This was certainly true in 2019, as only one wrestler that retired had what most would consider a long career. So we start with her, the legendary Command Bolshoi. Since sometimes wrestlers leave promotions without announcing a retirement, for the sake of this article I am only covering wrestlers that had official in-ring retirements or made an official retirement announcement through the promotion.

Command Bolshoi

Once a year or so, one of the legendary wrestlers that started in the 80s or 90s retires, and in 2019 that wrestler was Command Bolshoi. Bolshoi had a long and storied career that began in 1992, where she debuted in JWP. For many years, Bolshoi wrestled as a comedy wrestler as “Bolshoi Kid,” wrestling in a clown outfit and hovering towards the bottom of cards. Hiding behind the gimmick however was a talented wrestler, and she finally won her first championship in JWP in 1999. In 2000, she won the promotion’s top title as she defeated Ran YuYu for the JWP Openweight Championship. By then, she was more than just a wrestler in JWP, as she was also the President of the promotion and was one of the trainers. She continued to help lead the promotion until JWP dissolved in 2017, but Command Bolshoi started a new promotion called PURE-J that maintained most of the roster and two of the titles so that the JWP spirit would live on. In 2018, she announced due to lingering injuries she would retire in 2019, and she had her last series of matches on April 21st, 2019. She continues to lead PURE-J however, and for a foreseeable future will still be involved in wrestling. With over 15 championship wins in her career that spanned 27 years, Command Bolshoi had a long and successful career that will always be remembered by her fans and followers of JWP.

Hazuki

Hazuki’s career was much shorter than Command Bolshoi’s, but she still made an impact. Hazuki first debuted as Reo Hazuki in 2014 at age 16, and she stayed mostly under the radar until she suddenly left wrestling in 2015. Hazuki shocked Stardom fans when she returned in November of 2016, wrestling as HZK in Io Shirai’s Queen’s Quest stable. With a new look and a new attitude, Hazuki’s fan base began to grow and she won her first championship in 2017. She joined Oedo Tai in 2018 and frequently teamed with her good friend and trainer Kagetsu up until her retirement. Hazuki really took it up a notch in late 2018, as she won the High Speed Championship and defended the title frequently in the “high speed” style that the title was originally named for. In 2019, she got the opportunity to wrestle in Madison Square Garden, which she said was a career highlight. In November of 2019, she shocked Stardom fans once again by announcing she would retire the following month, and had her final match against stablemate Natsuko Tora. Hazuki’s 2018 and 2019 run in Stardom showed her potential, and the promotion certainly will miss Hazuki’s unique style of wrestling.

Tequila Saya

Tequila Saya is a rare case of someone that got into wrestling later in life, as she did not debut until she was 32 years old. In her 3.5 year career, she started slowly as she didn’t start being highlighted on cards regularly until 2018. While she failed in her three attempts to win the ICExInfinity Championship, in 2019 she did win the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship and the Triangle Ribbon Tag Team Championship, so she still had success. She may be best remembered for her tag team with Giulia called Burning Raw, both for their success in 2019 and their surprising breakup when Giulia left for Stardom, which actually delayed Saya’s retirement by several months due to the general confusion around the situation. Still, for someone in their 30s diving into wrestling for the first time, she had a respectable career and fit in very well during her time in Ice Ribbon.

Yuuka

Yuuka’s retirements is one of those that hurts more than it should considering the length of her career, as she had so much potential. Debuting at just 15 years old, she had her last wrestling match in 2016 before leaving Ice Ribbon for personal reasons. Ice Ribbon kept her on the roster page for years afterwards, but in March of 2019 they announced she would not be returning and Yuuka had an official retirement ceremony on March 31st, 2019. In her short career, Yuuka had several title chances and appeared to be positioned to become one of the stars of the promotion. Sadly, it was not to be.

Shiki Shibusawa

Even though Shiki wrestled for less than two years (her last match was on November 4th, 2018), due to Stardom’s packed schedule she still had over 100 matches in that time period. Shiki started later than most rookies as she debuted at age 27, and perhaps even more unusual is she had no background in athletics. This made her learning curve much steeper than most, and it took her longer to get fully caught up to speed. Shiki did have two title challenges in her career, but came up short both times, and left the promotion suddenly due to injury issues and possibly due to being impacted by criticism she received online. Shiki was a popular underdog and showed that regardless of your background, anyone can be a pro wrestler if they try hard enough.

Pinano PiPiPiPi

Pinano PiPiPiPi, originally debuting as Hinano, will best be remembered as part of the Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling). The Up Up Girls are a popular Idol group, while the Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling) are a separate group that does both wrestling and singing. The group debuted in January of 2018 and mostly stayed in the lower to midcard, not getting serious in-ring pushes from Tokyo Joshi Pro. Pinano never had a title shot during her stay in wrestling and didn’t even pick up her first pinfall victory until February of 2019, but she was popular with the crowd nonetheless. While she didn’t have a long career, between her wrestling and singing she did her best to entertain, and at 21 years old she still has plenty of time to find her true calling.

Dorami Nagano

Like Yuuka, Dorami had not wrestled in Ice Ribbon for several years prior to her retirement announcement on March 25th, 2019. In fact, her last wrestling match was way back in 2012, so Ice Ribbon hung onto the chance she may come back for a long time. During her two year run in Ice Ribbon, Dorami mostly stayed in the midcard but did have two title challenges, failing to win in each. While it is unusual to have an official retirement announcement almost seven years after a wrestler’s last match, since the announcement happened in 2019 I didn’t want to exclude her from the list.

Nao Yamaguchi

Of the 2019 Joshi Retirees, Nao had the shortest career as she only had 15 matches. Nao is a former gravure model that at age 28 decided to give wrestling a chance. Unfortunately, Nao had bad luck with injuries and wrestled her last match on May 6th, 2018, just two months after debuting. She remained in the promotion as Oedo Tai’s manager, but officially retired from both wrestling and managing in March of 2019. Always enthusiastic, sadly we didn’t see enough of Nao to know what her future in wrestling could have been.

The post Joshi Wrestling Retirements in 2019 appeared first on Joshi City.

Over the next eternity, I will be watching and reviewing all GAEA Japan events in order, starting with their debut show on April 15th, 1995. Visit the GAEA Japan Project page for a brief history of the promotion, the roster page, my favorite matches from the promotion, and the full list of all events reviewed. I will also be uploading my favorite match from each show so that everyone can enjoy it.

If you want to watch the GAEA Japan events I am reviewing, Mike Lorefice sells the complete seasons at a very reasonable price both via download and physical copy. Mike’s quebrada.net is one of the sites I’m using to write these reviews, its a great resource for learning more about GAEA Japan and wrestling in general.

Finally I have made it to 1996! Attendance is up a bit for this one, maybe fans were excited for a new year of Joshi to begin. This event had a one night tag tournament but we will only be seeing the finals, as the bulk of the one hour taping focuses on the big 12 woman Captain Falls Elimination Match. We still have no titles in GAEA Japan at this point, so gimmicks such as big elimination matches and promotional wars is how they are maintaining fan interest. Here is the full card:

• Original Captain Fall Match: Chigusa Nagayo, Dynamite Kansai, Bomber Hikaru, Bolshoi Kid, Saburo, and Hiromi Sugo vs. Devil Masami, Mayumi Ozaki, KAORU, Cuty Suzuki, Hikari Fukuoka, and Makie Numao
• Hiromi Yagi vs. Toshie Uematsu
• Fight To The Last Young Generation One Night Tag Tournament Final: Sonoko Kato and Yuki Miyazaki vs. Tomoko Kuzumi and Chikayo Nagashima 

I had to make some more profiles but now everyone wrestling on the show has one, you can click on their names above to go straight to it. There will definitely be some clipping here, lets see how it goes.

Chigusa Nagayo, Dynamite Kansai, Bomber Hikaru, Bolshoi Kid, Saburo, and Hiromi Sugo vs. Devil Masami, Mayumi Ozaki, KAORU, Cuty Suzuki, Hikari Fukuoka, and Makie Numao
Original Captain Fall Match

As soon as the bell rings all 12 wrestlers start brawling, Saburo catches Makie Numao with a chokeslam and she covers her for the three count! Makie Numao is eliminated. Poor rookie. The match resets while they roll Makie out of the ring, Saburo and Fukuoka stay in as the legal wrestlers and Saburo throws Fukuoka in he corner before tagging in Bolshoi. Bolshoi walks the ropes while holding Fukuoka’s wrist before hitting an armdrag, another armdrag by Bolshoi and she hits a dropkick. Fukuoka dropkicks her back and tags Suzuki, tombstone by Suzuki and she covers Bolshoi for two. Dragon Sleeper by Suzuki, she lets go as Ozaki comes in and Ozaki also puts Bolshoi in a sleeper. Nagayo eventually breaks it up, Ozaki tags in Kaoru and Kaoru hits a vertical suplex. Sleeper by Kaoru but she eventually lets go and tags Ozaki back in, Bolshoi hits a trio of crossbodies on Ozaki until Ozaki catches her and swings Bolshoi around by her neck. Irish whip by Ozaki and she hits a powerbomb, but Bolshoi kicks out of the cover. Tequila Sunrise by Ozaki, her team runs in to block the other team and Ozaki picks up the three count! Bolshoi Kid is eliminated.

