Event: Hikaru Shida Produce “The 3rd Synopsium Of Mythology ~ Sublimation & Universality”
Date: May 1st, 2016
Location: Nishi Kumin Center in Osaka, Japan
Announced Attendance: 234

Occasionally I like to take a step out of the normal world of Joshi and into the dark underbelly, where wrestlers put on their own unique shows that fit their own tastes. Hikaru Shida is a Freelancer that occasionally enjoys putting on her own events, then invites all her friends to have unusual matches you’d never see anywhere else. This line-up definitely fits that description. Here is the full card:

• Kagetsu and Mika Iida vs. Koharu Hinata and Rina Yamashita
• Hibiscus Mii vs. Yako Fujigasaki and Hiroto Okubo vs. TORU
• Gabaiji-chan vs. Manami Toyota
• Aoi Kizuki vs. Syuri
• Hikaru Shida, Jun Kasai, and Toru Owashi vs. Sawako Shimono, Magnitude Kishiwada, and Tadasuke

I realize these shows are not as well known but dammit someone has to review them so it may as well be me. I don’t have a lot of the profiles for the above wrestlers on Joshi City but the ones I do are active links if you want to know a bit more about the Joshi wrestlers.

Kagetsu and Mika Iida vs. Koharu Hinata and Rina Yamashita

Yamashita and Iida start for their teams and trade some quick holds, big shoulderblock by Yamashita and Hinata jumps on her back to help Yamashita hit a double kneedrop. Yamashita tags in Hinata, elbows by Hinata to Iida but Iida returns the favor. Iida bounces Hinata around the ring and throws her down by the hair, cover by Iida but it gets two. Iida tags Kagetsu and Kagetsu kicks Hinata in the back, Yamashita runs in to help but Iida tosses her out of the ring. Kagetsu puts Hinata in the ropes and chops her before hitting a dropkick, running elbow by Kagetsu but Hinata fights back with elbows. Kagetsu knocks Hinata back to the mat but Hinata hops up and hits a spinning headscissors. This gives her time to tag Yamashita, Iida comes in too but Yamashita shoulderblocks both of them down. Kagetsu and Yamashita trade elbows, Kagetsu springboards up to the top trope and knocks over Yamashita with a missile dropkick.

Running elbow by Kagetsu in the corner but Yamashita hits a hard knee followed by a kick to the head for a two count cover. Kagetsu catches Yamashita with a dropkick and tags in Iida, Iida throws Yamashita in the corner and hits a running uppercut. More uppercuts by Iida but Yamashita hits a lariat followed by a backdrop suplex. Yamashita tags in Hinata, Hinata gets on the top turnbuckle and goes for a diving crossbody on Iida, but Iida moves and Yamashita catches her. Yamashita throws Hinata at Kagetsu, Hinata grabs Iida but she eats an uppercut. Hinata kicks Iida and delivers a tornado DDT, she goes up top and hits the diving crossbody for a two count. Hinata goes for a bodyscissors roll-up by Iida blocks it and applies an abdominal stretch. Dropkick by Iida and she puts Hinata in a cross armbreaker, but Hinata makes it to the ropes. Iida dropkicks Hinata and hits a fisherman suplex hold, but Yamashita breaks up the cover. Hinata sneaks in a few quick pins with no luck, Iida finally blocks one and puts Hinata in the Mudo, Hinata struggles but has no choice but to submit! Iida and Kagetsu are the winners.

A perfectly acceptable opener, even if it didn’t do anything overly memorable. Everything was pretty smooth here, which I wasn’t sure would happen with Hinata in there (Hinata is young and adorable, but still honing her skills). I was hoping with Kagetsu and Iida in there they would do something a bit more special but it stayed pretty mellow throughout. Not a bad way to start but pretty forgettable.

Hibiscus Mii vs. Yako Fujigasaki
TORU vs. Hiroto Okubo

All four wrestlers begin the match in the ring and tie-up, but they all end up knocking each other over. Even though it appears to be two singles matches, they are also interacting with each other randomly as well, just to make it more confusing. Mii gets Fujigasaki in a submission while TORU does the same to Okubo, and they both cover their opponents for two. TORU dropkicks Okubo out of the ring, he goes to do a dive but at that moment Mii suplexes Fujigasaki in his path and he trips. Mii kicks TORU for getting in her way before hitting a sliding kick on Fujigasaki, Mii wants to do a dive but Okubo puts TORU in a submission hold in her way. He slowly inches out of her way, Fujigasaki and Okubo attack their opponents in opposite corners and Fujigasaki attacks both TORU and Fujigasaki, but then Fujigasaki and Okubo start to fight. This allows Mii and TORU time to recover, and they roll up their opponents as both get a three count! Mii and TORU are your respective winners.

