Event: Diana
Date: November 8th, 2020
Location: Diana Dojo in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

Sometimes, you are just in the mood to watch some Diana. For many years, Diana events literally never made TV and the only way to watch them was on “clips” shows or to purchase the one DVD they put out a year. But recently they have been having more events on NicoPro or Youtube, giving long time Diana fans a chance to finally see their shows. Diana is a very small promotion, with a tiny roster and limited broad appeal, but they do have some good wrestlers and their events tend to get straight to the point. Plus Sareee is back to wrestling in Diana so we get to see the best wrestler in the world, which is never a bad thing. Here is the full card:

• Ayako Sato vs. Nanami
• Jaguar Yokota vs. Madeline
• Haruka Umesaki and Kaoru Ito vs. Kyoko Inoue and Sareee

Only three matches, with the entire video being only an hour long. Just heavenly. As this aired on Youtube all matches will be shown in full, to visit the wrestler’s profile here on Joshi City you can click on their names above to go straight to it.

Ayako Sato vs. Nanami

They tie-up to start and trade waistlocks, Sato applies a full nelson but Nanami reverses it. Snapmares by Sato and she applies a sleeper, she then lets go to put Nanami in a stretch hold. Sato applies a bodyscissors but Nanami gets out of it and elbows Sato in the chest. Nanami stomps on Sato and throws her down by the hair a few times, boot to the chest by Sato and she hits a monkey flip. Wristlock by Sato and she applies an arm wringer, hammerlock by Sato but Nanami reverses it. Headlock by Sato and she gets Nanami to the mat, Nanami gets her in a headscissors but Sato quickly gets to the ropes. Irish whip by Sato and she hits an armdrag, Nanami goes for a crossbody but Sato blocks it with a knee. Running knee by Sato and she hits a scoop slam, cover by Sato but it gets a two count. Sato picks up Nanami and hits a back bodydrop, she covers Nanami again but she gets another two count.

Back on their feet they trade elbows, boot by Sato but Nanami shoulderblocks her to the mat. More shoulderblocks by Nanami, and she covers Sato for a near two count. Sato rakes Nanami in the eyes and mushes her with her boot, but Nanami fires up and throws down Sato by the hair. Rolling cradle by Nanami but Sato kicks out of the cover, she goes for a backslide but Sato rolls through it and dropkicks Nanami in the head. Knee by Sato but Nanami sneaks in a backslide for two. Sato throws Nanami towards the corner, Nanami reverses it but Sato hits a dropkick from the second turnbuckle. Sato goes off the ropes and knees Nanami, Sato delivers a series of running knees but Nanami barely kicks out of the cover. Irish whip by Sato and she hits a front dropkick, double wrist clutch armsault by Sato but Nanami kicks out. Sato goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick, but that gets two as well. Sato picks up Nanami, she applies a modified cradle and she gets the three count! Ayako Sato is the winner.

The finishing move translated in Google Translate as “Sato Squared” but I’m not really confident in that being its real name. Anyway, Sato gave Nanami quite a bit of offense and Nanami did show some fire and ability, more than I’ve seen from her in the past anyway. Nanami did manage to mess up the rolling cradle, which was amusing, but otherwise the match went off without a hitch. If anything, the champion of the promotion gave the kid too much leeway with kicking out of her big moves, you’d think a 14 year old could be pinned after a half dozen running knees. A good experience for Nanami, maybe not all hope is lost with her but I’m still not overly optimistic.

Jaguar Yokota vs. Madeline

After an enthusiastic handshake, Madeline grabs a metal rod when Yokota isn’t looking and hits her from behind with it. The referee tries to get Madeline to stop as she chokes Yokota with it, but has little success. Madeline hits the referee with the rod before going back to Yokota, Madeline avoids Yokota’s lariat attempt and goes for her arm, getting the Fujiwara Armbar applied. Yokota gets to the ropes for the break, dropkick by Madeline but Yokota hits her with a hard elbow. Madeline takes down Yokota and attempts to apply a cross armbreaker, Yokota struggles to block it and gets to the ropes before Madeline could get it fully locked on. Madeline picks up Yokota and goes to the top turnbuckle while holding her wrist, walking the ropes before hitting an armdrag. Irish whip by Madeline to the corner and she hits the Space Rolling Elbow, she goes for it a second time but Yokota blocks it and hits a heel drop to Madeline’s head. Somersault double leg drop by Yokota, and she covers Madeline for two. Yokota picks up Madeline and puts her in a stretch hold, roll-up by Yokota but it gets a two count.

Irish whip by Yokota but Madeline cartwheels way, she goes for a crossbody but Yokota sidesteps it. Yokota gets a steel chair and hits Madeline in the head with it, she tries to choke Madeline but Madeline blocks it (somewhat) with the metal rod she had earlier. Yokota picks up Madeline but Madeline blocks the piledriver, drop toehold by Madeline and she walks over Yokota’s back. Madeline throws Yokota into the corner but Yokota avoids her charge, but Madeline applies a sunset flip for two. Madeline gets on the second turnbuckle but Yokota joins her, superplexing Madeline back to the mat. Cover by Yokota, but it gets a two count. Yokota picks up Madeline and hits a backdrop suplex, but that gets a two as well. Fisherman Buster by Yokota, she slowly covers Madeline but Madeline bridges out of it. Annoyed, Yokota gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a somersault double leg drop, but Madeline kicks out. Yokota drags Madeline to her feet and drops her with a piledriver, cover by Yokota and she finally gets the three count! Jaguar Yokota is the winner.

Even though the in-ring work wasn’t exactly high end, there is something enduring about Madeline. She’s scrappy and resourceful, and while she wasn’t going to win the match she had a plan and wasn’t easy to put down. Yokota can do whatever she wants at this point but I have to laugh that here she is in a midcard match taking place at a dojo and she is still bopping Madeline in the head with a chair. I’m going to give this the slightest of recommendations because I love Madeline, but it may not be a match that someone parachuting in would appreciate the charm of.  Mildly Recommended

Haruka Umesaki and Kaoru Ito vs. Kyoko Inoue and Sareee

Haruka and Sareee start the match and tie-up, arm wringer by Haruka but Sareee flips out of it and sends Haruka to the mat. Irish whip by Sareee, reversed, and Haruka delivers a dropkick. Armdrag by Sareee and she dropkicks Haruka, she tags in Inoue who attacks Haruka in the corner. Inoue puts Haruka in a leg submission while Sareee stands guard, Inoue lets go after a moment and applies a chinlock. Inoue tags Sareee back in, and Sareee puts Haruka in a Sickle Hold. Sareee picks up Haruka and flings her down by the hair, she tags in Inoue and Inoue puts Haruka in an Argentine Backbreaker. She eventually lets Haruka out of the hold by flinging her to the mat, vertical suplex by Inoue and she tags Sareee. Dropkicks by Sareee to Haruka, she picks up Haruka and delivers a scoop slam for a two count. Haruka finally gets away from Sareee and hits a dropkick of her own, giving her time to tag in Ito. Ito elbows Sareee, Irish whip to the corner and she hits a lariat. Single leg crab hold by Ito, she switches it to a chinlock before Haruka comes in so they can slam Sareee’s knees into the mat.

Ito tags in Haruka, Haruka goes for a crab hold but Sareee blocks it. Elbows to the chest by Haruka but Sareee switches positions with her and hits elbows of her own before tagging in Inoue. Chops by Inoue to Haruka, Haruka hits a dropkick but Inoue stays up. Inoue swats aside the next dropkick attempt, Irish whip by Inoue but Haruka hits a jumping lariat. Haruka grabs Inoue and puts her in a stretch hold, stomps to the back by Haruka and she hits a missile dropkick off the second turnbuckle for a two count. Haruka goes for a suplex but Inoue blocks it, Inoue goes for a powerbomb but Haruka gets away and dropkicks her in the knee. Front flip neckbreaker by Haruka and she tags in Ito, Ito grabs Inoue but Inoue elbows her off. They take turns trying to lariat the other down until Ito catches Inoue with a side slam, Sareee comes in but Ito hits a jumping crossbody on both of them. Haruka then gets in the ring but Inoue lariats both of her opponents, giving her time to tag Sareee. Sareee comes off the top with a missile dropkick to Ito, picking up a two count. Sareee goes for a German suplex but Ito blocks it, Ito goes for a lariat but Sareee ducks it and goes for the suplex again. Still no luck so Sareee elbows Ito, satellite schoolboy by Sareee but it gets a two count.

Sareee elbows Ito but Ito levels her with a lariat, senton by Ito and she covers Sareee for two. Ito tags Haruka, missile dropkick by Haruka but Sareee blocks the attempted suplex. Knees by Sareee but Haruka trips her and applies a modified figure four leglock. Sareee eventually makes it to the ropes for the break, stomps by Haruka but Sareee gets up and elbows her hard in the chest. Dropkick by Sareee but Haruka gets away from her suplex attempt, elbows by Haruka and she goes off the ropes, catching Sareee with a powerslam for a two count. Haruka picks up Sareee and rolls her to the mat, but Sareee rolls through it and hits a footstomp. Dropkick by Sareee while Haruka is against the ropes, Inoue comes in but she lariats Sareee by accident. Ito comes in too and knocks over both Inoue and Sareee, Haruka picks up Sareee and delivers double wrist-clutch armsault, but Inoue manages to break it up. Small package by Haruka but that gets a two as well, as does the schoolboy into a jackknife hold. Haruka goes off the ropes but Inoue hits her with a lariat, Ito comes in but Sareee greets her with a kick to the face. Sareee goes to the top turnbuckle and with Inoue’s help she hits a front flip senton. Fisherman Suplex Hold by Sareee, but Haruka barely get a shoulder up. Sareee quickly picks up Haruka and delivers a German suplex hold, and this time she gets the three count! Sareee and Kyoko Inoue are the winners.

The thing that helped this match the most is it didn’t have any bad eggs to drag it down, so it wasn’t really ever going to have any dead moments or awkward exchanges. Ito and Inoue may be past their primes but they know their limitations and wrestle within them, and they don’t mind putting over the next generation when it is necessary to do so. Sareee was her usual on-point self, hitting all her moves flawlessly and not seeming to have lost a step after a pretty long layoff. Haruka doesn’t have the experience of everyone else but for a young wrestler she has a ton of potential and showed a lot of fire in this one. Both teams acted as units so it didn’t come across as a series of singles matches, which is always a plus. There wasn’t one particular ‘wow’ moment as they kept it more based, but they kept the action up to keep things interesting. The camera setup hurt the match as we missed the impact of some of the moves, but for a small dojo show I thought this match delivered pretty well and its always a pleasure watching Sareee.  Recommended

The post Diana on 11/8/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Diana at Shin-Kiba
Date: February 22nd, 2020
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

Sareee didn’t have many matches left in Japan after this one before joining the WWE, and this will likely be her last Joshi match released to the public. So, obviously I had to watch it as we bid her farewell. Diana cards aren’t very deep, and this one is even less-so as Kyoko Inoue missed the event due to an injury, but there are a lot of little things I am looking forward to on this event. The opener has a shot at being a lot of fun, and Sareee vs. Yoshiko should be amazing. I am really interested in the main event as well, as the super veterans take on a young team from PURE-J. Its great to see Diana events finally ‘making tape’ so I am not going to complain either way. Here is the full card:

• Haruka Umesaki vs. Miyuki Takase
• Ayako Sato, Jaguar Yokota, and Madeline vs. HIROe, Nanami, and Yumi Ohka
• Sareee vs. Yoshiko
• World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana Tag Team Championship: Kaoru Ito and Tomoko Watanabe vs. Manami Katsu and Mari Manji

As this aired on NicoPro, all matches will be shown in full. As always, all the wrestlers on the show have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. Onto the matches!

Haruka Umesaki vs. Miyuki Takase

Haruka and Miyuki tie-up to start, Miyuki pushes Haruka into the ropes and she gives a clean break. Haruka elbows her as she backs off however and they start trading strikes, Miyuki chops Haruka against the ropes and then into the corner. Rapid fire chops by Miyuki and she tries to toss Haruka by the hair, but Haruka cartwheels out of it and dropkicks Miyuki into the corner. Chops by Haruka and she hits a scoop slam, snapmare by Haruka and she applies a bodyscissors. Miyuki quickly gets out of it and puts Haruka in a stretch hold, she picks up Haruka while having her in a headlock but Haruka spins out of it and applies a guillotine. Miyuki reverses that into a wristlock as they trade holds, Miyuki gets Haruka to the mat but Haruka gets into the ropes for the break. Scoop slam by Miyuki and she applies a crab hold, but Haruka gets into the ropes for the break. Stomps by Miyuki, she picks up Haruka and puts her upside down in the corner. Miyuki gets a running start and dropkicks Haruka in the back, she puts Haruka back into the crab hold but Haruka quickly gets to the ropes again. Miyuki puts Haruka in the corner, Irish whip by Miyuki but Haruka reverses it. Miyuki rebounds out of the corner with a missile dropkick, she charges Haruka but Haruka avoids her charge and connects with a series of dropkicks.