Ozaki stays in and powerbombs Sugo, a second powerbomb by Ozaki and she covers her for the three count! Hiromi Sugo is eliminated as we get rid of the lower ranked wrestlers. Saburo comes in but Ozaki DDTs her, she tags in Kaoru but Saburo hits a Side Russian Leg Sweep. Everyone takes turns headbutting Kaoru, Saburo goes up top but Masami grabs her from the apron and pulls her out of the ring. Kaoru goes off the ropes but Bomber hits her from the apron and then dives out of the ring onto Masami. The other wrestlers see this as a challenge as they all take turns doing dives out of the ring, moonsault by Kaoru out of the ring and Nagayo is the final one as she dives out with a crossbody onto Kaoru. Nagayo slides both Kaoru and Saburo back in the ring, swandive missile dropkick by Kaoru and she nails a tombstone piledriver. Swandive moonsault by Kaoru, and she covers Saburo for the three count! Saburo is eliminated. Things are not going well for Chigusa Nagayo’s team. The teams huddle before Masami and Nagayo come in, Masami boots Nagayo in her already injured shoulder before tagging in Kaoru. Kaoru focuses on the shoulder as well but Nagayo avoids her legdrop, kicks to the leg by Nagayo but Kaoru tags in Ozaki. Ozaki applies a seated armbar and then a Fujiwara Armbar, but it gets broken up. Suzuki is tagged in and she also applies an armbar, she tags Fukuoka and Fukuoka elbows Nagayo in the arm. Nagayo gets away and applies a sleeper, but Fukuoka gets a foot on the ropes for the break.

Nagayo tags in Kansai, headscissors by Fukuoka to Kansai and she tags in Ozaki. Kansai quickly drops Ozaki with a backdrop suplex, she pulls Ozaki off the turnbuckles but is overwhelmed by Ozaki’s teammates. Kansai is stomped by all five of them, German suplex by Ozaki but it gets a two count. Ozaki tags Masami but Kansai avoids her senton attempt, she tags in Nagayo and Bomber comes in too as they all stomp on Masami. Nagayo puts Masami in a sleeper but lets go after a moment and hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Nagayo goes for a powerbomb but it gets interrupted, Kansai puts Masami on the top turnbuckle but Masami recovers and goes for a legdrop. Kansai moves out of the way, she goes for Splash Mountain and nails it, getting the three count! Devi Masami is eliminated. Kansai and Fukuoka are the next wrestlers in, piledriver by Kansai but it gets broken up. Kansai tags in Bomber, Bombs Away by Bomber and she hits the Reverse Splash, but her pin is broken up. Bomber picks up Fukuoka but Fukuoka slides away and they trade elbows. Fukuoka knocks Bomber off her feet and covers her for two, Fukuoka charges Bomber but Bomber hits a powerslam. Bomber goes up top, Kansai and Nagayo both come in and hit lariats on Fukuoka. Diving headbutt by Bomber, but her cover is broken up. Hard elbow by Bomber, she picks up Fukuoka as Nagayo and Kansai come in, but they elbow their own partner by accident. Ozaki and Suzuki run in to take care of Kansai and Nagayo, Rider Kick by Fukuoka to Bomber and she covers her for the three count! Bomber Hikaru is eliminated.

We are now at 4 vs. 2, Nagayo squares off with Fukuoka and hits a leg sweep. Fukuoka moonsaults over Nagayo and hits a headscissors, Kaoru comes in and hits a front dropkick on Nagayo but Nagayo fires back with a lariat on her. Backdrop suplex by Nagayo on Fukuoka but Kaoru tags in, Nagayo goes for a suplex on her as well but Kaoru blocks it and lands on top of her. Kaoru goes for a swandive move but Nagayo moves, leg sweep by Nagayo and she hits a powerbomb. She goes for another powerbomb but Kaoru reverses it into a hurricanrana for two. Kaoru tags in Suzuki but Nagayo catches her with a heel kick and tags in Kansai. Kansai picks up Suzuki but Suzuki applies a dragon sleeper, she lets go of it after a moment and hits a release German. Ozaki and Fukuoka both hit release Germans as well, dragon suplex by Suzuki to Kansai but Nagayo breaks it up. Suzuki goes up top but Kaoru kicks her as she jumps off, Ozaki comes in and powerbombs Kansai before Fukuoka hits a moonsault. Double footstomp by Suzuki and Ozaki, then Fukuoka goes back up top and nails the moonsault footstomp, but Nagayo breaks up Suzuki’s cover. Suzuki and Ozaki both go up top of one corner while Kaoru and Fukuoka go to a different corner and all four hit diving headbutts, but once again Nagayo breaks up the pin attempt. Suzuki and Ozaki go back up top again and hit a double jumping knee to the back but the cover is interrupted. They go up top AGAIN but this time accidentally hit their own partners, Kansai goes for Splash Mountain on Suzuki but Suzuki reverses into a cradle and picks up the three count! Dynamite Kansai is eliminated! And… the bell rings and the match is over! But who won?

Look, I don’t know what is going on. Once the bell rings, the referee raises Chigusa Nagayo’s hand as her team looks really happy, even though her partner just got pinned and she was the only one left on her team. My only theory, and its just a theory, is that there was a time limit and that at the end of the time if one team wasn’t completely eliminated, it defaulted to if the captain was eliminated, and if Devil Masami was the captain then that would mean her team lost (assuming Nagayo was also a captain). But I have no idea if that is true, they didn’t flash up a winner/match time after the match like they always do so I can’t say for sure, and I can’t understand Japanese to know if the commentators explained it.

Anyway. This was a really fun match, non-explainable ending aside. There were a few slower periods but generally the action was fast paced, especially at the end. They were just throwing bombs at each other, I’m not sure how Kansai survived everything being done to her. Obviously some of the wrestlers were focused on more than others, but that was generally based on rank and emphasizing the wrestlers that the fans came to see. The dive sequence was memorable and they kept the eliminations coming at a decent pace so it never felt like it was dragging. While I wish I had more details on the ending, still a really entertaining match with all the high flying chaos I was hoping for.  Recommended

Hiromi Yagi vs. Toshie Uematsu

Toshie dropkicks Hiromi from behind, she kicks off of her in the corner and hits an elbow. Another running elbow by Toshie but Hiromi applies a cradle and elbows Toshie in the head. Snapmares by Hiromi and she applies a headlock, Hiromi gets Toshie’s back and applies a bodyscissors. Hiromi switches it into a seated armbar and applies a cross armbreaker, but Toshie wiggles to the ropes before she can fully lock it in to get the break. Irish whip by Hiromi and she hits an armdrag, but Toshie switches positions with her and hits a snapmare before applying an armbar. Cross armbreaker by Toshie but Hiromi immediately rolls out of it, front necklock by Toshie but Hiromi slams out of it and covers Toshie for two. Irish whip by Hiromi but Toshie avoids her charge and rolls her up for two. Irish whip by Toshie and she hits a back elbow, another back elbow by Toshie and she covers Hiromi for two. Toshie applies a stretch submission before putting Hiromi in an Indian Deathlock, she goes back to a stretch hold but Hiromi gets out of it and hits a German suplex.

Hiromi picks up Toshie, Toshie throws Hiromi into the corner but Hiromi avoids her charge and applies a kneelock. Toshie gets in the ropes for the break, Irish whip by Hiromi but Toshie reverses it, she goes for a Leg Roll Clutch but Hiromi blocks it. Knee to the midsection by Hiromi but Toshie cradles her for a two count. Side headlock takedown by Toshie and she hits a dropkick, another dropkick by Toshie and she hits a scoop slam. Toshie goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she quickly goes up top again but Hiromi catches her with a Fujiwara Armbar when she jump off. Armdrag by Hiromi but Toshie rolls her up for two, Hiromi quickly gets Toshie to the mat and applies a kneelock. Back up, Toshie gets another quick roll-up but it gets two. Judo toss by Hiromi, she picks up Toshie and drops her on her head with a backdrop suplex. Hiromi goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, she goes up again but Toshie recovers and dropkicks her before she can jump off. Toshie joins Hiromi but Hiromi slides down her back and hits a sunset flip powerbomb for the three count! Hiromi Yagi wins!

This was a good match, but oddly structured which happens with younger wrestlers sometimes. It was basically just a random mesh of flash pins and submission holds, without a lot of transitions or method to get from one to another. The submissions never felt particularly deadly and didn’t play into the finish at all, even if it is clear from this match that Hiromi Yagi is a skilled submission machine. The backdrop suplex was very head drop-y so I am glad that Toshie was ok, not sure if they went to the end quicker because of it. Perfectly fine for a casual watch, nothing wrong with the action itself, it just didn’t have a clear direction so it was hard to get invested.