I don’t have a lot to say about this weird little match. There were some cute spots with both ‘matches’ interacting with each other, but besides that it was just a few minutes of strike battles before a quick ending. Very unique but still safe to skip.

Gabaiji-chan vs. Manami Toyota

As you probably guess, this match is pretty much all shtick and takes several minutes to get going. Gabaiji-chan gets the advantage over Toyota and hits her with his cane, but it doesn’t as long as he is old and tripped. Toyota puts Gabaiji-chan in the Muta Lock but Gabaiji-chan gets his cane on the ropes to break the hold. Gabaiji-chan slowly gets to the top rope, he grabs Toyota’s arm and slowly walks the ropes but Toyota knocks his cane away and he crotches himself on the top rope. Gabaiji-chan drops his cane however and suddenly wrestles with the ability of a young man, as he hits a dropkick followed by a swandive crossbody for a two count. Gabaiji-chan goes for a chokeslam but Toyota elbows out of it, Toyota kicks Gabaiji-chan into the corner and he grabs his cane which kills his youth again. Toyota gets Gabaiji-chan on her shoulders but Gabaiji-chan catches his cane on the top rope to block the hold. Toyota goes up top but Gabaiji-chan holds his cane up so that Toyota can’t hit the moonsault. Gabaiji-chan tries to hit Toyota with his cane but Toyota blocks it and kicks Gabaiji-chan. Gabaiji-chan’s cane is knocked away from him, allowing him to hit Toyota with a chokeslam. Gabaiji-chan goes up to the top turnbuckle but Toyota rolls out of the way of the somersault senton. Gabaiji-chan slides away from Toyota but he hurts his back when he tries to pick her up. Toyota gets Gabaiji-chan on her shoulders and hits the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex for the three count! Toyota is the winner.

Like the last match, this was just about what you’d expect it to be, but Toyota played along and it did have some funny spots. Gabaiji-chan is a good character and is an entertaining act, but purely as a midcard type of act of course as there isn’t much more you can do it with. Toyota was fun as well, overall not a bad watch but clearly just a comedy match.

Aoi Kizuki vs. Syuri

After Syuri gets Kizuki to the mat with a headlock, Syuri puts Kizuki in a wristlock but Kizuki reverses it. Kizuki boots down Syuri in the corner and hits a series of chops before putting Syuri in a camel clutch. She then puts Syuri in a stretch hold but Syuri comes back with a Backstabber and stomps on Kizuki on the mat. Kicks by Syuri to the chest and back, but Kizuki hits a crossbody for two. Mongolian Chops by Kizuki and she hits a series of running sentons, but Syuri avoids one and kicks Kizuki into the corner. Jumping knee by Syuri and she hits a double arm suplex for a two count. Cross armbreaker by Syuri but Kizuki gets a foot on the rope, back up Kizuki regains control and puts Syuri in a backbreaker. Kizuki goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton, but Syuri kicks out of the cover. Knees by Syuri but Kizuki hits a jumping lariat, suplex by Kizuki and she gets a two count.

Kizuki goes up top and delivers the swivel body press, but Syuri gets a shoulder up. Syuri snaps off a German suplex but Kizuki gets up and hits a German suplex of her own. Jumping lariat by Kizuki but Syuri returns with a jumping knee, Syuri takes down Kizuki and puts her in a seated armbar. Back on their feet they trade elbows, kick by Syuri and she drops Kizuki with a knee lift. Kizuki hits a quick German suplex hold for two, Kizuki sneaks in a series of quick pinfalls but Syuri kicks out each time. Kizuki goes off the ropes but Syuri catches her with a high kick. After trading pin attempts, Kizuki goes for a crossbody but Syuri rolls through it. Jumping knee by Syuri and she hits a German suplex hold, but Kizuki kicks out. Kicks by Syuri but Kizuki catches one and hits a dragon screw, inside cradle by Syuri but it gets a two count. Jumping lariat by Kizuki but Syuri hits a high kick as the bell rings, signifying time has expired. The match is a Draw.