Haruka goes for a crossbody but Miyuki catches her and hits a backbreaker, single leg crab hold by Miyuki but Haruka manages to get a break as she crawls to the ropes. Miyuki goes up top but Haruka hits her before she can jump off and tosses Miyuki back to the mat. Haruka gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Haruka but it gets two. Scoop slam by Haruka, she gets on the top turnbuckle and nails the missile dropkick, but Miyuki kicks out of the cover. Haruka goes off the ropes but Miyuki catches her with a lariat, Miyuki gets Haruka on her shoulders and his a rolling fireman’s carry slam. Guillotine leg drop by Miyuki off the second turnbuckle, but Haruka barely gets a shoulder up. Miyuki picks up Haruka but Haruka gets away, she goes off the ropes but Miyuki hits a powerslam. Miyuki goes off the ropes and delivers a lariat, but the cover only gets two. Miyuki picks up Haruka but Haruka sneaks in an inside cradle for two. Haruka tries a few more flash pins with no luck, Haruka goes off the ropes but Miyuki takes off her head with a lariat. Miyuki picks up Haruka and hits the brainbuster, cover by Miyuki and she gets the three count! Miyuki Takase is the winner.

This didn’t reach the level I was hoping it would, but for an opener it was decent enough. Haruka’s hope spots were all well done and helped elevate the match, but Miyuki’s offense was just more repetitive than I’d have liked. Crab holds are a traditional way to beat young wrestlers but she kept going for it with little effort to set up Haruka for it, and by the third one I had had enough of the hold. And then she won with a brainbuster, which has nothing to do with anything a crab hold weakens, rendering the work meaningless. There was really no long-term selling in general as they were going from spot to spot, and there was a tiny botch in the middle. I am still impressed by Haruka’s poise as she has no issue standing up to wrestlers above her in the pecking order, but they didn’t do enough here to make it memorable in any way.

Ayako Sato, Yokota, and Madeline vs. HIROe, Nanami, and Yumi Ohka

Yokota and friends attack before the match starts as the action quickly spills outside the ring, with Yokota and HIROe closest to the camera as the legend pummels the young WAVE wrestler. Yokota and HIROe return to the ring, elbow by Yokota and she rakes HIROe’s face over the top rope. She tags in Sato, Sato tosses HIROe down by the hair and boots her in the corner. Back bodydrop by Sato and she covers HIROe for a two count. She throws HIROe into the corner so that Madeline can help, Sato tags in Madeline and Madeline puts HIROe in a Fujiwara Armbar. HIROe quickly gets to the ropes for the break, Irish whip by Madeline to the corner but HIROe rebounds out of it with a crossbody. Madeline and HIROe trade elbows, hard shoulderblock by HIROe and she tags Ohka. Ohka throws Madeline into the corner and delivers a big boot, she pushes her boot into Madeline’s face while taunting Madeline’s teammates. More boots by Ohka and she stands on Madeline’s back, cover by Ohka but it gets two. Ohka tags Nanami as HIROe comes in too, as all three attack Madeline in the corner. Dropkick by Nanami, she snapmares Madeline and applies a bodyscissors. Nanami rolls Madeline around the ring while maintaining the hold, she stops to hold down Madeline for the cover but it gets two.

Madeline finally fights back against the kid and hits a scoop slam, but Nanami elbows her and the two trade strikes. Nanami connects with a series of dropkicks, cover by Nanami but it gets two. Nanami goes off the ropes again but Madeline catches her with an elbow, kick by Nanami and she scoop slams Madeline for a two count. Nanami tags HIROe, HIROe throws Madeline into the corner but Madeline avoids her charge and connects with some elbows. Dropkick by Madeline and she goes for the armbar, but HIROe rolls out of it. Madeline stays in a dominate position as she goes for a choke, but HIROe wiggles to the ropes to force the break. Irish whip by Madeline but HIROe hits a hard shoulderblock, shoulder tackles by HIROe in the corner and she hits a vertical suplex for two. HIROe picks up Madeline but Madeline gets away and rolls up HIROe for two. Irish whip by HIROe but Madeline cartwheels out of the way and hits a crossbody. This gives her time to tag in Sato, dropkick by Sato and she hits a jumping kick in the corner. HIROe retorts with a shoulder tackle, she goes off the ropes and delivers a spear for a two count. HIROe goes up top but Sato recovers and joins her, HIROe jumps back to the mat and hits a German suplex. HIROe picks up Sato but Sato snaps off a double wrist armsault for a two count. Sato goes off the ropes but HIROe hits a quick suplex, she goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick. Northern Lights Suplex Hold by HIROe, but Sato gets a shoulder up. HIROe tags in Ohka, running boot by Ohka and she hits a backdrop suplex. Ohka picks up Sato and boots her, she goes off the ropes but Sato hits her with a trash can lid.

Dropkick with the lid by Sato, she covers Ohka but it gets two. Sato goes off the ropes and goes for a bodyscissors, but Ohka catches her and hits a German suplex. Big boot by Ohka, but Sato kicks out of the cover. Ohka goes for the Tiger Suplex but Sato blocks it, Madeline comes in and they hit a double vertical suplex on Ohka followed by a double dropkick. Sato goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Sato but it gets two. Yokota comes in with a chair and hits the child Nanami with it, she stays in as the legal wrestler and hits Ohka in the head with the chair. Sato gets her trash can lid and hits Ohka as well, Yokota sits down Ohka in the chair while Madeline hits her with a metal stick. Yokota gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a somersault kick, cover by Yokota but the pin is broken up. Yokota goes off the ropes but HIROe stops her with a shoulder tackle, DDT by Ohka to Yokota and she hits a heel drop. Ohka goes off the ropes and delivers the big boot, cover by Ohka but Yokota gets a shoulder up. Yokota tags Nanami, Nanami gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving body press for two. Nanami goes off the ropes but Sato kicks her from the apron, HIROe does the same to Yokota and Nanami cradles Yokota for two. Swinging neckbreaker by Nanami, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Yokota recovers and joins her. Superplex by Yokota, but Ohka breaks up the cover. Yokota picks up Nanami but HIROe runs in and elbows her, Ohka clears the ring and hits a chokebomb on Yokota. Nanami goes for another swinging neckbreaker but Yokota reverses it into a Backslide for the three count! Jaguar Yokota, Madeline, and Ayako Sato win!

This match was quite a combination of good, bad, and ugly. Yokota was great in this match. She didn’t do much but she uses weapons, which I like, and she gave quite a bit of offense to a 13 year old which is admirable. Unfortunately, the 13 year old isn’t good. I know, she’s a child, but she’s a child I have to watch wrestle and bad is bad. Her strikes are laughable, she is sometimes out of position and she doesn’t show the fire that we just saw from Haruka in the match before. I was surprised Madeline was the Ricky Morton in this match, she’s a new-ish wrestler but to see her getting thrown around by Nanami of all wrestlers was quite something. The match dragged at times in the middle, and the few fun parts were too spread out to get a good run going. A watchable midcard tag match, but nothing here I could really recommend.

Sareee vs. Yoshiko

They tie-up to start, Sareee gets Yoshiko into the ropes and gives her a hard elbow. Yoshiko returns fire as they trade shots, Yoshiko throws down Sareee by the hair but Sareee returns the favor. They trade strikes again before ending up in the ropes, with the referee finally getting them to separate. Sareee asks for a knuckle lock and Yoshiko obliges, they go into a Test of Strength which Yoshiko gets the better of, but Sareee hits an armdrag. Yoshiko swats away the dropkick and kicks Sareee in the ribs, Sareee goes for another armdrag but Yoshiko blocks it and hits one of her hard. Hard shoulderblock by Yoshiko, she snapmares Sareee and puts her in a chinlock. Yoshiko lets go before Sareee gets to the ropes and kicks her, but Sareee returns the favor and kicks Yoshiko in the back repeatedly. Irish whip by Sareee but Yoshiko hits a hard elbow, Sareee goes for a crossbody but Yoshiko catches her and slams Sareee to the mat. Cover by Yoshiko, but Sareee bridges out of it and dropkicks Yoshiko. Irish whip by Sareee but Yoshiko hits a hard shoulderblock and puts Sareee in a stretch hold. She lets go after a moment and kick Sareee out of the ring, she goes out after her and throws Sareee into the chairs at ringside. Yoshiko takes Sareee up high in the bleachers and slams her into the wall, which we can at least somewhat see since they are on the hard cam side.

They return to the ring after a couple minutes as Yoshiko sits down on Sareee for a two count. She quickly applies a choke hold but Sareee gets a toe on the ropes to force the break. Sareee rolls out of the ring but Yoshiko goes out to the apron and jumps down onto Sareee with what I assume was a footstomp. Slightly off camera. Yoshiko returns to the ring with Sareee following, Yoshiko goes back to the choke but Sareee quickly rolls to the ropes for the break. Yoshiko picks up Sareee, Sareee chargers her in the corner but Yoshiko moves and smacks her over the ropes. Yoshiko sets up Sareee in the ropes and kicks her in the head repeatedly, but Sareee avoids one and elbows Yoshiko in the chest. Sareee elbows Yoshiko off the apron to the floor, she goes out to the apron and hits a crossbody down to the floor. Sareee throws Yoshiko into the chairs at ringside and fights her up into the crowd, she gets back in the ring after a moment and goes up top as Yoshiko returns as well, hitting a missile dropkick for two. Sareee picks up Yoshiko and hits a fisherman suplex hold, but that gets a two as well. Sareee trips Yoshiko and puts her in the STF, but Yoshiko gets to the ropes for the break. Sareee knees Yoshiko in the back and goes for a German suplex, but Yoshiko blocks it. Roll-up by Sareee into a double footstomp, she goes off the ropes and goes for a dropkick but Yoshiko moves and kicks her in the head.

Yoshiko picks up Sareee but Sareee elbows her and they trade shots. Dropkick by Sareee, she goes off the ropes and dropkicks Yoshiko again while she is leaning against the ropes. She goes for the Uranage but Yoshiko blocks it, she goes off the ropes but Yoshiko hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker before applying a sleeper hold. She lets go after a moment and picks up Sareee, but Sareee cradles her for two. Sareee goes off the ropes and applies a tilt-a-whirl roll-up, but that gets a two as well. She goes off the ropes yet again but this time eats a lariat, they trade headbutts and Yoshiko hits another lariat for two. Sliding lariat by Yoshiko, but Sareee kicks out of the cover. Yoshiko gets up on the second turnbuckle and delivers a diving senton, but Sareee gets a shoulder up. Yoshiko picks up Sareee but Sareee nails her with a jumping back kick, she goes off the ropes and delivers a hurricanrana for two. Uranage by Sareee, but Yoshiko kicks out of the cover. Back up, headbutt by Sareee and she hits another Uranage, but Yoshiko lands too close to the ropes and gets a foot on the bottom one. Wrist-clutch Uranage by Sareee, she crawls to Yoshiko and covers her, but Yoshiko gets a shoulder up. Sareee picks up Yoshiko and goes for another one, but Yoshiko elbows her off. Big lariat by Yoshiko, she goes off the ropes and hits a sliding lariat for a two count. The bell rings before she can do anything else, as time has expired. The match is a Draw.

A pretty fitting final televised match for Sareee. I really loved the first portion and final portion of the match. They came out on fire with the hard strikes and passion, which you’d expect from these two, and it had that rough style that has been a staple of Yoshiko’s matches since soon after she debuted. The middle portion lost me a bit as they did a lot of crowd brawling, which not only was hard to see with the single cam setup but felt more like wasting time to reach the time limit. Once they returned to the ring though I went back to loving it, with both just throwing bombs to try to pick up the win before time expired. Overall I really enjoyed it, a few adjustments here and there would have made it a true MOTYC, but even as it is its a pretty damn good match.  Recommended

(c) Kaoru Ito and Tomoko Watanabe vs. Katsu and Mari Manji
World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana Tag Team Championship

The PURE-J team attacks before the bell rings as they kick the champions out of the ring. The veterans take control on the floor before Watanabe and Mari return to the ring, vertical suplex by Watanabe and she hits a scoop slam followed by an elbow drop off the ropes. She tags in Ito, Ito throws Mari in the corner and hits a lariat. Single leg crab hold by Ito but Mari makes it to the ropes to force the break. Watanabe strolls in and they double team Mari, cover by Ito but it gets a two count. Watanabe throws Mari into the corner, Mari elbows her but Watanabe lariats Mari to the mat. Scorpion Deathlock by Watanabe, Manami tries to break it up but Watanabe just ignores her kicks and keeps the hold applied. Mari eventually makes it to the ropes for the break, Watanabe tags in Ito and hits a footstomp on Mari’s leg. Ito applies a single leg crab hold, Manami has the same lack of luck in getting the hold broken but Mari makes the ropes again. Ito applies a Camel Clutch while taunting Manami, she lets go just so she can put Mari in a crab hold. Mari gets to the ropes again, Watanabe comes in and Ito tries to catapult Mari to her, but Mari splats to the mat instead. Watanabe picks up Mari and hits a lariat anyway, Ito tags in Watanabe as Mari fights back with elbows. Watanabe absorbs the blows, Mari schoolboys Watanabe but they land in the rope. Watanabe grabs Mari by the leg and applies a STF, but Mari gets a foot on the ropes for the break.

