she goes up top and hits a diving elbow smash for a two count cover. Konami and Kairi trade elbows until Konami dropkicks Kairi in the knee, Kairi chops Konami in the chest but Konami hits a bodyscissors takedown into an ankle hold. Kairi gets a hand on the ropes for the break, kicks to the leg by Konami but Kairi catches one and elbows Konami in the knee. Elbows by Kairi and she hits the Final Cut, but Konami kicks out of the cover at two. Kairi goes for the Ikari but Konami blocks it, schoolboy by Konami and out of it she applies an ankle hold. Again Kairi gets a hand on the ropes, Konami picks her up and she hits a release German.

Konami connects with the Buzzsaw Kick, cover by Konami but it gets a two count. Konami picks up Kairi and hits a fisherman suplex, she rolls over after hitting it and puts Kairi in an ankle hold with a grapevine. Kairi is too close to the ropes and gets to it for a break, Konami picks up Kairi and kicks her in the leg, Kairi catches one but Konami rolls her to the mat with an ankle hold. Kairi again gets to the ropes, Konami picks up Kairi but Kairi ducks the high kick and delivers a spinning backhand to Konami’s face. Both wrestlers are slow to get up but Kairi is up first and she hits an arm-trap fisherman suplex hold for a two count. Kairi slams Konami in front of the corner and goes up top, but Konami joins her and tries to suplex Kairi. Kairi blocks it and knocks Konami into the Tree of Woe before hitting a diving footstomp to Konami’s chest. Kairi slams Konami in front of the corner again, she goes up top and this time she nails the diving elbow drop for the three count! Kairi Hojo is your winner.

I never would have thought that young and virtually unknown Konami would get so much offense against one of Stardom’s top wrestlers. Konami’s leg work was solid, she had a ton of different ways to get Kairi in an ankle or knee hold, and since Kairi came in with her leg taped it was the natural place for her to target. Kairi sells offense really well as she emotes better than just about any other Joshi wrestler on the scene, so even though I am sure the fans knew who was winning they were still getting into the match. My only complaint is that with Konami controlling the action, Kairi came back really quick at the end to win. Not that they needed a five minute ending stretch, it just felt sudden after how well Konami had done up to that point. Still, a really good match and a solid representation of what Konami brings to the table, you can tell she was trained by Kana as she focuses on submissions and kicks, doing both very well. An entertaining match and a unique match-up between two of my favorite Joshi wrestlers.  Recommended

I’ll review the rest of the Joshi matches as soon as the event is released on DVD, so stay tuned!