Event: SEAdLINNNG Shin-Kiba Night!
Date: February 21st, 2022
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 125
Broadcast: PPV Stream on seadlinnnglive.com

It has been awhile since I reviewed a SEAdLINNNG event, so let’s see what they are up to. A lot has changed in the last few months, as Nanae Takahashi has left the promotion but Yoshiko made her return from injury. The promotion currently only has three active contracted wrestlers, as Honori Hana retired last year to add to the loss of Nanae. So needless to say, they use a lot of Freelancers. This event has a big title match and a High Speed match that actually looks interesting, so there is some potential here for goodness. Here is the full card:

• Riko Kawahata vs. Yumiko Hotta
• Miyuki Takase vs. Rina Yamashita vs. Yoshiko
• Ayame Sasamura, Makoto, and Riko Kaiju vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto, Itsuki Aoki, and Yuki Mashiro
• SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship: Arisa Nakajima vs. Hanako Nakamori

All the wrestlers on the show have a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. As this streamed online, all matches will be shown in full.

Riko Kawahata vs. Yumiko Hotta

Riko attacks Hotta as soon as she gets into the ring before the bell rings, elbows by Riko but Hotta shrugs it off and hits a lariat. Riko jumps back up and hits more elbows, she goes to the top turnbuckle but Hotta throws her jacket at her to knock her to the floor. Hotta goes out after Riko, Riko goes to the apron and goes for a PK but Hotta catches her leg and tosses her back to the floor again. Riko keeps fighting back but Hotta hits a hard elbow, more elbows by Riko but Hotta throws her into the ring post. Kicks to the chest by Hotta and she slides Riko into the ring, Riko pushes Hotta away and hits more elbows but Hotta rocks her with one elbow in return. Dropkick by Riko and she kicks Hotta in the leg, more kicks by Riko and she finally knocks Hotta off her feet. Riko knees Hotta against the ropes before picking her up, but Hotta trips her and applies a single leg crab hold. Riko gets to the ropes for the break, Riko ducks Hotta’s elbow and applies a sleeper hold. Hotta flings Riko off of her and kicks Riko in the back before applying a sleeper hold of her own. Riko almost goes out but Hotta releases the hold and kicks Riko out of the ring so that the people at ringside can revive her.

Hotta gets her chain and throws it at Riko, she then chokes Riko with the chain before finally letting go. Riko ducks the next chain shot attempt and returns the favor, hitting Hotta with the chain and delivering a series of mounted elbows to her chest. She gets on the apron and dives off with a footstomp to Hotta’s midsection, she goes to the apron while Hotta gets up and rolls back in the ring. Riko goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, she goes up top again and hits a second one for a one count. Riko applies a figure four leglock but Hotta quickly gets to the ropes, high kicks by Riko and she re-applies the figure four. Hotta manages to get to the ropes for the break, PK by Riko and she goes to the top turnbuckle, but Hotta gets her feet up on the moonsault attempt. Riko applies a quick cradle for two, head kick by Riko but that gets a two count as well. Riko picks up Hotta and goes off the ropes, but Hotta catches her with a heel kick. Sleeper by Hotta but Riko gets a foot on the ropes, lariat by Hotta and she hits a second one for a two count. Hotta picks up Riko and nails the Pyramid Driver, and she picks up the three count! Yumiko Hotta is the winner.

If this is how Hotta treats people she likes, imagine if she doesn’t like you. Hotta hasn’t lost a singles match to a younger wrestler lower than her on the totem pole in an eternity and she isn’t about to start now, but she gave Riko quite a bit of offense here even as she mostly stayed in control. I loved how feisty Riko was at the start even as Hotta shrugged her off, and the “put someone to sleep but they wake up super angry” spot isn’t done often so the old-school spin was fun. Riko really took it to Hotta for the middle portion and showed a lot of fight, and even though she lost this was certainly not a one-sided affair. A really entertaining match and how trainer/trainee matches should be done as Hotta elevated Riko by both being vicious but taking it right back from her.  Recommended

Miyuki Takase vs. Rina Yamashita vs. Yoshiko

I am still adjusting to Yoshiko’s weight loss, she looks like a totally difference person. As expected, Miyuki is targeted by all three (two opponents + referee) to start the match as she is beaten down in the corner. Running boot by Rina but she bumps Yoshiko in the process, Yoshiko doesn’t like that so she goes after Rina. Irish whip by Yoshiko but Rina reverses it, boot by Yoshiko and she hits a slingshot headlock takedown followed by a spinning headscissors. Yoshiko goes for an Octopus Hold but Miyuki jumps on her back, applying one of her own as they are all stacked on top of each other. Taiyo gets them apart, dropkick by Miyuki to Rina out of the corner and she applies a Fujiwara Armbar. Yoshiko breaks it up and stomps Miyuki out of the way, she goes to Rina and they for the moment work together again. Double vertical suplex to Miyuki but Yoshiko quickly rolls up Rina for a two count. Rina is naturally annoyed by this betrayal and kicks her, Rina puts Yoshiko in the corner and hits a lariat.

Chops by Rina as Miyuki joins in, but Rina chops Miyuki out of the ring. Rina scoop slams Yoshiko and puts Yoshiko in a crab hold. Miyuki joins her as she puts Yoshiko in a camel clutch, but Taiyo breaks it up. Miyuki kicks Taiyo out of the ring but Taiyo trips her and pulls Miyuki out to the floor. Rina and Yoshiko trade elbows, Yoshiko kicks Rina and delivers a running boot. Miyuki runs in with a senton but Yoshiko hits a senton as well on both of them. Taiyo puts Miyuki in the ropes but Rina attacks all three of them, she goes back to Miyuki and puts her in a leg submission. Yoshiko and Taiyo both return to the ring, Yoshiko elbows Rina and puts her in a stretch hold before letting go to hit a lariat. Yoshiko picks up Miyuki but Miyuki throws her into Taiyo and hits a cutter. Lariat by Miyuki to Rina in the corner, cradle by Miyuki but Rina reverses it. Lariat by Rina, she goes off the ropes but Miyuki is back up. Rina lariats her again but Miyuki recovers and cradles her for two. Kick by Rina and she gets Miyuki on her shoulders, but Miyuki slides off and Yoshiko hits Rina with a Codebreaker. Cradle by Miyuki to Yoshiko but Yoshiko gets out of it and applies La Magistral for the (quick) three count! Yoshiko is the winner.

I’m not the biggest fan of the “high speed” SEAdLINNNG gimmick but its been here since the beginning so clearly its something that Natsuki Taiyo really enjoys. Any combination of these two could have a banger match, so while this match was fine it was too chaotic and comedic to really let them show off their skills. If you enjoy these matches generally, you’ll probably like this one too, but to me its just a waste of three really talented wrestlers to play around with Taiyo, if Taiyo would just return to wrestling like she clearly misses the world would be a better place.

Ayame Sasamura, Makoto, and Kaiju vs. Matsumoto, Aoki, and Yuki Mashiro

Kaiju and Yuki start the match, they lock knuckles and trade wristlocks before going into a fast exchange which ends with a Yuki dropkick. She tags in Hiroyo, Hiroyo tosses around Kaiju by the hair and slaps her in the corner. Hiroyo lays Kaiju across the ropes in the corner and hits a running knee, cover by Hiroyo but it gets two. Hiroyo tags Yuki back in and she hits a dropkick, but Kaiju shrugs it off. Yuki hits a few more with more success, cover by Yuki but Kaiju kicks out. Yuki picks up Kaiju but Kaiju hits a dropkick of her own, three more dropkicks by Kaiju and she covers Yuki for two. She tags Makoto, Makoto drives Yuki into the turnbuckle and chokes her with her boot. Irish whip by Makoto and she delivers a big boot, but Yuki bridges out of the cover. Makoto picks up Yuki and goes for a slam, but Yuki blocks it and applies a submission hold. Makoto gets into the ropes for the break, kicks by Yuki but Makoto drop toeholds her into the second rope before kicking it. Sasamura and Kaiju both come in the ring as they mess with Yuki, putting her in a pretzel and posing on her. Double footstomp by Makoto and she tags in Sasamura, Yuki tries to fight back but Sasamura bops her in the back of the head.

Irish whip by Sasamura and with Kaiju they both hit elbows followed by a double kick to the head. Sasamura picks up Yuki, Yuki gets away but Makoto hits her form the apron. Yuki dropkicks Kaiju anyway and tags in Aoki, hard shoulderblock by Aoki and she elbows Sasamura in the corner. Bulldog by Aoki but Sasamura delivers a dropkick, Sasamura picks up Aoki and the two trade elbows. Back elbow by Aoki, she picks up Sasamura but Sasamura dropkicks her in the knee and hits a DDT. She rolls to her corner and tags Makoto, Makoto kicks Aoki in the corner before kicking her in the back, Makoto picks up Aoki and knees her in the midsection. Drop toehold by Aoki and she dropkicks Makoto, giving her time to tag Hiroyo. Body attack by Hiroyo to Makoto but Makoto boots her and the two trade blows. Eye poke by Makoto but Hiroyo levels her with a lariat, vertical suplex by Makoto but Hiroyo blocks the spear and hits a suplex of her own. Hiroyo picks up Makoto, knee by Makoto and she hits a heel drop. Head kick by Makoto, she goes off the ropes and delivers a spear for a two count. Makoto tags Kaiju, Kaiju goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody for two. Dropkick by Kaiju and she goes for a slam, but Hiroyo blocks it and hits one of her own. Sasamura runs in and helps Kaiju regain the advantage, roll-up by Kaiju but it gets two. Kaiju goes off the ropes but Hiroyo nails a back elbow for a two count.

Elbows by Kaiju but Hiroyo hits a hard lariat, she tags in Aoki and Aoki hits a running double knee to Kaiju’s back. Snap suplex with a bridge by Aoki to Kaiju, but it gets two. Aoki slams Kaiju in front of the corner but Sasamura elbows her from the apron, she climbs up with her with Kaiju and they both drive Aoki into the mat. Aoki elbows Kaiju but Kaiju elbows her back, Makoto boots Aoki and both Sasamura and Kaiju deliver sliding kicks to Aoki. Makoto goes for her cartwheel double kneedrop, but Yuki runs in and covers Aoki with her body to protect her. Once the ring clears, Kaiju hits a diving crossbody on Aoki but it gets two. Aoki slides behind Kaiju and drops her with a STP, she picks up Kaiju but Kaiju cradles her with a jackknife for two. Boot by Aoki but Sasamura distracts her from the floor, giving Kaiju a chance to roll-up Aoki for two. Kaiju goes for a suplex by Aoki blocks it, lariat by Aoki but her cover gets a two count. Yuki runs in and jumps on Aoki’s back to assist with a body press, but Kaiju moves out of the way and Sasamura returns as they both deliver dropkicks. Kaiju picks up Aoki and hits a Northern Lights Suplex Hold, but Hiroyo breaks it up. Kaiju and Sasamura go after Hiroyo but Hiroyo hits a backdrop suplex on both of them, Hiroyo goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a reverse double kneedrop on Kaiju. Aoki then gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a body press, but Makoto breaks it up. Aoki picks up Kaiju and nails the Daikoku Drop, cover by Aoki and she gets the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto, Itsuki Aoki, and Yuki Mashiro are the winners.

This was a pretty solid six wrestler tag leading to the main event to keep the show rolling. The match probably didn’t need six as Yuki did very little, this was the Aoki show and she really looked great. Itsuki Aoki is going to be a star if given the opportunity, she has the personality and the ability to hold your attention to whatever she is doing. Ayame and Riko looked good as well, while Makoto and Hiroyo did their spots but mostly gave the younger wrestlers the spotlight. Fast paced and entertaining, even though it didn’t have a lot of “meaning” it was still an impressive display by those involved. A good match in general but Aoki did her best to make it memorable.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Arisa Nakajima vs. Hanako Nakamori
SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Championship

They circle each other to start, they end up on the mat as they grapple for position with Hanako getting the early advantage. She goes for a cross armbreaker but Arisa blocks it, they end up back on their feet and trade holds. Irish whip by Hanako but Arisa boots her, Hanako returns the favor as they exchange boots to the face. Arisa knocks Hanako off her feet but Hanako snapmares Arisa and kicks her repeatedly in the back. PK by Hanako and she hits a leg drop for a two count. Hanako gets Arisa in the corner and chokes her with her knee, waistlock by Hanako but Arisa reverses it. Cradle by Arisa into a double footstomp, Arisa kicks at Hanako’s head before delivering a running boot. Snapmare by Arisa and she kicks Hanako in the back, dropkick by Arisa and she covers Hanako for two. Chinlock by Arisa, she lets go after a moment but Hanako throws her into the corner. Arisa avoids Hanako’s charge and slides out to the apron, but Hanako grabs her and slams her head repeatedly in the top turnbuckle. Hanako goes out to the apron but Arisa boots her down to the floor, she then gets a start on the apron and hits a missile dropkick down onto Hanako.

Arisa goes to the top turnbuckle and jumps off, but Hanako kicks her in the midsection while she is on the way down. Hanako slides Arisa back into the ring and applies an Octopus Hold in the ropes, she lets go and hits a running kick to Arisa’s back. Armbar by Hanako, she puts Arisa’s arm around the top rope and twists it. Arisa fires back with an elbow but Hanako trips her and applies an armbar, but Arisa gets to the ropes for the break. Hanako kicks Arisa in the chest while she is against the ropes, she charges Arisa but Arisa catches her kick and hits a Sling Blade. Arisa picks up Hanako and puts her in the ropes, she goes out to the apron and elbows Hanako repeatedly. Arisa kicks Hanako back and goes to the top turnbuckle, missile dropkick by Arisa and she covers Hanako for two. Waistlock by Arisa but Hanako elbows out of it, she goes off the ropes but Arisa avoids her and kicks Hanako in the back of the head. Knee by Arisa, and she covers Hanako for two. Ankle Hold by Arisa and she hits a release German, she goes to the top turnbuckle but Hanako elbows her before she can jump off. Hanako joins Arisa and hits a superplex, she goes to the top turnbuckle but Arisa also recovers in time and gets on the turnbuckle too. They trade elbows, Arisa knocks Hanako down in a Tree of Woe outside the ring before she jumps off with a footstomp.

Arisa returns to the top turnbuckle and dives down to the floor with a footstomp on Hanako, Arisa slides Hanako back in and hits another diving footstomp from the top. Cover by Arisa, but Hanako kicks out. Knees by Arisa and she kicks Hanako into the corner, running double knee by Arisa but Hanako blocks the suplex and kicks Arisa in the head. Hanako applies a seated armbar but Arisa gets a foot on the ropes, knees by Hanako but Arisa elbows her in the head. High kick by Hanako and she delivers a Shining Wizard, cover by Hanako but it gets a two count. Hanako scoops up Arisa and nails a tombstone piledriver, but that gets a two as well. Hanako goes to the top turnbuckle but Arisa rolls out of the way of the guillotine leg drop, Hanako still recovers first and hits a heel kick but Arisa returns with an elbow. The two trade shots until Arisa drops Hanako with a release German, but Hanako delivers a step-up kick. Unfazed, Arisa rocks Hanako with an elbow before they both knock each other to the mat. They both slowly get up, elbow combination by Arisa but Hanako ducks one and hits another kick. Hanako hits two Requiem Drivers but Arisa blocks the third and they trade flash covers for two. Head kick by Hanako and she hits a third Requiem Driver, but Arisa barely kicks out. Hanako drags Arisa up but Arisa blocks her next move attempt, Arisa blocks Hanako’s kicks and catches one to hit a Leg Capture German Suplex Hold for two. Arisa puts Hanako in a Dragon Sleeper, she lets go so she can hit a Dragon Suplex Hold but it only gets a two count. Hard elbow by Arisa and she nails the DxD Suplex for the three count! Arisa Nakajima wins and is still the champion.

Arisa Nakajima doesn’t wrestle as much as she used to, but when she does she certainly doesn’t hold back. Her style really hasn’t changed that much since her “prime” years in JWP – lots of suplexes, lots of jumping off the turnbuckles, and lots of hard elbows. Course, even though she debuted in 2006 she is only 32 years old, so she still can certainly bring it. Hanako was very game, I wouldn’t put her on Arisa’s level but these two know how to put a match together and have great chemistry. There were a few little things that weren’t needed, such as Hanako’s half-hearted arm work that went nowhere fast, but there was little filler here as Arisa only knows one speed. It felt like it ended at just the right time, so many promotions now think the main event has to have a super long ending sequence, while this one felt satisfying without being excessive. Hard hitting and captivating, not quite a MOTYC but not too far from it as Arisa Nakajima is still one of the best in the world and she showed it here. Very entertaining and a fitting main event in every aspect, worth tracking down for some old-school Joshi action.  Highly Recommended

The post SEAdLINNNG Shin-Kiba Night! on 2/21/22 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

• Championships and Tournaments Won: This includes any championship won during 2021, or any championship that was held when 2021 began. The prestige of the championship or tournament will be taken into account.
• Match Quality: The most subjective criteria, extra consideration is given to wrestlers that had high quality matches throughout the year, especially if it was with a variety of opponents.
• Wrestler Popularity: Being able to connect with the crowd is important in wrestling, wrestlers that have success interacting with the crowd and getting reactions will get credit for that.
• Wrestler Status in a Promotion: Generally speaking, the Ace of one promotion will be ahead of the #3 wrestler in another promotion, since wrestling on top means bigger matches, longer matches, and more opportunities. There isn’t a direct correlation, but leading a promotion or being the ‘face’ of a promotion can help a wrestler’s rank as it increases the wrestler’s visibility and match importance.
• Match Frequency/Availability: How often a wrestler wrestled is taken into consideration. A wrestler with 100 matches is more likely to be on the list than a wrestler with 10 matches. Also, it is harder to ‘rate’ a wrestler if their matches rarely were distributed via TV or an online streaming service, so visibility is a factor.

One criteria I am not using is ‘drawing power.’ In the current wrestling landscape there are very few wrestlers that by themselves are draws (I could probably count them on one hand), usually it is more the benefit of a good storyline or a hot region that impacts the size of the crowd. While the larger Joshi promotions may have more wrestlers on the list due to the other criteria (visibility being a major one), the size of the crowds will not be taken in consideration. Also, it should be noted that this ranking is based only on a wrestler’s matches/participation in Japan. This is not a list of my personal favorite wrestlers or fun rookies that I enjoy watching, but rather my version of what a “real” ranking of Joshi wrestlers would look like based on their success and status in 2021.

2021 continued to be impacted by the pandemic, even as many promotions returned to a more normal schedule. The trend of “more Joshi” being available via streaming methods continued, which is great, but also made it harder to keep up with everything. I did my best to do so however, and attempted to come up with a Top 20 list that I feel best shows who in lead the Joshi landscape during these unusual times.

Onto the Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2021!

1. Syuri (Stardom)

Championships Held: SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship (365 days), Goddess of Stardom Championship (272 days), and the World of Stardom Championship (3 days)
Biggest Matches: with Giulia vs. Himeka and Maika on 4/4, vs. Utami Hayashishita on 6/12, vs. Momo Watanabe on 9/25, vs. Utami Hayashishita on 12/29
Best Match: vs. Utami Hayashishita in Stardom on June 12th, 2021

14 years after she debuted in professional wrestling, Syuri finally had the year that her fans always knew she was capable of. After years of being a Freelancer or focusing on her MMA career, Syuri finally got the chance to take over in Stardom and she did not disappoint. Syuri had a dominant year in both singles and tag matches, going 13-0-1 in title matches. She also won the Stardom FIVE STAR GP, the most prestigious annual tournament in Joshi. As far as match quality, she had one of the best matches of the year against Utami in June, and had five matches rated **** or higher by the Wrestling Observer (all singles matches). She capped off the year winning the World of Stardom Championship, as she goes into 2022 as the top wrestler in the promotion. A hell of a year for Syuri, and one that her fans have long been waiting for.

2. Utami Hayashishita (Stardom)

Championships Held: World of Stardom Championship (363 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Bea Priestly on 4/4, vs. Syuri on 6/12, vs. Tam Nakano on 9/25, vs. Takumi Iroha on 10/9, vs. Syuri on 12/29
Best Match: vs. Syuri in Stardom on June 12th, 2021

Even though Utami Hayashishita only held one title in 2021, it happened to be the top title in Stardom and she held it for virtually the entire year. In her title reign she had a number of high-end defenses, including wins over Bea Priestley, Takumi Iroha, Hazuki, and Maika. She only stumbled when facing Syuri, as she went 0-2-2 against her in singles matches, which is the reason Syuri ranking over her was an easy decision. At only 23 years old, Utami is poised to lead Stardom for many years to come if that is the path she decides to take in her career.

3. Miyu Yamashita (Tokyo Joshi Pro)

Championships Held: Tokyo Joshi Pro Princess Of Princess Championship (242 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Rika Tatsumi on 5/4, vs. Yuka Sakazaki on 6/6, vs. Sakisama on 6/26, vs. Mizuki on 7/31, vs. Maki Itoh on 10/9
Best Match: vs. Maki Itoh in Tokyo Joshi Pro on October 9th, 2021

What really puts Miyu Yamashita over the top isn’t just her success in Tokyo Joshi Pro, but her popularity and her ability to put on high-end matches against a variety of opponents. She had four successful title defenses in 2021, and over the course of the year she was 18-1 in singles matches, with her only loss being against Mizuki in the Tokyo Princess Cup. To show her level of popularity in Japan, she finished 4th in the Weekly Pro Magazine fan voting for Joshi MVP, the highest of any non-Stardom wrestler.

4. Tsukasa Fujimoto (Ice Ribbon)

Championships Held: ICExInfinity Championship (294 days) and the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (16 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Rina Yamashita on 2/20, with Tsukushi vs. Risa Sera and Suzu Suzuki on 2/21, vs. Maya Yukihi on 3/27, vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto on 8/9, vs. Tsukushi Haruka on 11/13
Best Match: vs. Tsukushi Haruka in Ice Ribbon on November 13th, 2021

With Ice Ribbon going through some turmoil in 2021, their long time Ace took back over as she won the ICExInfinity Championship for the first time since 2018 and held it for the bulk of the year. She was an extremely active champion, with 11 title defenses and wins over Hiroyo Matsumoto, Tsukushi Haruka, and Maya Yukihi along the way. She also had a brief run with the tag titles, although she had no successful defenses of the belt. Tsukasa Fujimoto was the undisputed leader of Ice Ribbon in 2021, showing that even at 38 years old she is one of the best in Joshi wrestling.

5. Tam Nakano (Stardom)

Championships Held: Wonder of Stardom Championship (301 days) and the Artist of Stardom Championship (276 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Giulia on 3/3, with Cosmic Angels vs. STARS on 3/7, vs. Natsupoi on 4/4, with Cosmic Angels vs. Queen’s Quest on 7/6, vs. Starlight Kid on 7/21, vs. Mayu Iwatani on 10/9, vs. Saya Kamitani on 11/27
Best Match: vs. Giulia in Stardom on March 3rd, 2021

Tam Nakano had a hell of a year in 2021. She entered the year as one of the Artist of Stardom champions, but her big moment came when she finally defeated Giulia in a Title vs. Hair match in March to win the Wonder of Stardom Championship. She held the title for almost the rest of the year, with successful defenses against Natsupoi, Starlight Kid, and Mina Shirakawa before losing the belt to Saya Kamitani. As the leader of the Cosmic Angels, Tam was frequently in major storylines and was a constant focus of the promotion. Easily the biggest year of her career, Tam showed in 2021 she has what it takes to lead a promotion.