Sonoko Kato and Yuki Miyazaki and Tomoko Kuzumi and Chikayo Nagashima
Fight To The Last Young Generation One Night Tag Tournament Final

• Semi Final: Sonoko Kato and Yuki Miyazaki defeated Toshie Sato and Kanako Motoya
• Semi Final: Chikayo Nagashima and Tomoko Kuzumi defeated Chiharu Nakano and Reiko Amano

Which set up this match to end the event. All four of these wrestlers are basically rookies, with the JWP wrestlers being slightly more experienced as Miyazaki debuted in January 1995 and Kuzumi (better known today as Azumi Hyuga) debuted in December of 1994. The teams are mixed between promotions but that won’t matter here as they all are feisty and want to win the tournament. Not a lot of time is left on this broadcast so I assume this match will be very clipped.

We join this match in progress, with Sonoko being double teamed. Yuki comes in to help as Sonoko gets Tomoko up in an airplane spin, Chikayo cradles Sonoko from behind however and picks up a two count. Chikayo stomps on Sonoko and hits a cutter, scoop slam by Chikayo and she covers Sonoko for two. Irish whip by Chikayo but Sonoko reverses it and hits a bulldog. Tomoko runs in and dropkicks Sonoko, Chikayo tags Tomoko but Sonoko hits a hard elbow. Tomoko flips herself out to the apron and hits a swandive dropkick, cover by Tomoko but it gets two. Sonoko escapes Tomoko and hits a bulldog, giving her time to tag in Yuki. Hip attacks by Yuki to Tomoko, she picks her up but after a collision the advantage is regained by Tomoko. Swandive dropkick by Tomoko and she stomps at Yuki, Yuki goes for a leg clutch but Tomoko blocks it and tags Chikayo. Stunner by Chikayo and she hits a cutter for a two count. Chikayo picks up Yuki but Yuki hits a sunset flip for two. She tags in Sonoko but Chikayo catches Sonoko with the Corbata for two. Chikayo goes off the ropes but Sonoko pushes her off and hits four leg drops for a two count. Sonoko picks up Chikayo and hits a running bulldog, Acid Drop by Sonoko but Chikayo barely gets a shoulder up. Yuki goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Chikayo, Sonoko then delivers a diving Lou Thesz Press but Tomoko breaks up the cover. Sonoko gets Chikayo on her shoulders but she wiggles off and rolls up Sonoko for the three count! Tomoko Kuzumi and Chikayo Nagashima win the match and the tournament.

This was too clipped to get a great feel of, only 5 of 17 minutes was shown, but what we did see was fine. Very fast paced, lots going on, no real downtime as these younger wrestlers haven’t really started working on “pacing” yet so its constant action. The fact three of these four are still active today is pretty cool (and rare), and its fun to see them back when they were still learning. Tomoko looked great as she always does but there were no real weak links here, everyone did their part well and it was the type of match you couldn’t look away or you’d miss something. I liked what I saw, just wish that I could have seen more.

The post GAEA Japan SPLASH J and RUNNING G II on 1/14/96 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Sendai Girls’
Date: April 16th, 2019
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 998

I don’t normally review events the moment they become available, but I was a little excited for this show. Sendai Girls’ flies under the radar for the bulk of the year but a few times a year they pop in for a major show such as this one. For Korakuen Hall they give us a special treat as this event is a real banger, with the last four matches in particular all having a real chance of being memorable. Jordynne Grace is the special guest here as she challenges Chihiro Hashimoto, plus we get Sareee facing off against Meiko Satomura! Here is the full card:

• KAORU and Mikoto Shindo vs. Mei Suruga and Ryo Mizunami
• Aiger and Sakura Hirota vs. Alex Lee and Bolshoi Kid
• Sendai Girls Junior Championship: Millie McKenzie vs. Manami
• Mika Iwata vs. Yuu
• Meiko Satomura vs. Sareee
• DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Hikaru Shida and Killer Kelly
• Sendai Girls World Championship: Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Jordynne Grace

This show was broadcast on Samurai TV so some matches may be clipped to fit into the two hour block. All wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names to go straight to it.

KAORU and Mikoto Shindo vs. Mei Suruga and Ryo Mizunami

We join this one in progress with Mei and Mikoto in the ring, they both attempt scoop slams until Mikoto hits one and covers Mei for two. Dropkick by Mikoto and she tags in KAORU, KAORU boots Mei in the face but Mei gets away from her and rams KAORU head-first into the turnbuckles. She tries to do it a second time but KAORU blocks it, dropkick by Mei and she twists on KAORU’s arm before springboarding around the ring into an armdrag. Ryo comes in, she picks up Mei and rams her into KAORU for another two count. Mei tags Ryo, spear by Ryo to KAORU and she chops her into the corner. Mikoto gets tired of watching Ryo and attacks her from behind, but Mei come in too to even the odds. Mei and Ryo both attack their opponents in opposite corners before posing in the middle of the ring, Ryo goes back to KAORU but KAORU elbows her off. Lariat by Ryo and she covers KAORU, but the pin is broken up. Double Irish whip to KAORU but KAORU cartwheels through it, she gets her board and hits Ryo in the head with it. Excalibur by KAORU, but Ryo gets a shoulder up on the cover.

KAORU goes up top but Mei hits her from the apron, Mikoto runs over to grab Mei and KAORU goes for the Valkyrie, but Ryo rolls out of the way. Lariat by Ryo,  but KAORU bridges out of the pin and cradles Ryo for two. KAORU goes off the ropes and hits a Frankensteiner, but Mei breaks up the cover. KAORU tags in Mikoto, dropkicks by Mikoto and she tries to slam Ryo, but Ryo blocks it. Scoop slam by Ryo and she hits a leg drop for a quick two. Crab hold by Ryo but KAORU comes in with her board and hits Ryo in the head with it. Big boot by KAORU, she grabs Mikoto and suplexes her onto Ryo. Mikoto picks up Ryo and stomps her foot before finally scoop slamming her, cover by Mikoto but Ryo kicks out. Mikoto goes off the ropes but Mei hits her from the apron, Ryo charges in but she hits Mei by accident. Mikoto locks in a few flash pins but Ryo kicks out each time, KAORU helps with a big boot but Mei breaks up the cover. Mikoto goes off the ropes but Ryo catches her with a powerslam, hard lariat by Ryo but Mikoto barely gets a shoulder up on the cover. Ryo locks in a deep crab hold and Ryo has no choice but to submit! Mei Suruga and Ryo Mizunami are the winners.

For a clipped opener, this was actually really good. As I suspected, KAORU and Ryo are two that don’t mind giving rookies some offense and this is the best I have seen from both Mikoto and Mei as they were able to do more than just intro-level offense. Even though the veterans maintained their dominance, the rookies both had segments where they got over on the veterans, making it feel like a more even exchange than it really was. KAORU played it straight, which was appreciated, and Mei is a treasure to watch. Really solid way to begin the show.  Mildly Recommended

Aiger and Sakura Hirota vs. Alex Lee and Bolshoi Kid

Needless to say, this won’t be your traditional match. Bolshoi Kid and Alex get the early advantage, Bolshoi Kid and Sakura both get an opponents wrist and walks the ropes, but while Bolshoi Kid successfully hits an armdrag per usual Sakura crotches herself on the top rope. Bolshoi Kid goes off the ropes to do a dive but poses in the ring instead, meanwhile Aiger chases Alex around the floor. Bolshoi Kid joins the fun too and drags Sakura around ringside, but eventually she gets back in the ring with Alex and Sakura. Sakura is double teamed in the corner, Alex stays in with Sakura and kicks her into the corner. Alex charges Sakura but Sakura gets her to stop, face crusher by Sakura and she rolls out of the ring as Aiger comes in as legal. Bolshoi Kid comes in too, Aiger uses her creepy zombie tactic and hits a DDT, but is too slow to capitalize so Bolshoi Kid knocks her to the mat. Bolshoi Kid snaps a rope into Aiger’s face chokes her with it, but Aiger gets a chair and hits everyone with it. Bolshoi Kid gets the chair from her and sits down on it, leading to all four wrestlers trying to sit in the chair.

They play Musical Chairs but they all sit in the chair together again, Bolshoi Kid tries to sit in the chair again but Sakura pulls it out from under her and covers Bolshoi Kid for two. Alex and Sakura remain in the ring, suplex by Alex and she kicks Sakura in the chest. Sakura drop toeholds Alex into the ropes and gives her the Oil Check, Sakura jumps over Alex repeatedly but Alex rolls out of the way when she tries to chop her. Or elbow her, not sure. Sakura convinces Alex to try to do the same and Alex complies but Sakura kicks her in the stomach before she can finish. Bolshoi Kid comes in and also tries to get over on Sakura, but Sakura schoolboys her. Aiger gets on the top turnbuckle and scares Bolshoi Kid before biting her hand, Sakura Oil Checks Bolshoi Kid but Aiger then spits dust into Sakura’s face. Sakura falls on top of Bolshoi Kid with the cover, but Bolshoi Kid kicks out. Aiger holds Alex for Sakura but Alex moves and Sakura kisses Aiger by mistake, high kick by Alex to Sakura and Bolshoi Kid hits Sakura with a Tiger Feint Kick. Oil Check by Bolshoi Kid to Sakura, she applies La Magistral and she picks up the three count! Bolshoi Kid and  Alex Lee win!