Ito is tagged back in and she goes back to the crab hold (this match isn’t very interesting so far), but once again Mari makes it to the ropes. Watanabe returns and they drop Mari with a double vertical suplex, Watanabe applies a crab hold over by her own corner this time while Ito steps on her hands. Mari gets to the ropes, Watanabe picks her up but Mari sneaks in a schoolboy for two. Mari finally makes the tag to Manami, Ito comes in as well but Manami hits a face crusher on both of them. Knees by Manami to Watanabe and she throws her into the corner, Mari returns and elbows Watanabe but Manami hits a superkick. They continue to double team Watanabe before Mari leaves the ring, Manami picks up Watanabe but Watanabe hits a back bodydrop. They take turns trying to lariat each other over until Manami finally sends Watanabe to the mat, Watanabe returns the favor however and tags in Ito. Running footstomp by Ito and she hits a senton, cover by Ito but Manami kicks out. Ito grabs Manami but Manami gets into the ropes, Mari comes in and they both attack Ito while she is against the ropes. Running boots by Manami and she delivers a sliding kick to Ito, Manami gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a reverse splash for two. Manami tags Mari, Mari tries to shoulderblock Ito over but Ito doesn’t budge. Hard elbow by Ito and she sends Mari to the mat with a lariat, but Manami kicks Ito from the apron and Mari finally manages to shoulderblock Ito down. Mari hits a side Russian leg sweep and puts Ito in a submission hold. Cover by Mari but Ito can reach the ropes for the break.

Mari goes for a backdrop suplex but Ito blocks it, Uranage by Ito and she tags in Watanabe. Watanabe picks up Mari but Manami comes in, Watanabe goes for a springboard move but Mari and Manami push her out of the ring. Ito takes the opportunity to hit a crossbody on both of them, Manami and Mari both fall out of the ring and Ito sends them down to the floor with a baseball slide. Mari is brought back into the ring and is hit with a double lariat, Watanabe slams Mari in front of the corner but Manami runs in as Watanabe gets on the second turnbuckle. Watanabe hits a diving body press anyway, but Manami breaks up the cover. Watanabe goes all the way up top but Mari elbows her before she can jump off. Mari joins Watanabe but Ito grabs Mari from behind to help Watanabe hit a seated senton. Cover by Watanabe, but Mari barely gets a shoulder up. Manami runs in but she lariats Mari by accident, Ito comes in but she hits Watanabe by mistake, allowing Mari to put Watanabe in a modified Dragon Sleeper. Ito breaks it up, she goes to pick up Mari but Manami lariats her. Watanabe had gone up top but Manami joins her and hits a superplex, Mari puts Watanabe in the modified Dragon Sleeper while Manami goes up top. Mari lets go so that Manami can hit a diving elbow drop, cover by Mari but Ito breaks it up. Mari goes for another quick pin, but Watanabe kicks out. Ito comes off the second turnbuckle with a diving footstomp to Mari, Screwdriver by Watanabe to Mari, but Manami breaks up the cover. Watanabe picks up Mari and nails the Cannonball Buster, cover by Watanabe and she picks up the three count! Tomoko Watanabe and Kaoru Ito win and retain the championship.

I really wanted to enjoy this match, but I could not. While it is logical that Watanabe and Ito go at a slower pace than they did in their heyday, the first half of the match just wasn’t fun to watch. It needed someone super sympathetic or charismatic to be taking the beating and Mari is neither of those things, so it was just dull. Manami tried to be the veteran of her team but was overwhelmed by Watanabe and Ito, so it just came across as a mismatch with the PURE-J team never being a believable force against their seniors. The end stretch was better, almost by default, but didn’t last long enough to justify the wait to get there. I still love Ito but this wasn’t the best performance from any of them, and ultimately it was just disappointing.

The post Diana at Shin-Kiba on 2/22/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Diana at Shin-Kiba
Date: February 9th, 2020
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

Well it must be my birthday, as Diana has released a full show! This is their first televised/streamed event in many years, and their first event released at all since a DVD was sold for an event in October of 2018. Hopefully this is not just a one off appearance. While Diana doesn’t have the best roster, I still like to watch all the different Joshi promotions so the more that make it to air, the better! Here is the full card:

• Banny Oikawa vs. Nanami
• Ayako Sato vs. Sakura Hirota
• Jaguar Yokota and Madeline vs. Mikoto Shindo and Tomoko Watanabe
• Chihiro Hashimoto, DASH Chisako, and Meiko Satomura vs. Haruka Umesaki, Kaoru Ito, and Kyoko Inoue

Short show! Originally Sareee was on the event as well, but sadly she was out due to illness. All the wrestlers have a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. We will have to put up the NicoPro Commentary Box during this event, which sucks, but we will deal with it the best we can.

Banny Oikawa vs. Nanami

Banny and Nanami circle each other to start and tie-up, the larger Nanami pushes Banny into the ropes and gives a clean break. They lock-up again and trade wristlocks, headlock by Nanami but Banny reverses it. Snapmare by Banny and she goes for a PK, but Nanami ducks it and schoolboys Banny for two. Dropkick by Banny and she throws Nanami into the corner, cartwheel by Banny and she hits a mule kick for two. Banny goes for Nanami’s arm but she quickly gets into the ropes, Irish whip by Banny but Nanami dropkicks her. Three more dropkicks by Nanami, she picks up Banny but Banny blocks the scoop slam. Banny goes off the ropes and his a dropkick, but Nanami applies a bodyscissors. Nanami stretches Banny before goes for a schoolboy, but Banny rolls through it and applies an armtrap crossface. Nanami rolls into the ropes for the break, Banny picks her up and the two trade elbows. Jumping crossbody by Nanami, but Banny kicks out of the cover. Nanami picks up Banny and hits the scoop slam, she picks up Banny but Banny sneaks in a backslide for two. Kicks to the chest by Banny, she goes off the ropes and hits a jumping crossbody for a two count. Banny goes off the ropes and applies a sunset flip, but she can’t get Nanami’s shoulders down. Camel Clutch by Banny but she lets go after a moment, she goes off the ropes and hits the sunset flip, but Nanami reverses it and the two trade flash pins. Backslide by Banny, and she picks up the three count! Banny Oikawa is the winner!

Even by rookie standards, this was rough. I mean, really rough. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sunset flip botched before so that was impressive, but the bulk of it was disjointed in a non-entertaining way. From what I’ve seen of Banny I don’t see a big future in wrestling for her, Nanami is too young to really evaluate but she certainly isn’t a natural at it. Possibly the most poorly executed match from a technical standpoint that I’ve watched in the last decade, please keep them as far apart as possible in the future.

Ayako Sato vs. Sakura Hirota

One of Sakura’s kids seems unwilling to leave the ring, so he starts in the corner clinging to the ropes. This seems safe. They tie-up, Sakura pushes Ayako into the ropes and gives a clean break, but Ayako kicks her to the mat. She gets a server tray and hits Sakura with it a few times, Irish whip by Ayako and she delivers a dropkick for a two count. Kid is still in the ring. Sakura throws Ayako into the corner and hits a face crusher, wristlock by Sakura and she runs to the corner to walk the ropes. Which she does, until she misses her hop and crotches herself on the top rope. Ayako goes off the ropes but Sakura drop toeholds her into the second rope, the referee holds the kid while Sakura gives Ayako an Oil Check. Sakura hops over Ayako with theatrics but Ayako kicks her before she can complete her move, Sato brings her kicks in the ring (so now three kids are in the ring) and the kids jump over Sakura before hitting a poor version of Sakura’s signature move. Another one of Sakura’s kids gets in so we are up to four children now, but they finally get all the kids out of the ring.

Sakura throws Ayako into the corner but Ayako hits a dropkick, another dropkick by Ayako and she hits a double underhook suplex for a two count. Ayako goes up top but Sakura recovers and elbows her before she can jump off. Sakura grabs Ayako as if to powerbomb her but instead just places her on the opposite turnbuckle, Ayako kicks her away and delivers a missile dropkick for two. Ayako picks up Sakura but Sakura snaps off a DDT, she goes off the ropes and hits the Oil Check. Tiger Feint Kick by Sakura, she goes for the Shining Wizard but Ayako blocks it and hits a Double Wrist Armsault for two. Sakura gets Ayako’s back and hits another Oil Check, she goes for a few cradles but Ayako kicks out of each. Ayako gets the server tray and hits Sakura with it, they struggle over the tray until the referee takes it from them. Sakura Oil Checks the referee by accident, Ayako hits Sakura with the tray but Sakura delivers a hurricanrana. The referee is too hurt to make the count, Ayako dropkicks the tray into Sakura’s face and nails a dragon suplex hold for the three count! Ayako Sato is the winner.

So this was a pretty normal Sakura match, for better or worse. Not really my cup of tea, although it was nice to see Ayako Sato in action. She seems pretty solid, when she got a chance to do some actual wrestling she looked good. Better than the first match for sure, but still so-so even for a comedy match.

Jaguar Yokota and Madeline vs. Mikoto Shindo and Tomoko Watanabe

Yokota and Mikoto start off, Yokota pushes Mikoto into the ropes and she elbows her in the chest instead of giving a clean break. Mikoto elbows Yokota back but Yokota pushes her into the corner, Irish whip by Yokota but Mikoto reverses it and hits a series of dropkicks. Mikoto picks up Yokota but Yokota blocks the slam attempt and hits one of her own, back elbow by Yokota and she steps on Mikoto’s chest before tagging Madeline. Madeline stomps Mikoto and applies a chinlock, she switches it to an ankle hold but Mikoto gets to the ropes. Back up, elbows by Mikoto and she hits a hard dropkick, giving her time to tag Watanabe. Madeline tries to tackle Watanabe but Watanabe just looks at her funny, dropkicks by Madeline but Watanabe absorbs the blows. Vertical suplex by Watanabe and she puts Madeline in a Scorpion Deathlock, but Yokota gets a chair and hits Watanabe repeatedly in the head with it to break up the hold. Yokota puts Watanabe in the chair, dropkick by Madeline and she puts Watanabe in an armbar, but Watanabe quickly reverses it. Madeline ends up in the ropes to get a break, Watanabe tags Mikoto and Mikoto delivers a a pair of dropkicks. Scoop slam by Mikoto but Madeline kicks out of the cover. Mikoto puts Madeline in a stretch hold, she lets her go after a moment and Irish whips her, but Madeline hits a dropkick and tags Yokota. Yokota tosses Mikoto around the ring before putting her in an Octopus Hold, but Watanabe breaks it up.

Yokota tags Madeline, Madeline applies a modified armbar while biting Mikoto repeatedly, as the referee tries to get her to stop. Cross armbreaker by Madeline but Mikoto gets into the ropes for the break. Madeline kicks Mikoto in the leg but Mikoto dropkicks her and tags Watanabe. Watanabe throws Madeline into the corner and hits a body avalanche, Mikoto returns and she dropkicks Madeline. Madeline sneaks in an inside cradle to Watanabe, it only gets two but it gives her time to tag Yokota. DDT by Yokota to Watanabe, she throws her to the ropes but Watanabe reverses it. Yokota blocks Watanabe’s lariat and goes for the Octopus Hold, but Watanabe pushes her off and hits a lariat for a two count. Watanabe picks up Yokota but Yokota hits a DDT, somersault legdrop by Yokota and she tags Madeline. Double Irish whip to Watanabe and they hit her with a metal stick, Madeline gets too excited however which gives Watanabe time to recover and hits a lariat. Mikoto comes in and Watanabe picks her up to kick Madeline, scoop slam by Watanabe and she hits an elbow drop off the second rope. Mikoto comes in again, Watanabe picks her up and drops her onto Madeline. Cover by Watanabe, but Yokota kicks the referee to break it up. Watanabe gets on the second turnbuckle but Yokota tosses her to the mat, Mikoto throws Yokota in the corner and with Watanabe they hit a double vertical suplex on Madeline. Watanabe tags in Mikoto, dropkicks by Mikoto to Madeline and she covers her for two.

Scoop slam by Mikoto and a second one, but Madeline kicks out of the cover again. Mikoto applies a crab hold but Yokota breaks it up, Mikoto picks up Madeline and throws her into the corner before hitting a dropkick. Irish whip by Mikoto but Madeline reverses it and kicks her. Mikoto elbows Madeline in the corner before hitting a dropkick, but Yokota knees Mikoto from the apron. Madeline applies an armbar but Watanabe breaks it up, Mikoto and Madeline trade elbows until Madeline kicks Mikoto to the mat. Madeline goes for the armbar but Mikoto is too close to the ropes, Watanabe comes in and she slams Madeline before hitting a diving body press off the second turnbuckle. Cover by Mikoto, but Yokota breaks it up. Mikoto picks up Madeline but Madeline applies the Fujiwara Armbar, but Mikoto gets to the ropes. Madeline tags Yokota, vertical suplex by Yokota and she covers Mikoto for two. Backdrop suplex by Yokota, but Watanabe breaks up her cover. Yokota picks up Mikoto and drops her with the Fisherman Buster, she drags Mikoto up again but Watanabe runs in and hits a lariat. Sunset flip by Mikoto, but Yokota kicks out. Madeline runs in and dropkicks Mikoto, Watanabe lariats Madeline but she also accidentally lariats Mikoto. La Magistral by Yokota to Mikoto, and she picks up the three count! Jaguar Yokota and Madeline win!