6. Maya Yukihi (Freelancer)

Championships Held: OZ Academy Openweight Championship (137 days) and the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (257 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto on 3/27, with Maika Ozaki vs. Dropkicks on 4/11, vs. Kaori Yoneyama on 7/18, with Sera vs. Matsumoto and Fujimoto on 8/9, vs. Mayumi Ozaki vs. Saori Anou vs. Yumi Ohka on 8/18, with Sera vs. Saori Anou and Suzu Suzuki on 11/13, vs. Yuu on 12/30
Best Match: vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto in Ice Ribbon on March 27th, 2021

Maya Yukihi is a constant force in Joshi, as even though she is a Freelancer she has a regular home in both Ice Ribbon and OZ Academy. As a regular, that gives her more consistent opportunities in both promotions, and she took full advantage in 2021 as she found success in both places. In OZ Academy, she won the Openweight Championship in August and held it the rest of the year, with one successful defense against Yuu. Over in Ice Ribbon, her “nicer” persona won the tag titles twice, with nine successful defenses between her two reigns. Being one of the top wrestlers in two different promotions is quite a feat, and I expect that trend to continue in 2022.

7. Rina Yamashita (Freelancer)

Championships Held: Ice Ribbon FantastICE Championship (187 days), Daily Sports Tag Team Championship (241 days), King of FREEDOM Tag Team Championship (107 days), and the OZ Academy Tag Team Championship (2 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto on 2/20, vs. ASUKA on 3/17, vs. Risa Sera on 6/27, vs. Suzu Suzuki on 8/9, vs. with Nakamori vs. Cherry and Leon on 8/29, with Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Aoki and Kuragaki on 12/30
Best Match: vs. Suzu Suzuki in Ice Ribbon on August 9th, 2021

I love Rina Yamashita. She is capable of wrestling such a diverse style, and is so well-respected by promotions that she held titles in 2021 in FOUR different promotions. OZ Academy and Ice Ribbon were her primary homes in 2021, as she won the hardcore-friendly FantastICE Championship in Ice Ribbon and ended the year winning the OZ Academy Tag Championship with Hiroyo Matsumoto. She also held titles in PURE-J and FREEDOMS, showing her versatility. More wild and unpredictable than your average Joshi wrestler, Yamashita brings a sense of danger to all her matches and is captivating to watch. Yamashita may not ever find a permanent home but she is doing quite well for herself as one of the most popular Freelancers on the Joshi market.

8. Giulia (Stardom)

Championships Held: Wonder of Stardom Championship (62 days) and the Goddesses of Stardom Championship (272 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Starlight Kid on 2/13, vs. Tam Nakano on 3/3, with Syuri vs. Himeka and Maika on 4/4, with Syuri vs. Mayu and Starlight Kid on 5/15, vs. Mayu Iwatani on 8/1
Best Match: vs. Tam Nakano in Stardom on March 3rd, 2021

The only thing that held Giulia back in 2021 was an injury that kept her out for a few months, but she still stayed in the spotlight in Stardom as one of their most important wrestlers. She had a great match in March against Tam Nakano, in which she ended up losing her hair. Giulia had no issue rocking the “short hair” look however and never really missed a beat, as she held the tag titles with Syuri for the bulk of the year. As the leader of DDM she was the focus of multiple major storylines, and ended the year defeating Konami in Konami’s last match before going on a long-term break. Even a “down” year for Giulia is a damn good one, and she’ll look to rebound in 2022.

9. Mei Suruga (Gatoh Move)

Championships Held: Asia Dream Tag Championship (365 days) and the Princess Tag Team Championship (175 days)
Biggest Matches: with Akki vs. Emi Sakura and Fujita on 3/27, with Sakisama vs. Tenma and Aino on 4/17, with Sakisama vs. BeeStar on 5/4, vs. Minoru Fujita on 6/12, with Sakisama vs. Maki Itoh and Yamashita on 6/17, vs. Emi Sakura on 8/9/21, with Sakisama vs. Sugar Rabbits on 10/9
Best Match: vs. Emi Sakura in Gatoh Move on August 9th, 2021

When I was compiling the ranking, I really struggled with the rest of the list as almost every wrestler has a different justification for being ranked ahead of another. What put Mei over the the top for me (if I can be permitted to put kayfabe aside) is her run in Tokyo Joshi Pro. As Mei Saint-Michel, Mei won the tag titles with Sakisama and together they had two successful defenses during their 175 day run. It also helps that Mei’s matches are extremely accessible, which builds up her popularity and makes all her bigger matches available to watch. In Gatoh Move, Mei held the tag titles for the entire year, with nine successful defenses. Mei may have reached her ceiling if she remains primarily in Gatoh Move, but even though she is in a smaller promotion she still puts on great matches and has a wide fanbase that spans the globe.

10. Miyuki Takase (AgZ)

Championships Held: AgZ Championship (94 days) and the Diana Tag Team Championship (289 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. SAKI on 4/4, with Umesaki vs. 3A on 4/18, vs. Rin Kadokura on 7/1, vs. Leon on 12/13
Best Match: vs. Mio Momono in WAVE on June 1st, 2021

Miyuki Takase gained more visibility in 2021 due to wrestling in more promotions and AgZ regularly updating their streaming service, but she was hurt by missing a chunk of the year due to an injury. Miyuki only had 60 matches during the year but made the most of it, as she held titles in two different promotions. Miyuki’s epic run as AgZ Champion ended in 2021, but she continued to be the best wrestler in the promotion. In WAVE, she won the Catch the WAVE Tournament, which is still one of the most prestigious Joshi tournaments even though WAVE itself has dropped in popularity. In Diana, Miyuki had two runs with their tag team championship, although she had a lack of defenses due to missing so much time. As the year ended, AgZ folded their wrestling division so Miyuki officially became a Freelancer. Hopefully she can turn that into a successful 2022 as she is well regarded in several Joshi promotions from her work over the years.

11. Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls’) – Chihiro again fails to crack the Top 10 for the same reason as last year – visibility. Sendai Girls’ doesn’t run as many shows as other promotions, and not as many of their events “make air” as they don’t have a dedicated streaming service. Hopefully next year we will get to see more of Chihiro as the matches we have seen (vs. Mio Momono and vs. Takumi Iroha in particular) were great and she deserves more attention.

12. Arisa Nakajima (SEAdLINNNG) – The only thing holding back Arisa Nakajima is she continues to have a light schedule, with only 32 matches on the year. Seven of those matches were title matches however, so when Arisa did wrestle she wrestled with a purpose. Over the course of the year she held three titles (SEAdLINNNG singles, SEAdLINNNG tag, and PURE-J tag) and continued to put on high-end matches. I’d like to see more of Arisa, but she seems to be happy with her current situation and she has certainly earned the lighter workload after the long career she has had.

13. Starlight Kid (Stardom) – In regards to growth in 2021, few wrestlers had the success of Starlight Kid. Starlight Kid has been a great wrestler for years, but she stepped up her game in 2021 not only by winning the High Speed Championship but turning on her friends and joining Oedo Tai. Ever since she became more…. dark, she’s become one of the stars of the promotion as she was immediately thrust into several major storylines. She is still a little young and undersized to expect a climb to the top in 2022, but I’m not going to be the one to doubt her as she has shown she is capable of anything.

14. Maki Itoh (Tokyo Joshi Pro) – Like Starlight Kid, Maki Itoh is here on the list due to her growth in popularity. Arguably the most popular wrestler in Tokyo Joshi Pro, Itoh didn’t win any titles in 2021 but did win the Tokyo Princess Cup when she defeated Shoko Nakajima in the Finals. She challenged twice for the Princess of Princess Championship without success, so even though she didn’t win as many matches as she’d have liked, she stayed in the main event scene. Itoh’s career path is one of the harder ones to predict, but I don’t see her popularity waning anytime soon.

15. Leon (PURE-J) – Leon dominated PURE-J in 2021, holding both the Openweight Championship and the PURE-J Tag Team Championship. At 41 years old, Leon is still a very good wrestler but doesn’t put on the high end matches anymore that many others on this list do. Still, she provided the old school promotion with stability and due to their streaming services, virtually all of her big matches were available for fans to watch.

16. ASUKA/Veny (Freelancer) – ASUKA was everywhere in 2021, as they wrestled in over a dozen promotions over the course of the year. ASUKA’s main home was SEAdLINNNG, where they won both the singles and tag team championship. A very active Freelancer that puts on high end matches wherever they go, even though in some ways this was a down year for ASUKA I am sure they will rebound next year and find even more success.

17. Nagisa Nozaki (Pro Wrestling WAVE) – Nagisa continues to lead a promotion that no one watches, due to WAVE not having a regular streaming service and most of their events only being available via PPV. Nagisa won the Regina Di WAVE Championship in August and held it for the rest of the year, however she only had one successful defense in that time. She is a very solid wrestler, not spectacular but whenever her matches do become available they are generally entertaining. I hated to have a promotion with no representation and Nagisa is the best pick from WAVE, but if you haven’t seen any of her matches from 2021 I assure you that you are not alone.

18. Tsukushi Haruka (Ice Ribbon) – Now that Suzu Suzuki is gone from Ice Ribbon, Tsukushi becomes the wrestler most likely to take the role of Ace from Tsukasa Fujimoto. She started that process by winning the ICExInfinity Championship in November – she has held many titles in Ice Ribbon before but this time it feels more serious as Tsukushi is now an adult and has started using her last name. A spunky murder machine, Tsukushi is poised for a big 2022 if she can keep up her current momentum.

19. Rika Tatsumi (Tokyo Joshi Pro) – Rika started the year hot but cooled off a bit as it came to a close. She came into 2021 the Princess of Princess Champion but lost the title in May and did not even challenge for any other titles for the rest of the year. She is only ranked at all based on her being the top title holder for the first quarter, but by the end of the year she had been passed by several other Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers. Rika is going to have to re-find that magic in 2022 or she will likely drop off the list altogether.

20. Suzu Suzuki (Ice Ribbon/Prominence) – Suzu gets the final spot this year (there are a dozen wrestlers that could have a legitimate argument for being on this list that aren’t) mostly due to her love of being blown up. Suzu turned to hardcore wrestling in 2021, which apparently is her true love and she wrestled anyone she could find that didn’t mind some extra pain. Her love for deathmatches helped lead to her leaving Ice Ribbon and forming her own group, which needless to say was a major step for the young wrestler. It remains to be seen if her venture will be a success, but I respect her willingness to risk it all by giving up her comfy Ice Ribbon “future Ace” role for the less steady realm of Joshi hardcore wrestling.

The post Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2021 appeared first on Joshi City.

• Championships and Tournaments Won: This includes any championship won during 2020, or any championship that was held when 2020 began. The prestige of the championship or tournament will be taken into account.
• Match Quality: The most subjective criteria, extra consideration is given to wrestlers that had high quality matches throughout the year, especially if it was with a variety of opponents.
• Wrestler Popularity: Being able to connect with the crowd is important in wrestling, wrestlers that have success interacting with the crowd and getting reactions will get credit for that.
• Wrestler Status in a Promotion: Generally speaking, the Ace of one promotion will be ahead of the #3 wrestler in another promotion, since wrestling on top means bigger matches, longer matches, and more opportunities. There isn’t a direct correlation, but leading a promotion or being the ‘face’ of a promotion can help a wrestler’s rank as it increases the wrestler’s visibility and match importance.
• Match Frequency/Availability: How often a wrestler wrestled is taken into consideration. A wrestler with 100 matches is more likely to be on the list than a wrestler with 10 matches. Also, it is harder to ‘rate’ a wrestler if their matches rarely were distributed via TV or an online streaming service, so visibility is a factor.

One criteria I am not using is ‘drawing power.’ In the current wrestling landscape there are very few wrestlers that by themselves are draws (I could probably count them on one hand), usually it is more the benefit of a good storyline or a hot region that impacts the size of the crowd. While the larger Joshi promotions may have more wrestlers on the list due to the other criteria (visibility being a major one), the size of the crowds will not be taken in consideration. Also, it should be noted that this ranking is based only on a wrestler’s matches/participation in Japan. This is not a list of my personal favorite wrestlers or fun rookies that I enjoy watching, but rather my version of what a “real” ranking of Joshi wrestlers would look like based on their success and status in 2020.

2020 was a very unusual year, not just for Joshi wrestling but for the world as the pandemic raged from March to December. This lead to some promotions trying new things to stay active, with other promotions drastically cutting down on events. OZ Academy, for example, only had 15 events for the entire year while Ice Ribbon had 102, just showing the different paths that promotions took. Due to that, the wrestlers in promotions with more visibility will do better in the ranking, even if in a normal year that may not have been the case. That makes this year’s list perhaps even more subjective than usual, and the bigger promotions that ran frequent events (particularly Stardom and Ice Ribbon) may be over-represented compared to prior (and hopefully future) years.

Onto the Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2020!

1. Giulia (Stardom)

Championships Held: Wonder of Stardom Championship (159 days) and the Artist of Stardom Championship (280 days)
Biggest Matches: with Syuri and Maika vs. AZM, Watanabe, and Hayashishita on 2/8, vs. Tam Nakano on 7/26, vs. Tam Nakano on 10/3, vs. Konami on 11/15, vs. Syuri on 12/20
Best Match: vs. Tam Nakano in Stardom on October 3rd, 2020

There was no other wrestler I could have justified putting in this spot, 2020 was the Year of Giulia. She ticks all the boxes – a major championship, high end matches, popularity, recognition from Japanese media, major storylines – everything a wrestler could hope for was achieved by Giulia in 2020. Giulia also successfully led a new stable, Donna del Mondo, and had memorable feuds against Hana Kimura and Tam Nakano. All in all, a banner year for Giulia, and she will likely be a force to be reckoned with in Stardom for many years to come.

2. Yuka Sakazaki (Tokyo Joshi Pro)

Championship Held: Princess of Princess Championship (365 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Miyu Yamashita on 1/4, vs. Yuki Aino on 7/23, vs. Hyper Misao on 8/10, vs. Mizuki on 11/7
Best Match: vs. Mizuki in Tokyo Joshi Pro on November 7th, 2020

After years of being on the cusp of being the top wrestler in Tokyo Joshi Pro, Yuka Sakazaki finally ascended to the top in 2020 and once she was there she never left. Yuka won the Princess of Princess Championship in late 2019 and held it for the entire year, and even during the pandemic she was an active champion with four successful defenses. Two of those defenses were highly rated matches, against Miyu Yamashita and Mizuki. The fact she became known to more American fans from wrestling in AEW wasn’t considered for this ranking, but it still worth mentioning. A great year for Yuka, as she cemented her place in Tokyo Joshi Pro as she dominated in one of the top Joshi promotions.

3. Yoshiko (SEAdLINNNG)

Championships Held: SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship (172 days) and the SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Tag Team Championship (312 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Arisa Nakajima on 7/13, vs. Sareee on 9/24, with Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Best Friends on 10/3, vs. Aja Kong on 11/4, with Sareee vs. Best Friends on 11/27
Best Match: vs. Arisa Nakajima in SEAdLINNNG on July 13th, 2020

Most of the wrestlers in the Top 10 had a fair number of matches in 2020, all things considered. Yoshiko had less than the rest, as SEAdLINNNG did not run very often, but she did a lot with the opportunities she had. Yoshiko dominated SEAdLINNNG in 2020, as she held both the singles and tag team championship. Not only did Yoshiko hold the singles title the last half of the year but she did it against very stiff competition as she defeated Arisa Nakajima, Sareee, and Aja Kong. Teaming with Sareee, Yoshiko ended the year with her new partner beating Best Friends and MAX VOLTAGE, two of the top Joshi tag teams. On top of all that, she appeared in Stardom, as she plots to invade the promotion where she began her career. Even with the pandemic raging, it was a very successful year for Yoshiko.

4. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom)

Championships Held: World of Stardom Championship (320 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Momo Watanabe on 1/19, with Kagetsu vs. Jungle Kyona and Momo Watanabe on 1/26, vs. Takumi Iroha on 2/8, vs. Jungle Kyona on 7/24, vs. Syuri on 10/3, vs. Takumi Iroha on 10/18, vs. Utami Hayashishita on 11/15
Best Match: vs. Takumi Iroha in Stardom on February 8th, 2020

The Icon may have been overshadowed in 2020 by Giulia, but she still had a great year and stayed a focal part of Stardom. She held one of the top titles in the promotion for the vast majority of the year, and had four successful defenses. She also had a great mini-feud with Takumi Iroha, as they put on two of the best Joshi matches of the year. Beyond her title success, Mayu also led the STARS faction and dealt with various comings and goings in the stable, keeping her in the spotlight. A high-end and popular wrestler, Mayu will likely maintain her high status in 2021, even though she goes into the year with no titles.

5. Suzu Suzuki (Ice Ribbon)

Championship Held: ICExInfinity Championship (145 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto on 3/14, vs. Maya Yukihi on 6/13, vs. Maya Yukihi on 8/9, vs. Tsukushi on 9/20, vs. Saori Anou on 12/31
Best Match: vs. Maya Yukihi in Ice Ribbon on August 9th, 2020

For the past few years Ice Ribbon has been slow to elevate talented young wrestlers, but they did not make the same mistake with Suzu Suzuki as at age 17 she won the ICExInfinity Championship. When 2020 started she immediately signaled she was ready for a bigger spotlight, as she defeated Tsukasa Fujimoto on March 14th. Unlike other promotions, Ice Ribbon did not take as long of a pause as they continued running events from their Dojo, giving Suzu a chance to tally more wins. After failing to win the ICExInfinity Championship in June, she came back in August and defeated Maya Yukihi for the championship. She had three successful defenses before the year closed, as she was an active champion. Between her age and skill set, if Ice Ribbon keeps her on the path she will likely be an Ace for the promotion for many years to come.

6. Utami Hayashishita (Stardom)

Championships Held: SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship (26 days), Artist Of Stardom Championship (39 days), Future Of Stardom Championship (47 days), Goddesses Of Stardom Championship (154 days), and the World Of Stardom Championship (47 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Arisa Hoshiki on 1/19, with Saya Kamitani vs. Jungle Kyona and Konami on 7/26, with Saya Kamitani vs. AZM and Momo Watanabe on 11/14, vs. Mayu Iwatani on 11/15, vs. Momo Watanabe on 12/20, with Saya Kamitani vs. Bea Priestley and Konami on 12/26
Best Match: vs. Mayu Iwatani in Stardom on November 15th, 2020

As is her tradition, Utami Hayashishita was a Title Collector in 2020. At some point during the year, Utami held five different championships, and ended the year with one of the top titles in Stardom. She also put on a series of high end matches, including memorable fights against Momo Watanabe and Mayu Iwatani. On top of that, she also won the FIVE STAR GP, one of the biggest Joshi tournaments every year. Just a couple years into her career, Utami continues to gain more and more steam which is a trend that will likely continue.

7. Mayu Yukihi (Ice Ribbon)

Championships Held: ICExInfinity Championship (222 days) and the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (one day)
Biggest Matches: vs. Hamuko Hoshi on 5/31, vs. Suzu Suzuki on 6/13, vs. Suzu Suzuki on 8/9, vs. Risa Sera on 10/31, with Maika Ozaki vs. Frank Sisters on 12/31
Best Match: vs. Suzu Suzuki in Ice Ribbon on August 9th, 2020

Even though Maya in 2020 was (perhaps temporarily) passed in the promotion by Suzu Suzuki, she still had a great year. Maya held the main singles title for the majority of 2020, with successful defenses over Akane Fujita, Hiragi Kurumi, Suzu Suzuki, and Hamuko Hoshi. After losing the title in August, Maya then failed to win the FantastICE Championship from Risa Sera but rebounded by winning the tag titles on the last day of the year. Maya may start 2021 focused on the tag scene but will no doubt be back trying to regain the ICExInfinity Championship before long.

8. Miyuki Takase (Actwres girl’Z)

Championships Held: Actwres girl’Z Championship (365 days) and the Diana Tag Team Championship (124 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Nagisa Nozaki on 3/15, vs. Nagisa Nozaki on 3/21, vs. Sareee on 10/5, vs. Andras Miyagi on 11/1, vs. Akane Fujita on 11/16
Best Match: vs. Sareee in Actwres girl’Z on October 5th, 2020

A sleeper pick to be this high, but I think well deserved. Even though Miyuki is based out of AgZ, she wrestled in many other promotions in 2020 to help build her visibility and put on quality matches against a variety of opponents. During the year she had five successful defenses of the AgZ Championship, including wins over Nagisa Nozaki and Andras Miyagi. In other promotions, she challenged for the Regina di WAVE Championship and successfully won the tag team titles in Diana. Miyuki is AgZ’s undisputed Ace, and since in the past they have had trouble hanging onto wrestlers with Miyuki’s popularity, it remains to be seen how much longer she will stay in the smaller promotion.

9. Tsukasa Fujimoto (Ice Ribbon)

Championships Held: International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (222 days) and the SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Championship (56 days)
Biggest Matches: with Tsukushi vs. Ram Kaicho and Rina Yamashita on 2/24, with Tsukushi vs. Hiragi Kurumi and Mochi Miyagi on 8/9, with Arisa Nakajima vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Yoshiko on 8/26, with Arisa Nakajima vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Yoshiko on 10/3, with Arisa Nakajima vs. Sareee and Yoshiko on 11/27
Best Match: with Arisa Nakajima vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Yoshiko in SEAdLINNNG on August 26th, 2020

Tsukasa Fujimoto stayed out of the main title scene in Ice Ribbon for 2020, but she still was very active and had a successful year. Most of her notable victories and big matches were in the tag division, as she teamed with Tsukushi in Ice Ribbon and Arisa Nakajima in SEAdLINNNG to find title success. Particularly in her run for SEAdLINNNG, Best Friends had a number of high end matches against Hiroyo Matsumoto and Yoshiko, with the feud ending when Best Friends took the belts. Even at 37 years old, Tsukasa hasn’t lost a step as she continues to be an important part of Ice Ribbon.

10. Nagisa Nozaki (Pro Wrestling WAVE)

Championship Held: Regina Di WAVE Championship (362 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Miyuki Takase on 3/15, vs. Miyuki Takase on 3/21, vs. Yuki Miyazaki on 7/7, vs. Sareee on 8/30, vs. Sakura Hirota on 9/6, vs. Sakura Hirota on 12/27
Best Match:  vs. Miyuki Takase in Actwres girl’Z on March 15th, 2020

Pro Wrestling WAVE flies under the radar more often than not, but Nagisa Nozaki’s dominance of the promotion deserves attention. Nagisa held the Regina di WAVE Championship for almost the entire year, and had wins over Miyuki Takase, Sakura Hirota, and Rina Shingaki in defense of it. Her matches with Miyuki Takase were highly rated, and she had a special attraction match with WWE-bound Sareee over the summer. Nagisa was very loyal to WAVE in 2020 which impacted her visibility, hopefully in 2021 she is able to branch out more to other promotions.