This isn’t my favorite type of match and honestly I wish it had been clipped (which it was not). Having Bolshoi Kid involved added something a bit different to it but otherwise it was just your standard Aiger and Sakura Hirota match we have all seen a hundred times. Skippable early-card fodder for me, but if you enjoy these matches then its probably worth the watch.

(c) Millie McKenzie vs. Manami
Sendai Girls’ Junior Championship

Manami dropkicks Millie in the back before the match starts, she knocks Millie into the corner and takes her to the mat, putting Millie in a headlock. Millie recovers and puts Manami in a headlock of her own, but Manami switches it into a headscissors. Millie stretches Manami’s legs before putting her in an ankle hold, Manami crawls to the ropes and she forces the break. Millie goes for a snapmare but Manami reverses it into one of her own, bodyscissors by Manami and she stretches Millie’s back. Manami picks up Millie but Millie hits a scoop slam, Manami fires back with elbows and she hits a dropkick. Millie kicks Manami in the midsection and drops her with a swinging neckbreaker, cover by Millie and she gets a two count. Millie picks up Manami but Manami dropkicks her, sunset flip by Manami but Millie kicks out. Manami tries a few more flash pins with no success, Manami gets Millie’s back and puts her in the Cattle Mutilation , she pulls Millie back up and cradles her but Millie kicks out. Manami goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick, another dropkick by Manami but Millie avoids the next one and gets Manami’s back. Manami elbows away and hits another dropkick, but Millie comes back with a spear and she picks up the three count! Millie McKenzie wins and retains the championship.

I was really enjoying this until it ended so suddenly. For wrestlers their age/lack of familiarity with each other, the mat wrestling was really smooth and even though it was a short match they both showed natural ability. The ending was out of left field, it felt like the match was still crescendoing when it was abruptly over. A lot of fun while it lasted, I haven’t seen much of Millie McKenzie previously but just from this five minutes she seems to show a lot of promise.  Mildly Recommended

Mika Iwata vs. Yuu

They tie-up to start, Yuu gets Mika to the mat but Mika returns to her feet only to eat a hard shoulderblock. Chops by Yuu and she puts Mika in the corner, Irish whip by Yuu but its reversed and Mika hits a jumping knee. Hard kick to the back by Mika and she hits a PK for a two count. Mika picks up Yuu but Yuu catches her with a swinging sidewalk slam followed by a running senton for two. Yuu deadlifts Mika up and hits a powerslam, Yuu goes to pick up Mika but Mika elbows her back and the two trade blows. Mika goes off the ropes but Yuu catches her with an elbow, Yuu charges Mika but Mika delivers a superkick. Back up they jockey for position, Mika rolls up Yuu but it gets two. Kicks to the chest by Mika but Yuu catches one and tosses Mika to the mat. Dropkick by Yuu in the corner, she rolls Mika to the middle for of the ring and covers her for two. Yuu picks up Mika and chops her but Mika kicks her back, Mika goes off the ropes but Yuu catches her with a judo toss. Yuu goes for a sleeper but Mika elbows out of it, she goes off the ropes but Yuu again catches her with a judo throw. Yuu goes for a powerbomb but Mika reverses it into a cross armbreaker, but Yuu lifts Mika up and powerbombs her way out of the hold. Yuu goes for a chop but Mika kicks her arm, Yuu comes back with a lariat and both wrestlers are down. Yuu tries to pick up Mika but her arm gives out on her, she ducks Mika’s high kick but Mika connects with her second attempt. Mika quickly jumps up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a high kick, cover by Mika and she picks up the three count! Mika Iwata is the winner!

Another good match, and one of the things I liked about it is that it told an old school story that you don’t see much these days. Limb work is common, limb work that actually prevents a wrestler from doing a big move and they lose because of it happens far less often and I appreciate that attention to detail. I wouldn’t say they had great chemistry, which isn’t too surprising, but they worked well enough together and clearly had a plan that they stuck to. Yuu is a beast but the story here was more Mika’s attempts to neutralize her, which she was able to do. Straight-forward but well done, and even though it was a bit short I thought they both did a great job with the time constraints. Not a MOTYC type match but a really solid midcard match.  Recommended

Meiko Satomura vs. Sareee

They begin with a tie-up, Satomura pushes Sareee into the ropes but she gives a clean break. They go into a Test of Strength, Satomura gets Sareee to the mat but Sareee applies a headscissors as they trade holds. Satomura gets the better of things on the mat and stops Sareee from reaching the ropes, she kicks Sareee in the chest repeatedly but Sareee hits a springboard armdrag followed by a dropkick. Sareee puts Satomura in her modified Muta Lock, she lets go after a moment and hits jumping footstomps. Sareee picks up Satomura but Satomura kicks her in the head with her heel, kicks to the leg by Satomura and she puts Sareee in a leg submission. Sareee gets into the ropes for the break, Satomura picks her up but Sareee delivers an elbow and the two trade shots. Satomura goes off the ropes but Sareee nails her with a dropkick, another dropkick by Sareee but Satomura drops her with a backdrop suplex. Satomura kicks Sareee into the corner, but Sareee ducks a kick and hits rapid fire elbows. Satomura knocks Sareee to the mat, Irish whip by Satomura and she nails a jumping heel kick. Kick to the head by Satomura and Sareee rolls out of the ring before collapsing on the floor. Satomura goes out after her and slides Sareee back into the ring, Sareee goes for a kick but Satomura catches it and hits a leg sweep. Seated armbar by Satomura but Sareee rolls to the ropes and gets the break.

Satomura picks up Sareee and she hits a vertical suplex, hard elbow by Satomura but Sareee jumps up on the second turnbuckle and hits a dropkick. Sareee goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she goes to the top turnbuckle again but Satomura hits a Pele Kick on her before she can jump off. Backdrop suplex by Satomura, but Sareee kicks out of the cover. Satomura goes for a choke but Sareee slides away, Satomura kicks her in the chest but Sareee fires up and elbows her. She eats a hard elbow for her trouble, Satomura goes off the ropes but Sareee ducks her heel kick and delivers a thrust kick. She then goes off the ropes but Satomura kicks her in the head, cover by Satomura but Sareee bridges out of the pin. Satomura immediately drops her with a Death Valley Bomb, she picks up Sareee but Sareee slides away and hits a Uranage. Sareee picks up Satomura but Satomura snaps off a DDT, she goes off the ropes and hits the cartwheel kneedrop. Satomura positions Sareee and goes to the top turnbuckle, but Sareee recovers and tosses Satomura back to the mat. Kicks to the chest by Sareee but Satomura kicks her in the head, another high kick by Satomura and she nails a Death Valley Bomb, but Sareee barely kicks out of the cover. Satomura picks up Sareee but Sareee quickly hits a Uranage, one final Uranage by Sareee and she covers Satomura for the three count! Sareee is the winner!

This is a peak Meiko Satomura match. The style isn’t for everyone, but it should be as its a no-nonsense hard hitting style that barely gives you a chance to breath during the home stretch. I really hope this is built upon as its a big deal for Sareee to beat Meiko Satomura, who isn’t the unbeatable force she used to be but still is one of the top active Joshi wrestlers across the entire scene. Every time Satomura drilled Sareee, Sareee was right there to drill her back and everything she gave to Sareee, Sareee had an answer. The kicks were brutal and the suplexes were really snug, as neither was going to allow the other to be the tougher wrestler. Wrestling is cooperative of course but I do believe there are times wrestlers give their opponents a little extra and I think both were doing that here, the last five minutes were just bombs and big strikes until Sareee hit the right combination to hold down Satomura barely long enough for the three count. I wouldn’t go as far as say this was an official torch passing, its too early to know for sure, but its a big moment in Sareee’s career and she delivered. A must-see match from two of the most entertaining wrestlers in all of wrestling.  Highly Recommended

DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Hikaru Shida and Killer Kelly

Hiroyo and Hikaru start the match for their respective teams, hard shoulderblock by Hiroyo but Hikaru kips up and hits a hurricanrana. Hikaru goes for a jumping knee but Hiroyo catches her, she throws Hikaru into the corner but Hikaru avoids her charge and they reach a stalemate. Kelly and Chisako tag in, leg kicks by Kelly but Chisako trips her and goes for Kelly’s ankle. Kelly kicks Chisako away and hits an uppercut in the corner, knees by Kelly and she nails a pump kick for a two count. Irish whip by Kelly but Chisako boots her, Hiroyo comes in and she helps Chisako take out Kelly. Hikaru jumps in to help but gets a double dropkick for her trouble, Hiroyo throws Kelly into the corner and chops her in the chest. Hiroyo throws Kelly into the corner but Kelly avoids her charge, elbows by Hiroyo but Kelly catches one and headbutts her. Double underhook suplex by Kelly and she dropkicks Hiroyo in the corner, giving her time to tag in Hikaru. Hikaru knees Hiroyo in the corner, she puts her across the second rope and suplexes Chisako into Hiroyo. Vertical suplex by Hikaru, she goes off the ropes but Hiroyo blocks the knee to the head.