While at times it was disjointed and dragged too much, I still couldn’t help but enjoy this. Yokota is such a treasure, she isn’t just going through the motions even 40 years into her career as she was actively involved in the match. Watanabe did her part too and when Yokota or Watanabe was in the ring, I had a great time watching it, they just know how to do all the small things right. The match only suffered when Madeline and Mikoto were paired up, they didn’t seem to have talked it out before the match and don’t have the experience to freestyle something cohesive. Madeline in particular is a charming personality with lots of charisma, but still needs to be led in the ring. A fun and unique match, but the parts with Watanabe or Yokota were certainly the highlight.  Mildly Recommended

Hashimoto, DASH Chisako, and Satomura vs. Umesaki, Kaoru Ito, and Inoue

Haruka and Chihiro start the match, Haruka dropkicks Chihiro but Chihiro doesn’t go down. Haruka elbows Chihiro but Chihiro elbows her to the mat, Haruka goes for a crossbody but Chihiro catches her and slams her to the mat. Chihiro gets Haruka around the waist and suplexes her to the mat, scoop slam by Chihiro and she covers Haruka for two. Chihiro tags Chisako, Chisako stomps on Haruka and the two trade elbows, which Chisako naturally gets the better of. Irish whip by Chisako but Haruka dropkicks her and tags in Inoue. Chisako hits a Stunner on Inoue and tags Satomura, Satomura and Inoue don’t rush into locking up but eventually do as Inoue pushes Satomura into the corner. Inoue throws down Satomura by the hair and butt smushes her in the corner, snap vertical suplex by Inoue and she tags Ito. Ito throws Satomura into the corner, Irish whip by Ito and she hits a lariat. Single leg crab hold by Ito, but Satomura inches to the ropes to force the break. Ito stomps on Satomura’s back, Haruka comes in the ring and they both slam Satomura’s knees into the mat. Ito tags in Haruka and Haruka keeps at Satomura’s leg, Satomura blocks the crab hold for a moment but Haruka eventually locks it in. Satomura gets into the ropes again, Haruka picks her up but Satomura hits a hard elbow followed by a scoop slam. Elbow drop by Satomura and she tags Chihiro, snapmare by Chihiro and she cranks on Haruka’s neck.

Chihiro applies a cross armbreaker but Haruka quickly gets to the ropes for the break, Chihiro picks her up and yanks on Haruka’s arm. Chihiro tags Chisako, who keeps working on Haruka’s arm with wristlocks and stomps. Chisako applies a Fujiwara Armbar but Ito breaks it up, Chisako wraps Haruka’s arm in the ropes and twists it. Chihiro is tagged back in to continue the arm work, then Satomura comes in and kicks Haruka repeatedly in the chest. Irish whip by Satomura to the corner and she hits a jumping elbow, but Haruka ducks the next one and hits a neck drop. Missile dropkick by Haruka and she makes the hot tag to Inoue. Lariats by Inoue to everyone, Satomura fights back with kicks but Inoue elbows her. A spinning heel kick sends Inoue to the mat, Satomura tags Chihiro and Chihiro hits a somersault senton for two. Waistlock by Chihiro and she applies a stretch hold, but Inoue gets to the ropes for the break. Irish whip by Chihiro but Inoue reverses it, she goes for a lariat but Inoue stays up. Chihiro tries a few more times and finally knocks over Inoue with a lariat, but Inoue gets back up and sends Chihiro to the mat with a lariat of her own. Inoue tags Ito and Ito immediately hits a running footstomp followed by a senton for a two count. Ito picks up Chihiro but Chihiro elbows her off and the two trade blows. Chihiro goes off the ropes but Ito knocks her down with a lariat, Ito picks up Chihiro but Chihiro hits a back bodydrop. Spear by Chihiro and she makes the tag to Chisako.

Chisako goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, sliding kick by Chisako and she covers Ito for two. Chisako picks up Ito and goes for a crucifix, but Ito falls back and lands on top of her. A side suplex by Ito sends Chisako out of the ring, Chihiro and Satomura are knocked out also and Ito connects with a baseball slide on all of them. Chisako is rolled back in the ring as Inoue gets in as well, and she hits a double lariat with Ito. Powerbomb by Ito and she tags in Haruka. Haruka goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick, two more dropkicks by Haruka but Chisako avoids the next one and boots her in the face. Satomura and Chihiro both come in the ring as they all hit running strikes on Haruka in the corner, cannonball by Chisako and she covers Haruka for two. Chisako goes up top but Inoue strolls in the ring and joins her, hitting a superplex. Ito gets on the second turnbuckle and connects with a diving footstomp, jackknife hold by Haruka but the cover is broken up. Haruka goes for another flash pin with no luck, she picks up Chisako and they trade elbows. Dropkick by Haruka, Ito comes in but Chisako pushes Haruka into Ito and dropkicks her. Satomura comes in and kicks Ito, meanwhile Haruka hits a jumping crossbody on Chisako. Chihiro lariats Haruka and hits a waterwheel drop, diving footstomp by Chisako but Ito breaks up the cover. Chisako picks up Haruka and hits the Northern Lights Suplex, but Haruka gets the shoulder up. Chisako positions Haruka and goes to the top turnbuckle, Hormone Splash by Chisako and she picks up the three count! Chihiro Hashimoto, DASH Chisako, and Meiko Satomura are the winners.

Even though they followed the pattern you’d expect with a rookie in the match, it was just fun to get to see Kaoru Ito and Kyoko Inoue again. Their interactions with Chihiro and Chisako were solid, but they weren’t as giving as Satomura was to Haruka. Shocking, I know. Ito in particular wasn’t overly helpful to Chihiro or Chisako, but cranky old veterans being cranky is entertaining in its own way so I’m not really complaining. The end stretch was fast paced and entertaining, and unlike the last match it didn’t feel like it dragged at any point. While the limb work naturally didn’t go anywhere, the rest of it made sense and the teams worked together well. For a smaller Diana show, a fitting way to end things but I wish that Sareee wasn’t sick as she would have been a fun inclusion in the match.  Mildly Recommended

The post Diana at Shin-Kiba 1st RING on 2/9/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Championships Held: None
Tournaments Won: Diana Autumn Festival Tournament (2017)
Awards Won: None

Notable Matches:

• April 15th, 2006 vs. Natsuki Head
• May 23rd, 2008 vs. Sendai Sachiko
• October 8th, 2017 vs. Kyoko Inoue

Signature Moves:

• Dropkick
• German Suplex Hold

In Action:

Coming Soon

Back to Diana Roster

The post Ayako Sato appeared first on Joshi City.

There is not a ton of information online about THE WOMAN, however it was at least partially funded by All Japan Pro Wrestling with GAMI as the Producer/Booker for the shows. It came to life shortly after AtoZ announced they were closing their doors and the promotion shared many wrestlers with M’s Style as both promotions used mostly Freelancers. But they did use a lot of quality Freelancers as most of the wrestlers on the card are still active today or just recently retired. The promotion never had any titles nor much of a purpose, however not long after THE WOMAN stopped running shows, GAMI founded Pro Wrestling WAVE so in a way THE WOMAN was her practice promotion. The event was shrunk down to a one hour show on SamuraiTV, here is the card:

• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 2: Emi Sakura and Mai Ichii vs. Ran Yu-Yu and GAMI
• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 2: Kaoru Ito and Ayako Sato vs. Michiko Omukai and Cherry
• Policewoman vs. Sarubobo Mask
• Bullfighter Sora and Kyoko Kimura vs. Rebecca Knox and Yuri Urai
• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Final: Michiko Omukai and Cherry vs. Ran Yu-Yu and GAMI

This show has the conclusion of the Friday Battle Tag Tournament, some of the early matches in the tournament can be found in my last review of the promotion. Just to remind everyone, I don’t understand the rules of the tournament matches. The matches are clipped and each match was won in a different time with a different number of falls. Because the matches are clipped I can’t figure out when points are given as sometimes it isn’t shown. So I am just going to call the matches as they happen which is all I can do.

Emi Sakura and Mai Ichii vs. Ran Yu-Yu and GAMI
Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 2

GAMI and Sakura start off, Sakura goes for a few quick pins but GAMI reverses one and picks up a pinfall for her team! GAMI and Yu-Yu are up 1-0. Sakura isn’t happy and clubs GAMI, armdrags by Sakura and she applies La Magistral for the three count! The teams are tied 1-1. Sakura tags in the very excited Ichii, she rolls up GAMI but GAMI kicks out. Crossbody out of the corner by Ichii but GAMI comes back with a lariat. Ichii dumps GAMI out of the ring, she runs to the corner and hits a triple jump plancha down to the floor. We jump ahead to Sakura and GAMI being in the ring, and GAMI is double teamed. GAMI comes back with a boot to the face and a STO before tagging in Yu-Yu, Yu-Yu goes up top but she only fakes attacking Sakura so that GAMI can hit a German suplex. GAMI hits both her opponents with her horn, knee by Yu-Yu to Sakura and she covers her for a two count. Sakura DDTs Yu-Yu and rams her head into the mat, GAMI tries to hit Sakura but she hits Yu-Yu by accident. Sakura slams Yu-Yu and tags in Ichii, dropkicks by Ichii but Yu-Yu kicks out of the pin. Yu-Yu knees Ichii and dropkicks her, Ichii fights back with elbows but Yu-Yu hits a high kick. Dropkick by Ichii and she hits a trio of jumping kicks, but Yu-Yu barely kicks out of the pin. Ichii picks up Yu-Yu but Yu-Yu ducks the kick, Sakura runs in but GAMI takes care of her. They try to double team Ichii but it backfires, Sakura dives out of the ring onto GAMI while Ichii hits the Triangle Kick on Yu-Yu. Victory roll by Ichii, but it gets a two count. Running knee by Yu-Yu, but Sakura breaks up the cover. Yu-Yu picks up Ichii and plants her with a cutter, but Ichii won’t stay down for the count. Ichii high kicks Yu-Yu repeatedly, she rolls up Yu-Yu but Yu-Yu kicks out. Running elbow smash by Yu-Yu, and she picks up the three count! GAMI and Ran Yu-Yu are the winners and reach the finals of the tournament.

Ignoring the fact they have some type of points system that doesn’t seem to make any sense, the action here was really solid. Ichii shows a lot of ability, shame she didn’t really continue her career in wrestling as it appears she had a lot of passion for it. I liked the match but there were just so many flash pin attempts which can kill the momentum, and while the running elbow is one of Yu-Yu’s finishing moves it wasn’t set up and came out of nowhere so it made the match end in an anti-climatic fashion. A good way to kick off the show as all four are fun to watch, although not without its flaws.  Mildly Recommended

Kaoru Ito and Ayako Sato vs. Michiko Omukai and Cherry
Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 2

Sato and Cherry start as the legal wrestlers, quick dropkicks by Sato and she slams Cherry to the mat for a two count. Cherry comes back with her own dropkick but she eats another dropkick for her trouble, they trade elbows until Sato knocks Cherry to the mat with one. Sato goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she goes up top again as Ito comes in the ring and hits a second missile dropkick for two. Sato tags in Ito, Cherry tries to slam her but Ito is having none of that and hits a scoop slam followed by a footstomp and an elbow drop for a two count cover. Omukai comes in and attacks Ito from behind but Ito lariats both of them, and she covers Cherry for a three count! Ito and Sato are up 1-0. We clip ahead a bit as Cherry hits a missile dropkick, but Ito roars back with a lariat. Powerbomb by Ito, and she gets a three count pinfall! Ito and Sato are up 2-0. Sato comes back in but Omukai kicks her from the apron, giving Cherry time to tag in Omukai. Knee by Omukai but Sato dropkicks her, she goes up top and tries to missile dropkick Omukai but hits Ito by accident. Omukai tags in Cherry, airplane spin by Sato to Cherry but Cherry avoids It’s diving footstomp. Omukai comes in but she kicks Cherry by accident, Sato picks up Cherry but Ito accidentally lariats Sato. German suplex hold by Cherry to Sato, but Ito breaks up the cover. Northern Lights Suplex by Cherry, but Ito breaks it up again. Cherry gets on the top turnbuckle and hit the Cherry Bomb, cover by Cherry and she gets the three count! Cherry and Omukai somehow win 5-2 and advance to the finals.

I really wish I understood their points system, that would be nice. This was another fun match, I liked Omukai letting the less experienced Cherry do most of the work and only coming in to help when needed. Similar on the other side, the veterans were letting their partners do the bulk of the work which seems logical, I’d do the same thing. For a newer wrestler, Cherry looked good here as she didn’t mess up anything, and the action was solid. Too short (about six minutes) to recommend but not a bad match to watch.

Policewoman vs. Sarubobo Mask

Sarubobo Mask pushes Policewoman into the ropes as the match starts but Policewoman applies a Cobra Twist which is reversed by Sarubobo Mask. Sarubobo Mask jumps up into the corner but Policewoman hits repeated Oil Checks, she tries to shoulderblock Sarubobo Mask off the apron but Sarubobo Mask avoids her charge and hits a sunset flip for two. Elbows by Sarubobo Mask and she hits a German suplex hold, but Policewoman gets a shoulder up. Sarubobo Mask goes up top but Policewoman gets her knees up on the diving body press attempt, Policewoman rolls to the floor to get a plastic bin and she hits a DDT onto it for a two count cover. Policewoman hits a release German suplex of her own, she goes up top but Sarubobo Mask avoids the moonsault goes for a few flash pins with no luck. Policewoman picks up Sarubobo Mask and hits a Samoan Driver, La Magistral by Policewoman and she gets the three count! Policewoman wins the match.

A short match that was slightly clipped further. These types of matches don’t do much for me, it wasn’t comedic enough to be a comedy match but neither were putting a lot of effort into putting on a cohesive and entertaining match. Both wrestlers are much better when they aren’t wrestling under a mask. Midcard filler at best, but definitely skippable.