11. Risa Sera (Ice Ribbon) – Risa continued in 2020 to not have success at the very top of the card in Ice Ribbon, but she really increased her overall impact in the promotion with the birth of the FantastICE Championship. Risa won the title in August and had seven defenses, with all the matches having a fair amount of violence attached to them. Risa is making the most of her opportunities and goes into 2021 still the FantastICE Champion.

12. Mei Suruga (Gatoh Move) – It is hard to really describe Mei Suruga and the impact she has on her fans. Gatoh Move became a popular niche promotion in the West due to their ease to watch as they started regular Youtube shows during the pandemic. While most of the action is just fun casual viewing, Mei set herself apart by not only having a ton of charisma but being entertaining and talented to boot. She didn’t win any titles in 2020 until the last day, but her impact went beyond that and under the right circumstances she could become a real force in Joshi in a very short period of time.

13. Rika Tatsumi (Tokyo Joshi Pro) – While Yuka Sakazaki dominated Tokyo Joshi Pro, Rika Tatsumi had a good year as well. She was one half of the Princess Tag Team Champions for the bulk of the year and continued to be one of the most popular wrestlers in the promotion. Aside from losing in the Tokyo Princess Cup, Rika didn’t lose any singles matches in 2020, setting herself up for a big 2021.

14. Arisa Nakajima (SEAdLINNNG) – Arisa wasn’t super active in 2020, with only 27 total matches, but when she did wrestle she made sure to make it memorable. Six of her 27 matches were title matches, as she had two runs with the SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Championship with Tsukasa Fujimoto. She also came into the year with the Beyond The Sea Championship until losing it to Yoshiko in July. Arisa continues to wrestle at a very high level as she goes into her 15th year as a wrestler, which boosted her some in this ranking as she is still one of the best in the world.

15. Syuri (Stardom) – Syuri started the year as a Freelancer and had big matches against Chihiro Hashimoto, Saori Anou, and Tsukasa Fujimoto before joining Stardom full time later in the year. In Stardom, she won the Trios titles and challenged for the World of Stardom Championship before winning the SWA Undisputed Championship in November. With her unique offense and infectious smile, it will be fun to see where Syuri’s career in Stardom takes her.

16. Rina Yamashita (Freelancer) – In a year as crazy as 2020, I have to give some love to the Broken Dumptruck. Rina Yamashita stayed very active in 2020, with almost 100 matches, and held the PURE-J tag title for half the year. She had several other memorable title challenges, including against Arisa Nakajima and Risa Sera. Rina was everywhere in 2020 and was entertaining wherever she went, showing that not even a pandemic could stop her from leaving a lasting impression with fans.

17. Mizuki (Tokyo Joshi Pro) – Mizuki didn’t hold any titles in Joshi promotions during 2020, but she still had a solid year in Tokyo Joshi Pro. She won the Tokyo Princess Cup in the summer, defeating Shoko Nakajima in the Finals. She also had what many consider one of the best Joshi matches of the year against Yuka Sakazaki on November 7th. A popular wrestler with the Tokyo Joshi Pro fandom, Mizuki will look to build on a good 2020 to have an even better 2021.

18. Takumi Iroha (Marvelous) – Before her injury in October, Takumi was having a solid year. She didn’t hold any titles, but continued to lead Marvelous and had two really great matches against Stardom wrestler Mayu Iwatani. Takumi will be on the shelf for awhile, but hopefully she can fully recover and continue being one of the most entertaining wrestlers in Japan.

19. Tam Nakano (Stardom) – Tam Nakano didn’t have a lot of success in the title scene in 2020, but she still had a big impact in Stardom as she was regularly involved in the promotion’s biggest storylines. Between her feud with Giulia and her splitting away from STARS, Tam was hard not to notice as she was one of the most visible wrestlers in the promotion. Tam may never be the “Ace” of Stardom but she will be an important part of the promotion for the foreseeable future.

20. Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls’) – Chihiro is one of wrestlers hardest to place, due to the impact of COVID. Sendai Girls’ ran less shows than most other Joshi promotions, and even though Chihiro held the championship all year she only had one defense (which was back in March). Her ranking here isn’t a statement for her future in Joshi, and I expect her to rebound once the world returns to normal.

The post Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2020 appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: SEAdLINNNG 2021 Opening Match
Date: January 11th, 2021
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 467
Broadcast Information: Aired on Samurai TV! on 1/17/21

As I finally begin my 2021 Joshi viewing, lets start with SEAdLINNNG. I don’t watch near as much SEAdLINNNG as I should, which is something I hope to fix in 2021 as they pretty consistently put on quality shows. Their ‘home’ roster is very small but solid, featuring Arisa Nakajima, Nanae Takahashi, and Yoshiko. The best Freelancers also tend to swing by SEAdLINNNG, such as Rina Yamashita and ASUKA, giving them generally pretty complete events. This show has a big main event, as Best Friends take on Yoshiko and Sareee! Here is the full card:

• AKARI vs. Chikayo Nagashima vs. Ibuki Hoshi vs. Kaho Kobayashi vs. Leon vs. Tsukushi Haruka
• Aja Kong, Honori Hana, and Rina Yamashita vs. ASUKA, Makoto, and Riko Kaiju
• Chikayo Nagashima vs. Tsukushi Haruka
• Itsuki Aoki and Ryo Mizunami vs. Miyuki Takase and Nanae Takahashi
• Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Sareee and Yoshiko

All wrestlers on the event have a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. Let’s get to the fun.

AKARI vs. Nagashima vs. Ibuki Hoshi vs. Kobayashi vs. Leon vs. Tsukushi Haruka

They start with a melee as they pair up with each other, with wrestlers from the same promotion generally working together. Everyone gets made at Natsuki and attack her in the corner before singling out AKARI, but Leon helps her promotion-mate out. Leon gets attacked for her trouble as they try to throw her out of the ring, but she lands on the apron. While that is going on, Nagashima and Ibuki go into an exchange as they are left alone in the ring, they trade holds but neither can get an advantage. AKARI and Kaho run in and dropkick them so they can go at it, hard shoulderblock by AKARI but Kaho kips up. Armdrag by AKARI but Kaho returns the favor, both go for dropkicks but they both miss. Leon and Tsukushi trip them from the floor so they can take their turn, armdrag by Tsukushi but Leon cartwheels out of the next one. Tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Tsukushi, she goes off the ropes but Leon catches her with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Ibuki  and Tsukushi take turns hitting Leon but AKARI runs in and dropkicks both of them. Leon and AKARI both apply submission holds but Kaho and Nagashima schoolboy them for two counts. Armdrag by Kaho to Nagashima and she applies an armbar, but Nagashima gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Kaho goes after Natsuki but Nagashima interrupts them, hurricanrana but Kaho but Nagashima rolls through it and they trade cradles. Tsukushi returns and they Irish whip Nagashima, making her go back and forth off the ropes before Kaho hits a dropkick. Tsukushi quickly cradles Kaho, but it only gets a two count. AKARI and Leon come in but they accidentally collide into each other, drop toehold by Tsukushi to Ibuki and she cradles her for the three count! Tsukushi wins and advances to the next match.

After a brief reset the remaining five get back into it, all five go for random cradles but none get a three count. AKARI wraps up Kaho in a submission, Ibuki tries to break it up but fails. Nagashima finally is able to free Kaho, AKARI and Leon double team Nagashima but Nagashima fights them off tries to kick Leon out of the ring. Nagashima is cradled from behind before she succeeds, senton by Kaho to Nagashima as all four wrestlers stomp out Nagashima. Nagashima fights them off with elbows before hitting a double lariat on Kaho and Natsuki (poor Natsuki), Leon dropkicks Nagashima on the apron and comes off the top but accidentally hits a missile dropkick on AKARI. Leon throws Kaho into the corner but Kaho drops her onto the apron when she charges in, Leon knocks Kaho back but Kaho avoids the Frog Splash. Kaho kicks Nagashima but Ibuki shoulderblocks her to the mat, diving crossbody by Ibuki to Kaho but AKARI dropkicks her. AKARI gets Kaho up but Kaho flips away from her, schoolboy by Kaho but Nagashima breaks it up with a footstomp. AKARI goes for a series of pins with no success on Nagashima, Nagashima reverses one into a cradle of her own and she gets the three count! Chikayo Nagashima wins and advances to the next match later tonight!

While I always viewed the High Speed matches as harmless fun, at best, sometimes I think “less is more” and this show may lean too far on the “more” side. Natsuki Taiyo has gone from occasionally getting involved in these matches to being almost an active participant, and there wasn’t a ton of substance to this match beyond the wrestlers from the same promotion tending to work together. If this was just the opener, no harm done, but since we have another High Speed match now later, it feels like a little too much of a gimmick that is cute but nothing more. Even on the High Speed match scale, this wasn’t their best effort.

Aja Kong, Honori Hana, and Rina Yamashita vs. ASUKA, Makoto, and Riko Kaiju

Rina and Makoto start the match, they trade wristlocks until Rina shoulderblocks Makoto to the mat. Makoto bridges out of the pin and hits a crossbody off the ropes, leading to Rina tagging in Kong while Riko also tags in. Riko tries to elbow Kong but it has no impact, Kong moves out of the way of Riko’s dropkick and kicks her in the ribs. Riko has had enough and tags in ASUKA, ASUKA slowly gets in the ring and lures Kong into a false sense of security before schoolboying her for two. Her teammates come in as they all stomp on Kong, but Kong fights them all off. We clip ahead to Makoto and Rina back in the ring, knee by Rina but Makoto delivers a Pump Kick. She tags in ASUKA, boots by both ASUKA and Makoto to Rina and ASUKA covers her for two. ASUKA picks up Rina but Rina gets her back, she goes for a suplex but ASUKA lands on her feet and connects with an elbow. Rina fires back with a hard lariat and tags in Kong, Kong goes for a suplex but ASUKA blocks it and hits a moonsault off the ropes for a two count. ASUKA grabs Kong but Kong ducks down and kicks her in the head. Kong goes for a lariat but ASUKA ducks it, punch by Kong and she plants ASUKA with a backdrop suplex for two. They trade strikes until ASUKA lands two kicks and nails a German suplex for a two count.

ASUKA goes to the top turnbuckle but Kong gets her feet up on the moonsault attempt, both wrestlers struggle to crawl to their corners as they tag in Honori and Riko. Honori shoulderblocks Riko to the mat, she picks her up but Riko fights back and they trade elbows. Irish whip by Riko but Honori ducks the lariat and hits a shoulderblock. Dropkick by Riko, she elbows Honori into the corner but Honori reverses the Irish whip and hits a running elbow. ASUKA kicks Honori from the apron and gets in the ring, Makoto comes in too as all three boot Honori in the head. Riko goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but Rina breaks up the cover. Superkick by Rina to Riko, Kong comes in and hits a lariat. Honori gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Honori but ASUKA breaks it up. Heel kick by ASUKA to Rina and she goes for Kong, but Kong blocks the suplex attempt. Makoto comes in to help but Kong suplexes both of them, spear by Honori to Riko but Riko gets the shoulder up. Honori goes for a couple flash pins with no luck, she picks up Riko and hits a scoop slam for two. Riko throws Honori into the corner but Honori avoids her charge, she goes for a cradle but Riko reverses it into a triangle choke. She struggles for a moment but has to tap out! ASUKA, Makoto, and Riko Kaiju are the winners.

This was a perfectly acceptable midcard match. While most of it was just your standard fare, they mixed in some fun moments such as ASUKA suplexing Kong to at least make you pay attention when the big hitters were in the match. I still am not sold on Honori and maybe SEAdLINNNG isn’t either, since she took the pin to the newer wrestler. Something just isn’t really clicking with her. But the veterans all looked good and it wasn’t long enough to get stale. Nothing special but nothing bad either.

Chikayo Nagashima vs. Tsukushi Haruka

They get right into it with a kick from Tsukushi, Irish whip by Nagashima and she hits an armdrag. Tsukushi gets a few quick pin attempts with no luck, Tsukushi flies in to Nagashima but Nagashima catches her with a backdrop suplex. Rolling cradle by Nagashima, but it gets a two count. Nagashima picks up Tsukushi and knees her, she goes off the ropes but Tsukushi avoids her charge. They take turns running the ropes with Taiyo helping, but Tsukushi rolls out of the ring to try to catch her breath. Tsukushi returns but is met with a boot, scoop slam by Nagashima and she gets on the second turnbuckle, but Tsukushi recovers and knocks her out to the apron. Nagashima elbows Tsukushi and goes to the top turnbuckle, but again Tsukushi recovers and tosses Nagashima to the mat. Now it is Tsukushi that goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick, she runs off the ropes before applying a cover but it only gets a two count. Footstomp by Tsukushi and she goes to Taiyo for help, but Taiyo powerbombs her. Not sure why. Nagashima picks up Tsukushi but Tsukushi cradles her, Taiyo kicks Tsukushi instead of counting and Nagashima hits a lariat for a two count. Nagashima goes for a suplex but Tsukushi gets out of it, elbows by Tsukushi and she goes after Taiyo. Taiyo avoids her for a bit until Tsukushi catches her and elbows Taiyo off the apron. Nagashima charges Tsukushi but Tsukushi holds down the top rope, leading to Nagashima landing on the apron. Tsukushi tries to kick of Nagashima but Taiyo helps her hang on, finally Tsukushi is able to kick them both off the apron and the match is over! Tsukushi wins by Over The Top.

I assume there were some elements to this match that I didn’t get just parachuting in, with Taiyo helping Nagashima when she normally helps Tsukushi, but for a midcard nothing match it wasn’t worth my trouble scrolling through websites to try to figure it out. Or it was just random anyway, who knows. I am sure some will love it but for me its just midcard filler, just too random and short to get excited about.

Itsuki Aoki and Ryo Mizunami vs. Miyuki Takase and Nanae Takahashi

Miyuki and Itsuki start off, they lock-up and exchange holds until Miyuki gets Itsuki to the mat with a headlock. Itsuki gets out of it and the two return to their feet, quickly going into an elbow exchange. Hard shoulderblock by Itsuki, she goes off the ropes but Miyuki catches her with a dropkick. They tag out as Nanae and Ryo come in, they lock knuckles and go into a Test of Strength but break cleanly. Waistlock by Ryo but Nanae gets away and gets Ryo to the mat, kicks to the leg by Nanae and she puts Ryo in a necklock. Nanae tags Miyuki, Ryo quickly gets in control however and tags in Itsuki. Itsuki sets up Miyuki in the ropes and hits a body avalanche, double knee strike to the back by Itsuki and she covers Miyuki for two. She tags in Ryo, Ryo chops Miyuki into the corner and invites Itsuki to hold Miyuki so she can dance her way into a running lariat. Ryo picks up Miyuki but Miyuki fights back with elbows, Irish whip by Ryo to the corner but Miyuki rebounds out with a missile dropkick. Nanae runs in and they both chop Ryo in the corner, lariat by Miyuki but Ryo fights them both off with shoulderblocks and a double spear.

Elbows by Ryo to Miyuki but Miyuki hits a headbutt and applies a modified armbar on the mat. Itsuki tries to break it up but Nanae cuts her off, Miyuki keeps the hold on but Ryo eventually makes it to the ropes. Dropkick off the second rope by Miyuki and she hits a lariat followed by a cutter for a two count. Miyuki tags Nanae, lariat by Nanae in the corner but Ryo blocks the backdrop suplex attempt. Chops by Nanae but Ryo returns fire, jumping kick by Nanae and she covers Ryo for two. Lariat by Nanae but Ryo headbutts her, Ryo goes for a suplex but Nanae elbows her off. Overhead belly to belly suplex by Ryo and she hits a spear on Nanae for a two count. Ryo goes off the ropes but Nanae avoids her charge and hits a release German. Ryo quickly gets up and levels Nanae with a lariat, but Nanae returns the favor and both wrestlers end up down on the mat. Ryo gets to her corner and tags Itsuki, Itsuki throws Nanae in the corner and hits an elbow followed by a face crusher. Nanae chops Itsuki but Itsuki hits a lariat in the corner, she goes to the apron but Miyuki grabs her before she can do anything. This gives Nanae time to recover, she joins Itsuki and hits a superplex for a two count. Miyuki comes into the ring and hits a Kamikaze in front of the corner, Nanae goes for a body splash but Itsuki rolls out of the way.

STO by Itsuki but Nanae gets back to her feet quickly only to get hit with a side slam from Ryo. Ryo and Itsuki both grab Nanae and slam her to the mat, Miyuki runs in but she gets thrown on top of Nanae. Itsuki goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving footstomp, cover by Itsuki but Nanae gets a shoulder up. Bridging vertical suplex by Itsuki, but that gets a two count as well. Itsuki gets Nanae on her shoulders but Nanae wiggles off, Miyuki comes in but Nanae kicks her in the face by accident. Spear by Itsuki to Nanae, and she covers her for two. Backdrop suplex by Nanae, she goes off the ropes but Itsuki catches her with a lariat for another two count. Itsuki goes off the ropes but Nanae hits a hard lariat of her own, Nanae picks up Itsuki but Ryo runs in. Nanae lariats Ryo while Miyuki comes in and hits a spear onto Itsuki. Nanae goes back to Itsuki and drops her with a reverse piledriver, but Ryo breaks up the cover. Lariat by Nanae to Itsuki, and she covers her for the three count! Nanae Takahashi and Miyuki Takase are the winners!

Even though this won’t end up on anyone’s MOTY list, it was a solid match. The best thing I can say about it is that even though it was 18+ minutes, the match never slowed down or had any moments that dragged, they just kept the action going from bell to bell. Nanae Takahashi is an acquired taste – she still has an old school 90s mindset and no-sells quite a bit, and long term selling isn’t really her thing. That is not to say she doesn’t sell at all, she does, but its on her own terms. I’d have liked for one of the younger wrestlers to get the pin rather than Nanae, but again that’s part of the deal too. Anyway, a good fast paced match with four quality wrestlers, even if the structure may not have been perfect.  Mildly Recommended

Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Sareee and Yoshiko

Sareee and Arisa start the match, they go into a Test of Strength with Sareee ending up with a wristlock. Arisa gets out of it and applies a side headlock, Sareee tries to Irish whip out of it but Arisa keeps a hold of her hair. Irish whip by Arisa but Sareee blocks it and hits an elbow, with Arisa quickly returning the favor. Dropkick by Sareee, she goes off the ropes but Tsukasa runs in and Best Friends dropkick Sareee. Yoshiko also comes in and lariats both opponents, sending them out of the ring. Sareee goes to the top turnbuckle and dives out of the ring onto Arisa and Tsukasa, Sareee slides Arisa back into the ring and delivers a dropkick. Scoop slam by Sareee, and she covers Arisa for two. Sareee tags Yoshiko, Yoshiko grabs Arisa by the hair and tosses her to the mat. Bootscrapes by Yoshiko and she delivers a running boot to Arisa’s face, she picks up Arisa but Arisa kicks her in the stomach. Arisa goes off the ropes but Yoshiko catches her with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, Sareee runs in and hops on Yoshiko’s back while Yoshiko hits a splash. Sareee goes back to the apron so that Yoshiko can tag her in, kicks by Sareee to Arisa but Arisa blocks the suplex attempt as the two trade footstomps. Stomps by Sareee and she puts Arisa in a crab hold, she lets go after a moment and stomps more on Arisa. Dropkick by Sareee and she tags Yoshiko, kicks by Yoshiko to Arisa and she hits a running knee. Cover by Yoshiko, but it gets a two count. Yoshiko picks up Arisa, strike combination by Yoshiko but Arisa catches her with a bridging powerslam for two.

This gives her time to tag in Tsukasa, dropkick by Tsukasa to Yoshiko as Sareee runs in, but Tsukasa fights them both off. Tsukasa stacks them in the corner and hits a dropkick, kicks to the back by Tsukasa to Yoshiko but Yoshiko ducks the PK. Arisa runs in and boots Yoshiko instead, German suplex by Arisa to Yoshiko and Tsukasa applies a jackknife cover for two. Tsukasa goes for the Infinity but Yoshiko blocks it, Yoshiko gets Tsukasa on her shoulders and hits a Samoan Drop while Sareee hits a neckbreaker. Sareee gets on the second turnbuckle while Yoshiko hits a running senton, following with a diving footstomp. Reverse Splash by Yoshiko, but it gets a two count. Yoshiko tags Sareee, dropkick by Sareee to Tsukasa but Tsukasa flips away from her and kicks her in the chest. Sareee and Tsukasa trade elbows until Sareee catches Tsukasa with a fisherman suplex hold for two. Sickle Hold by Sareee to Tsukasa while Yoshiko keeps Arisa busy, Sareee lets go after a moment and stomps on Tsukasa. Sareee goes for a suplex but Tsukasa lands on her feet and kicks Sareee in the back. Tsukasa gets Sareee on her shoulders but Yoshiko comes in and saves her, Yoshiko throws Sareee at Tsukasa but Tsukasa dropkicks both of them. PK by Tsukasa to Sareee and she tags Arisa, Arisa goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick. German suplexes by Arisa to Sareee, but the last one she holds only gets two.

Arisa goes up top but Yoshiko grabs her from the apron, Sareee joins Arisa but Tsukasa runs in and dropkicks Sareee from behind. Arisa plants Yoshiko with a DDT on the apron, while Tsukasa goes up top with Sareee and hits a footstomp while Sareee is in the Tree of Woe. Arisa goes back up and hits a diving footstomp, but Sareee gets a shoulder up on the cover. Arisa knees Sareee while she picks her up, Arisa and Sareee trade elbows, lariat by Arisa but Sareee nails a dropkick. Sareee hits two more dropkicks before Yoshiko hits one as well from the apron, Sareee goes up top and hits a diving footstomp onto Arisa for a two count. Yoshiko rolls in and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Tsukasa runs over and kicks her off before she can do anything. Running double knee by Arisa to Sareee and she hits a trapped German for two. Yoshiko lariats Tsukasa but Tsukasa drops her with the Infinity, and all four wrestlers are down on the mat. Sareee and Arisa trade elbows as they get back up, German suplex hold by Sareee but Arisa kicks out. Sareee drops Arisa with a pair of Uranages, but again she can only get a two. Yoshiko comes in and holds Arisa while Sareee goes up top and hits a missile dropkick. Sareee then picks up Arisa so that Yoshiko can hit a diving lariat, cover by Sareee but Tsukasa breaks it up. Sareee grabs Arisa but Arisa elbows her off, Yoshiko tries to help but she lariats Sareee by accident. Arisa catches Sareee with a half and half suplex hold for two. Arisa picks up Sareee and hits her with elbows, Tsukasa handles Yoshiko while Arisa hits a German suplex. Leg clutch suplex by Arisa, but that gets a two count as well. Arisa drags Sareee to her feet and plants her with the DxD Suplex Hold, and she picks up the three count! Best Friends win!