The best match of the night so far, although I don’t think it reached its full potential. I am not really sure what happened to Kizuki as I was enjoying her a lot more last year, she seems to have slipped down a bit into silly offense so it was hard to take her as a serious threat to Syuri. Syuri was great of course but even this felt like a toned down version of Syuri as she didn’t hit as much of her signature offense. It just felt oddly flat, even though much of the action flowed nicely. A good match but a step below what I would hope to see from Syuri, overall solid but nothing more than that.  Mildly Recommended

Hikaru Shida, Kasai, and Owashi vs. Shimono, Kishiwada, and Tadasuke

Shida begins the match against KISHIWADA AKA BIG BOSS MA-G-MA and I am already excited. They trade chops, which Kishiwada gets the better of, Shida goes for a hip attack but Kishiwada doesn’t budge. Kishiwada throws Shida to her corner so she can tag in someone else, and Kasai comes in as the legal wrestler. Tadasuke tags in too, he runs the ropes with Kasai but neither gets an advantage so they tag in Shimono and Owashi. Owashi taunts Shimono so Shimono stomps on his foot, drop toehold by Shimono and she shoulderblocks Owashi to the mat. She can’t slam him though, as Owashi lands on top of her, which gives him a chance to tag in Kasai. Kasai drops Shimono with a piledriver and tags in Shida, backbreakers by Shida to Shimono and she puts her in a crab hold but Shimono crawls to the ropes to break it up.

Shida puts Shimono on her shoulders and spins her down into a backbreaker, but the cover is broken up. Shida’s teammates come into the ring to help, as do Gabaiji-chan and Toyota, but Gabaiji-chan takes so long to do an attack that Shimono recovers and tosses all of them one by one. The action spills out of the ring (with Gabaiji-chan still alone in it), but they eventually return with Shida being stomped by Kishiwada and Tadasuke. Kishiwada hits a body avalanche in the corner before hitting a suplex, he tags in Shimono who continues the beatdown. Team Kishiwada take turns tagging in as Shida is the Face in Peril on her own show, Kasai comes in to help but Shimono takes care of him. Kishiwada goes for a suplex by Shida blocks it and hits a vertical suplex of her own. Hip attack by Shida and she tags in Owashi, Tadasuke tags in too but Owashi drops him with a dragon screw.

Tadasuke comes back with a vertical suplex, Kishiwada and Kasai are tagged in and they trade lariats with neither wrestler going down. Kasai finally wins that battle but Kishiwada gets back up and lariats Kasai to the mat. They tag in Shimono and Shida, enzuigiri by Shida but Shimono knocks her to the mat and hits a seated senton for two. Kishiwada and Tadasuke come in the ring and Tadasuke rocks Shida with a hart lariat. Brainbuster by Kishiwada to Shida, but Shida gets a shoulder up on the cover. Fire Thunder Driver by Kishiwada, but this time the cover is broken up. Kishiwada hits a moonsault off the second turnbuckle, he picks up Shida but she reverses the powerbomb attempt with a hurricanrana. Shida is triple teamed in the corner but her teammates come in and help clear the ring. Hip attack by Shida to Shimono, Kasai goes up top and hits the Pearl Harbor Splash, but the group pin is broken up. Shida sits up Shimono and hits a running knee, but Shimono reverses the cover into her own two count. Shida slams Shimono to the mat but Shimono sneaks in an inside cradle for two. Jumping knee by Shida and she drops Shimono with a Falcon Arrow. Three Count by Shida, and she gets the victory!

Well this was certainly quite the spectacle. The best thing about cards like these is the random assortment of wrestlers. The chances of getting a ‘five star match’ on a produced show are slim to none, but you get fun stuff like this. Shida and Kishiwada are two of my favorites so I enjoyed watching them mix it up quite a bit. Everyone got in a bit of a chance to shine, however I still would have preferred the match just be a two on two match as until the end there weren’t any longer segments so two wrestlers could get a real rhythm together. I enjoyed it for the uniqueness and getting to see Shida in a different environment, but not exactly a must see.  Recommended

The post Hikaru Shida “3rd Synopsium of Mythology” on 5/1/16 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

 