Bullfighter Sora and Kyoko Kimura vs. Rebecca Knox and Yuri Urai

Sora and Knox are the first two in, Knox gets the early advantage but Sora rams her with her horns. Kyoko comes in and they hit a double atomic drop before both spank Knox until Urai comes in. She gets the same treatment, we clip ahead and Kyoko is in the ring with Knox. Knox avoids a headbutt and hits a headscissors, dropkick by Knox and she hits a monkey flip out of the corner. Kyoko rolls Knox to the mat and applies a Kimura, she gets to the ropes and hits a release fisherman suplex for a two count. Knox tags in Urai, Urai goes for a crossbody but Kyoko catches her. She tries again with the same luck, hard elbow by Kyoko but Urai keeps getting back up. Urai finally stays down and Kyoko tags in Sora, Sora charges Urai but Urai blocks her charge and hits a pair of dropkicks. Sora rams Urai and they take turns with strikes, Kyoko holds Urai but Sora hits Kyoko by accident. Shoulderblocks by Sora, she tags in Knox and Knox comes in with a diving crossbody. Fisherman suplex hold by Knox, but Sora gets a shoulder up. Knox picks up Sora but Sora gets into the ropes, backdrop suplex by Sora and she covers Knox for two. Kyoko comes in and they hit a double vertical suplex on Knox, Sora picks up Knox but Knox gets away and hits a hurricanrana. Kyoko runs in but Knox flips Sora over so that Kyoko kicks Sora by accident, Knox then flips Sora back so her shoulders are on the mat and she picks up the three count! Rebecca Knox and Yuri Urai win!

You can tell how low Sora was on the pecking order when she loses to a rookie and an unknown 19 year old gaijin. There were a few cute spots here and it was overall a well done match, considering the wrestlers lack of familiarity with each other. It was fun seeing Lynch so early in her career, she was too young to be able to say “she’ll be champion one day!” but generally everything she did looked crisp. A short match but not a bad one.

Michiko Omukai and Cherry vs. Ran Yu-Yu and GAMI
Friday Battle Tag Tournament Final

Yu-Yu immediately hits a German suplex hold and then La Magistral on Cherry, but both covers get a two count. Enzuigiri by Yu-Yu, she picks up Cherry but Cherry sneaks in a schoolboy which GAMI breaks up. GAMI and Cherry go at it as the legal wrestlers but Omukai comes in and kicks GAMI, double lariat to GAMI and Cherry tags in Omukai. Yu-Yu come in too but Omukai throws her down by the hair, she then grabs GAMI and slams her face-first into the mat. Cherry returns, Yu-Yu boots Cherry in the face and GAMI does as well. GAMI tags in Yu-Yu, kicks by Yu-Yu to Cherry and GAMI gets her shots in on Cherry as well. Omukai trips Yu-Yu and GAMI from ringside, she pulls them out of the ring as Cherry goes up top and hits a diving plancha onto both of them. Cherry and Yu-Yu return to the ring as does GAMI, Yu-Yu elbows GAMI by accident and Cherry hits a face crusher onto Yu-Yu. Omukai is tagged in, she boots Yu-Yu and then hits a double lariat on both of her opponents. GAMI grabs Omukai’s arm and walks the ropes before applying a hanging armbar. She releases it after a moment, lariat by GAMI and she tags in Yu-Yu. Yu-Yu knees Omukai in the stomach but Omukai elbows her off, package German by Yu-Yu but Omukai kicks out. Yu-Yu goes up top but Omukai avoids the diving kneedrop, spinning heel kick by Omukai and she covers Yu-Yu for two. Heel Drop by Omukai, but again Yu-Yu gets a shoulder up.

Omukai tags in Cherry, missile dropkick by Cherry and she hits two more, getting a two count cover. Yu-Yu elbows Cherry away, Omukai tries to help but Cherry elbows her by accident. Yu-Yu puts Cherry on the second turnbuckle but Cherry kicks her and hits a tornado DDT. GAMI hits Cherry with her horn, Yu-Yu tags in GAMI and GAMI goes for the pump-handle slam, but Cherry slides away. Yu-Yu comes in and kicks Cherry in the head, German suplex hold by GAMI but Omukai breaks it up. GAMI goes up top but Cherry avoids her dive, Cherry goes for a bodyscissors roll-up but GAMI blocks it and applies an armtrap crossface. Cherry gets into the ropes, GAMI puts Cherry on the second turnbuckle, Cherry goes for a tornado DDT but GAMI blocks it. Omukai grabs GAMI from behind and hits the Splash Mountain, Cherry Bomb by Cherry but Yu-Yu breaks up the cover. Cherry picks up GAMI but GAMI gets her back and with Yu-Yu’s help she hits a release German. GAMI and Cherry trade slaps, Cherry goes off the ropes but GAMI levels her with a lariat. Pump-handle sit-down slam by GAMI, but Cherry barely gets a shoulder up. Fisherman Buster by GAMI, but Omukai breaks up the cover. GAMI picks up Cherry but Cherry slides away and connects with a German suplex hold. Omukai boots GAMI, Yu-Yu fights off both Cherry and Omukai, she grabs Cherry but Omukai runs over and boots her in the face. Cherry elbows GAMI, then Omukai hits her with a Shining Wizard. Hurricanrana by Cherry to GAMI, and she picks up the three count! Omukai and Cherry win the match and the tournament!

Cherry with her winnings

The post THE WOMAN Volume 5: One Night in Heaven on 5/5/06 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

In the last 10 years, since the fall of Joshi’s popularity in Japan, it has been rare for a Joshi event to air live on TV as usually it is shown either delayed on TV or live on niconico. It is even more rare for a promotion with no TV deal at all to get such a spot, but the retirement of Joshi legend Devil Masami was able to pull it off. MARVELOUS NIGHT V was shown live on GAORA in its entirety, with the show clocking in at almost three hours. Much of that was Masami’s retirement ceremony (approximately 45 minutes worth) but there was a full event as well as different promotions came together to send off Masami in style. Masami herself wrestled twice on the card, including in the opening against Nagayo, who come out of retirement (hold in your laughter) to take on her old foe. Here is the full card:

• Chigusa Nagayo, Yumiko Hotta, and Meiko Satomura vs. Devil Masami, Dump Matsumoto, and KAORU
• DASH Chisako and Sendai Sachiko vs. Ryo Mizunami and Yukari Ishino
• Ayako Sato and Hanako Kobayashi vs. Ray and Misaki Ohata
• Kana, Yumi Ohka, Cherry, and Moeka Haruhi vs. GAMI, Kyoko Kimura, Shuu Shibutani, and Bullfighter Sora
• Misae Genki vs. Yuki Miyazaki
• Azumi Hyuga, Leon, and Arisa Nakajima vs. Kayoko Haruyama, Command Bolshoi, and Kaori Yoneyama
• Noriyo Tateno vs. Takako Inoue
• Chikayo Nagashima and Sonoko Kato vs. Mayumi Ozaki and Manami Toyota
• Devil Masami Retirement Match: Devil Masami, Dynamite Kansai, and Carlos Amano vs. Aja Kong, Ran Yu-Yu, and Toshie Uematsu

Chigusa Nagayo, Hotta, and Satomura vs. Devil Masami, Dump Matsumoto, and KAORU

Nagayo and Masami start the match and they trade strikes, Masami shrugs off Nagayo’s strikes but Nagayo hits an armdrag. Masami goes all evil and scares Nagayo into the corner, she tags in Matsumoto who comes in with a kendo stick, which she uses to hit Nagayo repeatedly. Nagayo eventually grabs it and Hotta comes in and smacks Matsumoto in the face. Nagayo tags in Satomura but KAORU runs in and hits Satomura with a piece of table. Hotta returns and they double team Matsumoto, but Matsumoto comes back with a lariat to Satomura and tags in KAORU. KAORU hits Satomura with the table piece but Satomura hits a rebound elbow out of the corner followed by the Pele Kick. Hotta becomes legal somehow and elbows KAORU, Nagayo struts in and kicks KAORU in the head. Tiger Driver by Hotta to KAORU, but the pin is broken up when Matsumoto hits the referee with the kendo stick. Nagayo stays in with KAORU but Masami lariats her from the apron and comes in to hit a leg drop. Moonsault by KAORU, Masami picks up Nagayo but Nagayo uppercuts her, Nagayo goes off the ropes but KAORU hits her with the table piece. Matsumoto comes in while the crowd squeals, and Matsumoto stabs Nagayo in the head. She keeps stabbing Nagayo until she starts bleeding, Masami covers Nagayo but it gets a two count. Satomura comes in and they take turns kicking Masami, lariat by Nagayo but it gets a two count as Masami does a zombie kick out. Hotta tries to help but it backfires, KAORU comes in to spray mist at Nagayo but she misses and hits Masami by accident. Uppercut by Nagayo but Masami headbutts her, Fire Valley by Masami and she gets the three count! Masami, Matsumoto, and KAORU win!

After the match they all spoke and laughed with each other, so no hard feelings between the veterans. This is a really odd match as it was more of an exhibition, it was under eight minutes and the tag rules were rather loose to put it mildly. I really don’t think KAORU and Satomura were needed, the crowd was into anything with Nagayo, Masami, and Matsumoto and the rest were just filler to get the participant number up. Even watching it eight years later I completely get the fun of seeing Nagayo in there with Matsumoto and it was a unique way to start the show as it allowed Masami time to rest up before her real retirement match (plus a chance to retire the ‘gimmick’ character). I thought it was lighthearted and fun, but not much of a ‘real’ match in the traditional sense.  Mildly Recommended

DASH Chisako and Sendai Sachiko vs. Ryo Mizunami and Yukari Ishino

Chisako and Mizunami are the first two in, Chisako grabs Mizunami’s arm and Sachiko comes down off the top turnbuckle onto it. Mizunami puts Sachiko in a headlock and tags in Ishino, dropkicks by Ishino and she covers Sachiko for two. Back up they trade elbows, Sachiko wins the dual and she tags in her sister, who works over Ishino in the corner. Dropkicks by Chisako but Ishino quickly rolls her up for a two count before hitting a series of dropkicks. Ishino tags in Mizunami, scoop slam by Mizunami and she hits quick legdrops for a two count cover. Chisako comes back with dropkicks, Sachiko goes up top and hits a missile dropkick onto Mizunami. Even more dropkicks by Sachiko (lots of dropkicks in this match) and she hits a DDT, but Mizunami gets Sachiko up and hits a shoulder breaker. Mizunami tags in Ishino but Chisako runs in and dropkicks her, double dropkick to Ishino and Sachiko covers her for two. Sachiko jumps up on the second turnbuckle and hit a tornado DDT, Northern Lights Suplex by Sachiko but it gets a two count. Ishino gets Sachiko up on her shoulders and hits a Samoan Drop, she picks her up again but this time Sachiko wiggles away and hits a DDT. Scoop slam by Sachiko, Chisako comes in and Sachiko suplexes Chisako onto Ishino. Somersault senton by Sachiko, but Ishino bridges out of the cover. Sachiko picks up Ishino, Chisako boots Ishino in the head and Sachiko delivers a German suplex hold for the three count! Chisako and Sachiko are the winners.

It is interesting that Sendai Girls’ sent their babies for the offer match, but considering the match they had to follow it was probably for the best. Lots of rookie-based offense here, meaning lots of dropkicks and the like, but occasionally they would throw in something different to show they weren’t complete novices. Chisako and Sachiko were already working well together, they teamed for seven more years after this match so you can imagine how much better they got. A fun easy to watch opener-style match.

Ayako Sato and Hanako Kobayashi vs. Ray and Misaki Ohata

Ray and Sato begin the match, hard shoulderblock by Ray and she hits a springboard armdrag. Ray cartwheels away from Sato and both wrestlers go for dropkicks, Ray gets Sato in the ropes and chops her in the chest. Ray tags in Ohata, Ohata goes for a cross armbreaker but Sato gets into the ropes. Dropkick by Sato as Kobayashi comes in, and Ohata is double teamed. Dropkicks by Sato, and she covers Ohata for a two count. Ohata starts her comeback but Sato slips away and tags in Kobayashi, missile dropkick by Kobayashi but Ray kicks her from the apron. Kobayashi is double teamed and covered by Ohata for a two count, armdrag by Ohata and she hits a low crossbody. Ray goes up top and hits a cartwheel kick off the ropes, she picks up Kobayashi and hits an enzuigiri. Ray goes up top as does Ohata, but both wrestlers miss moonsaults. Kobayashi hits a diving crossbody on Ray, then Sato follows with a missile dropkick. Kobayashi picks up Ray and hits a fisherman suplex hold, but it gets a two count. Kobayashi goes up top but Ohata hits her before she can jump off, Ray goes up with her but Kobayashi pushes Ray to the mat and hits a diving crossbody. Ray hits a German suplex on Kobayashi, jumping kick by Ray and she nails a moonsault for the three count! Ohata and Ray are the winners.

A simple match, nothing bad but utterly forgettable. Ray was a great flyer and got a few chances to show it here, but no one else made much of an impression. With only six minutes they didn’t have much time anyway, mostly just filler.