I wouldn’t have minded if they had gone a few more more minutes, but this was a great match. Understandably since it was her Anniversary match, Arisa Nakajima did the bulk of the work for her team while Sareee did the same for hers, with Yoshiko and Tsukasa being pushed back to support roles. For a sub-20 minute match, they squeezed a lot into it, and even though I called the last match non-stop action this one took it to another level. What is impressive is not just the constant violence but how smooth it all was, with not a miscommunication or awkward moment in sight as there was just always something going on. And of course the hits were snug and the suplexes tight, as there was no weak link in this match when it comes to execution. I wouldn’t quite put it at the MOTYC level as it felt like they had more to give (especially since two partners still felt fresh), but still a very entertaining match.  Highly Recommended

The post SEAdLINNNG 2021 Opening Match on 1/11/21 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: SEAdLINNNG Heart is Near ~ Close To You
Date: July 13th, 2020
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 401

In my quest to find a recent Joshi event to review that isn’t Stardom, this show caught my eye. The lead-up to the main looks a bit pedestrian, but the main event has potential to be pretty damn great. Here is the full card:

• Riko Kaiju vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto
• Ayame Sasamura vs. Kaho Kobayashi vs. Tsukushi
• ASUKA and Makoto vs. Honori Hana and Yumiko Hotta
• Hiroyo Matsumoto, Rina Yamashita, and Yuu vs. Itsuki Aoki, Miyuki Takase, and Ryo Mizunami
• SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship: Arisa Nakajima vs. Yoshiko

This aired on Samurai TV! so its a two hour show, but SEAdLINNNG is pretty good about not clipping more than necessary so I suspect most matches will be shown in full (or close to it). All wrestlers on the show have profiles on Joshi City, including the debuting Riko Kaiju, you can click on their names above to go straight to it.

Riko Kaiju vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

Riko dropkicks Tsukasa as soon as the match starts and goes for a quick cover, but it only gets a two count. Side headlock by Tsukasa and she hits an armdrag, she gets Riko to the mat but Riko escapes and they reach a stalemate. They lock knuckles and trade wristlocks , snapmare by Tsukasa and she kicks Riko in the back. Camel clutch by Tsukasa, she lets go after a moment and knocks Riko against the ropes. Tsukasa throws down Riko by the hair and applies a crab hold, but Riko gets to the ropes for the break. Tsukasa chops Riko in the corner, Irish whip by Tsukasa but Riko jumps on the second turnbuckle and hits a crossbody for two. Riko dropkicks Tsukasa but Tsukasa blocks the scoop slam and puts Tsukasa in an Octopus Hold. Riko gets into the ropes for the break, Tsukasa wraps up Riko in the ropes and delivers a dropkick. Cover by Tsukasa, but it gets two. Tsukasa gets on the second turnbuckle but Riko avoids her dropkick and cradles Tsukasa for two. Riko tries a few more flash pins with no luck, elbow by Riko but Tsukasa elbows her back and they trade shots. Riko goes off the ropes and dropkicks Tsukasa, but Tsukasa rebounds off the ropes and dropkicks Riko to the mat. Tsukasa throws Riko into the corner and hits another dropkick, Riko lands in a seated position and Tsukasa dropkicks Riko full in the chest. Bodyslam by Tsukasa and she puts Riko in an armtrap crossface, but Riko gets to the ropes for the break. Kick by Riko and she applies a sunset flip, but it gets two. Riko goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick, she hits two more but Tsukasa stays on her feet. Finally on the fifth dropkick she gets Tsukasa to one knee, she hits three more kicks but Tsukasa doesn’t go all the way to the mat. Finally Riko knocks her over, cover by Riko but it gets a two count. Kick to the stomach by Tsukasa and she kicks Riko repeatedly in the back, PK by Tsukasa and she covers Riko for two. Elbows by Tsukasa and she dropkicks Riko for two. Tsukasa goes up top and nails a missile dropkick, cover by Tsukasa and she gets the three count! Tsukasa Fujimoto is the winner!

Considering the dynamics, I am surprised that this match lasted as long as it did. Its hard to know in advance how much the veteran wrestler will give a wrestler debuting, but Tsukasa was rather generous here, perhaps almost too much so. It was far from a 50/50 match but Riko was in control for a few parts here and there for longer than just a hope spot, and she had several (flash pin) nearfalls. Tsukasa was pretty gentle with the rookie, aside from a dropkick in the corner that looked particularly hurt-y, and won with a move other than a submission hold which is a little unusual in a debuting match. A fun watch as the young Riko seems to show some early promise, just not the structure that I was really expecting.

Ayame Sasamura vs. Kaho Kobayashi vs. Tsukushi

Tsukushi is double teamed off the bat but she avoids both opponents as they get into a high speed exchange, but they end up in a stalemate. They both go after Tsukushi again, dropkick by Kaho and Ayame hits a running elbow. Double Irish whip to Tsukushi as the double teaming continues and they put Tsukushi in a double armbar. They put Tsukushi in the ropes so they can both pose around her while pulling on her nose, dropkick to the back by Kaho and Ayame hits a dropkick as well. Kaho and Ayame sit on Tsukushi with submission holds, but Taiyo has seen enough with his boring action and kicks both of them. Kaho dropkicks Taiyo, she throws Tsukushi and Taiyo into the corner but Taiyo rebounds out with a crossbody. Catapult dropkick by Tsukushi to Ayame, but Ayame and Kaho avoids their next attack as Ayame schoolboys Kaho for two. She apologizes to Kaho which gives Tsukushi time to dropkick Kaho, Ayame flies out of the ring while Kaho recovers and trades elbows with Tsukushi. Dropkick by Kaho, she picks up Tsukushi but Tsukushi blocks the fisherman suplex. Cradle by Tsukushi, but Ayame quickly breaks it up. Ayame picks up Tsukushi and hits a delayed vertical suplex, she goes off the ropes twice and covers Tsukushi for two. Kaho goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Tsukushi, she goes up top again but Ayame quickly schoolboys Tsukushi for two. Kaho fusses at Ayame, Tsukushi goes for a crossbody on both of them and Taiyo pushes them over when Tsukushi is initially caught. All three trade flash pins with no luck, Kaho chops both Tsukushi and Ayame (and Taiyo) before dropkicking both opponents. She goes off the ropes but eats a triple dropkick, Ayame goes for cradles on Tsukushi but only gets two counts. La Magistral by Tsukushi on Ayame, and she gets the three count! Tsukushi wins!

The best part of these matches is just seeing Natsuki Taiyo getting involved, she’s the best. The formula for this one was a little bit different from usual as the goal was to double team Tsukushi, partially because her and Taiyo are somewhat in cahoots so its already lopsided against her opponents. Some good exchanges but overall it was pretty simple even for a High Speed Match, they really didn’t do anything in-ring different or memorable. A decent enough watch but not enough to really differentiate itself from what you’d expect and Tsukushi wasn’t as evil in the match as I was hoping she’d be.

ASUKA and Makoto vs. Honori Hana and Yumiko Hotta

We join this one in progress as Makoto attacks Honori in the corner, she grabs Honori by the hair and tosses her to the mat. Boot by Makoto and she sits on Honori for a two count. Makoto applies a kneelock, Honori tries to get out of it but Makoto bites her. Makoto tags ASUKA, punches by ASUKA but Honori elbows her back. ASUKA knocks Honori to the mat and stomps on her head, Irish whip by ASUKA but Honori reverses it and hits a dropkick. Honori tags Hotta, Hotta throws ASUKA into the corner and Honori returns as both hit running strikes on ASUKA in the corner. Another dropkick by Honori and a third while Hotta encourages her, she finally leaves the ring and Hotta picks up ASUKA, but ASUKA rakes her in the eyes. Springboard moonsault by ASUKA and she stomps on Hotta, Makoto comes in to stomp on Hotta too, ASUKA goes for a boot but Hotta catches it. Honori tries to help but Hotta elbows her by mistake, Makoto is still around but Hotta hits a face crusher on both of them. Hotta and Honori put an opponent in a camel clutch and pose, they let go after a moment and Hotta tags Honori. Honori dropkicks ASUKA a few times but ASUKA stays up and dropkicks Honori in return. ASUKA tags Makoto, scoop slam by Makoto and she covers Honori for two. Makoto picks up Honori but Hotta lariats her, cover by Honori to Makoto but it gets a two count. Makoto chops Honori in the chest and delivers a boot, handstand double kneedrop by Makoto and she covers Honori for a two count. Makoto waits for Honori to get up and nails the Blazing Kick, and she picks up the three count! ASUKA and Makoto are the winners!

This was clipped in half but what they showed was fine. I liked Hotta basically being Honori’s cheerleader, since she was the head trainer in Actwres girl’Z it makes sense that she’d be comfortable in the mentoring role. Of course, Honori had to lose, but she showed some fire even though her dropkicks still need work. Not enough made TV to get a real feel of the match, but an effective midcard tag match.

Hiroyo Matsumoto, Yamashita, and Yuu vs. Aoki, Takase, and Mizunami

We start this one slightly in progress, with Yuu in the ring with Ryo. Ryo chops Yuu into the corner with some theatrics, lariat by Ryo and she covers Yuu for two. Ryo goes for a scoop slam but Yuu blocks it, hitting a slam of her own. Body press by Yuu, and she covers Ryo for two. Yuu tags Hiroyo, Rina comes in also and they both elbow Ryo to the mat. Rina jumps on Hiroyo’s back while Hiroyo hits a double knee drop, Yuu then comes in to have a turn so she hops on Hiroyo’s back for a second double kneedrop. Cover by Hiroyo, but it gets two. She tags in Rina, Rina clubs on Ryo and lariats her in the corner. Knee to the back by Rina but Ryo recovers and elbows Rina as the two trade strikes. Bodyslam by Ryo and she tags in Aoki, stomps by Aoki to Rina  and she hits a pair of running elbows in the corner. Face crusher by Aoki and she hits a falling body press for two. Aoki picks up Rina and slams her in front of the corner, she goes for a footstomp but Rina moves out of the way and delivers a sliding kick. Rina goes off the ropes but Aoki catches her with a Samoan Drop, picking up two.

She makes the tag to Miyuki but Hiroyo and Yuu run in and all three attack Miyuki in the corner. Miyuki’s teammates help her swing the match back in her favor, chop by Miyuki but Rina kicks her in the head. Rina tags Hiroyo, Hiroyo gets Miyuki on her shoulders and throws her out of the ring onto everyone else. Hiroyo brings Miyuki back in with a delayed vertical suplex, she gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers the reverse double kneedrop for a two count. Hiroyo picks up Miyuki but Miyuki elbows her, Hiroyo elbows her back and goes for a powerbomb, but Miyuki blocks it and plants her with a DDT. Miyuki picks up Hiroyo but Hiroyo goes off the ropes, Miyuki does as well and hits a satellite DDT. Missile dropkick off the second but Miyuki and she makes the hot tag to Ryo, lariat by Ryo but Hiroyo ducks the kick attempt. Lariat by Ryo, and she covers Hiroyo for two. Ryo applies the rolling Anaconda Vice, but it gets broken up. Ryo goes up top but Hiroyo recovers and joins her, superplex by Hiroyo and she makes the tag to Yuu. Yuu chops Ryo repeatedly and hits a swinging sidewalk slam, running senton by Yuu and she covers Ryo for two.

Yuu picks up Ryo but Ryo blocks the powerbomb, Aoki runs in and elbows Yuu but Yuu drops her with a lariat. Miyuki comes in but Yuu knocks her down as well, she goes back to Ryo but Ryo gets her back. Miyuki and Aoki go for a double shoulderblock but floor Ryo by accident, Hiroyo lariats both of them while Yuu goes to the second turnbuckle. Rina and Yuu lift Yuu and help her hit a diving body press, but Ryo kicks out of the cover. Yuu picks up Ryo and goes for the powerbomb, but Ryo reverses it with a back bodydrop. Lariat by Ryo, but her cover gets two. Ryo picks up Yuu but Yuu elbows her and dropkicks Ryo into the corner. Cannonball by Yuu but Ryo barely gets a shoulder up. Yuu goes to the second turnbuckle but Ryo avoids her diving senton, lariat to the back by Ryo but Yuu blocks the Uranage attempt. Chops by Yuu but Ryo chops her back and plans her with the Uranage for two. Ryo waits for Yuu to get up and hits the spear, cover by Ryo but Yuu kicks out. Ryo goes up top and nails the Diving Guillotine Leg Drop, and she picks up the three count! MAX VOLTAGE are the winners!

All six of these wrestlers are good, but matches like this are always conflicting for me. Six wrestlers is too many for a ~15 minute match for everyone to shine, in this case Aoki was the odd woman out as she didn’t do a whole lot in the match. There wasn’t really a story behind the match, which isn’t a deal breaker but it makes it harder to really get invested. It was also a little odd that the last several minutes were really just Ryo and Yuu one on one, you expect some Joshi Chaos in the home stretch but it wasn’t there. That all being said, the action itself was solid from bell to bell and it stayed moving, so it never felt like it was dragging. A good match with six quality wrestlers, but nothing memorable which is a shame since in a slightly different circumstance this combination of wrestlers could put on a banger.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Arisa Nakajima vs. Yoshiko
SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship

They start slow as they trade holds, Yoshiko pushes Arisa into the ropes and chops her hard in the chest. Arisa doesn’t like that and slaps her, the two trade strikes until Yoshiko shoulderblocks Arisa to the mat. Kicks by Yoshiko and she pushes Arisa into the ropes, snapmare by Yoshiko and she applies a chinlock. Arisa gets into the ropes for the break, Yoshiko throws down Arisa by the hair and hits a few facewashes, but Arisa avoids the running boot and knees Yoshiko repeatedly in the head. Yoshiko tosses Arisa to the mat but Arisa hits an armdrag, another armdrag by Arisa and Yoshiko falls out of the ring. Arisa goes up top but Yoshiko quickly gets back in the ring and knocks Arisa onto the apron. Elbows by Arisa and she gets back into the ring with a cradle into a footstomp, running boot by Arisa and Yoshiko falls out of the ring again. Arisa goes to the apron and hits a missile dropkick down to the floor, she then gets on the top turnbuckle and dives down onto Yoshiko with a plancha. Arisa throws Yoshiko back in and throws her down by the hair, double underhook by Arisa but Yoshiko blocks her move attempt and hits a back bodydrop. Arisa reverses it into a sunset flip and applies a submission hold, she lets go after a moment and starts working on Yoshiko’s arm. Yoshiko eventually fights back with elbows but Arisa slaps her, she goes off the ropes and goes for a cradle, but Yoshiko reverses it.

Arisa rolls out of the ring and Yoshiko goes out after her, hitting a running senton on the floor. Yoshiko throws Arisa into the guardrail a couple times before returning to the ring, Arisa slowly follows and Yoshiko kicks her in the back. Kicks by Yoshiko and she puts Arisa in a sleeper, but Arisa gets a foot in the ropes. More kicks by Yoshiko but Arisa snaps off a hurricanrana for two. She puts Yoshiko in an ankle hold, but Yoshiko wiggles to the ropes to force the break. Waistlock by Arisa but Yoshiko gets out of it, the two trade strikes until Arisa hits the Sling Blade. Arisa goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she goes up top again and she hits a second one for a two count. Arisa positions Yoshiko and goes up top again, but Yoshiko recovers and joins her as the two trade elbows. Arisa pushes Yoshiko into the Tree of Woe and hits a quick footstomp, Arisa returns to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving footstomp for a two count. Arisa goes up again and considers the moonsault, but Yoshiko elbows her from behind before she can jump off. Yoshiko goes up too and grabs Arisa around the waist, hitting a German suplex down to the mat. Yoshiko gets Arisa on her shoulders and slams her to the mat, cover by Yoshiko but it gets two. Senton by Yoshiko, she hits a Reverse Splash followed quickly by a senton off the second turnbuckle for a two count. Yoshiko goes to the second turnbuckle again and hits a senton, but once again it gets two.

Yoshiko goes all the way up next time but Arisa rolls out of the way of the diving senton, Arisa goes up top but Yoshiko gets her feet up on the moonsault attempt. Both wrestlers slowly get up and trade elbows, release dragon suplex by Arisa and she boots Yoshiko in the face. Another dragon suplex by Arisa and she kicks Yoshiko in the head again, La Magistral by Arisa but it gets a two count. She goes for another flash pin with no luck, she picks up Yoshiko but Yoshiko blocks the suplex attempt. Arisa hits a trapped German suplex hold anyway, but it gets two. Arisa picks up Yoshiko and delivers the dragon suplex hold, but Yoshiko gets a shoulder up. Arisa quickly goes up top and nails the moonsault, but again Yoshiko kicks out. Arisa drags up Yoshiko and hits a series of elbows, Yoshiko elbows her back and levels Arisa with a lariat. Yoshiko goes up top and nails the diving senton, cover by Yoshiko but Arisa bridges out of the pin. Yoshiko goes off the ropes and hits another hard lariat, a third lariat by Yoshiko but Arisa returns to her feet. Release German by Yoshiko but Arisa fires back with a half and half suplex, but she is slow to the cover and Yoshiko kicks out. Arisa picks up Yoshiko but Yoshiko blocks the next suplex attempt, Arisa goes for a hurricanrana but Yoshiko catches her with a powerbomb for two. Sliding lariat by Yoshiko, she goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton. Yoshiko then goes all the way up top and hits a diving senton, cover by Yoshiko and she picks up the three count! Yoshiko is the new champion!

This was a pretty amazing match. I loved the whole dynamic, where Yoshiko started off with her usual bully act but Arisa is a bully too and gave it right back to her, leading to an entertaining opening stretch with both trying to get in control. The submission holds were sold in the moment but not long term, which was fine since that wasn’t really their focus point of the match, and once they got into the home stretch they were just throwing bombs. The German suplex off the ropes by Yoshiko looked great, and both just had that “I’m not backing down” aura that made it feel like a real clash. No real obvious flaws, just a hard hitting and intense match from bell to bell with very little downtime. A must see match, one of my favorites so far in 2020.  Highly Recommended

The post SEAdLINNNG Close To You on 7/13/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: SEAdLINNNG Delivered To You!
Date: June 13th, 2020
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 0

More new wrestling! As promotions start ramping back up again, I am going to try to keep up the best I can as I’m excited to finally have Joshi back. This is a big card for SEAdLINNNG, as we get ASUKA challenging Arisa Nakajima for the championship in the main event. Here is the full card:

• Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Honori Hana
• Makoto and Yuu vs. Misa Matsui and Miyuki Takase
• Aoki Itsuki and Ryo Mizunami vs. Kaho Kobayashi and Yoshiko
• Battle Royal with Hiroyo Matsumoto, Ryo Mizunami, Makoto, Yoshiko, Kaho Kobayashi, Yuu, Miyuki Takase, Aoki Itsuki, Misa Matsui, and Honori Hana
• SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship: Arisa Nakajima vs. ASUKA

This aired on Samurai TV and was live so matches should be shown in full. All wrestlers have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it.

Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Honori Hana

Tie-up to start, Hiroyo pushes Honori into the ropes but Honori knocks her back with elbows. Side headlock by Hiroyo but Honori whips out of it, she goes for a dropkick but Hiroyo just bulldozers over her. Chinlock by Hiroyo, she lets go after a moment and picks up Honori, biting on her arm. Scoop slam by Hiroyo and she hits an elbow drop for a two count. Hiroyo throws Honori into the corner but Honori dropkicks her, Hiroyo doesn’t go down however and stomps on Honori. Elbows by Honori and she dropkicks Hiroyo into the corner, she goes for a scoop slam but Hiroyo blocks it. Scoop slam by Hiroyo, and she covers Honori for two. Hiroyo goes for the crab hold but Honori quickly gets into the ropes, back up Honori elbows Hiroyo but Hiroyo elbows her hard back. Honori goes off the ropes but a shoulderblock doesn’t work, she tries a few more times until Hiroyo knocks her over with her own shoulderblock. Crab hold by Hiroyo but Honori inches to the ropes and makes it for the break. Hiroyo picks up Honori and throws her into the corner, chop by Hiroyo but Honori avoids her charge and cradles Hiroyo for two. Backslide by Honori, but that gets a two as well. Honori goes off the ropes but Hiroyo hits a lariat, she picks up Honori but Honori blocks the backdrop suplex and cradles Hiroyo for two. Irish whip by Hiroyo but Honori dropkicks her, Hiroyo stays up but a second sends her to her knees. Scoop slam by Honori, and she covers Hiroyo for a two count. Honori goes off the ropes but Hiroyo catches her with a sidewalk slam, she puts Honori in a crab hold, Honori tries to get to the ropes but can’t make it, eventually tapping out! Hiroyo Matsumoto is the winner.

This was a ‘by the numbers’ veteran vs. rookie match, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. I wouldn’t have minded a change here and there to the formula, but there is a reason its been this way for decades as it works. Hiroyo soundly stopped Honori’s offense at the start but slowly as the match built up, Honori finally was able to knock Hiroyo off her feet and even get a nearfall or two in the process. Its early in Honori’s career, her dropkicks still need work and she has a ways to go, but the basics seem to be there. A good way to kick off the show.

Makoto and Yuu vs. Misa Matsui and Miyuki Takase

Misa and Miyuki attack before the match starts, double dropkicks by team AgZ but they both eat a shoulderblock for their trouble. Yuu and Miyuki stay in the ring, shoulderblock by Yuu and she puts Miyuki in a front headlock. She tags in Makoto, Makoto twists on Miyuki’s hair before throwing her down by it. Makoto rakes Miyuki’s head across the top rope and boots her in the head a few times, but Miyuki catches her with a powerslam and tags in Misa. Misa picks up Makoto but Makoto scoop slams her, footstomp by Makoto and she covers Misa for two. Makoto tags in Yuu, Irish whip by Yuu and she hits a spinning sidewalk slam on Misa. Running senton by Yuu, but Miyuki breaks up her cover. Yuu picks up Misa and chops her in the chest, body press by Yuu but again Miyuki breaks up the pin. Misa sneaks in a small package but it only gets two, scoop slam by Yuu but Misa avoids the senton this time and hits a dropkick. She hits another dropkick as Yuu doesn’t go down, dropkick to the knee by Misa and she finally knocks Yuu over. She tags in Miyuki, dropkick by Miyuki and she clubs Yuu against the ropes. Irish whip by Miyuki but Yuu elbows her in the face, they trade strikes until Yuu chops Miyuki to the mat. Miyuki returns to her feet but Yuu chops her down again, cover by Yuu but it gets a two count. Yuu chops Miyuki in the corner, Irish whip by Yuu but Miyuki rebounds out of the corner with a dropkick.