• August 7th, 2005 –  American Angel and Mika Nishio vs. Kana and Mima Shimoda
• January 7th, 2008 – Ariya and Shinigami vs. Kana and Shineway (was not taped)
• February 15th, 2008 – Apple Miyuki, Kikutaro, and Nobutaka Araya vs. Joe Doering, Kana, and Kaz Hayashi
• July 7th, 2008 – Apple Miyuki, Kaz Hayashi, and Yuki Ishikawa vs. Kana, Nobutaka Araya, and Ryuji Hijikata

Of the four events that Kana wrestled on, three were recorded and televised. Since it is unusual for a female wrestler to have multiple matches in one of the classic ‘big two’ Japanese promotions, I thought it would be fun to see how the matches went for Kana. Just as a warning, the last two matches have quite a bit of what I call “Perv Comedy” so if such things offend you, this may not be the best review for you to read as GIFs are included.

American Angel and Mika Nishio vs. Kana and Mima Shimoda

Kana dropkicks Angel as the bell rings and goes for a crossbody, but she falls short. Hard elbow by Angel and she slams Kana before making the tag to Nishio. Nishio boots Kana repeatedly and hits a double underhook suplex, Angel goes up top and she hits an ax handle. Angel elbows Kana hard and throws her down by her hair, Nishio comes back in and she boots Kana in the chest. Kana dropkicks Nishio away and tags in Shimoda, lariat by Shimoda and she pulls on Nishio’s hair. Nishio dropkicks Shimoda and goes up top, hitting a missile dropkick for a two count. German suplex hold by Nishio and she tags in Angel, lariat by Angel to Shimoda and she puts her onto the top turnbuckle. Guillotine into a suplex by Angel but Shimoda hits a back bodydrop, Kana comes in but Angel lariats both of them.

Powerbomb by Angel to Shimoda, but Kana breaks it up. DDT by Shimoda and she tags in Kana, Kana hits a series of hip attacks on Angel before covering her for two. Kana goes for a sunset flip but Angel sits on her, lariat by Angel and she applies a bodyscissors. Hip attack out of the corner by Kana but Angel tags Nishio, missile dropkick by Nishio and she covers Kana for two. Kana comes back with a hip attack on Nishio but Nishio boots her in the head. Nishio goes up top but Shimoda knocks her off, Kana goes for a diving bodypress but Nishio gets her feet up. Angel comes in to help clear out the ring, Nishio picks up Kana but Kana rolls her up for two. Kana jumps up in the corner and goes for a sunset flip, but Nishio rolls through it and dropkicks her. Release German by Nishio, Angel goes up top and she delivers a moonsault. Nishio picks up Kana, German suplex hold by Nishio but Shimoda breaks it up. Big kick by Nishio, she picks up Kana and she nails a Tiger Suplex Hold for a three count! Angel and Nishio win the match.

This is the only “real” match of Kana’s in All Japan that was televised, so we have to enjoy it as much as we can. Some parts of this were fun, I liked the sections with Del Rey and young Kana is fun Kana but there were definitely a few miscommunications and shady transitions.  An interesting pairing and a unique environment, but as a match it was just average with a few cool parts.

Apple Miyuki, Kikutaro, and Nobutaka Araya vs. Joe Doering, Kana, and Kaz Hayashi

Young Doering and Araya kick things off as the match starts relatively normally with shoulderblocks and such, with Doering controlling the action. Araya tags Kikutaro while Hayashi is also tagged in, with Kikutaro hitting a quick armdrag. Spinning headscissors by Hayashi, he kicks Kikutaro out of the ring and does a fake dive before tagging in Kana. Miyuki comes in too and they trade dropkicks until Kana hits a few hip attacks. Miyuki tags Kikutaro, Kikutaro tries to feel up Kana but the referee pushes him away. Kikutaro throws down Kana by her hair, Kana goes for a scoop slam but Kikutaro traps her hand between his legs. Scoop slam by Kikutaro, they lock knuckles and Kikutaro hugs her down to the mat until everyone kicks him to get Kikutaro off of her. He then does the same to Miyuki with everyone breaking it up again, and Kikutaro tags Araya. Kana slaps Araya hard in the face, so Miyuki comes in to help Kikutaro. Miyuki holds Kana’s legs open while Kikutaro gets one of the cameras to give us uh better view of Kana. Araya comes  in again but Kana slaps him again, busting his nose in the process.