Kana, Yumi Ohka, Cherry, and Haruhi vs. GAMI, Kimura, Shibutani, and Bullfighter Sora

Sora and Haruhi start off, Cherry comes in too but Sora hits a crossbody on both of them. Kana runs in and starts hip attacking everyone, until Kimura boots her in the head. Ohka comes in to help but so does GAMI, and GAMI hits everyone in the head with a horn. She gets dropkicked, then Team Kana pose on Gama and Sora. Team GAMI end up back in control as they do the triple leg submission hold spot in a circle as they run through the indy wrestling cliche spots until things settle back down with Sora and Haruhi still the legal wrestlers. They tag in Kana and Kimura, they trade elbows until Kimura headbutts Kana to send her to the mat. Shibutani missile dropkicks Kana, but Kana falls into her corner and tags in Cherry. Cherry hits a jumping lariat on Shibutani and tags in Haruhi, jumping seated sentons by Haruhi and she covers Shibutani for two.

DDT by Shibutani and she dropkicks Cherry before tagging in GAMI. GAMI is reluctant to go up top but eventually does so, she walks the ropes while holding Haruhi’s arm but eventually falls and crotches herself. GAMI picks up Haruhi but Haruhi puts her in a hanging submission, but GAMI gets into the ropes. Ohka is tagged in but GAMI catches her with a side Russian leg sweep and GAMI tags in Sora. Ohka boots Sora in the face and then boots GAMI, backdrop suplex by Ohka to GAMI and she covers her for two. Ohka goes up top but Shibutani grabs her, giving GAMI time to recover, Frankensteiner by GAMI and she covers Ohka for two. Atomic drop by Ohka to GAMI but GAMI levels her with a lariat. Fisherman buster by GAMI, but the cover is broken up. GAMI picks up Ohka but Ohka gets away, Sora tries to help but she hits GAMI by accident. Kimura then headbutts GAMI by accident and Ohka boots GAMI in the head for a two count. Tiger Suplex Hold by Ohka, and she gets the three count! Team Kana win!

A bit sloppy and disjointed for a match with wrestlers that are in theory familar with each other. Lots of comedy spots although it wasn’t all comedy, as Kimura and Kana had a nice exchange that ended way too quickly. Some miscommunications and nothing that really popped out, maybe everyone was told to keep it mild to not upstage the purpose of the evening. Another not bad but not special match which may be a recurring theme.

Misae Genki vs. Yuki Miyazaki

Miyazaki starts the match with a springboard armdrag but Genki blocks her dropkick, trip by Miyazaki and she catches Genki with a dropkick on the second try. Scoop slam by Miyazaki and the pair trade strikes, Genki throws Miyazaki in the corner and hits a series of chops. Big boot by Genki, and she covers Miyazaki for a two count. Genki goes for a chokeslam but Miyazaki blocks it and hits a chokeslam of her own. Miyazaki goes up top but Genki grabs her and chokeslams Miyazaki to the mat for two. Miyazaki grabs Genki around the waist and hits a German suplex hold, but it gets a two count. Tiger suplex hold by Miyazaki but that gets a two as well, Miyazaki goes up top but Genki avoids the moonsault attempt. Sliding Kick by Miyazaki but Genki levels her with a lariat. Another lariat by Genki, she picks up Miyazaki and she hits an Emerald Frosion. Genki picks up Miyazaki again and nails the G-Driller, picking up the three count cover! Misae Genki wins the match.

Too short to get excited about but the action itself was good. Genki was a quality power wrestler, never outstanding but really solid and everything was hit convincingly. The transitions were bad enough to be annoying, no real meaningful selling until the last few moves, but with a five minute match what else can ya do. Not bad but it didn’t leave much of an impression.

Azumi Hyuga, Leon, and Arisa Nakajima vs. Haruyama, Command Bolshoi, and Yoneyama

Bolshoi and Hyuga start for their teams and trade quick holds on the mat with neither getting a clean advantage. Nakajima and Yoneyama tag in, Hyuga stays in to help but Yoneyama armdrags them both out of the ring. Leon then gets a running start in the ring, jumps up to the top rope and sails out onto everyone with a plancha suicida. Back in the ring, Yoneyama is triple teamed in the corner before Nakajima hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Nakajima tags Leon, spear by Leon and she hits two more for a two count of her own. Leon goes for a suplex but Yoneyama slides away and hits the Chaos Theory. Yoneyama tags in Haruyama, Stunner by Haruyama but Leon catches her with a backbreaker slam. Nakajima and Hyuga run in while Leon goes up top and hits a diving body press for two. Leon tags Hyuga who hits a double underhook unto a backbreaker, she goes up top and knocks down Haruyama with a missile dropkick. Hyuga picks up Haruyama but Haruyama lariats her in the back of the head and tags in Bolshoi. Hurricanrana by Bolshoi to Hyuga, she picks her up and hits a drop toehold into the ropes so that Haruyama and Yoneyama can dropkick her. Tiger Feint Kick by Bolshoi and she goes for a satellite headscissors, but Hyuga blocks it and hits a backbreaker.

Running knee to the back of the head by Hyuga and she hits rolling German suplexes for a two count. Yoneyama runs in and kicks Hyuga, La Mistica by Bolshoi to Hyuga but it is quickly broken up. Nakajima comes in but Bolshoi rolls her to the mat and applies a kneelock until Leon breaks it up. Bolshoi tags in Haruyama, kick by Haruyama but Nakajima catches her with a bridging fallaway suplex. Elbows by Nakajima but Haruyama blocks the German suplex. More elbows by Nakajima but Haruyama levels her with a lariat.  Haruyama goes up top but Leon grabs her, giving Nakajima time to join Haruyama. Nakajima suplexes Haruyama off the top turnbuckle, Leon then hits a Swanton Bomb and Nakajima finishes with a diving footstomp for a two count cover. German suplex hold by Nakajima to Haruyama, but that gets a two as well. Nakajima goes up top but Yoneyama joins her and suplexes her back off. Haruyama picks up Nakajima and deliver the Keene Hammer but Leon breaks it up. Yoneyama goes up top and is fed Leon’s legs by Haruyama, they together hit an assisted double underhook facebuster on Leon while Yoneyama also sentons Leon. Haruyama goes back up and hits a diving legdrop, but Hyuga breaks up the pin. The bell rings just as she does so, and the time limit has expired. The match is a Draw.

This was definitely the best match on the card we’ve seen as far as wrestling goes, all six of them brought their A Game and were flying around the ring in impressive fashion. They seemed to always be on the same page and worked well together, nothing felt off or forced. With a ten minute time limit I don’t think six wrestlers were needed, four would have been fine as there wasn’t really time to showcase all the wrestlers, but everything they did was well done. It felt more like an exhibition which in a way it was, but it was still fun to watch.  Mildly Recommended

Noriyo Tateno vs. Takako Inoue

Takako kicks Tateno into the corner right off the bat, kick to the chest by Takako and she hits a DDT. More kicks by Takako but Tateno fights back with elbows, Mexican Surfboard by Tateno and she applies a facelock. Tateno stomps down on Takako’s hands and sends her off the ropes, but Takako snaps off a DDT. STF by Takako, she grabs Tateno by the hair but Tateno gets her back and goes for a suplex. Takako grabs the ropes to break it up, lariat by Tateno and she hits two more, German suplex hold by Tateno but it gets a two count. Tateno goes up top but Takako recovers and joins her, hitting an avalanche armdrag for two. Takako goes up top but Tateno avoids the Takako Panic, lariat by Tateno and she hits a diving body press for two. Tateno picks up Takako but Takako slides away and hits a backfist. Tateno blocks the next one however and drops Takako with a Death Valley Bomb, she picks Takako up but Takako slides away and rolls her up for the three count! Takako Inoue is the winner.

Another shorter match and probably the worst one on the show. It was pretty slow with some longer submissions for a match that wasn’t really long enough to sustain it. The match also ended really suddenly, it never felt like it really got going before it was suddenly over. A couple good moves and they worked well together, just not a very exciting match.

Chikayo Nagashima and Sonoko Kato vs. Mayumi Ozaki and Manami Toyota

Like any Ozaki match, the action quickly spills out to the floor as Toyota takes Nagashima up into the crowd. Both teams battle up near the entrance way and in the bleachers, they get back near ringside and Toyota dives off the top turnbuckle onto both Nagashima and Kato. They finally get back into the ring, Ozaki gets a chair and she hits Kato, Toyota then goes up top and hits a missile dropkick. Ozaki gets a chain and hits Kato with that as well, but Kato ducks the next attempt and hits a release German suplex. She tags in Nagashima but Nagashima is tripped from the floor, Toyota comes in but Nagashima hits a double springboard armdrag on both of them. Kato slams Ozaki in front of the corner and Nagashima delivers a diving footstomp for a two count cover. Ozaki slaps Nagashima and tags in Toyota, Toyota goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick. She hits another one before putting Nagashima in the ropes so she can be attacked by the entire Ozaki Army. Toyota gets Nagashima on her shoulders but she wiggles away and hits a release German suplex. Diving leg drop by Kato, and she covers Toyota for a two count.

Kato goes for the dragon suplex but Toyota blocks it and rolls Kato around the ring. Toyota goes up top but Kato grabs her from behind and hits a release German. Dragon suplex hold by Kato to Toyota, but it only gets a two count. Toyota gets away from Kato as Ozaki throws a chain at Kato, German suplex hold by Toyota but it gets two. Toyota goes up to the top turnbuckle but Kato avoids her moonsault and hits a punt. She tags in Nagashima but Ozaki is also tagged in, sit-down powerbomb by Ozaki but it gets two. Ozaki gets on the second turnbuckle but Nagashima catapults up there and hits a Frankensteiner. Fisherman buster by Nagashima, but Toyota breaks up the cover. Toyota missile dropkicks Nagashima and Ozaki drops her with a dragon suplex hold for two. Ozaki goes for a Shining Wizard, Nagashima blocks it but Ozaki delivers the spinning backfist for a two count. Ozaki picks up Nagashima but Nagashima rolls her up for two. Hurricanrana by Nagashima, but Ozaki rolls through it, fisherman buster by Nagashima but Toyota breaks up the cover. The bell then rings, as time has expired. The match is a Draw.

Well this was definitely action packed, they used every minute as best they could to put on an entertaining show. Not the type of match for people that are fans of long term selling, but it had tons of big moves and brutality like you would expect from an Ozaki match. All four got a chance to shine, with Toyota in particular looking really impressive as always. A really solid match, I wish it could have gotten more time so it could have had a real conclusion but still an enjoyable heavyweight sprint.  Recommended

Devil Masami, Dynamite Kansai, and Carlos Amano vs. Aja Kong, Ran Yu-Yu, and Toshie Uematsu

Masami and Yu-Yu start the match off, they start off politely until Uematsu comes in to help her partner. Masami shrugs off their chops and headbutts both of them, but Kong comes in and lariats Masami to the mat. Kong takes Masami out of the ring and chucks a chair at her, as all six wrestlers brawl at ringside. Kansai and Uematsu end up in the aisle near the balcony while Kong throws the steel plate from the barricade at Amano while somehow Masami made it back into the ring with Yu-Yu and puts her in a sleeper. Masami tags in Kansai, vertical suplex by Kansai to Yu-Yu and she covers her for two. Scorpion Deathlock by Kansai but Yu-Yu crawls to the ropes and she forces the break. Kansai tags in Amano and they hit Yu-Yu with a double shoulderblock, but Yu-Yu pushes back to her corner and tags in Kong. Kong chops Amano against the ropes and hits a lariat in the corner, cover by Kong but it gets two. Amano tries to fight back with headbutts but Kong smacks her to the mat and tags in Uematsu. Uematsu rakes Amano’s face and stomps her down in the corner, Irish whip by Uematsu but Amano hits a jumping lariat and tags in Kansai. Kansai grabs Uematsu and hits a lariat in the corner, but Uematsu dropkicks her in the knee and Yu-Yu runs in too so they can hit a double dropkick. Uematsu stays in but Kansai puts them both in the claw, she slams Yu-Yu to the mat but Uematsu blocks her slam and hits a suplex. Kansai fires back with a suplex of her own, Uematsu tags in Kong but Masami is tagged in as well. Kong kicks Masami in the mouth and hits a back bodydrop, but Masami avoid the elbow drop.

Kansai comes in but Kong lariats both of them. Kong tags in Yu-Yu, jumping elbow of sorts by Yu-Yu to Masami and she hits her with a knee. Yu-Yu tries to pick up Masami but Masami blocks it, knee by Yu-Yu but Masami throws her to the mat. Kong runs over and lariats Masami, Uematsu comes in and kicks Masami in the head which swings the advantage back to Yu-Yu, kick out of the corner by Yu-Yu and she covers Masami for two. Amano jumps off the top turnbuckle with a lariat to Yu-Yu, Uematsu comes in but Masami suplexes Uematsu onto Yu-Yu. Amano stays in and kicks Yu-Yu but Yu-Yu returns fire with an elbow and knocks Amano to the mat. Yu-Yu goes off the ropes but Amano hits a roaring elbow, she picks up Yu-Yu and hits a jumping lariat, but Yu-Yu knees her when she goes off the ropes again. Another knee by Yu-Yu and she hits a release German suplex, picking up a two count. Yu-Yu tags in Kong, Kong punches Amano to the mat but Amano fights back with headbutts. Kong has none of that and hits a hard lariat, she picks up Amano and delivers the brainbuster but the cover is broken up. Kong slams Amano in front of the corner, she goes up top but Masami pushes her back to the mat. Jumping lariat by Amano to Kong and she tags in Kansai. Kansai kicks Kong but Kong catches her with a backdrop suplex, but Kansai kicks out of the cover. Kansai goes up top, Kong goes to join her but Kansai slides out to the apron and kicks Kong in the head.