Lariat by Miyuki but Yuu stays up, she tries again with the same result but Miyuki finally knocks her off her feet and gets a two count cover. Miyuki goes off the ropes but Yuu drops her with a hip toss, she tags in Makoto and Makoto boots Miyuki in the corner. Face crusher by Makoto and she hits a running kneedrop for a two count. Makoto picks up Miyuki but Miyuki spins away, they both struggle to hit suplexes until Miyuki gets Makoto over. Miyuki tags Misa, Misa goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody for two. Dropkick by Misa and she goes for Makoto’s arm, but Makoto quickly gets to the ropes. Makoto chops Misa in the chest but Misa puts her in an Octopus Hold until Yuu breaks it up. Misa goes off the ropes and hits a trio of low crossbodies, she picks up Makoto and goes for a suplex but Makoto blocks it. Elbows by Misa, she goes off the ropes but Makoto drop toeholds her into the bottom rope. Big boot by Makoto and she delivers the cartwheel double kneedrop for a two count. Makoto waits for Misa to get up but Miyuki cuts her off with a dropkick, Miyuki gets Makoto on her shoulders and hits the Kamikaze. Misa goes up top and hits the diving footstomp, cover by Misa but Yuu breaks it up. Miyuki gets rid of Yuu, Misa picks up Makoto but Makoto catches her with a double underhook suplex. Yuu returns and dropkicks Misa into the corner, big boot by Makoto and Yuu runs in with the Cannonball. Spear by Makoto to Misa, and she picks up the three count! Makoto and Yuu are the winners.

This was really fun. One of the advantages of Misa being new but over a year into her career is while she was the weak link, she wasn’t so weak that she couldn’t get in her licks as well. Yuu is always a breath of fresh air in these matches, there aren’t a lot of younger “hoss” Joshi wrestlers and it just opens up so many more options for a match’s direction. Makoto is a pro and hit all her spots well, and both teams showed good chemistry which is impressive since they aren’t regular opponents and they just had a lay-off due to the pandemic. I also loved the ending, just move-move-move-dead, not every match needs a bunch of hope spots and 2.9 nearfalls. All four delivered, a fast paced and hard hitting match that may have not been high end but delivered as much as one could hope for from a midcard match.  Mildly Recommended

Aoki Itsuki and Ryo Mizunami vs. Kaho Kobayashi and Yoshiko

Ryo and Kaho start the match, Ryo pushes Kaho into the ropes but she gives a clean break. Kaho gets Ryo to the mat and applies a front headlock, Ryo gets out of it and puts Kaho in a wristlock before elbowing her in the arm. Ryo applies a side headlock, Kaho reverses it but Ryo Irish whips out of the hold. Dropkick by Kaho, but Ryo stays on her feet and knocks over Kaho with a hard shoulderblock. Ryo tags Aoki and they both shoulderblock Kaho, legdrop by Ryo and Aoki hits a double kneedrop for a two count. Aoki gets Kaho in the ropes and hits a body avalanche, she then jumps down onto Kaho’s back but Kaho retorts with a dropkick and tags in Yoshiko. Yoshiko picks up Aoki and throws her down by the hair, facewashes by Yoshiko and she delivers a running boot. Cover by Yoshiko, but it gets a two count. She tags Kaho back in, Kaho puts Aoki in the ropes and rakes on her face. Dropkick to the back by Kaho and she covers Aoki for a two count. Kaho tags Yoshiko and she stands on Aoki’s back, Irish whip by Yoshiko to the corner but Aoki avoids her charge, she tries to tag in Ryo but Yoshiko cuts her off. Back bodydrop by Aoki and she makes the tag, leg lariat by Ryo to Yoshiko and she shoulderblocks Kaho. Kaho tries to keep helping but Ryo delivers a double spear, she picks up Yoshiko and chops her into the corner.

Kaho again tries to help but ends up getting chopped in the same corner for her trouble, she leaves the ring and Ryo goes back to chopping Yoshiko. Aoki holds Yoshiko so Ryo can fire herself up before she finally hits a lariat on Yoshiko for a two count cover. Ryo and Yoshiko both go for lariats with both staying up, Irish whip by Ryo but Yoshiko finally wins the lariat battle as she sends Ryo to the mat. She tags in Kaho, Kaho goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Ryo, cover by Kaho but it gets a two count. Kaho spins Ryo around but Ryo gets her on her shoulders, Kaho slides off an hits an enzuigiri, but Ryo levels her with a lariat and tags Aoki. Aoki hits a running elbow on Kaho in the corner before hitting a face crusher, body press by Aoki and she covers Kaho for two. Aoki slams Kaho in front of the corner and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Kaho avoids the footstomp attempt. Kaho gets Aoki to the mat and wraps her up in a modified armbar, Yoshiko blocks Ryo from helping but Aoki wiggles to the ropes to get the break. Kaho picks up Aoki and keeps working on her arm, dropkick by Kaho and she covers Aoki for two. Kaho goes for the fisherman suplex but Aoki blocks it, she goes off the ropes but Ryo finally gets free of Yoshiko and lariats Kaho.

Aoki grabs Kaho and hits a bridging vertical suplex, but it gets a two count. Ryo gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a guillotine leg drop, Aoki then gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a diving footstomp for two. Aoki gets Kaho on her shoulders but Kaho slides off, Kaho kicks Aoki in the leg and drops her with a DDT. Yoshiko comes off the second turnbuckle with a diving senton, Kaho then goes all the way up and with Yoshiko’s help hits a somersault senton but Ryo breaks up the cover. Elbows by Kaho and she goes for a cradle, but Aoki blocks it and covers her for two. Elbows by Aoki but Kaho blocks the suplex attempt, Yoshiko elbows Aoki and then Ryo lariats Aoki by accident. Jackknife by Kaho, but Ryo breaks it up. Kaho goes off the ropes but Aoki catches her with a lariat, dropkick to the face by Kaho and she hits a enzuigiri. Fisherman suplex hold by Kaho, but Aoki barely gets the shoulder up. Another Fisherman suplex by Kaho, but this time she wraps up Aoki’s legs and keeps her down for the three count! Kaho Kobayashi and Yoshiko win!

I can’t decide if I like or love the ending. It was a little awkward but I see what they were going for, that it took a ‘better’ version of Kaho’s normal finisher to pick up the win. Anyway this was pretty great, while I expect good performances from the other three I was really impressed with Aoki. I haven’t seen her wrestle in awhile, and while she didn’t control the match, her personality really came through and she held her own with wrestlers with far more experience than she has. I know Yoshiko isn’t incredibly popular with Western fans but she’s so good in the ring, and there was a lot of ‘power’ based wrestling here which I really enjoy. Kaho is one of the best sellers in Joshi and only has one pace, so she kept everyone else moving fast as well. It didn’t feel like a 20 minute match as the time flew by, as the match never slowed down. Really good match between three quality veterans and an up-and-comer starting to show what she can do.  Recommended

Battle Royal
with Hiroyo Matsumoto, Ryo Mizunami, Makoto, Yoshiko, Kaho Kobayashi, Yuu, Miyuki Takase, Aoki Itsuki, Misa Matsui, and Honori Hana

They all brawl to start, as is usually the case lots of randomness as the bulk of the wrestlers get stacked in the corner so that Kaho can be launched at all of them. Hiroyo and Yoshiko try to launch Yuu but they can’t toss her, leading to her landing on them. The wrestlers take turns stomping each other until they all suddenly leave the ring, brawling on the floor. Hiroyo and Kaho get back into the ring and trade strikes, backdrop suplex by Hiroyo and she puts Kaho in a headscissors. You know what that means, as all the wrestlers slowly return to the ring to stretch out the headscissors chain, as it stretches across the ring and under the ropes. Aoki is the last one so she grabs Kaho’s legs to turn them over, which doesn’t fully work since not everyone is even in the ring. Things get back to normal as Aoki and Misa trade elbows, a battle which Aoki wins with little effort. Ryo and Miyuki get involved as they stack both of them in the corner, but they get distracted and start dancing. Finally Miyuki tries to attack Misa but Misa had gone into an invisible box, sending Miyuki flying. Everyone covers Miyuki, and she is held down for the three count! Miyuki Takase is eliminated.

Ryo moves the invisible box and tosses it out of the ring, but is kicked for her trouble. She spears both Aoki and Misa, the other wrestlers join in to cover them and both are held down for the three count. Misa Mitsui and Aoki Itsuki are eliminated. Kaho and Yoshiko go after Makoto but she drives them across the second rope, she gets everyone else on the second rope and kicks it into their chest, but her attempt to cover everyone for the pin doesn’t work. Yuu elbows Makoto in the corner then tosses Ryo, Yuu dropkicks Makoto while also hitting a senton on Ryo before getting on the second turnbuckle, hitting a diving body press on Makoto. Everyone else helps her with the cover, and she gets the three count! Makoto is eliminated. She does the same to Ryo and everyone again helps with the cover, keeping her down for three as well. Ryo Mizunami is eliminated. Yuu slams Honori in front of the corner to repeat the process to her as well, but Hiroyo and Yoshiko run over and knock her over the top rope to the ring! Yuu is eliminated. Natsuko Taiyo suddenly decides to get involved and hits a missile dropkick onto Hiroyo, Kaho and Yoshiko trade pins but nether are held down for there. Hiroyo goes after Natsuki but Yoshiko grabs her from behind, Natsuki helps Yoshiko attack Hiroyo and they both attack her in the ropes, but Natsuki is knocked over the top rope to the floor. But technically not eliminated since she wasn’t in the match in the first place.

She returns (she is the referee after all) while the four remaining wrestlers brawl, Hiroyo and Honori shoulderblock Yoshiko but Honori schoolboys Hiroyo for a two count. Hiroyo bullies Honori but Natsuki kicks her from behind, Kaho runs over but Hiroyo picks her up and press slams her out of the ring. Kaho Kobayashi is eliminated. Honori dropkicks Hiroyo with Natsuki’s help, cover by Honori but it gets a two count. Honori goes for a roll-up but Hiroyo sits down to block it, pinning Honori’s shoulders to the mat and getting a quick three count from Natsuki. Honori Hana is eliminated. We are left with just the tag team partners, Yoshiko and Hiroyo Matsumoto. They immediately go for lariats on each other with Hiroyo winning the battle. Hiroyo gets on the second turnbuckle to go to the Reverse Splash, but Yoshiko knocks her out to the apron. Yoshiko struggles to knock Hiroyo off the apron to the floor but ends up on the apron herself, with all the eliminated wrestlers trying to pull them off. Natsuki dropkicks Hiroyo and Yoshiko gets free, she gets back in the ring while Hiroyo continues to struggle and gives her a final dropkick to loosen her grip. Hiroyo flops out to the floor, and is eliminated. Yoshiko is the winner!

A typical Battle Royal, with more style than substance. I like Natsuki Taiyo getting so involved because its a silly match anyway, and she’s still just as good as she was before she retired. A few cute moments, like them tricking Yuu, but overall not a whole lot to it. It acted as a nice buffer before the title match and to stretch out the card since they had to fill two hours, but if you are on a time crunch it can be skipped.

(c) Arisa Nakajima vs. ASUKA
SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Championship

They trade holds to start as they jockey for position, ASUKA applies a headscissors but Arisa gets out of it and both wrestlers return to their feet. ASUKA gets Arisa back to the mat and rolls her around with a guillotine, but Arisa gets a foot on the ropes for the break. ASUKA kicks at Arisa but Arisa slaps her and the two trade strikes, headbutt by ASUKA and she chokes Arisa in the corner. ASUKA toys with Arisa in the corner before grabbing her by the hair and flinging her into the opposite corner. Single leg takedown by Arisa and she goes for a cross armbreaker, but ASUKA blocks it and applies an ankle hold. She lets go after a moment, headbutt by ASUKA and she slams Arisa’s head into the mat. Camel Clutch by ASUKA, she releases the hold and tosses Arisa out of the ring. She gets back in but is met with boots, Irish whip by ASUKA but Arisa catches her with a DDT. Dropkick by Arisa, she picks up ASUKA but ASUKA boots her in the midsection. Irish whip by Arisa to the corner but ASUKA avoids her charge, ASUKA ends up on the apron but Arisa goes to the top turnbuckle and slams her head down onto the apron. Arisa picks up ASUKA and slides her back into the ring, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick.

She goes up top again and hits another one followed by a third to the knee, Arisa picks up ASUKA and cradles her before applying a Stretch Muffler. ASUKA gets out of it and applies an armbar but Arisa reverses the hold back instead of reaching for the ropes. ASUKA struggles back to her feet and gets away, knees by Arisa and she hits a release German suplex. Running boot by Arisa, she picks up ASUKA and rolls her to the mat while applying a knee lock. ASUKA gets to the ropes for the break, Arisa kicks her leg and goes off the ropes, but ASUKA catches her with a jumping kick to the face. ASUKA picks up Arisa and drops her with a release German followed by a second one, running kick by ASUKA and she covers Arisa for two. ASUKA positions Arisa and goes up top, but Arisa recovers and joins her, suplexing ASUKA off the top turnbuckle. Arisa goes for a cradle but ASUKA reverses it, Arisa avoids ASUKA’s footstomp attempt however and applies an ankle hold. ASUKA kicks Arisa off and slaps her, but Arisa delivers a trapped German suplex for a two count. Arisa picks up ASUKA but ASUKA hits a hard elbow followed by a boot to the face for two. Kick to the chest by ASUKA but Arisa fires back with a kick of her own, Arisa goes off the ropes but ASUKA catches her with a spinning heel kick.

Mounted elbows by ASUKA, she gets on the top turnbuckle and goes for the moonsault, but Arisa rolls out of the way and cradles her for two. Running kick by Arisa, she goes to the top turnbuckle but ASUKA recovers and joins her. They trade elbows while up top until Arisa snaps ASUKA’s neck over the top rope, she goes back up top and delivers a diving footstomp for a two count cover. Dragon suplex hold by Arisa, but that gets a two count as well. Arisa drags ASUKA up, she wraps ASUKA’s leg around her but ASUKA hits a Stunner to get out of the suplex hold. Powerbomb by ASUKA, she picks up Arisa and nails a Liger Bomb for a two count cover. ASUKA goes up top and delivers the moonsault, but Arisa barely gets the shoulder up. ASUKA picks up Arisa but Arisa reverses the side slam into a DDT, elbows by Arisa and a hard elbow sends ASUKA to the mat for two. Arisa wraps ASUKA’s leg around her waist and nails the modified German suplex, but ASUKA gets a shoulder up. Arisa picks up ASUKA and goes for the half and half suplex, ASUKA blocks it but Arisa keeps her momentum going and cradles ASUKA for the three count! Arisa Nakajima wins and retains the championship.

There is a lot to unwrap here but just as a first reaction, this was a great match. ASUKA is no longer in the ‘learning” or “developing” phase, she knows what she is doing and has grown into being a high end wrestler at just 21 years old. Not only are her moves on point but her selling has improved as well, and she had no issues here keeping up Arisa and the structure of the match. I liked the leg work a lot, I wish it had played into the end a bit as it kinda got dropped but I did like the ending with the veteran Arisa taking the blocked move and turning it into a complicated cradle. Its the kind of craftiness you’d expect from a 14 year vet and while it may not have been a ‘killer move’ ending it fit well with her general experience and intelligence. Like the other matches on the card, it felt like it went the right amount of time, not feeling short but not over-staying its welcome with move spamming. All and all a really entertaining match, I could nitpick things and maybe it won’t end up the MOTY, but a damn fine effort from both in one of the biggest Joshi matches post-peak pandemic so far.  Highly Recommended

The post SEAdLINNNG Delivered To You! on 6/13/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: SEAdLINNNG New Leaf!
Date: March 10th, 2020
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 360

For a brief period in March, a few wrestling promotions in Japan held events in front of fans, and this was one of those shows. The crowd is small for a Korakuen Hall show but its still a nice break from watching events with empty stands. For the special occasion, SEAdLINNNG is putting on a big five match card, with a championship match and tag matches with some of the best Joshi Freelancers current available. Here is the full card:

• Honori Hana vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto
• Leon vs. Misa Matsui vs. Tsukushi
• Hiroyo Matsumoto and Syuri vs. Miyuki Takase and Ryo Mizunami
• ASUKA, Makoto, and Mima Shimoda vs. Kaho Kobayashi, Yoshiko, and Yuu
• SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship: Arisa Nakajima vs. Rina Yamashita

As this aired on NicoPro, all matches will be shown in full. All wrestlers on the show have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names above to go straight to it. This show has the annoying commentary box in the corner that I hate, but I will get through it the best I can.

Honori Hana vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

They go to shake hands to start, Honori goes for a headbutt but Tsukasa quickly ducks out of the way. Tsukasa starts on Honori’s arm but Honori reverses it a the two trade holds, they go off the ropes and Tsukasa takes down Honori with a side headlock but Honori gets out of it and the two return to their feet. Tsukasa boots Honori and hits a snapmare before kicking her in the back, Tsukasa applies a sleeper before switching it into a Camel Clutch. She lets go after a moment and stomps on Honori’s back, she tosses down Honori by the hair before ramming her into the corner a couple times. Honori finally has enough and elbows Tsukasa in the chest, but Tsukasa returns fire. Tsukasa charges Honori in the corner but Honori moves and schoolboys Tsukasa for two. Dropkicks by Honori, and she covers Tsukasa for two. Honori goes for a scoop slam but Tsukasa blocks it and puts Honori in an Octopus Hold. Honori gets into the ropes for the break but Tsukasa ties her up in the ropes and pulls on her nose. Dropkick to the back by Tsukasa, and she covers Honori for two.

Tsukasa throws Honori into the corner and dropkicks her in the chest, she charges Honori but Honori levels her with a shoulderblock. Honori pushes Tsukasa into the corner but Tsukasa avoids the headbutt, elbows by Honori but Tsukasa elbows her back as they trade shots. Tsukasa goes off the ropes but Honori dropkicks her, cover by Honori but it gets two. They trade waistlocks until Tsukasa rolls up Honori for two, Tsukasa quickly puts Honori in a crab hold but Honori makes it to the ropes for the break. Tsukasa stomps on Honori and drills her with a dropkick, she goes up top but Honori avoids the missile dropkick and goes for a few flash pins for two counts. Headbutt by Honori and she hits a scoop slam, cover by Honori but it gets two. Honori picks up Tsukasa and goes off the ropes, but Tsukasa connects with a dropkick. Tsukasa kicks Honori repeatedly in the back before hitting a PK, but Honori gets a shoulder up on the corner. Tsukasa goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, but again her cover gets two. Tsukasa puts Honori in the Gokuraku Hold, and Honori has to submit! Tsukasa Fujimoto is the winner.

Pretty basic as one would assume but decent enough. Honori got in more offense than I expected, she has more size than the average Joshi wrestler so that is likely why could hang better with Tsukasa even with her low experience. Building up to the headbutt spot was a unique aspect of a rookie match and they seem to be already putting that over as her big move, since headbutts are still seen as a bit risky I am curious to see if she sticks with that. I probably would have liked it better if Tsukasa has taken it to her a bit more, but not a bad opener.

Leon vs. Misa Matsui vs. Tsukushi

Tsukushi and Taiyo are goofing around in the corner as the match starts, Leon goes over to get them to stop and Misa dropkicks her from behind. Leon is briefly double teamed but it doesn’t last one, they all go for lariats but none are able to connect. Tsukushi dropkicks both of her opponents but Misa kicks her and applies a side headlock. Hard shoulderblock by Misa but Tsukushi kips up and hits an armdrag. She goes off the ropes and tries for the cover, but Misa kicks out. Tsukushi applies a submission but Leon breaks it up, Leon picks up Tsukushi but Tsukushi gets away. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker by Leon but schoolboys her for two, Leon throws Tsukushi into the corner and then does the same with Misa. Leon charges in, Misa moves but Tsukushi eats the shoulder tackle. Leon and Misa Irish whip Tsukushi and Leon helps Misa boot her before they both take turns running over Tsukushi. Leon applies a crab hold to Tsukushi while Misa puts her in a chinlock, but Taiyo breaks it up. This makes Leon made and she elbows Taiyo, Irish whip by Leon but Taiyo applies the Momo Latch. Tsukushi runs in and dropkicks Taiyo, Misa goes for a cover on Leon but Leon reverses it into a kneelock. Tsukushi puts Leon in a headscissors at the same time while Taiyo is too hurt to do anything, but Misa makes it to the ropes to get the break.

Tsukushi and Leon trade elbow, Leon gets Tsukushi up but Tsukushi gets away with a side headlock takedown (she takes out Taiyo at the same time with a headscissors), Tsukushi dropkicks Leon while she is against the ropes before going up top and hitting a missile dropkick. Tsukushi applies a figure four leglock but Misa goes up top and debates who to dive down onto to. She eventually decides on hitting a diving footstomp onto Leon, they both stomp on Leon before squaring off against each other. Dropkicks by Misa, she goes off the ropes and hits a low crossbody. She goes off the ropes a few times and covers Tsukushi, but it gets a two count. Misa picks up Tsukushi but Tsukushi sneaks in an inside cradle for two. Misa applies a pin of her own but Leon breaks it up, Irish whip by ll to Misa but Misa puts Leon in an Octopus Hold. Tsukushi comes over and schoolboys both of them, but it only gets two. Leon goes for a suplex but Misa schoolboys her while she is in the middle of the move, Leon elbows Misa and hits a tilt-a-whirl slam on Tsukushi. Leon hits a spear on both opponents, she goes up top but Taiyo armdrags her back down to the mat. Dropkick by Taiyo to Leon, Misa and Tsukushi both go off the ropes but Tsukushi avoids Misa’s dropkick and applies La Magistral for the three count! Tsukushi is the winner! She jumps into Taiyo’s arms after the match so possible this was a rigged result.

Natsuki Taiyo has gotten more and more out of control in these matches, at some point she may as well just become an actual participant. This was what you’d expect, some people really enjoy these high speed matches and if you fall in that category you’ll probably enjoy this one too. Tsukushi is pretty great so anytime she is in a match I won’t complain too loudly, but there really isn’t a lot of substance to these matches. Perfectly fine for what it is and where it is on the card, just mindless fun.

Hiroyo Matsumoto and Syuri vs. Miyuki Takase and Ryo Mizunami

Syuri tries to prove to Hiroyo that she is committed to their team by stomping on a MAX VOLTAGE shirt after dancing around with them, but Hiroyo isn’t convinced as Miyuki and Ryo both attack Syuri. Syuri gets stomped down while Hiroyo watches, double Irish whip to Syuri and she gets hit with a double shoulderblock. Syuri is chopped into the corner by Miyuki and Ryo but take a break to dance some before Ryo hits a lariat. Ryo tags in Miyuki, lariat by Miyuki to Syuri and Ryo hits a scoop slam. Leg drop by Miyuki and she covers Syuri for two. Miyuki picks up Syuri but Syuri kicks her, snapmare by Syuri and she kicks Miyuki in the back. Syuri tries to tag in Hiroyo and Hiroyo relents, shoulderblock by Hiroyo to Miyuki and she chops her in the chest. Hiroyo goes off the ropes, Ryo tries to help but Miyuki hits her by accident. Miyuki then gets Hiroyo up on her shoulders and tosses her out of the ring down onto Ryo on the floor. Syuri comes over too and helps Hiroyo beat up MAX VOLTAGE, Hiroyo rolls Miyuki back in the ring and covers her for two. Hiroyo tags in Syuri, Syuri stomps down Miyuki in the corner, she brings Miyuki back to the middle of the ring and puts her in a stretch hold. Miyuki gets to the ropes so Syuri tags in Hiroyo, knee by Hiroyo to Miyuki and she covers her for two, Syuri backs back in and she jumps on Hiroyo’s back before Hiroyo hits a double kneedrop, cover by Hiroyo but it gets two.