Enzuigiri by Hikaru, she goes off the ropes but Hiroyo catches her hurricanrana attempt and applies a crab hold. Hikaru gets to the ropes for the break, Hiroyo gets on the second turnbuckle and nails the reverse double kneedrop, but Hikaru kicks out of the cover. Chisako is tagged in and she hits a missile dropkick to Hikaru, another dropkick by Chisako and she covers Hikaru for two. Hard elbow by Chisako but Hikaru nails her with a jumping knee. Hikaru goes for another knee but Chisako moves, Hikaru gets Chisako’s back and knees her in the back of the head. Running knee by Hikaru, but it gets a two count cover. Hikaru tags in Kelly, kick to the gut by Kelly and she hits a gutwrench suplex. Kelly picks up Chisako and puts her on the top turnbuckle, Kelly joins her and applies a hanging guillotine. She legs go after a moment and gets back into the ring, she puts Chisako in the Tree of Woe before hitting a dropkick for two. Chisako falls out of the ring, Kelly gets on the apron but Chisako blocks the PK attempt. Hikaru gets on the apron too but Chisako avoids both of their strikes and Hiroyo knocks them both down to the floor. Hiroyo picks up Chisako and press slams her out of the ring down onto the floor, Hiroyo slides Chisako and Kelly back into the ring and Chisako hits a running elbow.

Dropkick by Chisako, and she covers Kelly for two. Chisako goes up top but Kelly recovers and joins her, Chisako headbutts Kelly but Hikaru runs in and superplexes Chisako to the mat. PK by Kelly to Chisako, cover by Kelly but it gets two. Kelly and Chisako trade elbows, Chisako goes off the ropes but Kelly nails a big boot. Kelly and Chisako slowly get up, head kick by Kelly and Hikaru runs in to knee Chisako in the face. Fisherman suplex hold by Kelly, but Hiroyo breaks it up. Hiroyo boots Kelly and hits a short range lariat, Hiroyo tosses Chisako at Kelly for a catapult dropkick and Chisako covers her for a two count. Chisako goes for a suplex but Kelly blocks it, Chisako slides away and Hiroyo drops Kelly with a backdrop suplex. Chisako goes up top but Hikaru runs in and joins her, Hiroyo grabs Hikaru from behind however and powerbombs her while Chisako hits Kelly with the diving footstomp. Cover by Chisako, but Kelly barely gets a shoulder up. Chisako quickly goes back up top again and this time she nails the Hormone Splash, picking up the three count! DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto are the winners.

Even though this was the longest match on the card, the time just flew by as the action was non-stop. Hikaru Shida and Chisako don’t have any ‘slowdown’ in them so anything they were involved the pace was hectic, while Hiroyo and Kelly were able to keep up without any real issues. Kelly looked a bit awkward at times but generally didn’t look out of place, her moveset is unique so it helped the match feel fresh. While it wasn’t chock-full of ring psychology or a deeper meaning, sometimes four wrestlers going all-out to entertain is all you need. A simple story, but a very fun match to watch nonetheless.  Recommended

(c) Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Jordynne Grace
Sendai Girls’ World Championship

Jordynne and Chihiro jockey for position to start, they briefly take it to the mat but quickly return to their feet. Chihiro pushes Jordynne into the ropes but Jordynne switches positions with her before hitting a side headlock takedown. Chihiro gets out of it and they reach another stalemate, they go into a Test of Strength which Chihiro gets the better of at first. Jordynne bridges back up and they trade wristlocks, side headlock by Jordynne but Chihiro Irish whips out of it and they collide with neither wrestler going down. They both try to knock each other over until Jordynne finally succeeds, snapmare by Jordynne and she connects with a sliding lariat for two. Jordynne goes for a stretch hold but Chihiro reverses it, Chihiro gets Jordynne’s waist and takes her to the mat, putting her in a modified choke. Chihiro throws Jordynne into the corner but Jordynne elbows her as she charges in, Jordynne tosses Chihiro out to the apron and punches her through the ropes, but Chihiro blocks the suplex attempt. Jordynne slides out of the ring and slams Chihiro face-first into the apron, she puts Chihiro against the ring post and chops her. Jordynne slides Chihiro back in the ring, cover by Jordynne but it gets a two count.

Jordynne picks up Chihiro but Chihiro scoop slams her, rolling senton by Chihiro and she covers Jordynne for two. Both wrestlers slowly get up, Jordynne kicks Chihiro when she charges in and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Chihiro recovers and joins her. Jordynne flips over Chihiro’s back and nails a powerbomb, but Chihiro gets a shoulder up on the pin attempt. Jordynne grabs Chihiro but Chihiro elbows her off, alternative lariats by Jordynne and she covers Chihiro for two. Jordynne kicks Chihiro and lariats her in the chest, Irish whip by Jordynne and she delivers a spinebuster. Jordynne pulls Chihiro near the corner and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Chihiro grabs her from behind and drops her with a release German. Lariat by Chihiro but Jordynne isn’t phased and fires back with her own lariat, both wrestlers are very slow to return to their feet and they trade elbows once both manage to do so. Lariat by Chihiro but Jordynne slams Chihiro for a two count. Jordynne picks up Chihiro and throws her into the corner, she puts her on the top turnbuckle and goes for a Muscle Buster, but Chihiro slides away. Chihiro picks up Jordynne and nails a hard powerbomb, German suplex hold by Chihiro and she gets the three count! Chihiro Hashimoto wins and retains the championship.

A pretty good match and a fine conclusion for this event. It went about as you’d expect and how it should have gone, two strong wrestlers slamming into each other repeatedly until someone went down. Lots of power moves, hard lariats, and general toughness. Even though the match was on the short side for a main event title match it didn’t feel like it ended prematurely, they had the time to tell the story they were going to tell. Some of the drama was taken out simply because there wasn’t really any chance Chihiro was losing, but it was an even match with both getting their shots in. Overall entertaining, it didn’t reach the levels of Satomura/Sareee but still a match that fans of either won’t be disappointed in. Mildly Recommended

The post Sendai Girls’ on 4/16/19 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Anyone that has followed me on Twitter for any length of time may remember that I have talked about this DVD for awhile. The only place that sells it is Diana’s official shop, but its 6,000 yen and they don’t ship to the US so it takes extra money to get it ordered/delivered. Right when I was about to pull the trigger on getting it last fall, their shop was down for about four months, but luckily it came back so I finally purchased it. Diana very rarely releases their shows and hasn’t had one of their own produced full events air on TV since 2011. This event was only available on DVD and showcases one of the biggest events in their history. In the main event we get a cage match, which is the most recent cage match in Joshi as there hasn’t been one since. Here is the full card:

• Lylah Lodge vs. Rabbit Miyu
• Crazy Mary Dobson vs. Eiger
• Arisa Nakajima, Yuiga, and Hamuko Hoshi vs. Cherry, Jessica James, and Raideen Hagane
• Dump Matsumoto and Keiko Aono vs. Megumi Yabushita and KAZUKI
• Kaoru Ito, Command Bolshoi, and Meiko Satomura vs. Sareee, Kagetsu, and Kaho Kobayashi
• Jaguar Yokota and Manami Toyota vs. Mima Shimoda and Takako Inoue
• Cage Death Match: Kyoko Inoue and Tomoko Watanabe vs. Yumiko Hotta and Mask de Sun

All the wrestlers on the show have a profile on the website, you can click on their name to go straight to it. Since we are watching this on DVD, all matches are shown in full.

Lylah Lodge vs. Rabbit Miyu

Lylah trash talks Miyu so Miyu pushes her, but Lylah pushes Miyu down in the corner. Miyu avoids Lylah and dropkicks her in the knee, another dropkick by Miyu but Lylah blocks the scoop slam. Lylah hits a slam of her own, another one by Lylah and she covers Miyu for two. Miyu bridges out of the pin and boots Lylah repeatedly in the head, she applies a waistlock but Lylah turns out of it. Elbows by Miyu and she hits a DDT, running boot by Miyu and she goes up top, hitting a missile dropkick. She goes up top again and goes for another one, but Lylah absorbs the blow. Miyu goes off the ropes but Lylah hits a hard shoulderblock, another one by Lylah and she covers Miyu for a two count. Leg drop by Lylah and she hits a running hip attack in the corner, she hits a second one but Miyu gets out of the corner and they trade elbows. Scoop slam by Lylah and she connects with the running senton, bur Miyu kicks out of the cover. Lylah picks up Miyu and drops her with a running powerslam, she goes up top to the second turnbuckle and nails the diving senton for the three count! Lylah Lodge is the winner.

So I wasn’t completely right about the match layout. They did do a lot of big vs. little spots but Miyu had a lot of offense in this match, it was just about 50/50. I was expecting her just to get a few hope spots but then lose in convincing fashion. Too short to be offensive but nothing memorable to kick off the show.