Splash Mountain by Kansai, but Yu-Yu breaks it up. Kansai goes up top but Kong avoids the footstomp and Uematsu comes off the top with a missile dropkick. Shining Wizard by Kong to Kansai, but the cover gets two. Kong goes up top but Kansai avoids the elbow drop, Kansai goes up again and this time she hits the diving footstomp, but Uematsu breaks up the cover. Masami is tagged in, she picks up Kong as Amano goes for a missile dropkick, but she hits Masami on accident. Kong tags in Uematsu, dragon suplex hold by Uematsu but Masami gets a shoulder up. Hard elbow by Yu-Yu to Masami but Masami fires up and lariats all three of her opponents. Masami picks up Uematsu but Uematsu slides away and Kong lariats Masami. Uematsu gets on Yu-Yu’s shoulders and hits a diving body press on Masami, but the cover gets two. Uematsu goes up top but Masami hits her before she can jump off, Yu-Yu runs in and grabs Masami however and Uematsu hits a missile dropkick. Masami pops up and lariats both of them, Kansai comes in and starts kicking people as Masami picks up Uematsu and hits a Liger Bomb for a two count. Yu-Yu has recovered but Masami scoops her up and nails the Fire Valley. She then hits it on Uematsu, but Yu-Yu breaks it up. Kong picks up Masami and hits her with a backfist, Uematsu gets behind Masami and nails a dragon suplex hold for the three count! Kong, Yu-Yu, and Uematsu are your winners!

After the match, Devil Masami had a Retirement Ceremony that lasted 45 minutes. It included wrestlers saying farewell with flowers, testimonials, and of course the streamers at the end. Masami couldn’t have looked happier, and it was a fitting end to a long and storied career.

It is really really hard to evaluate a match like this with star ratings. It isn’t designed to be a ‘great’ match in the traditional sense of the word, as the retiring wrestler generally has her friends or people she enjoyed working with in the match to make it enjoyable for them. I will say that the wrestlers were putting in maximum effort to send off their friend in style, we still had Splash Mountains and Diving Footstomps and everything between, they were in no way coasting. And it was nice that Masami got the loss as that is normal tradition, giving the win to the younger Uematsu. Overall I liked it due to not just the emotion but the effort level, not a high end match work-wise but still fun to watch and a match I am sure Masami was proud of.  Recommended

The post Marvelous “Devil Masami Retirement” on 12/30/08 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

I think this is probably the most obscure Joshi promotion that existed that held more than five shows (eight, to be exact). There is not a lot of information on THE WOMAN, however it was at least partially funded by All Japan Pro Wrestling with GAMI as the Producer/Booker for the shows. It came to life shortly after AtoZ announced they were closing their doors and the promotion shared many wrestlers with M’s Style as both promotions used mostly Freelancers. But they did use a lot of quality Freelancers as most of the wrestlers on the card are still active today or just recently retired. The promotion never had any titles nor much of a purpose, however not long after THE WOMAN stopped running shows, GAMI founded Pro Wrestling WAVE so in a way THE WOMAN was her practice promotion. The event was shrunk down to a one hour show on SamuraiTV, here is the card:

• Bullfighter Sora vs. Kyoko Kimura
• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 1: AKINO and Ayumi Kurihara vs. Emi Sakura and Mai Ichii
• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 1: Kaoru Ito and Ayako Sato vs. Manami Toyota and Natsuki*Taiyo
• Friday Battle Tag Tournament Round 1: Michiko Omukai and Cherry vs. Aja Kong and Ayako Hamada

This will be a quick one but it still should be fun, lots of quality wrestlers here.

Bullfighter Sora vs. Kyoko Kimura

Sora charges Kyoko like a bull as the match starts (because why wouldn’t she) but Kyoko throws her down by the horns. Sleeper by Kyoko but Sora rams her back into the corner to get out of it and trips Kyoko before splitting her around the ring post. Sora gets a banana and peels it but Kyoko attacks her from behind, Irish whip by Kyoko but Sora hits a hard shoulderblock. More shoulderblocks by Sora and she hits a delayed vertical suplex, covering Kyoko for two. A small package gets the same result, Sora goes off the ropes but Kyoko boots her in the face. Kyoko charges Sora but she slips on the banana peel and Sora pins her for the three count! Bullfighter Sora wins!

I can’t say I am a big fan of matches being won via banana peel but when its a heavily clipped match involving a wrestler in a bull outfit, I can’t really complain either. Even for comedy lovers it was too clipped to get excited about as only a couple minutes were shown. Seems like a waste of Kyoko though.

AKINO and Ayumi Kurihara vs. Emi Sakura and Mai Ichii

Here is the thing with the tournament – I don’t understand the rules. The matches are clipped and each match was won in a different time with a different number of falls. Because the matches are clipped I can’t figure out when points are given as sometimes it isn’t shown. So I am just going to call the matches as they happen which is all I can do.

AKINO and Ichii start the match, hard dropkick by AKINO and she covers Ichii, picking up a quick three count! AKINO and Kurihara are up 1-0. Ichii gets up and tries to dropkick AKINO over but AKINO keeps brushing them off, AKINO dropkicks Ichii hard again and picks up another three count! AKINO and Kurihara are up 2-0. AKINO picks up Ichii and they trade leg kicks, which AKINO obviously gets the better of. More kicks by AKINO, she goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick for another three count, they are now up 4-0 (I assumed they clipped one fall out, or they can’t count). Kurihara wants a chance and comes in and she dropkicks Ichii as well, but Ichii rolls her up in a quick schoolboy. Sakura tags herself in and dropkicks Kurihara before throwing her down by the hair. Drop toehold by Sakura into the ropes, Ichii runs in and jumps down on Kurihara’s back. Crossface by Sakura, but AKINO comes in and beaks it up.

Kurihara comes back with a springboard crossbody on Sakura and tags in AKINO, neckbreaker by Sakura but AKINO hits a triple jump crossbody for a two count. Backdrop suplex by AKINO, Sakura lands in her corner and tags in Ichii. Kurihara comes in too (we have missed lots of falls, for the record) and Kurihara hits a missile dropkick for two. Big boots by Ichii and she hits a kick out of the corner, cover by Ichii but Kurihara kicks out. AKINO comes in and kicks Ichii in the head, Kurihara tries two inside cradles but both get two. Sakura comes in and clears out the ring, dropping Kurihara with a double underhook facebuster before Ichii covers her for a two count. Sakura picks up Kurihara but Kurihara slides away this time, AKINO goes for a missile dropkick but Sakura swats her out of the way. Diving senton by Sakura, Ichii goes up top and hits a diving crossbody onto AKINO before kicking her out of the ring. Nyan Nyan Press by Sakura, Ichii goes up top and hits an assisted senton onto Kurihara for the three count! That is the final fall as they win 5-4, Sakura and Ichii move on in the tournament.

Its really hard to give a match an honest review when its clipped and the rules are not clear, I’d say it is the first team to five falls but the next two don’t end that way so I have no idea. Maybe someone will email me and tell me. Anyway, I enjoyed the action itself, AKINO was in top form being the grumpy veteran and the younger wrestlers showed a lot of fire. All our worked well together and even if you didn’t know any background they told the story so well that anyone could pick it up watching. Aside from the clipping and unknown rules, I liked the match, solid action all the way around.  Mildly Recommended

Kaoru Ito and Ayako Sato vs. Manami Toyota and Natsuki*Taiyo

Sato and Natsuki start the match, but Natsuki quickly tags in Toyota as Toyota hits a missile dropkick on Sato. Cover by Toyota and she gets the three count! Toyota and Natsuki are up 1-0. Sato goes for a crossbody but Toyota catches her and flings her to the mat, Toyota dumps Sato out of the ring and Natsuki goes up to the top turnbuckle to dive out on both their opponents. Toyota then does the same, Sato is rolled back in the ring and Toyota hits a missile dropkick for another three count! They don’t even show the score as Toyota tags in Natsuki, but Sato avoids Natsuki’s charge and tags in Ito. Lariat by Ito to Natsuki, and she covers her for a three count. Ito and Sato get a point. Ito puts Natsuki in a crab hold, but Natsuki gets to the ropes to force a break. We clip ahead as Sato goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Toyota, she goes up top again and hits a second one before delivering a third.

Sato goes up top a fourth time and hits another missile dropkick, but Toyota rolls to her feet and dropkicks Sato in the ropes. Spear by Natsuki to the back of Sato and she hits a diving headbutt for a two count. Ito and Natsuki both spear Ito before Toyota and Natsuki both hit dives out of the corner. Cover, but Ito breaks it up. Natsuki gets on the second turnbuckle before getting on Toyota’s shoulders, and Toyota spins Natsuki down onto Sato for another two count. Ito knocks Toyota and Natsuki out of the ring before hitting a baseball slide on both of them, Ito brings Natsuki back in the ring with her and hits a powerbomb, but Toyota breaks up the cover. Sato picks up Natsuki, Ito runs in but she lariats Sato by accident. Toyota goes for a missile dropkick but she hits Natsuki by accident, Sato covers Natsuki but it gets two. Fireman’s carry takeover into a cover by Sato, and she covers Natsuki for a three count! Ito and Sato are declared the winners by a score of 6-1.

Ignoring the whole “not knowing the rules” issue, this match was a step down from the last one. The teams had intentional miscues but also I think unintentional ones as the four didn’t seem too familar with each other, leading to little issues here and there. The clipping hurt the general flow of the match so it was hard to get invested, and much of it just felt a bit lackluster. A generally unexciting match, even though individually all four are minimally solid wrestlers.

Michiko Omukai and Cherry vs. Aja Kong and Ayako Hamada

Hamada and Kong both attack as the bell rings, Kong stays in the ring with Cherry and Cherry goes for a couple quick pins with no luck. Kong chops Cherry in the corner and hits a scoop slam, she puts her in a facelock while Hamada runs in and dropkicks her in the head. Another slam by Kong and she hits an elbow drop, she tags in Hamada and Hamada dropkicks Cherry to the mat. Another dropkick by Hamada and she puts Cherry in a leg submission, she then spins her over and puts Cherry in an elevated crab hold until she gets to the ropes. Headbutts by Hamada and she slams Cherry in front of the corner, Hamada goes for a moonsault but Cherry rolls out of the way and tags in Omukai. Hamada stomps Omukai and gets a steel chair, she hits Omukai with it but Hamada takes the chair and hits her back. They take turns hitting each other with the chair, Hamada sits Omukai down in it and she dropkicks Omukai into the corner. Kong is tagged in, Omukai kicks Kong in the head before Cherry runs in and they double team Kong. Kong doesn’t put up with that for long as she lariats both of them, backdrop suplex to Omukai and Kong covers her for two. Kong slams Omukai near the corner and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Omukai recovers and knocks Kong over the top rope to the floor. Omukai goes out after her while Cherry gets on the top turnbuckle, she tries to jump down on her opponents but she lands on Omukai instead.

Kong hits Cherry with a chair and nails a brainbuster on the entrance ramp, back in the ring Kong puts Omukai in the Tree of Woe and Hamada dropkicks a chair in her head. Hamada hits Omukai with the chair again, moonsault by Hamada but the referee won’t count due to all the chair shots. Powerbomb by Hamada, the referee counts this time but it only gets a two count. Hamada tags in Kong, scoop slam by Kong and she gets on the second turnbuckle, but Omukai suplexes her from behind. Heel Drop by Omukai and she covers Kong, but Hamada throws a chair at her to break it up. Kong hits Omukai with the chair, she gets on the top turnbuckle and hits a diving elbow drop but Cherry breaks up the cover. Hamada runs in but she kicks Kong by accident, dropkicks by Cherry to Kong and she hits a missile dropkick, but Kong picks her in the head. Kong slaps Cherry but the referee calls for the bell for reasons I do not know and won’t pretend to. But the match keeps going as Kong lariats Cherry, Kong tags in Hamada and trades elbows with Cherry. High kick by Hamada, she goes up top and she nails the moonsault for a two count cover. Hamada goes up top again and hits a missile dropkick, she goes up a third time and she hits another missile dropkick, but Cherry bridges out of the pin. Hamada goes for a powerbomb but Cherry reverses it into a hurricanrana. Cherry tags in Omukai, Kong runs in but Omukai swats her away and decimates Hamada with a Shining Wizard. Cover by Omukai, and she gets the three count! They win the match!

Action-wise this may have been the best match on the card, although I enjoyed the dynamic a bit more in the first tournament match. The main issue with the match is simply that Cherry was a step or two below everyone else in the match in terms of wrestling ability, I’d rather have had Omukai in the match more as she was still pretty great in 2007. Kong and Hamada did the bulk of the work and their offense looked crisp as always, the occasional clip in action just made it a bit hard to follow. A solid match with some quality stretches but nothing to get too excited about as it was presented. Mildly Recommended

The post THE WOMAN Volume 4: Spring Samba on 4/7/06 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana is an active Joshi promotion with over 150 events in the last five years, and yet I have never reviewed one of their events. Why is that? Because this debut show is the only solo Diana event to ever be televised (they have had other joint events with other promotions televised but under the other promotion’s slot). Not only are they not televised but I am not sure if they are even always taped, except for a big event once a year which they sell on their website in DVD form (clips from their events sometimes air on Battlemen as well). So Diana is by far the most underground active Joshi promotion, not counting itty bitty promotions like Tokyo Joshi and Actress girl’Z.