Crab hold by Hiroyo but Miyuki crawls to the corner and makes it for the break. Hiroyo picks up Miyuki and hits a vertical suplex, she tags in Syuri and Syuri takes Miyuki to the mat. Syuri picks up Miyuki and Irish whips her, Miyuki goes for a dropkick but Syuri swats it aside. Miyuki grabs Syuri’s leg and elbows her, more elbows by Miyuki but Syuri knees her in the midsection. Syuri knees Miyuki into the corner, Irish whip by Syuri but Miyuki rebounds out of the corner with a missile dropkick. This gives her time to tag in Ryo, shoulderblock by Ryo to Syuri and she plans her with a powerslam. She goes off the ropes but Syuri delivers a knee, kicks by Syuri and she covers Ryo for two. Syuri tags Hiroyo, lariat by Hiroyo to Ryo but Ryo lariats her back. Vertical suplex by Hiroyo, she picks up Ryo but Ryo elbows her and they trade shots. Ryo finally knocks Hiroyo over with a spear, cover by Ryo but it gets a two count. She tags in Miyuki, dropkick by Miyuki and she chops Hiroyo into the corner. Irish whip by Miyuki and she hits a lariat in the corner, but Hiroyo knocks her back. Elbows by Miyuki and she delivers a tilt-a-whirl DDT for two. Miyuki tries to go off the ropes but Hiroyo grabs her, Miyuki frees herself but Hiroyo drops her with a backdrop suplex. Hiroyo tags Syuri, Syuri kicks Miyuki into the corner and hits a jumping knee, double underhook suplex by Syuri and she covers Miyuki for two. Syuri applies a crab hold with Hiroyo’s protection, but Ryo gets free and breaks up the hold. Hiroyo gets back to Ryo and puts her in a stretch hold while Syuri stays on Miyuki’s leg, but Ryo breaks free and clubs Syuri.

Double Irish whip to Ryo but Ryo hits a double spear, Miyuki picks up Syuri and both she and Ryo hit lariats. Spear by Ryo to Syuri, Miyuki picks her up and hits a vertical suplex, but Hiroyo breaks up the cover. Miyuki gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving leg drop, but Syuri barely kicks out of the cover. Miyuki drags Syuri to her feet and hits another lariat, but Syuri ducks the next one and delivers a head kick. Both wrestlers crawl to their corners and tag out, hard lariat by Ryo and she covers Hiroyo for two. Ryo grabs Hiroyo but Hiroyo elbows her off, they trade lariat attempts but neither wrestler goes down. The struggle continues until Hiroyo finally knocks Ryo to the mat, cover by Hiroyo but it gets two. Hiroyo picks up Ryo and lariats her again, she goes for a powerbomb bur Ryo blocks it and Miyuki hits a missile dropkick. Hiroyo drops them both with a backdrop suplex, Syuri runs in and she knees Ryo in the corner. Hiroyo hits a reverse double kneedrop, running knee by Syuri and Hiroyo follows with a lariat, but Ryo barely kicks out of the cover. Hiroyo picks up Ryo and goes for the backdrop suplex, but Ryo blocks it. Hard elbow by Hiroyo but Ryo blocks it again, Syuri comes in but Ryo catches her with a Uranage. She hits one on Hiroyo as well, cover by Ryo but it gets two. Ryo goes off the ropes but Hiroyo catches her with a back elbow, they get up and both hit a lariat on the other, which sends both crashing to the mat. While they are lying there, the bell rings as time has expired. The match is a Draw.

Even without a winner, this was a quality match. They kept it simple which worked well – no outside the ring brawling, very little in the way of submission holds, they just took turns hitting each other for twenty minutes. For a non-title midcard tag match, that’s all that was needed here and they executed it. Miyuki can more than hold her own with these three wrestlers and it shows how much and how quickly she has grown, she’s certainly ready to break out and get higher on the Joshi Wrestler pecking order. Very few wrestlers hit as hard as Syuri, Hiroyo, and Ryo and none mind getting hit either, so I am sure that all were sore the next day. The commentary box in the corner of the screen will always be annoying, but still an entertaining match with hard hitting action.  Recommended

ASUKA, Makoto, and Mima Shimoda vs. Kaho Kobayashi, Yoshiko, and Yuu

Yuu and Shimoda start the match, Yuu pushes Shimoda into the ropes and goes for a lariat, but Shimoda ducks it. Yuu knocks her over with a shoulderblock anyway, they trade chops until Yuu hits another lariat, hard shoulderblock by Yuu and she tags in Kaho. Shimoda tags ASUKA, ASUKA and Kaho go into a fast exchange as Kaho goes for a spinning headscissors, but ASUKA lands on her feet. Yoshiko tags herself in but ASUKA bails out of the ring, Makoto comes in as the legal wrestler but Yoshiko knocks her down with a hard shoulderblock. Yoshiko tosses down Makoto by her hair and hits some bootscrapes followed by a running boot. Yoshiko goes for another one but ASUKA trips her from the floor, she gets in the ring with Shimoda and they all boot Yoshiko in the face. Makoto takes control of the match before tagging in Shimoda, Shimoda throws Yoshiko to the mat and pulls back on her hair. Shimoda steps on Yoshiko’s hands and tags in ASUKA, ASUKA goes up top and hits an ax handle onto Yoshiko’s arm. Snapmare by ASUKA and she delivers a sliding kick to Yoshiko’s face, picking up a two count cover. ASUKA and Yoshiko trade strikes, ASUKA throws Yoshiko into the corner but Yoshiko rebounds out with a lariat and makes the tag to Yuu.

Yuu clears the ring with shoulderblocks, Makoto and Shimoda try to help but Kaho gets in too and Las Fresa de Egoistas are all attacked in the corner. Yuu stays in and covers ASUKA, but it gets a two count. Irish whip by Yuu and she hits a sidewalk slam, running senton by Yuu and she covers ASUKA for two. Yuu chops ASUKA repeatedly in the chest but ASUKA hits a jumping kick and makes the tag to Makoto. Makoto boots Yuu in the corner and goes for a suplex, but Yuu drives her back into the corner. Diving crossbody by Makoto and she hits a double kneedrop for a two count. Yuu dropkicks Makoto back into the corner and nails the Cannonball, cover by Yuu but Makoto gets a shoulder up. Yuu tags in Kaho, Kaho picks up Makoto and trips her before hitting a dropkick. Kaho puts Makoto in an arm submission hold while her team protects her, but Makoto gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Irish whip by Kaho but Makoto reverses it and hits a double underhook suplex. Cartwheel kneedrop by Makoto, and she covers Kaho for two. Makoto tags Shimoda, they throw Kaho into the corner but Kaho gets away and armdrags Shimoda. Dropkick by Kaho to Makoto, she goes back to Shimoda but Shimoda traps her for a two count cover. Kaho kicks Shimoda in the leg and delivers a DDT, she picks up Shimoda but Shimoda blocks the fisherman suplex attempt and boots her. Yuu runs in and lariats Shimoda, dropkick by Kaho and she hits the fisherman suplex hold for a two count. Kaho tags in Yoshiko, boot by Yoshiko and she hits a senton on Shimoda for two. Yoshiko picks up Shimoda but Shimoda wiggles away, Yoshiko goes for a stretch hold but ASUKA comes in and breaks it up.

Yoshiko throws Shimoda into the corner but ASUKA cuts her off with a kick and Shimoda delivers a missile dropkick. Shimoda tags ASUKA, running boot by ASUKA and she hits a dropkick. Yoshiko goes after ASUKA but ASUKA punches her, moonsault off the ropes by ASUKA and her teammates come in so they can all hit running strikes in the corner. German suplex by ASUKA to Yoshiko, and she covers her for two. ASUKA picks up Yoshiko and goes for the chokeslam, but Yoshiko blocks it and they trade elbows. ASUKA goes off the ropes but Yuu runs in and tosses her, Yoshiko slams ASUKA to the mat but ASUKA kicks out of the cover. Yoshiko goes to the second turnbuckle and hits the diving senton, but the cover gets broken up. Shimoda and Makoto stay in but Yoshiko lariats both of them, lariat by Yoshiko to ASUKA and she covers her for two. Senton by Yoshiko, but again ASUKA kicks out of the pin attempt. Yoshiko goes for another lariat but ASUKA ducks it, superkick by ASUKA and she nails a spinning heel kick. Chokeslam by ASUKA in front of the corner, she goes up top but Yoshiko avoids the moonsault. Yoshiko goes for a lariat but ASUKA ducks it, ASUKA goes for the Asuka Fantasy but Yoshiko cuts it back into a cover and gets the three count! Yoshiko, Kaho Kobayashi, and Yuu are the winners.

A solid tag team match, with lots of teamwork from both sides so it didn’t feel like two random teams thrown together. This was really just done to further the ASUKA/Yoshiko feud and it was effective in that regard, with the two having several entertaining exchanges throughout the match. Its easy for wrestlers to get lost in six wrestler tags that don’t get a lot of time, as Yuu and Shimoda didn’t leave a strong impression, but neither held the match back either. There just wasn’t enough time for everyone since Yoshiko and Asuka were the focus. Fast paced and well worked, an entertaining match but ultimately nothing overly memorable.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Arisa Nakajima vs. Rina Yamashita
SEAdLINNNG Beyond the SEA Singles Championship

Rina attacks Arisa before the match starts while she still has her robe on, Rina elbows Arisa against the ropes but Arisa reverses an Irish whip and hits a snap dragon suplex. She finally gets her robe off and boots Rina while she is against the ropes. Arisa gets a bottle of water but Rina takes it from her and pours the water over Arisa’s head before spitting water in her face. Rina boots Arisa and elbows her in the corner, lariats by Rina and she covers Arisa with her boot for a one count. Scorpion Deathlock by Rina but Arisa makes it to the ropes for the break, Rina goes off the ropes and knees Arisa in the back. Cover by Rina, but it gets a two count. Rina kicks Arisa but Arisa fight back, scoop slam by Rina and she walks over Arisa. Rina goes for a backdrop suplex but Arisa lands on her feet and hits the Sling Blade. Arisa kicks Rina and boots her in the head, she goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. She goes up top again and hits another missile dropkick, German suplex hold by Arisa and she gets a two count. Arisa goes up top but Rina recovers and joins her, Arisa jumps off the turnbuckle however to the floor, snapping Rina’s neck on the ropes in the process. Arisa goes back up top and delivers a diving footstomp, cover by Arisa but it gets two. Arisa kicks Rina around the ring and knees her against the ropes, she picks up Rina but Rina fires off a strike combination. Rina picks up Arisa and elbows her, but Arisa elbows her back and they trade blows.

After a minute they both end up sending the other to the mat, and the referee begins the ten count. Both make the count and go back to trading blows, with Rina switching to lariats now and Arisa hitting boots. Arisa wins the battle and gets on the top turnbuckle, but Rina grabs her from behind and throws her into the turnbuckles. Rina waits for Arisa to get up but Arisa kicks away her lariat attempt, Rina nails one anyway but Arisa blocks the sliding lariat attempt. Arisa goes off the ropes but Rina hits another lariat, she follows with a short-range lariat but her cover gets two. Rina picks up Arisa but Arisa slides away from the Splash Mountain attempt and hits a trapped German suplex for two. Arisa kicks Rina in the chest and delivers a dragon suplex hold, but Rina barely gets a shoulder up. Arisa positions Rina and goes up top, moonsault by Arisa but it gets two. Arisa drags Rina to her feet, she traps her leg but Rina elbows out of the suplex attempt. Arisa goes for a hurricanrana but Rina reverses it with a powerbomb, sliding lariat by Rina but Arisa kicks out of the cover. Rina waits for Arisa to get up and delivers a lariat, but again Arisa kicks out. Rina picks up Arisa and goes for Splash Mountain, but Arisa reverses it into a cradle for two. Arisa quickly picks up Rina, traps her leg and delivers a German suplex hold for the three count pinfall! Arisa Nakajima wins and retains the championship.

I think the real impact of matches like these is lost some due to the one camera set up and the NicoPro box, but its still a really damn good match. These two just beat the hell out of each other, it is just hard to really appreciate it with the circumstances, which isn’t their fault of course but diminishes some of the enjoyment. The story was simple but well told, with Rina using lariats to set up the Splash Mountain that she was never able to hit, while Arisa finally wore down Rina enough to get the win with her version of the German suplex. With a different presentation this may have been one of the best Joshi matches of the year, but as it is, its still an enjoyable match that is worth your time.  Recommended

The post SEAdLINNNG New Leaf! on 3/10/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

• Championships and Tournaments Won: This includes any championship won during 2019, or any championship that was held when 2019 began. The prestige of the championship or tournament will be taken into account.
• Match Quality: The most subjective criteria, extra consideration is given to wrestlers that had high quality matches throughout the year, especially if it was with a variety of opponents.
• Wrestler Popularity: Being able to connect with the crowd is important in wrestling, wrestlers that have success interacting with the crowd and getting reactions will get credit for that.
• Wrestler Status in a Promotion: Generally speaking, the Ace of one promotion will be ahead of the #3 wrestler in another promotion, since wrestling on top means bigger matches, longer matches, and more opportunities. There isn’t a direct correlation, but leading a promotion or being the ‘face’ of a promotion can help a wrestler’s rank as it increases the wrestler’s visibility and match importance.
• Match Frequency/Availability: How often a wrestler wrestled is taken into consideration. A wrestler with 100 matches is more likely to be on the list than a wrestler with 10 matches. Also, it is harder to ‘rate’ a wrestler if their matches rarely were distributed via TV or an online streaming service, so visibility is a factor.

One criteria I am not using is ‘drawing power.’ In the current wrestling landscape there are very few wrestlers that by themselves are draws (I could probably count them on one hand), usually it is more the benefit of a good storyline or a hot region that impacts the size of the crowd. While the larger Joshi promotions may have more wrestlers on the list due to the other criteria (visibility being a major one), the size of the crowds will not be taken in consideration. Also, it should be noted that this ranking is based only on a wrestler’s matches/participation in Japan. This is not a list of my personal favorite wrestlers or fun rookies that I enjoy watching, but rather my version of what a “real” ranking of Joshi wrestlers would look like based on their success and status in 2019.

Before we get into it, a couple very established veterans that normally would make this kind of list I wasn’t able to justify including this year – Tsukasa Fujimoto and Meiko Satomura. I realize this opens the list to easy criticism but keep in mind this list isn’t a “best wrestler” list and isn’t influenced by past success – it is based solely on what happened in 2019. Both Fujimoto and Satomura largely took a back seat in their respective promotions last year, allowing the younger wrestlers to take the lead. Which is great! But it makes it harder to rank them with only twenty spots available. So before anyone asks, I didn’t forget them, they just didn’t have enough in regards to in-ring accomplishments or visibility in Japan during the year to make the Top 20. So save any vitriol for a more worthwhile cause.

Without further ado and procrastinating, onto the Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2019!

1. Sareee (Diana)

Championships Held: Diana World Championship (233 days) and the Sendai Girls’ World Championship (127 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Chihiro Hashimoto on 1/6, vs. Aja Kong on 2/11, vs. Meiko Satomura on 4/16, vs. Aja Kong on 5/12, vs. Chihiro Hashimoto on 6/18, vs. DASH Chisako on 7/7, and vs. Chihiro Hashimoto on 10/13
Best Match: vs. Chihiro Hashimoto in Sendai Girls’ on June 8th, 2019

To say it is difficult to be the top Joshi wrestler of the year when your home promotion literally had zero events available to watch would be an understatement, but Sareee managed to pull it off. What set Sareee apart from others wasn’t just her title success in Sendai Girls’, but the high quality of her matches throughout the year in a variety of promotions. Her matches against Meiko Satomura and against Chihiro Hashimoto (in June) were two of the best Joshi matches of the year, as she went from relative unknown to many newer Joshi fans to one of the most popular wrestlers on the scene. Depending on where her career goes in 2020 she may just be a “one year wonder” in regards to being this high on fans’ Wrestler of the Year list, but what a year it was.

2. Maya Yukihi (Ice Ribbon)

Championships Held: ICExInfinity Championship (322 days), International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (161 days), OZ Academy Tag Team Championship (105 days), and the Triangle Ribbon Championship (52 days)
Biggest Matches: with Risa Sera vs. Kyuri and Ozaki on 3/17, vs. Tsukushi on 3/31, with Saori Anou vs. Beast Friend on 5/12, vs. Giulia on 5/25, vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto on 8/3, vs. Risa Sera on 9/14, and with Risa Sera vs. Giulia and Tequila Saya on 9/23
Best Match: vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto in Ice Ribbon on August 3rd, 2019

It is hard not to respect a wrestler with as many title wins in one year as Maya Yukihi had, as it just shows an enormous amount of faith that the promotion has in her. Few wrestlers dominated their promotion in 2019 as Maya did, not just with her success with the ICExInfinity Championship but with her constant main event presence in some capacity. The focus remained so strongly on her that it was difficult for any other Ice Ribbon wrestlers to really get noticed in 2019. She also continued to have success in OZ Academy as well with her more ‘evil’ side, as she changed her personality depending on which promotion she was in. While consistent match quality wouldn’t land her in the Top 5 for the year, her success just can’t be ignored as she seems poised to be the Ice Ribbon Ace for the foreseeable future.

3. Arisa Hoshiki (Stardom)

Championships Held: Wonder of Stardom Championship (229 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Konami on 4/29, vs. Tam Nakano on 6/16, vs. Hazuki on 7/24, vs. Jungle Kyona on 8/10, vs. Kagetsu on 10/14, with Tam Nakano vs. Bea Priestley and Jamie Hayter on 11/15, and vs. Konami on 12/24
Best Match: vs. Tam Nakano in Stardom on June 16th, 2019

Sometimes, the number of titles a wrestler held doesn’t tell the whole story. 2019 in Stardom was all about Arisa Hoshiki’s rise from “surprise return wrestler” to being one of the top wrestlers in the promotion. She won the Cinderella Tournament in April and went on to win the Wonder of Stardom Championship. She held the title for the rest of the year with eight defenses, making her one of the most active champions on the Joshi scene. She also was involved in one of the more memorable Joshi storylines of 2019, as she slowly converted her enemy Tam Nakano into her friend over a seven month period, ending in a touching scene after they won the Stardom Goddesses of Tag League together. On top of that, her in-ring quality greatly improved as the year progressed as by the end she was putting together some high end matches. Arisa will have some stiff competition from Mayu in 2020, so we’ll see if she can keep up her momentum.

4. Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls’)

Championships Held: Sendai Girls’ World Championship (229 days), Sendai Girls’ Tag Team Championship (146 days), and the KO-D Six Man Tag Team Championship (95 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Sareee on 1/6, with Mika Iwata vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Sareee on 2/3, vs. Sareee on 6/8, vs. Yoshiko on 7/7, and vs. Sareee on 10/13
Best Match: vs. Sareee in Sendai Girls’ on June 8th, 2019

For the third straight year, Chihiro Hashimoto was the main force in Sendai Girls’, as their smaller roster doesn’t give them a lot of options. Just four years into her career she is already on her fifth title reign, as Meiko Satomura takes a lesser role and no other younger wrestler is ready to step up. She had a great series of matches against Sareee in 2019, and just for variety sake also had success in DDT as well. Combined with her tag title run, its hard to deny that Chihiro had a great year and further cemented her place as one of the best young wrestlers on the Joshi scene, but hopefully Sendai Girls’ can find a way to mix it up a bit in 2020.

5. Takumi Iroha (Marvelous)

Championships Held: SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship (112 days) and the Regina Di WAVE Championship (167 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Nanae Takahashi on 5/29, vs. Nagisa Nozaki vs. Ryo Mizunami on 7/15, vs. Arisa Nakajima on 9/18, vs. Ryo Mizunami on 10/5, vs. Chigusa Nagayo on 12/8, and vs. Nagisa Nozaki on 12/29
Best Match: vs. Nanae Takahashi in SEAdLINNNG on May 29th, 2019

Another solid year by the young Ace of Marvelous – Takumi Iroha. Even though Marvelous doesn’t really have its own titles, Takumi still won two titles anyway in 2019 as she visited other promotions. She won the SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Championship from Nanae Takahashi in May and won the Regina Di WAVE Championship against Nagisa Nozaki and Ryo Mizunami in July. She capped off her year by defeating Chigusa Nagayo in a singles match, the first time she has faced off against her mentor in a one vs. one match. Takumi’s future is hard to determine due to her situation in Marvelous, but she will continue to be their Ace as well as traveling to other promotions to take their belts.

6. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom)

Championships Held: ROH Women of Honor Word Championship (55 days), Artist of Stardom Championship, (162 days) and the World of Stardom Championship (57 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Konami on 2/24, with Saki Kashima and Tam Nakano vs. Hana Kimura, Jungle Kyona, and Konami on 6/23, vs. Tam Nakano on 9/7, vs. Momo Watanabe on 9/22, vs. Bea Priestley on 11/4, and vs. Kagetsu on 12/24
Best Match: vs. Kagetsu in Stardom on December 24th, 2019

Mayu Iwatani won the Tokyo Sports Award Women’s Award in 2019, which was well deserved but that doesn’t mean she had the best year. This ranking is influenced by my own personal biases, not Joshi politics. Still, she did have a great year. She started the year as part of the Artist of Stardom Championship, a title she held for almost half the year total. Even though technically I am not considering matches outside of Japan, I still have to mention that she had a title match at Madison Square Garden, a massive achievement in any wrestler’s career. She ended the year hot, as she won the World of Stardom Championship in November and still held the belt as the year concluded. When considering how she closed the year and the number of high end matches she had, Mayu is easily a Top 10 wrestler for the year, and judging from how it ended I imagine she will be even higher next year.

7. Arisa Nakajima (SEAdLINNNG)

Championships Held: SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship (104 days) and the SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Tag Team Championship (115 days)
Biggest Matches: with Sae vs. Himeka Arita and Miyuki Takase on 3/20, vs. Nanae Takahashi on 4/28, vs. Takumi Iroha on 9/18, and vs. Nanae Takahashi on 11/2
Best Match: vs. Nanae Takahashi in SEAdLINNNG on November 2nd, 2019

After a quiet 2018, Arisa Nakajima came back with a bang in 2019 as she took over SEAdLINNNG. Arisa had two tag title reigns during the year, although both were short, and won the Beyond The Sea Championship in September before holding it for the rest of the year. She also had one of the best Joshi matches of 2019 against Nanae Takahashi in November 2nd. Arisa only had 45 matches in 2019 which hurt her a bit, otherwise she would have been higher, but she is still one of the best in-ring competitors in Japan. If she wrestles more outside of SEAdLINNNG in 2020, she could easily be a Top 5 wrestler next year.