Crazy Mary Dobson vs. Eiger

Eiger starts fast as she tries to catch Mary, but Mary generally is able to avoid all her charges. Eiger gets her back however, Mary spins around but Eiger screams and scares Mary out of the ring to the floor. Eiger goes out after her and plays with the crowd, they return to the ring but Mary has her Jason Mask and uses it to scare Eiger. She gets a staple gun but Eiger takes it from her, but the referee gets it before she gets to use it. Mary grabs Eiger from behind and hits a release German, Irish whip by Mary and she elbows Eiger in the chest. Eiger gets back in control and twists on Mary’s hair, Irish whip by Eiger but Mary flips herself out to the apron and hits a diving crossbody from the top for two. Knee by Mary, she argues with the referee for a bit which gives Eiger time to recover. Kneedrop by Eiger, she waits for Mary to get up but Mary kicks her in the head when she charges in. Eiger rolls out of the ring but Mary goes out after her and throws her into the ring post. Back in the ring, Eiger headbutts Mary and goes up top, but Mary uppercuts her before she can jump off. Eiger starts acting freaky so Mary gets her mask and staple gun to even the odds. Eiger kicks the referee and throws him out of the ring, she spits dust at Mary and kicks her down in the corner. She gets the staple gun and staples Mary’s face, Mary bails out of the ring but Eiger follows her out and throws her around in the crowd. They finally return to the ring, Eiger gets Mary by the throat and hits a chokeslam, but Mary kicks out of the cover. Eiger gets on the second turnbuckle but Mary elbows her and joins her, hitting a Frankensteiner. Mary grabs Eiger and hits a headbutt, powerslam by Mary and she goes for a moonsault, but Eiger moves out of the way. Eiger grabs Mary but Mary applies a schoolboy for the three count! Crazy Mary Dobson wins!

I wouldn’t say that long Eiger matches is my thing, but it was fun to see Mary Dobson against someone equally crazy. They played it pretty well and there were fun spots throughout the match, I wouldn’t have minded a few less minutes but I can’t say it ever was boring as they did their best to keep it interesting. A change of pace is rarely a bad thing, I wouldn’t want a card full of bizarre comedy matches but no complaints here since Eiger in particular is good at what she does.  Mildly Recommended

Arisa Nakajima, Yuiga, and Hamuko Hoshi vs. Cherry, Jessica James, and Raideen Hagane

Raideen and Yuiga start off, hard shoulderblock by Hamuko and she tags  in Jessica. Jessica and Raideen trade holds until they end up on the mat, Raideen tags in Arisa and they double team Jessica in the corner. Dropkick by Arisa and she hits a side slam before covering lll for a two count. Arisa tags in Hamuko, belly bump by Hamuko to Jessica and she puts Jessica in a crab hold. Jessica gets to the ropes for the break, Hamuko tags in Yuiga and she suplexes Jessica. Jessica gets triple teamed in the ropes, kicks by Yuiga and she knees Jessica in the face. Hamuko returns but Jessica hits her with a hurricanrana and dropkick, giving her time to tag in Raideen. Hard shoulderblocks by Raideen to everyone, she picks up Hamuko and puts her in a backbreaker. Raideen goes up top but Arisa grabs her from the apron, giving Hamuko time to recover and toss Raideen to the mat. Hamuko pushes Raideen to the mat and nails a running belly bump, but Raideen kicks out of the cover. Hamuko tags in Arisa, kicks to the face by Arisa but Arisa gets a chair and kicks it into Raideen. Hamuko and Yuiga both come in and help Arisa dropkick a chair into Raideen’s head, cover by Arisa but it gets a two count.

Raideen drives Arisa back into the corner and hits a series of lariats, cover by Raideen but it gets two. Raideen tags in Cherry, lariat by Cherry and she hits a double wrist clutch armsault for a two count. Arisa elbows Cherry back and hits a release German, Cutie Special by Arisa and she makes the tag to Hamuko. Hamuko gets Cherry up but Cherry wiggles away, palm strikes by Hamuko and she hits a body avalanche. Cutter by Hamuko, and she covers Cherry for two. Hamuko goes up top but Cherry avoids her diving body press, cradle by Cherry but the cover is broken up. Back chop by Cherry but Hamuko roars back with a lariat, and she makes the tag to Yuiga while Jessica is tagged in as well. Jessica dropkicks Yuiga in the knee and hits a hurricanrana, kick to the head by Jessica and she covers Yuiga for two. Yuiga kicks Jessica in the head and hits a cyclone suplex, Hamuko comes in and she hits a lariat onto Jessica. Big boot by Arisa, Yuiga grabs Jessica and she delivers a German suplex hold for two. Raideen and Cherry end up in the ring with everyone else, moonsault by Raideen to Yuiga and Cherry nails the Cherry Bomb. Jessica then goes up top and hits a moonsault, cover by Jessica and she gets the three count! Cherry, Jessica James, and Raideen Hagane are the winners.

This is one of those matches that its hard to even have a strong opinion on. It was a perfectly fine and watchable midcard match, everyone got a bit of a chance to shine and everyone looked good, aside from a few small miscues from Jessica James. A good shortish tag match but nothing too special.

Dump Matsumoto and Keiko Aono vs. Megumi Yabushita and KAZUKI

Dump and Megumi kick things off, Dump bumps Megumi to the mat and the action spills out onto the floor with Team Dump dominating. They return into the ring after a moment, Megumi tries to elbow Dump but Dump elbows her back and flings Megumi by the hair. Keiko returns just to give Dump assistance that she didn’t need, Keiko stays in as legal and gets a chain, choking Megumi with it. Dump comes in with a kendo stick to jab Megumi with it, KAZUKI things of coming in to help but Dump hits her with the stick to knock her back to the floor. Scoop slam by Keiko to Megumi and she chokes her, Irish whip by Dump and she lariats Megumi for a two count. Dump returns, Megumi avoids her kendo stick accounts and she applies a hanging armbar over the top rope. Megumi goes up top but Dump avoids her dive, German suplex by Dump and she covers Megumi for two. Dump tags in Keiko, but Megumi cradles her and hits a double knee off the ropes. That gives her time to tag in KAZUKI, she tags in too as they double team Keiko. KAZUKI putts Keiko in the corner and hits a reverse double knee, cover by KAZUKI but Dump hits her with the kendo stick. Keiko comes back with a face crusher and tags in Dump, who never left the ring in the first place, so Keiko keeps kicking KAZUKI. Keiko covers KAZUKI even though Dump is still standing there, KAZUKI tags Megumi and Megumi hits a hip toss onto Keiko.

Megumi slams Keiko near the corner, she charges Dump but Dump moves and Megumi falls out of the ring. They end up on the floor again as Dump tosses Megumi onto a table and into some chairs, Keiko and Megumi return to the ring and Keiko hits a tornado DDT. Kick to the head by Keiko but Megumi catches her next kick attempt, Dump comes in and hits her with a kendo stick however and Keiko kicks Megumi in the chest. Heel drop by Keiko but Megumi puts her in a cross armbreaker, that gets broken up pretty quickly as Dump mostly roams the ring hitting random people with kendo sticks. Megumi gets away and tags KAZUKI, cutter by KAZUKI to Keiko but the referee is too busy with Dump to make the count. KAZUKI picks up Keiko again and hits a backdrop suplex, diving body press by Megumi and KAZUKI follows up with a diving kneedrop for two. Megumi and KAZUKI go to Dump and try to suplex her but she blocks it and hits a double lariat. Shining Wizard by Keiko to KAZUKI, but Megumi breaks up her cover. Dump starts whacking people with the kendo stick again, high kick by Keiko to KAZUKI and she delivers the Falcon Arrow for the three count! Dump Matsumoto and Keiko Aono win!

I’m not sure if Dump took any bumps in this match, so a pretty normal Dump match. Look, I don’t pretend these are impressive matches in the technical sense, particularly considering Dump wouldn’t even go out to the apron, but these types of matches are still a guilty pleasure since they are so random. Like the Eiger match, I wouldn’t watch an event full of matches like this but everyone was trying hard (Dump in her own special way) and I enjoyed it despite its flaws.  Mildly Recommended

Kaoru Ito, Command Bolshoi, and Meiko Satomura vs. Sareee, Kagetsu, and Kaho Kobayashi

Sareee and Bolshoi start, but Kaho quickly runs in to help along with Kagetsu and they triple team Bolshoi in the corner. Ito and Meiko even the odds as the veterans stack their opponents in the corner and Ito hits a running body avalanche. Bolshoi grabs Sareee’s wrist and she walks the ropes, armdrag by Bolshoi and she chokes Sareee with her boot. Meiko comes in and Sareee eats a double shoulderblock, cover by Bolshoi but Sareee bridges out of it and tags in Kaho. Bolshoi elbows Kaho in the head and tags in Ito, Ito lariats Kaho in the corner and she puts Kaho in a crab hold. Camel clutch by Ito but Kaho avoids her charge in the corner and she hits a series of dropkicks. Elbows by Kaho but Ito doesn’t go down, Kaho finally dropkicks Ito to the mat and she covers Ito for two. Lariat by Ito and she tags in Bolshoi, Bolshoi picks up Kaho and she kicks her to the mat. Kagetsu grabs Bolshoi from the apron to help, elbows by Kaho and she dropkicks Bolshoi. Sareee runs in and dropkicks Bolshoi, sunset flip by Kaho to Bolshoi and she tags in Kagetsu. Bolshoi grabs Kagetsu to the ground and puts her in an armbar, but Kagetsu muscles out of it and spins around Bolshoi in an airplane spin. Running elbows by Kagetsu in the corner but Bolshoi hits a palm strike, Tiger Feint Kick by Bolshoi and she hits a running palm strike for a two count. Meiko comes in and kicks Kagetsu in the chest, Sareee and Kaho both come in and dropkick Meiko but Meiko fights them all off, kick to the head by Meiko to Kagetsu and she slams Sareee on top of Kagetsu. Bolshoi then hits a footstomp on the pair, Meiko stacks Kaho on top of both Kagetsu and Sareee and Ito follows with a running footstomp of her own. Meiko knees Kagetsu and hits a suplex, cover by Meiko but it gets two. Meiko goes up top but Kagetsu quickly joins her and hits a superplex. Kagetsu tags in Sareee, dropkicks by Sareee to Meiko and she cradles Meiko for a two count.