Anyway, I wanted to review a Diana event and it was the only one available so here we are! Diana is promoted by Joshi legend Kyoko Inoue, and even though they don’t record their shows they do actually have their own rookies and affiliated wrestlers. On this event, one of their current young stars makes her debut at only 15 years old – Sareee. Beyond that, most of the roster in Diana are wrestlers that made their mark back in the 1990s and 2000s, such as Kaoru Ito and Mariko Yoshida. Here is the full line-up for their debut event:

• Aya Yuuki vs. Ayako Sato
• Keiko Aono vs. Mariko Yoshida
• Nagisa Nozaki vs. Nanae Takahashi
• Meiko Satomura vs. Sareee
• Aya Yuuki and Kyoko Inoue vs. Ayako Sato and Kaoru Ito

Let’s get to the fun!

Aya Yuuki vs. Ayako Sato

After feeling each other out to start, Yuuki tosses Sato to the mat and kicks her hard in the head. Elbow by Yuuki in the corner and she scoop slams Sato, atomic drop by Yuuki but Sato blocks the next one as she lands on top of Yuuki. Yuuki scoops up Sato and hits another atomic drop. Irish whip by Yuuki but Sato hits an armdrag before dropkicking Yuuki in the back of the head. Double underhook suplex by Sato, she picks up Yuuki and the pair trade elbows. Yuuki chokes Sato before tossing her to the mat, cover by Yuuki but Sato gets a shoulder up. Scoop slam by Yuuki, she goes up top but Sato recovers and joins her. Yuuki elbows her back to the mat and goes for a diving elbow drop, but Sato avoids it and hits a series of dropkicks. Sato goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, she goes up top again and she hits a second one. Cover by Sato, but Yuuki kicks out. Sato charges Yuuki but Yuuki hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, Yuuki picks up Sato but Sato applies a bodyscissors into a front roll for a two count. Sato goes for it again but Yuuki catches her and hits a German suplex. Sato goes for a few quick pins with no luck, she goes up top but Yuuki slugs her and gets Sato on her shoulders. Sato slides away from her and applies a quick roll-up, German suplex hold by Sato but it only gets a two. Sato goes for a dragon suplex but Yuuki gets out of it and hits a German suplex hold of her own for a two count. Sato goes off the ropes but Yuuki hits a big boot, Death Valley Bomb by Yuuki and she gets the three count! Aya Yuuki is the winner!

Not a bad way to start the first ever Diana event. The match was pretty basic in a lot of ways but well worked, they stayed focused and the match was very clean. Sato kept trying to win with cute bridges and roll-ups, which works sometimes but not in this case and once Yuuki planted her with the Death Valley Bomb it was all over. Both of these wrestlers are also in the main event but they didn’t seem to be holding back here which is a plus, overall a pretty solid match even if it wasn’t too original or memorable.

Keiko Aono vs. Mariko Yoshida

Soon after the bell rings they end up on the mat, Yoshida applies a keylock but Aono get into the ropes. Yoshida goes off the ropes but Aono boots her in the chest, head kick by Aono and Yoshida is out on the mat. Aono picks up Yoshida and hits a Falcon Arrow, and she covers Yoshida for two. Yoshida quickly puts Aono in the Spider Twist, Aono almost goes out but she inches to the ropes and manages a break. Double underhook facebuster by Yoshida, but the cover gets a two. Aono blocks the next one and kicks Yoshida in the head, PK by Aono and she gets a two count cover. Cross armbreaker by Yoshida and then she applies an ankle hold, but Aono gets a hand on the ropes. Heel drop by Aono, she picks up Yoshida and she kicks her in the head again. Shining Kick by Aono, but Yoshida kicks out of the cover. Kicks to the chest by Aono and she knees Yoshida right in the head, another kick by Aono and she gets a two count. She goes off the ropes but Yoshida catches her with a boot, she charges Aono again but Aono hits a heel kick. Two more kicks to the head by Aono, and she covers Yoshida for the three count! The winner is Keiko Aono.

I loved some parts of this match. Yoshida’s submissions were really tight (that is her specialty) and some of Aono’s kicks really delivered. Not everything Aono did connected well however, whether it was age or not being as familiar with each other some of the strikes just looked a bit off. Yoshida was so smooth I am inclined to say it is worth watching, especially since it was one of her last matches, but don’t go in with too high of expectations.  Mildly Recommended

Nagisa Nozaki vs. Nanae Takahashi

Nozaki kicks Takahashi against the ropes early and stomps her down, Takahashi fights back with elbows and works a headlock before shoulderblocking Nozaki to the mat. Takahashi applies a backbreaker and rams Nozaki into the corner, body avalanche by Takahashi and she hits a missile dropkick off the second turnbuckle. Takahashi slowly works over Nozaki’s arm, they then trade wristlocks before Nozaki gets a sleeper applied. Knees by Nozaki but Takahashi hits a vertical suplex, Takahashi goes for a lariat but Nozaki avoids it and applies a Cobra Twist. Takahashi gets to the ropes, boots by Nozaki and she dropkicks Takahashi in the head. High knee by Nozaki in the corner but Takahashi catches her leg when she goes for a PK. High kick by Takahashi, and both wrestlers are down on the mat. Takahashi recovers first and hits a lariat followed by a backdrop suplex for two. Takahashi goes up top but Nozaki boots her before she can jump off and tosses her to the mat. Running boot by Nozaki, but Takahashi shoulderblocks her to the mat and covers her for two. Another boot by Nozaki, she goes off the ropes and… you guessed it, hits four more boots to the head for a tow count cover. Takahashi gets Nozaki to the mat and applies an arm trap crossface, but Nozaki gets out of it and applies a sleeper. Takahashi gets a hand on the ropes to break the hold, knee to the head by Nozaki and she covers Takahashi for two. Nozaki goes for a boot but Takahashi avoids it and hits a missile dropkick off the top turnbuckle. Back up, slaps by Takahashi and she connects with a jumping kick to the head. She goes up top again, Takahashi delivers the Refrigerator Bomb and she picks up the three count! Nanae Takahashi is the winner.

I can’t say this was a good match. Takahashi didn’t seem very interested during the middle portion of the match, doing somewhat lazy submissions and winning exchanges in not overly exciting fashion. Nozaki seemed to be trying but did not have a very captivating moveset, with way too many running boots. Her knees were generally on point, but that is about the only thing she did offensively that looked impressive. Maybe it was just a chemistry issue, but the match just felt flat overall.

Meiko Satomura vs. Sareee

Satomura works the headlock to start the match until Sareee gets to the ropes, kicks by Sareee but Satomura kicks Sareee repeatedly in the leg. Armlock by Satomura, she picks up Sareee and delivers a scoop slam. Crab hold by Satomura, Sareee makes it to the ropes and she reverses Satomura’s backdrop suplex attempt. Sareee now puts Satomura in a crab hold but Satomura gets out of it, she picks up Sareee but Sareee sneaks in an inside cradle for two. Dropkicks by Sareee but Satomura stays on her feet, Irish whip by Sareee and she dropkicks Satomura in the corner. Satomura finally avoids a dropkick and she kicks Sareee hard in the chest, more hard strikes by Satomura and she kicks Sareee in the stomach. Jumping crossbody by Sareee but Satomura immediately rolls her over and applies an armtrap headlock. Satomura picks up Sareee and hits a hard elbow in the corner, she goes up top but Sareee recovers and tosses her off. Dropkicks by Sareee and she goes for a schoolboy, but Satomura grabs her arm and applies an armbreaker. Sareee gets to the ropes, Satomura charges her and destroys her with a cartwheel kneedrop. Cover by Satomura and she gets the three count! Meiko Satomura wins the match.

I hope that Sareee learned something from this as it hurt me just watching. Some of the kicks from Satomura were super stiff, which is what you’d expect from her, and she really cranked in a few of the submission holds. But it wasn’t a squash through and through, as Sareee did have a handful of successful moves and Satomura was respectful after the match. Sareee’s dropkicks were pretty weak, if they were filming a documentary for GAEA she may have been in trouble, but Satomura didn’t punish her for it. Overall I enjoyed it, maybe not for everyone but entertaining nonetheless.  Mildly Recommended

Aya Yuuki and Kyoko Inoue vs. Ayako Sato and Kaoru Ito

Sato immediately dropkicks Yuuki repeatedly as soon as the match starts, Ito tries to help by holding Yuuki but it backfires and Sato dropkicks Ito by accident. Inoue comes in but Ito trips both her opponents from the floor and pull them both out of the ring. Sato goes out top and dives out onto both her opponents, Ito then gets in the ring and hits a double baseball slide. We clip ahead to Sato and Inoue in the ring, and Sato hits a dropkick. Sato tags in Ito and the former AJW superstars trade lariat attempts until they both knock each other down. The action spills to the floor again and they battle around the floor with the older wrestlers trading elbows with each other. Sato hits a suplex on Yuuki on the floor while Ito hits Inoue with a chair until Inoue and Ito finally return to the ring. Running footstomps by Ito and she hits an elbow drop for a two count. Inoue regains the advantage and goes for a powerbomb, but Ito back bodydrops out of it. Ito goes up top but Inoue avoids the diving footstomp, missile dropkick from Sato to Inoue and she hits another after Ito puts Inoue on her shoulders. Cover by Ito, but Inoue kicks out.

Ito tags in Sato, lots of dropkicks by Sato but Inoue eventually catches her and hits a German suplex. She tags in Yuuki, fireman’s carry slam by Yuuki and she hits a vertical suplex. Yuuki goes up top and delivers a diving elbow drop, Inoue then goes up top and she hits a diving elbow drop as well. Death Valley Bomb by Yuuki, but Ito breaks up the cover. Sato snaps off a German suplex and tags in Ito, chokeslam by Ito to Yuuki but Yuuki quickly recovers and throws Ito to the mat. Saito Suplex by Ito, Yuuki slowly gets back up however and she boots Ito before hitting a quick suplex. Yuuki goes up top but Ito hits her, Sato comes in but so does Inoue. Ito is on the top turnbuckle but Inoue joins her and hits a big superplex. Diving elbow drop by Yuuki to Ito, but Sato breaks up the cover. Yuuki gets Ito on her shoulders and hits a Death Valley Bomb, cover by Yuuki but Sato barely breaks it up. Yuuki picks up Ito but Ito applies a short armbar, but Inoue stomps her so she releases the hold. Yuuki goes up top but Ito joins her and hits an avalanche Fisherman Buster, cover by Ito but Inoue breaks it up. Ito goes up top, Inoue tries to join her but Sato throws Inoue on top of Yuuki. Ito then hits a diving footstomp onto Inoue, she goes back up top and delivers one to Yuuki to pick up the three count pinfall. Ito and Sato win the first fall.

Yuuki and Ito stay in as the legal wrestlers as Ito hits a quick lariat, she goes for a powerbomb but Inoue lariats Ito. Inoue tosses Sato and Ito onto the ramp, Inoue fights off both of them and hits a double lariat. Ito returns to the ring after a moment, Yuuki boots her until Ito falls down to the mat. Yuuki eventually manages to get Ito on her shoulders, she hits the Death Valley Bomb but Sato breaks up the cover. Sato drops Yuuki with a release German suplex but Inoue comes in and hits a suplex on her. Ito had climbed on the top turnbuckle but Yuuki grabs her and gets Ito on her shoulders. Death Valley Bomb by Yuuki to Ito, and she gets a three count cover! Yuuki and Inoue win the second fall.

Yuuki and Sato remain in the ring, dropkicks by Sato to Yuuki and she hits a missile dropkick off the second turnbuckle for a two count. Sato and Yuuki trade elbows, shoulderblock by Yuuki but Sato applies a sunset flip for two. Release German by Sato and she rolls up Yuuki with a bridge for another two count. Missile dropkick by Sato and she tags in Ito, Ito goes for a powerbomb but Yuuki drives her back into the corner. Lariat by Ito but Inoue hits her from the apron, Yuuki tags in Inoue but Ito plants Inoue with a lariat. Inoue goes for a powerbomb but Sato breaks it up with a missile dropkick, quick roll-up by Inoue but Sato breaks that up too. Inoue and Ito trade punches as they ascend to the top turnbuckle, Ito flips over Inoue’s back and she hits a powerbomb for a two count. Ito tags in Sato, double Irish whip to Inoue but Inoue knocks them both down with a lariat. Inoue goes for a powerbomb but Sato wiggles away, she goes off the ropes but Inoue flips her inside out with a lariat. Inoue goes for a powerbomb but Ito breaks it up with a lariat, Sato goes up top but Inoue gets her feet up when Sato dives off. Folding Powerbomb by Inoue, but Ito breaks up the cover. She goes for another one but Sato rolls flips behind her back and applies a sunset flip for the three count! Ito and Sato win the final fall and the match!

This was definitely a spectacle. It wasn’t always worked smartly, wrestlers would go up to the top turnbuckle for no reason, wrestlers no sold randomly for no reason, just all kinds of things that aren’t ideal in most matches. Still, I couldn’t help but be hooked into it, watching two aging former major stars still giving it everything they have and probably doing moves they shouldn’t be doing just to put on a good show. Ito put over the ‘younger’ wrestler better than Inoue did, but Inoue did get pinned which is a statement in of itself. Not the most logical match so you can’t go into it expecting a traditional back and forth, but not bad and a good example of what Diana would go on to be with the main story being older stars still looking for their turn in the spotlight.  Mildly Recommended

The post Diana Debut Show on 4/17/11 Review appeared first on Joshi City.