8. Hiroyo Matsumoto (Freelancer)

Championships Held: Sendai Girls’ Tag Team Championship (79 days), SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Championship (186 days), OZ Tag Team Championship (131 days), and the Blast Queen Championship (7 days)
Biggest Matches: with Kaori Yoneyama vs. Maya Yukihi and Saori Anou on 5/12, with Yoshiko vs. Himeka Arita and Miyuki Takase on 6/28, vs. Nanae Takahashi on 8/18, vs. Mayumi Ozaki on 8/25, vs. Hanako Nakamori on 9/29, and with DASH Chisako vs. Charli Evans and Millie McKenzie on 10/13
Best Match: vs. Mayumi Ozaki in OZ Academy on August 25th, 2019

Like Arisa Nakajima, Hiroyo Matsumoto didn’t have a great 2018 but had a much better year in 2019. She found her most success in the tag team division, as she ended the year holding two tag team championships. She was very active with 120 matches in twelve different Japanese promotions, so even though she didn’t get any long runs at the top of a promotion this year she stayed visible. Hiroyo didn’t have any noted MOTYC type matches but was very consistent in-ring, and considering she is a Freelancer it was a very solid year overall.

9. Momo Watanabe (Stardom)

Championships Held: Wonder of Stardom Championship (135 days), Goddesses of Stardom Championship (195 days), and the Artist of Stardom Championship (38 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Tam Nakano on 1/14, vs. Jungle Kyona on 3/3, vs. Arisa Hoshiki on 5/16, with Utami Hayashishita vs. Jungle Kyona and Konami on 7/15, vs. Tam Nakano on 9/1, vs. Mayu Iwatani on 9/22, and with AZM and Utami Hayashishita vs. Andras Miyagi, Kagetsu, and Natsu Sumire on 11/23
Best Match: vs. Jungle Kyona in Stardom on March 3rd, 2019

Momo did the opposite of Arisa and Mayu in 2019, which always impacts one’s impression of a wrestler – she started the year hot but disappeared for the last half of the year as she faded more into the second tier. As 2019 began she held both the Wonder of Stardom and Goddesses of Stardom Championship, but both titles were gone by the summer. She didn’t win any tournaments but did win the Artist of Stardom Championship in November so at least she didn’t end the year with no titles at all. That being said, in the first half of the year she had some great title defenses, and even though she wasn’t always winning she had some really quality matches in the fall as well so her in-ring performances stayed at a high level. Momo may have been passed by both Arisa and Mayu in 2019, with with wrestlers like Utami, Hana Kimura, and Giulia in the wings she may have trouble climbing back to the top.

10. Miyu Yamashita (Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling)

Championships Held: Tokyo Princess of Princess Championship (122 days) and the SHINE Championship (31 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Maki Itoh on 1/4, vs. Yuka Sakazaki on 3/31, vs. Shoko Nakajima on 5/3, vs. Allysin Kay on 5/6, and with Miu Watanabe vs. Misao and Sakisama on 8/25
Best Match: vs. Shoko Nakajima in Tokyo Joshi Pro on May 3rd, 2019

Tokyo Joshi Pro didn’t have one dominate wrestler in 2019 as their main title was divided between three wrestlers through the year, but Miyu Yamashita still felt like their superstar. She entered the year the Princess of Princess Champion and kept it until May, oddly enough she did not get a rematch for the rest of the year and even lost in the first round of the Tokyo Princess Cup. She did get one tag title shot, but her team lost. Still, she did hold the title for 25% of the year with three successful defenses and continued putting on high quality matches as she always does which helped her sneak into the Top 10 and over her fellow Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers.

   11. Saori Anou (Actwres girl’Z) – The undisputed Ace of Actwres girl’Z in 2019, Saori also saw title success outside the promotion for the first time as she held the OZ Academy Tag Team Championship for over 100 days. She lost the AgZ Championship and OZ Academy Tag Team Championship in August however and was more under the radar the rest of the year, as her future went into limbo as she announced she was leaving AgZ in December. As of the time of this review, we still don’t know what her future holds, and that will be the determining factor on where she is on this list next year. If she is on it at all.

12. Hanako Nakamori (PURE-J) – Like last year, Hanako took control of being the Ace of the seldom seen PURE-J promotion. More of her matches seemed to “make tape” in 2019 than 2018 however, her main issue this year is that due to the retirement of Command Bolshoi she wasn’t really the focus the first quarter of the year. Once she won the PURE-J Openweight Championship in April she held it to the conclusion of 2019, with five successful defenses. Hopefully more PURE-J is available to watch in 2020.

13. Mayumi Ozaki (OZ Academy) – Even though I find Mayumi Ozaki’s match style to be predictable and not overly entertaining, I can’t deny her success in 2019 as she led OZ Academy. She held the OZ Academy Openweight Championship from April until the end of the year, and won the Blast Queen Championship as well. She wasn’t as active as most wrestlers on this list with only 46 matches however, which isn’t a surprise considering her age, and none of her matches were highly ranked. She deserves being on the list just due the stranglehold she held on OZ Academy, but hopefully in 2020 a younger wrestler with a different wrestling style will take over.

14. Riho (Gatoh Move/Stardom) – Riho found a good deal of success in AEW in 2019, but even beyond that she had a good year in Japan. She was the Ace of Gatoh Move for the first half of the year, holding both the Super Asia Championship and the Asia Dream Tag Team Championship. After joining AEW in late summer, Riho still wrestled in Japan and won the High Speed Championship in Stardom. Riho may be focusing more on AEW in 2020, but for 2019 she still did enough in Japan to make the top 20 Joshi wrestlers of the year.

15. Kagetsu (Stardom) – In her final full year as a professional wrestler, Kagetsu continued to put out great matches in 2019. She opened the year as World of Stardom Champion, holding the title for four months. From then on her championship success was more limited, with just a short Artist of Stardom run, but she was constantly involved in the title scene and had great matches with Hazuki, Toni Storm, Konami, Jungle Kyona, Arisa Hoshiki, and Mayu Iwatani. In a promotion where it is easy to fade in the background, Kagetsu never did and stayed a visible and popular wrestler for the entire year.

16. Shoko Nakajima (Tokyo Joshi Pro) – Shoko had the longest Princess of Princess title reign of 2019, holding the title for over 180 days. She didn’t have the same level of matches as Miyu Yamashita, and was also often overshadowed by other fan favorites like Maki Itoh and Yuka Sakazaki. Still, she did have four successful defenses and stayed in bigger matches even outside her title reign, so even though she was sometimes overlooked she still had a really solid year for the promotion.

17. ASUKA (Freelancer) – ASUKA had an interesting year, as even though she did not win any major titles she was a force to be reckoned with wrestling in the male-dominated promotions DDT and ZERO1. She took part in the Fire Festival in 2019, and even though she didn’t do great in the tournament she did have a big win over Masato Tanaka. She also battled Akito in DDT for the DDT Extreme Championship, considered by many to be a stealth MOTYC candidate. ASUKA set her own path in 2019, one not many Joshi wrestlers have attempted, and came away with a very memorable year. As a Freelancer, its always hard to predict her future, but being a regular in DDT made her in 2019 one of the most visible Joshi wrestlers in Japan and the quality of her matches proved that she belongs in the big leagues.

18. Utami Hayashishita (Stardom) – Utami dealt with some injury issues in 2019 but still collected titles like few others can. She held five championships during the year, four in Stardom and one from EVE, and for the year she had a total of 21 title matches. She ended the year still holding three belts, as she seems poised to move up the ladder further if she can stay healthy.

19. Risa Sera (Ice Ribbon) – I really didn’t want to only have one Ice Ribbon wrestler on the list, and Risa Sera seemed like the most deserving to also be included. Risa had two tag title reigns in 2019, plus she held the Blast Queen Championship for the first month and a half of the year. She had one shot at the ICExInfinity Championship, but lost, and ended the year with no titles. Her match quality continued to be high however, making it easier to justify placing her on this list.

20. Hikaru Shida (Freelancer) – Hikaru Shida held the OZ Academy Openweight Championship until April of 2019, but did not win any other titles the rest of the year. To many she was still considered one of the best in-ring wrestlers in Japan, however, and she had over 90 matches in Japan for the year even though she left in October to join AEW. Hikaru may not be eligible for this list for awhile if things go well in AEW, but she earned her spot this year with her versatility in the ring and general popularity.

The post Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2019 appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: PURE-J Bolshoi Retirement ~ Thank You!!
Date: April 21st, 2019
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 1,530

One of the neat and sad things about Joshi is that when wrestlers retire by their own choice (i.e. not counting the AJW forced retirements), they generally mean it. When a Joshi wrestler sets up a retirement show and goes through the whole ceremony, there is a pretty good chance the wrestler will never participate in another match, aside from maybe a farewell battle royal for another retiring wrestler. Command Bolshoi is a legend that first debuted in 1991, which made her one of the longest tenure Joshi wrestlers still on the scene. Since most Joshi careers seem to last 4 to 7 years (at best), having a 27 year career is monumental and the fact she stayed in JWP/PURE-J for her entire run makes her even more special. Last year, Bolshoi announced her plans to retire so she has done a farewell tour in 2019, with this event being her official retirement show. Here is the full card:

• Battle Royal: Aiger, Arisa Nakajima, Bolshoi Kid, Chihiro Hashimoto, Emi Sakura, Giulia, Jaguar Yokota, Kyoko Inoue, Makoto, Moeka Haruhi, Saori Anou, Shinobu Kandori, Tsubasa Kuragaki, Yumiko Hotta, and Yumi Ohka
• Manami Katsu, Mari Manji, and Yako Fujigasaki vs. AKARI, KAZUKI, and Rydeen Hagane
• PURE-J Openweight Championship: Leon vs. Hanako Nakamori
• Command Bolshoi Farewell Gauntlet Match
  • Command Bolshoi vs. Hanako Nakamori
  • Command Bolshoi vs. Kaori Yoneyama
  • Command Bolshoi vs. Mayumi Ozaki

This event was shown on Nico so there won’t be any match clipping. All wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names to go straight to it. I know the PURE-J roster page needs a hug, I’ll get it updated this weekend.

Aiger, Arisa Nakajima, Bolshoi Kid, Chihiro Hashimoto, Emi Sakura, Giulia, Jaguar Yokota, Kyoko Inoue, Makoto, Moeka Haruhi, Saori Anou, Shinobu Kandori, Tsubasa Kuragaki, Yumiko Hotta, and Yumi Ohka
Battle Royal

The match starts with roughly half the wrestlers already in the ring, Bolshoi Kid is schoolboyed by Emi Sakura but the pin is broken up. They all kick at Emi for trying to pin Bolshoi Kid so early in the match, they make a knucklelock chain and Bolshoi walks the ropes with all of them tied up, but she gets pulled back off the ropes and they all start elbowing each other. Everyone jumps Kyoko Inoue and dumps her out of the ring, and Kyoko Inoue is eliminated. Yumiko Hotta is attacked by the wrestlers in the ring while she is in the corner, Ohka and Anou then boot Sakura but Ohka then boots Anou. Sakura puts Ohka in a Mexican Surfboard but Bolshoi covers Sakura while she has the move applied and picks up the three count! Emi Sakura is eliminated. At the moment only Hotta, Anou, Bolshoi, and Ohka are in the ring, Ohka tries to boot Anou but Anou holds down the top rope and Ohka tumbles out of it, so Yumi Ohka is eliminated. The majority of the rest of the wrestlers join the party so now the ring is quite full, Giulia and Anou get into it until Kuragaki, Bolshoi, and Haruhi start posing together.

Kuragaki and Hashimoto trade shoulderblocks, lariats by Kuragaki in the corner but Hashimoto knocks her down with a shoulderblock. Kuragaki and Hashimoto are attempted to be pinned with no luck, and things break down when Aiger finally gets in the ring. Giulia and Anou are so scared of Aiger they bail out of the ring, so Giulia and Saori Anou are eliminated! Hotta isn’t scared of her and they have an exchange, Aiger gets a chain and gives Hotta one end of it. They start a tug of war but all the other wrestlers help Hotta, they then all cover Hotta and pick up the three count! Yumiko Hotta is eliminated. Hotta is annoyed at Aiger for causing her to get pinned and faces off with her, Aiger wants none of it and runs out of the ring, taking herself out of the match. Aiger is eliminated! Everyone remaining creates a headscissors chain, Shinobu Kandori finally joins the festivities and she breaks up the chain. Kandori squares off against everyone but they wait to engage while Jaguar Yokota joins the match as well. Bolshoi shakes hands with both of them and they pose for pictures, but all three get schoolboyed from behind for their troubles. None work, Haruhi charges Kandori but Kandori puts her in an armbar and Haruhi quickly submits! Moeka Haruhi is eliminated. Makoto goes after Yokota, but Yokota slaps her in a Cobra Twist and Makoto taps out as well, Makoto is eliminated!

Arisa Nakajima and Bolshoi trade strikes, Bolshoi wins the battle and then armdrags all the wrestlers left in the ring. And the referee. Bolshoi kicks Nakajima and hops on Kuragaki’s back, directing Kuragaki around the ring as she lariats everyone. Bolshoi jumps on Kuragaki’s shoulders and delivers the Limelight, and she gets the three count! Tsubasa Kuragaki is eliminated. Nakajima drop toeholds Bolshoi into the ropes but she botches the Tiger Feint Kick (as a homage to Bolshoi), she lands on the apron and Hashimoto knocks her off to the floor! Arisa Nakajima is eliminated. We are down to Bolshoi, Hashimoto, Yokota, and Kandori. They attempt to knock Bolshoi off the apron and onto the floor, but both times wrestlers are ringside catch her and push her back onto the apron until Bolshoi is able to return to the ring. All the eliminated wrestlers return to the match so they can hit running strikes on Bolshoi in the corner, cover by Kandori but the cover is broken up. Nakajima goes up top and dives off, but lands on Kandori, Hashimoto, and Yokota on accident. The eliminated wrestlers run in and cover all three of them, Kuragaki sits Bolshoi on top of the pile and the referee counts to three! Shinobu Kandori, Chihiro Hashimoto, and Jaguar Yokota are all eliminated. Bolshoi Kid is the winner!

As I mentioned at the top, these are lighthearted affairs and not intended to be taken seriously. There were a lot of cute spots throughout and they kept the match quick enough that the shenanigans never got old. Everyone working together to help Bolshoi Kid win was a nice touch, and its always fun to see legends like Kandori and Yokota mixing it up with their old friends. A nice way to kick off the event and since retirement shows tend to get sad it was a good idea to start with a fun and easy-going match.  Mildly Recommended

Manami Katsu, Mari Manji, and Yako Fujigasaki vs. AKARI, KAZUKI, and Rydeen Hagane

Yako and Rydeen begin the match, Yako gets Rydeen into the ropes but she gives a clean break. Yako goes for a crossbody, Rydeen catches her but Yako’s teammates kicks her over and stays in the ring to triple team Rydeen. Eventually Rydeen’s team helps out and they shoulderblock their opponents over before Rydeen tags in AKARI. Yako armdrags AKARI but AKARI returns the favor and hits a pair of dropkicks, Yako comes back with a hard shoulderblock and she tags in Manami. AKARI elbows Manami but AKARI connects with a jumping shoulderblock, she puts Manami in a backbreaker but it gets broken up. Manami gets AKARI up and hits a Samoan Drop, superkick by Manami and she covers AKARI for two. AKARI tags Mari, elbows by Mari and she covers AKARI for a two count. Mounted elbows by Mari but AKARI puts Mari in an armbar, La Magistral by AKARI but Mari kicks out. Dropkick by AKARI and she tags in KAZUKI, Rydeen comes in too and they triple team Mari in the corner. Backbreaker by Rydeen and KAZUKI kicks Mari in the head, but Yako and Manami run in to even the odds. Team KAZUKI stays in control, they stack all three of their opponents across the ropes in the corner, and KAZUKI hits a reverse double kneedrop on them all. KAZUKI goes up top and hits a reverse double kneedrop on Mari, cover by KAZUKI but it is broken up. KAZUKI grabs Mari but Mari hits a back bodydrop, she applies an Octopus Hold (mostly) while her partners keep everyone else at bay, cover by Mari but it only gets two. Mari tags in Yako, hip attacks by Yako to KAZUKI and they trade knees to the midsection.

Deadlift bridging suplex by Yako, but KAZUKI kicks out. Yako goes up top but Rydeen comes in and elbows her before she can jump off, Rydeen grabs Yako and press slams her onto KAZUKI’s knees. Somato by KAZUKI to Yako, but Yako gets a shoulder up. Rydeen stays in, lariats by Rydeen to Yako and she hits a backdrop suplex. Rydeen goes for a Reverse Splash but Yako moves and hits a hip attack, Mari and Manami come in and assist on beating down Rydeen. Tiger suplex hold by Yako to Rydeen, but KAZUKI breaks it up. Manami stays in the ring and trades lariats with Rydeen, with neither wrestler going down. Rydeen finally knocks down Manami, sliding lariat by Rydeen but Manami kicks out of the cover. Rydeen gets on the turnbuckle but Manami grabs her from behind and hits a powerbomb, she goes up top but KAZUKI grabs her from the apron. Rydeen elbows Manami and joins her, superplex by Rydeen and AKARI hits a diving footstomp off the second turnbuckle. KAZUKI follows with a diving kneedrop, Rydeen then nails a moonsault but her cover is broken up. Rydeen picks up Manami and slams her to the mat, but again her cover is broken up. Rydeen positions Manami while KAZUKI goes up top, but Mari and Yako interrupt them before they can complete a move. Rydeen lariats both of them for their trouble, she goes back to Manami but Manami nails a backfist. Another backfist by Manami, she picks up Rydeen and she hits a hammerlock German Suplex for a two count. Manami goes up top and hits a jumping elbow strike, she quickly goes up again and nails a diving elbow drop for the three count! Manami Katsu, Mari Manji, and Yako Fujigasaki are the winners.

A little rough at times but overall fine. Not all of these wrestlers are “quality wrestlers” to put it nicely, the recent versions of JWP/PURE-J haven’t really churned out great wrestlers as they are so small it is probably hard for them to attract talented athletes. So we get wrestlers like Manami, Yako, and Mari who try hard but don’t have the natural ability to make everything look smooth. Rydeen and KAZUKI are both pretty good power wrestlers and the match was solid when they were in the ring, but there were other segments that just fell flat. Probably the right winner and I know they want to try to build up Manami, but she still isn’t quite there yet and there is no way of knowing for sure if she ever will be.

(c) Leon vs. Hanako Nakamori
PURE-J Openweight Championship

Leon works a headlock to start but Hanako gets away, they trade wristlocks until Hanako knocks down Leon with a kick combination. Leon chops Hanako into the corner but Hanako avoids her spear attempt, Hanako goes to the opposite corner but Leon connects with two running shoulder tackles. Leon goes up top, Hanako avoids her charge but Leon hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Leon gets Hanako on her back and applies a stretch hold, she lets go after a moment and the two trade strikes. Leon dumps Hanako out of the ring to the floor, she goes up top and dives down onto Hanako with a plancha. Leon tells the crowd to move out of the way to give her running room and she spears Hanako against the apron. Leon slides Hanako back in the ring and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Leon but it gets two. Texas Cloverleaf by Leon but Hanako gets to the ropes, Leon charges Hanako but Hanako moves and kicks Leon in the stomach. Hanako goes off the ropes but Leon catches her with a tilt-a-whirl slam, she goes up top but Hanako gets her feet up on the Frog Splash attempt. Hanako boots Leon over the top rope to the floor, she goes out to the apron and hits a jumping knee down to the floor.

Hanako slides Leon back in and delivers the Shining Wizard, cover by Hanako but it gets a two count. Hanako goes up top but Leon avoids her diving knee, she ducks Hanako’s kick attempt in the corner and joins Hanako on the top turnbuckle, but Hanako boots her into the Tree of Woe. Kicks by Hanako, she pulls Leon back up and hits a Fisherman Buster for a two count. Hanako returns to the top turnbuckle and nails the Destiny Hammer, cover by Hanako but Leon gets a shoulder up. Hanako goes for the Capture Buster but Leon pushes her away and hits a release German. Leon goes up top but Hanako kicks her before she can jump off, Hanako joins Leon but Leon spears her down to the mat. Spear by Leon, she covers Hanako but Hanako kicks out. Leon picks up Hanako and kicks her in the head, she goes off the ropes but Hanako hits a head kick of her own and both wrestlers are down on the mat. They slowly get back up and start trading elbows, spinning kick by Leon but Hanako hulks up and kicks Leon in the head. They trade kicks until Hanako knocks down Leon with a step-up kick, and again they are both down. Leon goes for a spear but Hanako moves, head kick by Hanako and she delivers the Chikonka Driver but Leon gets a shoulder up.

Hanako goes up top but Leon shakes the ropes before she can jump off and eventually joins her, headbutt by Leon and she tosses Hanako to the mat with a Spider German. Leon turns around and delivers the Frog Splash, she goes back up top again and hits the diving footstomp but Hanako kicks out of the cover. Leon drags Hanako up and drops her with the Capture Buster, but again Hanako manages to kick out. Leon goes off the ropes but Hanako knees her when she goes for the spear, Leon goes for another Capture Buster but Hanako blocks it. Leon reverses the block into a cradle, but it gets a two count. They both go for quick pins with no luck, Hanako goes for a kick but Leon ducks it and hits a German suplex. Leon goes off the ropes twice and levels Hanako with a spear, but Hanako rolls out of the cover. Leon picks up Hanako and goes for the Capture Buster, Hanako blocks it and catches her with a Chikonka Driver, but Leon rolls through it for a two count. Head kick by Hanako and she delivers a kick combination, La Rojo by Hanako and she picks up the three count! Hanako Nakamori is the new champion!

Leon may be 38 years old but she can still go. This match far exceeded my expectations, Hanako Nakamori and Leon knew this may be the biggest crowd that PURE-J is ever in front of and they really brought it. Even though it went 15 minutes the action was non-stop, as they went at the fast pace that Joshi wrestling has become known for. Leon wrestled like the underdog as I figured she would, and really threw everything at Hanako, but once Hanako kicked out of her big moves she was in trouble. My only complaint is I wish that Hanako had to do a bit more at the end to put Leon away since Leon had such a long segment of big moves, but the Chikonka Driver/head kicks/La Rojo is a killer combination so it still didn’t feel like an “out of nowhere” win. I don’t say this often about PURE-J but this is a must-see match.  Highly Recommended

Command Bolshoi Retirement Series Gauntlet Match
Singles matches vs. Mayumi Ozaki, Kaori Yoneyama, and Hanako Nakamori

Command Bolshoi vs. Mayumi Ozaki – They circle each other to start before locking up, Ozaki gets Bolshoi in the ropes but she gives a clean break. Ozaki stomps on Bolshoi’s foot and scoop slams her, she gets her chain and hits Bolshoi in the head with it. More chain strikes by Ozaki but Bolshoi grabs her arm and applies an armbar over the top rope. Armbreaker by Bolshoi but Ozaki quickly puts her in a sleeper hold, Bolshoi struggles but eventually makes it to the ropes for the break. Ozaki puts Bolshoi in the ropes so that other members of the Ozaki Army could assist her as they pose for the crowd. Irish whip by Ozaki but Bolshoi slides away and hits a palm strike. Bolshoi rolls Ozaki to the mat and applies a kneelock, she reverts it into a modified figure four but Ozaki gets to the ropes (with some help) to get a break. Bolshoi picks up Ozaki but Ozaki gets her back and tosses Bolshoi to the mat. Ozaki gets her chain again and hits Bolshoi with it, but Bolshoi comes back with a palm strike as they trade blows. They fight over the chain until Bolshoi runs in with a Piko Knee Smash, cover by Bolshoi but it gets a two count. Bolshoi picks up Ozaki but Ozaki hits a backfist followed by a jumping kick, but her cover gets two as well. Bolshoi puts Ozaki in a modified Dragon Sleeper, but the bell rings as the five minutes has expired. The match is a Draw.