Sareee goes off the ropes but Meiko kicks her in the head, cartwheel kneedrop by Meiko and she tags in Ito. Footstomp and a senton by Ito, she picks up Sareee and drops her with a uranage. Kaho and Kagetsu run in and dropkick Ito, but Ito lariats both of them. Everyone but Ito goes outside the ring, emphatic baseball slide by Ito to her opponents and Sareee is slid back into the ring. Bolshoi and Meiko get in the ring too but they are tripped from the floor by Kaho and Kagetsu, the young rising stars team all hit dropkicks and go up top, with both Kaho and Kagetsu hitting missile dropkicks. Sareee follows with a missile dropkick onto Ito, then she and Kaho go to opposite corners while Kagetsu goes on the apron and all three hit simultaneous missile dropkicks onto Ito. Sareee picks up Ito but Ito blocks the suplex attempt, she tries again but still can’t get her over. Ito drives Sareee back into the corner Kaho comes off the top with a diving Somato. Swandive missile dropkick by Kagetsu and Sareee finally gets Ito over with the German suplex, but Bolshoi breaks up the cover. Sareee picks up Ito and tries again but Bolshoi grabs her from behind, Meiko kicks Sareee in the head and Bolshoi delivers her own German suplex. Sit-down powerbomb by Ito to Sareee, but the cover gets broken up. Ito quickly picks up Sareee and hits a spinning sit-down powerbomb this time, but again her cover is broken up by Sareee’s friends. Meiko and Bolshoi come in and drop Kagetsu and Kaho with suplexes so they’ll stop interfering, Ito picks up Sareee but this time Sareee blocks the powerbomb attempt. Sareee spins down Ito’s back and rolls her up with a cradle, but Ito barely kicks out. Back up, hard lariat by Ito and she goes up top, palm strike by Bolshoi to Sareee and Meiko kicks Sareee in the chest. Diving footstomp by Ito to Sareee, and she covers her for the three count! Kaoru Ito, Command Bolshoi, and Meiko Satomura are the winners!

While the story they were telling was simple, it was still told very well. The whole match revolved around the “feisty young wrestlers vs. grumpy veterans” storyline, and all six did a great job telling it. Ito always delivers in these types of matches and put over Sareee pretty well (before beating her of course), and even in defeat the young wrestlers came out looking strong. Really enjoyable match, its no surprise from watching this this Kaho, Kagetsu, and Sareee have continued to be three of the best young wrestlers on the scene.  Recommended

Jaguar Yokota and Manami Toyota vs. Mima Shimoda and Takako Inoue

Shimoda and Yokota begin the match for their teams, hard shoulderblock by Shimoda but Yokota armdrags Shimoda out of the ring and hits a cannonball off the apron. Yokota returns with Shimoda slowly following as well, Inoue comes in to help and they both lariat Yokota. Shimoda officially tags in Inoue, Inoue works Yokota’s arm but Yokota puts her in a wristlock and tags in Toyota. Armdrag by Toyota, Yokota comes in and headbutts Inoue while Toyota puts Inoue in a leg lock. Toyota applies the Muta Lock on Inoue but Inoue gets into the ropes for the break, Toyota steps on Inoue’s hand in return but Inoue knocks Toyota to the mat and tags in Shimoda. Shimoda bounces Toyota off the ropes and boots her, jumping neck drop by Shimoda and she covers Toyota for two. Bodyscissors by Shimoda but Toyota gets out of it and goes up top, hitting a missile dropkick for a two count. Toyota tags in Yokota and Yokota puts Shimoda into an Octopus Hold, cradle by Yokota and she puts Shimoda in a figure four leglock. Toyota comes off the top with a body press while Shimoda is still in the hold, but Shimoda eventually makes it to the ropes. Yokota jumps down on Shimoda’s leg before tagging in Toyota, Shimoda boots Toyota back and makes the hot tag to Inoue. Inoue boots Toyota repeatedly in the head, DDT by Inoue and she puts Toyota in a STF. Toyota crawls to the ropes to force the break, Inoue Irish whips Toyota but Toyota reverses it and rolls up Inoue for two. Toyota tags in Yokota, Yokota kicks back Inoue but Inoue hits a backdrop suplex hold. Yokota tackles Inoue and kicks her in the leg, piledriver by Yokota and she covers Inoue, but Inoue barely kicks out. Yokota picks up Inoue and puts her in the Cobra Twist, Irish whip by Yokota but Inoue hits an armdrag. Shimoda comes in but Yokota hits a headlock/headscissors takedown on both of them, double DDT by Yokota and she hits a somersault legdrop onto both of them.

Inoue boots Yokota back and hits a double underhook suplex, but Yokota hits a dragon screw leg whip and tags Toyota. Toyota picks up Inoue but Inoue hits a boot and a DDT. Toyota gets back up and applies the rolling cradle for two. Toyota goes up top but Inoue avoids the moonsault, she then goes up top but Toyota smacks her and joins her on the turnbuckle. Inoue chokeslams Toyota to the mat, she goes up top but Toyota avoids the Takako Panic. Spinning backfist by Inoue followed by a head kick, but Toyota barely kicks out of the cover. Inoue tags in Shimoda, she picks up Toyota and she hits a jumping neck drop. Shimoda goes up top but Toyota joins her, Shimoda pushes Toyota back down however and delivers the missile dropkick. Boot by Toyota and she gets Shimoda on her shoulders, Shimoda wiggles away but Toyota hits a German suplex. Toyota goes up top and nails the moonsault, but Shimoda kicks out. Yokota gets on the second turnbuckle before she is tagged in, hitting a somersault legdrop for two. Toyota boots Shimoda, fisherman buster by Yokota and she covers Shimoda for a two count. Yokota picks up Shimoda, Shimoda slides away and she cradles for two. Inoue runs in and boots Yokota, Toyota takes care of her but Shimoda hits a German suplex onto Toyota. Tiger suplex hold by Shimoda to Yokota, she drags her up but Toyota boots Shimoda again. Yokota and Shimoda trade flash pins, until Yokota holds down Shimoda long enough for the three count! Jaguar Yokota and Manami Toyota win!

What stood out the most about this match is that Jaguar Yokota is still a beast. At 52 years old she was still doing cannonballs off the apron, somersault leg drops, and everything else. All four were giving maximum effort, as I mentioned above even though none are spring chickens anymore they still wrestle with the same amount of energy as they always have and clearly love to do it. The ending being off a flash pin wasn’t a big deal since both teams hit some of their big moves prior, and all four got a chance to show off a bit. A fun legends tag team match, these four are probably all in the Top 50 Joshi Wrestlers of All Time list and its great they still are able to bring it.  Recommended

Kyoko Inoue and Tomoko Watanabe vs. Yumiko Hotta and Mask de Sun
Cage Death Match

The match is under typical Joshi cage rules, meaning in order to win both members of the team must climb over the top of the cage and hit the floor. If they return for some reason (which happens), they then must re-exit the cage again to count as escaped. There are no tag rules of course since they are in a cage, and there are other weapons in the ring including a table and a ladder. I am going to buck my usual tradition of referring to wrestlers by their name in the match and refer to Mask de Sun going forward as Kyoko Kimura, because it is easier to type and will probably be easier to read. Since this match will be pure chaos the play by play will be less precise than usual, I’m just going to make sure I hit the big stuff.