Kana is attacked in the corner (with Araya continuing to have no success), Miyuki puts Kana in a headscissors so they start a headscissors chain. Kikutaro puts himself in a headscissors with Kana, then Doering puts a crab hold on him which flips over the entire row. All six wrestlers run into each other, Miyuki goes up top and she hits a diving crossbody on Hayashi for a two count. Hayashi punches Miyuki to the mat and hits a scoop slam, Miyuki sneaks in a dropkick and makes the tag to Araya. Doering is also tagged in, spinebuster by Doering and he covers Araya for two. Kana runs in and hits Kikutaro with hip attacks, cover by Kana but it gets two. Kikutaro avoids the next hip attack but Kana throws him off when he goes for a bulldog. Tornado DDT by Kana and she hits a reverse DDT for two. Doering comes in but he lariats Kana by accident, Kikutaro hits Doering and lowers his pants as he approaches Kana, but Kana kicks him low. Superkick by Hayashi to Kikutaro, and Doering follows with a lariat. Kana slaps Araya again, powerbomb by Doering to Araya, and Kana hits a German suplex hold on Kikutaro for the three count! Doering, Kana, and Hayashi are your winners.

This type of match is certainly not for everyone. Everything was pretty normal except when the pairing was Kikutaro and Kana, then all bets were off. The other side story was Araya never having any luck against Kana at all, being knocked back every time he tried to hit her. The Kikutaro stuff may go too far for some but its a pretty normal interaction for them, only difference here is that usually it happens on small indies and not in All Japan Pro Wrestling. But it did make me laugh, which may not say much about me but what can ya do. And by the end of course Kana got the better of Kikutaro and the pin which is usually what happens. The oddest thing about this match is it kept alternating between being a normal match and a Kikutaro comedy match,  however it was still quite watchable and possibly amusing, depending on your taste.

Apple Miyuki, Kaz Hayashi, and Yuki Ishikawa vs. Kana, Nobutaka Araya, and Ryuji Hijikata

Hijikata and Ishikawa are the first two in, they roll around on the mat and trade slaps and headbutts before turning to their feet. Hijikata tags in Kana, Ishikawa gets on the mat and grabs Kana’s leg but Kana applies a kneelock. Ishikawa reverses it as Hayashi and Miyuki come in and apply leg locks to Kana, spreading her legs open, which allows Ishikawa to have a seat and enjoy the view. Ahhh. Miyuki stays in as legal and dropkicks Kana but Kana comes back with hip attacks, Ishikawa comes in to protect Miyuki but Kana slaps him. Kana slams Miyuki and tags Araya, now it is Miyuki that gets her legs spread but she slaps Araya before he can enjoy it too much. Hijikata tags in, Miyuki slaps him in the chest but Hijikata throws her in the corner so she can tag in Hayashi.

Hayashi and Hijikata trade elbows and then kicks to the head, Hayashi tags Miyuki but Hijikata slaps her. Kick low by Miyuki and Hijikata tags Kana, hip attack by Kana to Miyuki in the corner but she kicks back Araya. They do this a few more times, Ishikawa comes in and sneaks up on Kana but Kana sees him coming. Kana and Miyuki trade elbows, enzuigiri by Miyuki and she tags in Ishikawa. Ishikawa picks up Kana but puts her down nicely, Kana goes for a slam but Ishikawa traps her hand between his legs. Stomps by Kana but Ishikawa applies a kneelock, Kana puts Ishikawa in a triangle choke but he enjoys the position and won’t let Kana release the hold until the referee gets him off. Ishikawa picks up Kana for a powerbomb but Kana reverses it into a hurricanrana (with an assist from Ishikawa) and gets a three count! Kana and team win the match! After the match, Ishikawa won’t let Kana up as he likes Kana sitting on him until again everyone forces Ishikawa off of her.

So I assume that Ishikawa saw the last match and wanted to up the creep factor, which he did a good job at. The forced face sitting at the end was a really nice touch and I appreciate them thinking outside the box to give someone that has watched wrestling for 25 years something a bit different. Kana humor dominated the match (again, Araya wasn’t able to hit the Joshi wrestler so it followed the same themes as the last match) but there was some more traditional action when the other pairings were in the ring. This one will lead to more head shaking than anything else but some of the exchanges were quite good if you don’t mind some awkward Ishikawa.

The post Kana in All Japan Pro Wrestling appeared first on Joshi City.