Command Bolshoi vs. Kaori Yoneyama – Yoneyama is crying as the match starts but it turns out to be a ruse as she quickly schoolboys Bolshoi for a two count. She tries a few more flash pins but they don’t work, she charges Bolshoi but Bolshoi puts her in a Fujiwara Armbar. Yoneyama tries to roll out of it but fails in her first few attempts so Bolshoi switches to a cross armbreaker and then into a seated armbar. Yoneyama gets into the ropes for a break, she begs off Bolshoi and Bolshoi allows her to get up. Yoneyama asks for a knucklelock but she steps on Bolshoi’s foot, Mongolian Chops by Bolshoi and both wrestlers punch each other in the stomach. Bolshoi and Yoneyama trade strikes, waistlock by Yoneyama but Bolshoi slides away. Northern Lights Suplex by Yoneyama, but it only gets a two count. Mounted elbows by Yoneyama, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails a diving senton, but Bolshoi kicks out of the cover. Knees by Yoneyama, she goes off the ropes but Bolshoi hits a knee of her own followed by an uppercut and a Tiger Feint Kick.  Bolshoi-shiki Wakigatame by Bolshoi in the middle of the ring, Bolshoi switches it into a cradle but the bell rings before the referee can complete her three count as time expires. The match is a Draw.

Command Bolshoi vs. Hanako Nakamori – They circle to start, kicks by Nakamori but Bolshoi catches one and applies an ankle lock. Nakamori gets out of the hold and applies a waistlock, but Bolshoi kicks out of it and palm strikes Nakamori in the face. Bolshoi goes off the ropes but Nakamori catches her with a fisherman buster, head kick by Nakamori and she goes up top, but Bolshoi recovers and elbows Nakamori from the turnbuckle down to the floor. Bolshoi gets out on the apron and hits an Asai Moonsault down onto Nakamori, she rolls her back in but Nakamori blocks the tiger suplex attempt. Palm strikes by Bolshoi but Nakamori fires back with a head kick, Bolshoi gets Nakamori in the ropes and hits the Tiger Feint Kick followed by another palm strike for a two count cover. Bolshoi nails Nakamori with the Piko Knee Smash, but Nakamori gets a shoulder up on the cover. Bolshoi picks up Nakamori but Nakamori blocks her suplex attempts and hits a Michinoku Driver. Nakamori drags Bolshoi up but Bolshoi quickly hits a Fisherman Buster, cover by Bolshoi but it gets two. Tiger suplex hold by Bolshoi, but that gets a two count as well. The two trade strikes on their knees before returning to their feet, palm strikes by Bolshoi and she knocks down Nakamori for two. Bolshoi picks up Nakamori but the bell rings before she can do anything else, as the time has expired. The match is a Draw.

Gauntlet matches are not an uncommon method for a wrestler to go out when retiring, but this one was set up a bit differently. Generally I really enjoyed it, the five minutes gave the wrestlers a bit more time to get something going so it wasn’t just a one minute sprint, and even though there was no winner I liked that Bolshoi was on the cusp of winning in all three matches so it felt like she could have won with just another minute or two. I wish that Yoneyama had wrestled more of a straight match, I know in YMZ and Stardom she has been more playful for awhile but for a retirement match I wouldn’t have complained if serious Yoneyama had shown up for one last run. Still, this was a fun walk down memory lane and Bolshoi was given a chance to shine against a nice variety of former opponents to close out her career.  Recommended

At the conclusion of the show, we have the retirement ceremony for Command Bolshoi, which is shown in full. Wrestlers can look very different in street clothes so I won’t try to identify all the wrestlers that came into the ring to wish Bolshoi a happy farewell, but some of those in attendance included Manami Toyota, Jumbo Hori, Yukari Omori, Dynamite Kansai, Cuty Suzuki, and many others. We also got a video message from Devil Masami, which shows how special Command Bolshoi was as Masami doesn’t show up very often at wrestling functions these days. Finally we get a photo montage, Bolshoi gets one final salute, and she is carried off into the sunset.

The post PURE-J Bolshoi Retirement ~ Thank You!! on 4/21/19 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: SEAdLINNNG Let’s Get d!!!
Date: January 20th, 2019
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 717

As I catch back up with what is going on in the world of Joshi, it was necessary to check out a recent big event for SEAdLINNNG. When SEAdLINNNG first launched I wasn’t sure how long it would last or how big it would get, but they have been trucking along now for three years and even have both singles and tag team champions. The roster is still small (three wrestlers) but they have access to a lot of other wrestlers so all their events feel complete. This is a big show for them as it takes place at Korakuen Hall and features two title matches. Here is the full card:

• ASUKA vs. Himeka Arita
• Kaho Kobayashi vs. Mei Hoshizuki vs. Tsukushi
• Hamuko Hoshi, Makoto, and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Hiroe Nagahama, Ryo Mizunami, and Sae
• SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Championship: Arisa Nakajima and Ayame Sasamura vs. Miyuki Takase and Yumiko Hotta
• SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship: Nanae Takahashi vs. Yoshiko

As this aired on Nico Nico, all matches are shown in full. As always, all wrestlers on the event have profiles here at Joshi City, you can click on their names above to go straight to it.

ASUKA vs. Himeka Arita

ASUKA won’t shake Himeka’s hand before the match starts as she has no time for scrubs, Himeka gets ASUKA into the ropes and hits a series of hard elbows. She goes for an Irish whip but ASUKA doesn’t budge, so Himeka slaps her instead. More elbows by Himeka but ASUKA switches positions with her and slaps her, ASUKA works a headlock but Himeka gets out of it and the collide into each other. Hard shoulderblock by Himeka but ASUKA kips up and hits a shoulderblock of her own. Himeka retorts with another shoulderblock, body avalanche by Himeka in the corner and she hits a running knee for a two count cover. Himeka goes for a scoop slam but ASUKA blocks it, knees by ASUKA but Himeka catches her when she charges in and hits the slam. Shoulderblocks by Himeka, but ASUKA kicks out of the pin attempt. Himeka goes off the ropes but ASUKA nails her in the face with a dropkick, superkick by ASUKA and she hits a gutwrench suplex. ASUKA goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cocky cover by ASUKA and Himeka gets a shoulder up. ASUKA picks up Himeka but Himeka blocks the chokeslam attempt, slaps by Himeka and she delivers a Samoan Drop for two. Himeka goes off the ropes but ASUKA catches her with a superkick, she then goes off the ropes but Himeka hits the jumping knee. Himeka charges ASUKA but ASUKA avoids the knee and delivers a strike combination, chokeslam by ASUKA but the cover only gets two. ASUKA quickly goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails the moonsault, cover by ASUKA and she gets the three count! ASUKA is the winner.

I wouldn’t say this match was “good” but it was serviceable. ASUKA gave Himeka quite a bit of offense, which was nice of her since Himeka is still basically an unknown while ASUKA is a former champion. Everything was hit well and was pretty smooth, aside from one clunky moment during the chokeslam block. Inoffensive but not much to it.

Kaho Kobayashi vs. Mei Hoshizuki vs. Tsukushi

They all circle each other to start but get right into it with a triple headlock spot before Tsukushi and Kaho trade armdrags. Mei feels left out and goes into an exchange with Kaho, which she gets the better off until Kaho flings her down with a springboard armdrag. Mei and Tsukushi both dropkick Kaho in the corner, Kaho goes off the ropes until she is exhausted and eats a double dropkick. Tsukushi kicks Mei when Mei is celebrating and puts her in a camel clutch. Kaho returns and dropkicks Tsukushi, now it is Kaho that puts Mei in the camel clutch but Tsukushi recovers and dropkicks her back. Natsuki fusses at Kaho for grabbing Tsukushi’s hair while Tsukushi oversells it, Natsuki throws Kaho to the mat and she is double teamed by Tsukushi and Mei. Double Irish whip to Kaho but Kaho dropkicks both of them, she lays them together on the mat and applies a double crab hold. Natsuki breaks it up for reasons unknown, she gets into it with Kaho but Natsuki lands on her ankle wrong and Kaho dropkicks her.

Mei and Tsukushi trade quick pins on Kaho with no luck, Kaho dropkicks Mei but Tsukushi helps her out and Mei puts Kaho in a figure four leglock. Tsukushi goes up top and his a diving footstomp onto Mei, Tsukushi goes back to Kaho and dropkicks her while she is against the ropes. Tilt-a-whirl crossbody by Tsukushi, but Kaho kicks out of the cover. Tsukushi goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, cover by Tsukushi but Mei breaks it up. Mei elbows Tsukushi and hits four dropkicks, but her cover only gets two. Mei picks up Tsukushi and knocks her against the ropes, but Mei avoids her dropkick and knocks Tsukushi out of the ring. Kaho returns, dropkick by Kaho and she hits a running senton. Kaho puts Mei in a modified armbar, she lets go after a moment but Mei blocks the fisherman buster and rolls her up for two. More flash pins by Mei have no luck, dropkick by Mei and two more, but Kaho catches her with a dropkick of her own. Kick to the head by Kaho, she goes up top but Tsukushi get back in and eats the missile dropkick instead. Mei dropkicks Kaho out of the ring, she goes to cover Tsukushi but Tsukushi reverses it into a cradle for the three count! Tsukushi wins!

I know some people love these matches and while I generally find them inoffensive, they don’t do a whole lot for me. They work better when there is more comedy since its a goofy match anyway but the funny bits here didn’t really land with me and it mostly was just running off the ropes and dropkicks. While it was great to see Kaho again and Tsukushi is one of of the better young wrestlers on the Joshi scene, there just wasn’t enough meat to the match for me to recommend seeking it out.

Hamuko Hoshi, Makoto, and Fujimoto vs. Hiroe Nagahama, Ryo Mizunami, and Sae

Team Ryo attacks before the match starts and isolate Tsukasa, triple teaming her while referee looks on but makes little attempt to help. The other wrestlers finally leave and Ryo stays in with Tsukasa, leg drop by Ryo and she tags in Sae. Sae stomps on Tsukasa but Tsukasa fires up and trades blows with her. Tsukasa wins the battle and tags in Hamuko, Hamuko poses on the mat while Sae looks confused. Hamuko tags in Makoto, Makoto boots Sae and kicks the second rope into her chin. Springboard crossbody by Makoto, her partners come in to clear the apron and all three do rolls over Sae. Cover by Makoto, but it gets a two count. Makoto goes to throw Sae into the corner but Sae reverses it and hits a back elbow followed by a big boot. She tags Hiroe, dropkicks by Hiroe and she hits a snap vertical suplex for two. Makoto snaps off a DDT and delivers a pump kick, she tags in Hamuko and Hamuko belly mushes Hiroe in the corner. Hiroe slides away from Hamuko and the two trade elbows, dropkick by Hiroe and she hits another one while Hamuko is against the ropes. Makoto comes in to help, boot by Makoto but Hiroe hits a Codebreaker on Hamuko and rolls her up for two. She makes the hot tag to Ryo, spear by Ryo and she chops Hamuko into the corner. Rapid fire chops by Ryo and she hits a lariat after some theatrics for a two count cover.

Elbows by Ryo but Hamuko slaps her in the chest, lariat by Hamuko but Ryo doesn’t go down. Hard lariat by Ryo, she goes off the ropes but Hamuko knocks her over with a belly bump. Running belly smash by Hamuko and she tags in Tsukasa. Tsukasa goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, another dropkick by Tsukasa but Ryo blocks the scoop slam and hits one of her own for two. Tsukasa bridges out of it and hits a dropkick, her friends clear the ring but Ryo catches her and delivers the dragon suplex hold for two. Lariat by Ryo, but Tsukasa barely kicks out. Ryo gets Tsukasa on her shoulders but Tsukasa sides away, they trade strikes until Ryo levels Tsukasa with a lariat for another two count. Ryo tags in Sae which doesn’t bode well, big boots by Sae and she applies the cover for two. Sae picks up Tsukasa but Tsukasa throws her in the corner and hits a dropkick, diving crossbody by Makoto but Tsukasa’s cover is broken up. Kicks to the back by Tsukasa and she delivers the PK, but Sae kicks out. Tsukasa applies the armtrap crossface but Sae gets to the ropes for the break, Ryo comes back in and cuts off Tsukasa with a lariat before Hiroe delivers a spear. Boot by Sae, but Tsukasa kicks out of the pin. Northern Lights Suplex by Sae, but this time her cover is broken up. Hiroe stays in the ring but Tsukasa kicks them both back, dropkick by Tsukasa but Sae sneaks in a backslide with a bridge for two. Sae goes off the ropes and boots Tsukasa, but that gets a two as well. Sae goes off the ropes but Tsukasa has had enough and rolls her up before applying the Straight Jacket Clutch for the submission victory! Hamuko Hoshi, Makoto, and Tsukasa Fujimoto are the winners.

This is just one of those cases where having so many wrestlers did nothing to enhance the match. Aside from a few spots here and there they didn’t all get involved too much since they were just thrown together teams and it felt disjointed at times. Sae was so obviously the fall person in this match that you knew when she tagged in it was time for the home stretch. For midcard fodder it was fine, as the wrestlers themselves are solid (aside from Sae who still needs some work), but it just felt like random moves until Tsukasa suddenly put away Sae with a submission out of nowhere. A decent match but utterly forgettable.

(c) Arisa Nakajima and Ayame Sasamura vs. Miyuki Takase and Yumiko Hotta
SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Championship

The match begins with Miyuki and Ayame in the ring, they trade holds until Ayame shoulderblocks Miyuki to the mat. Ayame picks up Miyuki and throws her into the corner, but Miyuki boots her when she charges in and delivers a dropkick. After a quick exchange they end up at a stalemate, Ayame tags out while Miyuki pretends to but she attacks Arisa instead of tagging in Hotta. Arisa doesn’t appreciate this and boots her to the mat, Miyuki gets back up but Arisa knocks her into her corner and Hotta finally tags in. Arisa and Hotta trade elbows, dropkick by Arisa but Hotta stares her down. Slap by Arisa and they grab each other by the hair, both let go and Arisa tags Ayame. Ayame tries to elbow and slam Hotta but Hotta shrugs her off and kicks Ayame to the mat. She tags Miyuki, scoop slam by Miyuki and she applies a crab hold but Ayame quickly gets to the ropes. Dropkick by Miyuki and she drops a leg on Ayame’s back for a two count cover. She tags Hotta back in, double Irish whip to Ayame and she eats a double shoulderblock. Camel clutch by Hotta but Arisa breaks it up, Hotta then goes for Ayame’s arm but Arisa keeps kicking at her until she lets go. Hotta tags Miyuki, Miyuki and Ayame trade elbows until Miyuki knocks Ayame down and puts her in a crab hold. Ayame gets to the ropes to force the break, Miyuki picks her up but Ayame blocks the suplex attempt and hits one of her own. Ayame tags in Arisa, Arisa boots Miyuki in the chest and hits Hotta as well before booting Miyuki again for a two count cover. Hotta kicks Arisa from the apron, Miyuki tries to hit Arisa but she elbows Hotta by mistake. She lands an elbow on Arisa anyway and tags in Hotta, heel kick by Hotta to Arisa and she gets a quick two count cover. Double underhook by Hotta but Arisa gets away and applies a cross kneelock.

Miyuki comes in but Ayame does too and tosses Miyuki to the floor, meanwhile Hotta has gotten to the ropes to get the break. Arisa boots Hotta out of the ring as well, she goes up top as Miyuki comes up to her but Arisa DDTs her into the apron. Ayame goes to the top turnbuckle to dive down onto Hotta, but Hotta moves and she lands on Arisa instead. All four battle around the crowd and floor, Hotta hits Arisa with a chair but Arisa ducks a shot and hits Hotta with the chair instead. Arisa tosses a bunch of chairs at Hotta before Miyuki comes over to help, but Arisa slams Miyuki on top of Hotta. Arisa returns to the ring with Hotta slowly following, she slides a chair into the ring as she gets in but Ayame dropkicks her from behind. Arisa goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Arisa but Hotta kicks out. Mounted elbows by Arisa but Miyuki trips her from the apron, Arisa and Miyuki trade slaps while Hotta gets the chair back. She goes to hit Arisa but hits the referee by accident, she picks the chair back up and cracks Arisa over the head with it. Ayame tries to help but Hotta keeps knocking her back to continue going after Arisa as things have officially broken down. Hotta breaks a chair over Ayame’s head before getting her chain and using it to throw Arisa into the crowd. Arisa recovers and trades elbows with Hotta, but Hotta knocks her back down and hits her with the chain. She finally gets back into the ring while the wrestlers check on Ayame, who is bleeding everywhere, but Ayame makes it back into the ring as the referee finally wakes up. Piledriver by Hotta to Ayame, but Arisa breaks up the cover.

They switch wrestlers as Miyuki picks up Ayame and hits a fireman’s carry rolling slam followed by a leg drop. Tiger Driver by Hotta to Ayame, but again Arisa breaks up the pin. Cross armbreaker by Hotta to Ayame but Arisa is still close by and breaks that up too, schoolboy by Ayame to Hotta but Hotta gets a hand in the ropes. Ayame slams Hotta with the help of Arisa, she tags in Arisa and Arisa kicks Hotta repeatedly in the head. German suplex by Arisa, she goes up top but Miyuki joins her. Arisa elbows Miyuki down and hits the diving footstomp onto Hotta, but the cover gets two. Arisa goes for the dragon suplex but Hotta blocks it and hits a Tiger Driver for a two count. Hotta slowly gets up but Arisa blocks her second Tiger Driver attempt, Hotta falls back into her corner and Miyuki tags in. Miyuki knocks Arisa back and hits a lariat, she goes for another one but delivers the Cutie Special for two. High kick by Arisa and she boots Miyuki in the face, German suplex hold by Arisa but Hotta breaks it up. Ayame tries to get Hotta out of the ring but fails, Arisa goes for another suplex but Miyuki reverses it. Knee and a slap by Arisa and she hits the trapped German, but Hotta breaks it up by throwing a chain at Arisa. Ayame has seen enough and grabs the chain, running over and hitting Hotta repeatedly with it. This gives Arisa time to pick up Miyuki, she nails the dragon suplex hold and she picks up the three count! Arisa Nakajima and Ayame Sasamura are still the champions.

Even though the story was predictable, this was still a lot of fun. Hotta is one of the few wrestlers out there that you really can’t tell any given moment if she is being cooperative or just doing her own thing, part of which is from her reputation and part is from just the way she acts in the ring. She always seems to straddle the line between playing along and not being in the mood, and it makes her matches a bit unique to watch. Arisa wasn’t trying to put up with her shit but at times had no choice and they had some entertaining exchanges. Miyuki and Ayame both stepped up and looked really good, Ayame never really got one over on Hotta but by beating her with a chain to stop her from making the final pin breakup she still got the last laugh. It somehow felt both predictable and haphazard at the same time in its structure, certainly not your normal match and even though it didn’t peak very high it stayed amusing throughout. Worth a watch as Hotta is a legend and the young wrestlers both made their presence felt.  Recommended

(c) Nanae Takahashi vs. Yoshiko
SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship

They start slow as they go into knuckle lock before transitioning into trading wristlocks, they reach a stalemate until Nanae shoulderblocks Yoshiko to the mat. Yoshiko regains the advantage by applying a keylock but Nanae inches to the ropes to force the break. Nanae rolls out of the ring to regroup but returns after a moment, Yoshiko greets her with a kick and continues working on the arm. Yoshiko starts choking Nanae with her own arm but Nanae gets away, she goes off the ropes but Yoshiko slams her to the mat. Yoshiko goes off the ropes but Nanae catches her ankle, running knee by Nanae but Yoshiko gets straight up and they trade elbows. Nanae gets the better of the battle and knocks Yoshiko into the corner before twisting her leg in the ropes. Kicks to the leg by Nanae and she puts Yoshiko in a figure four leglock, but Yoshiko gets to the ropes for the break. Nanae flings Yoshiko down by the hair but Yoshiko returns the favor, bootscrapes by Yoshiko but Nanae blocks the running kick attempt and hits a dragon screw. Yoshiko recovers and hits a running boot, Yoshiko kicks Nanae out of the ring and goes out after her but Nanae hits a vertical suplex on the floor. Nanae tosses Yoshiko into the crowd and throws chairs at her, but Yoshiko tosses Nanae into the ring post and hits a running senton. Back in the ring, Nanae puts Yoshiko in a sleeper but Yoshiko drives her into the corner and puts Nanae in an armbar. Nanae rolls out of it and they trade slaps, Yoshiko goes off the ropes but Nanae levels her with a lariat for two.

Backdrop suplex by Nanae, she goes up top but Yoshiko recovers and joins her, hitting an avalanche Samoan Drop. Running senton by Yoshiko, she gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers the diving senton, but Nanae kicks out of the cover. Yoshiko picks up Nanae but Nanae breaks away and hits a wrist-clutch backdrop suplex. She goes for the One Second EX but Yoshiko blocks it, jumping kick by Nanae but Yoshiko headbutts her. Nanae replies with a Superman Punch and both wrestlers go down to the mat. Nanae recovers first and elbows Yoshiko while still on her knees, but Yoshiko elbows her back as they slowly return to their feet. Lariat by Yoshiko and she hits a fireman’s carry slam, but Nanae kicks out of the cover. Yoshiko goes up top but Nanae rolls out of the way of the diving senton, Nanae picks up Yoshiko and struggles to hit the belly to back piledriver, eventually delivering the move for a two count. Nanae goes up top and nails the Refrigerator Bomb, but Yoshiko rolls through it and applies a keylock. Yoshiko sits down on Nanae’s chest, she goes off the ropes and hits the sliding lariat for a two count. Yoshiko goes up top but Nanae joins her and hits a superplex, cover by Nanae but Yoshiko gets a shoulder up. Nanae goes off the ropes and hits the Sliding D, she hits a second piledriver but that gets a two count as well. Nanae quickly goes up to the top turnbuckle, she delivers the Refrigerator Bomb and she picks up the three count! Nanae Takahashi retains the championship.

Nanae Takahashi is an old school veteran and this match was laid out how you’d expect an old school match to be, but without the excitement and suspense. Yoshiko gets more credit than Nanae when it comes to the limb work as at least she did go back to the keylock, even though never made any effort to show they were having any trouble due to the limb work done to them. Limb work going nowhere is not an issue exclusive to this match but at least a little arm shake would be appreciated. It really felt like they were just taking turns as the transitions were shaky at best, and the finishing stretch didn’t have the bombs that would be required to make up for a match that never felt like it got going. Add in the botched piledriver (and I hate when wrestlers mess up a move and then just immediately re-do the same move) and there was a lot going on here that wasn’t ideal. While having an “ok” match on the midcard is forgivable, when its the main event at Korakuen a bit more is expected. The single cam setup probably didn’t help the presentation, but a disappointing main event.

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