Inoue and Watanabe get the first advantage in the match and quickly try to escape the cage, but they get grabbed before they can successfully make it out. Kimura gets a chain and starts beating Watanabe with it, busting her open in the process. So we get our first blood approximately 30 seconds into the match. Hotta gets a board and whacks both opponents with it, Kimura and Hotta then rake their opponent’s faces into the cage. The weapons focused beat down by Hotta and Kimura continues as Hotta gets a chain as well, Watanabe is bleeding everywhere as her partner Inoue begins to fight back.  Inoue finally gets the upper hand on Hotta while Watanabe rams Kimura’s head into the cage, Watanabe tries to bail out of the ring but Kimura pulls her back to the apron. Inoue gets the board and hits Hotta with it (Inoue naturally is bleeding as well by now), Watanabe then does the same to Kimura until the board breaks. Hotta and Kimura get chains to take back over, Hotta then gets the ladder and props it up in the corner. Inoue tries to leave again and gets to the top of the cage, but Kimura joins her as they straddle the top and trade punches.

Hotta drags Inoue back down, Kimura returns too but Watanabe recovers and both she and Inoue lariat Hotta in the corner. Kimura is next getting a series of lariats, double suplexes by Watanabe and Inoue and Watanabe hits a splash from the top rope. Inoue and Watanabe decide its time to leave and start climbing, but immediately are grabbed from behind and tosses back in the ring. Hotta starts throwing chairs at Inoue and Watanabe while Kimura wrapping them in chains, she then gets the ladder and slams it down onto them. Hotta and Kimura go to leave but Watanabe and Inoue quickly recover and stop them, Hotta gets a ladder and wraps a chain around it while the chains are still attached to Inoue and Watanabe, pulling them both to the mat. This gives Kimura time to escape, leaving Hotta alone with Watanabe and Inoue. Watanabe and Inoue immediately jump on Hotta and double team her, Watanabe and Inoue both go to escape the cage with Watanabe making it over. From the outside, Kimura prevents Inoue from getting over the top, which for the moment leaves Hotta and Inoue alone in the ring. Inoue and Hotta grab different ends of the chain, but end up hitting each other at the same time, leaving both on the mat. Inoue is up first but Hotta punches her in the face, Hotta goes to escape but Inoue joins her and suplexes Hotta down to the mat.

It should be noted that at some point, someone has propped up a ladder leaving against the cage outside the ring, to make it easier for one of the two to climb out. Hotta throws a ladder at Inoue, Hotta starts to climb the ladder but Inoue pushes her backwards, with the ladder landing on Hotta. Hotta is out of commission from that so Kimura climbs back up to stop Inoue from escaping, Hotta miraculously recovers and suplexes Inoue to the mat. Hotta sets up a table near the corner and puts Inoue on it, Kimura is perched on the top of the cage and she dives back into the ring with a diving footstomp onto Inoue. Which doesn’t break the table so Inoue just rolls to the mat. Hotta goes to escape but Inoue already is back up and grabs her leg, Watanabe climbs the ladder from outside the ring to further block Hotta from escaping. Kimura has re-escaped in the meantime while Hotta pushes Inoue back down to the mat, Hotta climbs over the top of the cage and onto the ladder but Inoue grabs her from inside the ring before she can hit the floor. Hotta spits green mist at Inoue to get her to let go, and Hotta hits the floor! Yumiko Hotta and Mask de Sun are the winners.

It probably goes without saying that this match had an insane amount of violence. Everyone not wearing a mask was bleeding, and some of the spots were brutal, particularly Hotta falling with the ladder on top of her from the turnbuckles. I loved the carnage and the chaos, not a lot of promotions do matches like this anymore so it felt like a breath of fresh air. The main issue of the match is a common one in Joshi cage matches – wrestlers recover way too quickly from some of the bigger moves. I am not sure how Hotta could still stand after her ladder bump but she was up very quickly with no side effects, as was Inoue after the table footstomp. It makes the matches more exciting since that way we don’t sit through minutes of the wrestlers just lying on the mat, or climbing the cage in super silly slow motion, but it does defy logic that they can recover that quickly. Aside from that critique I loved it, maybe partially because it felt so different from what I’ve been watching recently but it was about all I could have hoped for. If you like cage carnage like I do, I couldn’t recommend it enough.  Highly Recommended

The post Diana 3rd Anniversary Show ~ Danger Zone on 4/29/14 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Sometimes I review an event that is really obscure that almost no one else has seen – this is one of those times! I just purchased this DVD a few weeks ago, it is an event from GPS Promotion last spring. GPS Promotion runs occasional shows and represents Konami, Act Yasukawa, and a few other wrestlers. For this review I will only be watching the Joshi matches, which includes some heavy hitters. Here are the matches I’ll be reviewing:

• Mio Momono and Momotaro vs. Yako Fujigasaki and Rin Kadokura
• Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Tam Nakano
• Command Bolshoi and Kazuhiro Tamura vs. Konami and Minoru Tanaka

Some good stuff. All the Joshi wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name to go straight to it.

Mio Momono and Momotaro vs. Yako Fujigasaki and Rin Kadokura

Momotaro and Rin start the match, they trade waistlocks and wristlocks, Momotaro gets Rin to the mat with a short armbar but Rin gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Shoulderblock by Momotaro and she tags in Mio, snapmares by Mio and she covers Rin for two. Muta Lock by Mio, she lets go after a moment and puts Rin in a stretch hold. Rin quickly spins out of it, snapmare by Rin and she puts Mio in a headscissors. Mio gets in the ropes for the break, scoop slam by Rin and she tags in Yako. Yako slams Mio as well and puts Mio in a camel clutch, Yako lets go after a moment and puts Mio in the ropes before dropkicking her in the back. Yako tags in Rin, dropkick by Rin but Mio reverses a scoop slam into a cradle for two. Back up, headscissors by Mio and she dropkicks Rin in the head, scoop slam by Mio and she covers Rin for a two count. Mio quickly goes for a cross armbreaker and gets it applied, but Rin wiggles to the ropes and forces the break. Mio picks up Rin but Rin delivers a dropkick and tags in Yako. Yako goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, Northern Lights Suplex by Yako but it gets a two count. Yako goes for the swivel body press but Mio rolls out of the way, sunset flip by Mio but Yako kicks out. Mio applies a bodyscissors and rolls Yako around the ring with it before applying a jackknife hold for another two. Mio picks up Yako, elbows by Mio but Yako hits a hip attack. Yako picks up Mio but Mio gets away, dropkick to the knee by Mio and she puts Yako in an ankle hold, but Yako gets to the ropes. Mio goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but it gets a two count. Mio tags in Momotaro, Momotaro and Mio both dropkick Yako in the corner and Momotaro hits a shoulderblock. Yako fights back with elbows and they trade blows, Rin comes in and Momotaro is dropped with a double shoulderblock. Yako puts Momotaro in a single leg crab hold, but Mio breaks it up. Momotaro lariats Yako, she picks her up and goes for a suplex but Yako blocks it. Schoolboy by Momotaro and she also goes for a backslide, but both get two. Rin returns and scoop slams Momotaro in front of the corner, Yako goes on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving body press. Yako goes all the way up top this time, swivel body press by Yako and she gets the three count! Yako Fujigasaki and Rin Kadokura are the winners.

Its interesting watching this match now, 10 months after it happened, as Mio and Rin have grown so much in the meantime. This match was a pretty typical opener, pretty simple in execution but everything was done pretty tight. I hadn’t seen Momotaro before but she has the basics down pat, I don’t think she wrestles very often but her offense looked good enough even if Mio did the bulk of the work. A perfectly fine opener, nothing too exciting but well done.

Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Tam Nakano

Tam and Natsumi kick things off, Hanako comes in the ring and Tam is promptly double teamed. Hiroyo comes in but doesn’t help at first as she joins in the pose, but eventually does so and Tam takes back over the match. She tags in Hiroyo, Hiroyo picks up Natsumi and hits an atomic drop. Hiroyo throws down Natsumi by the hair and gives her a neck crank, double kneedrops by Hiroyo and Tam jumps on her back to give a kneedrop a bit more weight to it. Cover by Hiroyo, but it gets two. Tam comes in as the legal wrestler and puts Natsumi in a dragon sleeper, she spins Natsumi around and hits a Stunner for a two count cover. Natsumi fights back and hits a jumping crossbody, giving her time to tag in Hanako. Hanako kicks Tam in the back before hitting a PK, leg drop by Hanako and she covers Tam for two. Hiroyo kicks Hanako from the apron and gets in the ring, but Hanako dropkicks both her opponents. Hanako goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Tam, cover by Hanako but Tam kicks out. Tam gets away from Hanako, elbows by Tam but Hanako kicks Tam in the leg. Hanako goes off the ropes but Tam kicks her in the face, bodyblock by Tam and she gets Hanako on her shoulders, hitting a Samoan Drop for a two count. Tam tags in Hiroyo, bodyblock by Hiroyo to Hanako and she drapes Hanako across the second rope in the corner. Body Avalanche by Hiroyo, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Hanako avoids the Reverse Slash. Hiroyo and Hanako trade strikes until Hanako drops Hiroyo with a kick to the head, Shining Wizard by Hanako but Hiroyo barely kicks out. Hanako tags in Natsumi who come sin the ring with a diving crossbody, dropkicks by Natsumi and she goes for a slam, but Hiroyo blocks it. Hanging headscissors by Natsumi and she schoolboys Hiroyo, they trade flash pins but neither gets the three count. Tam runs in and kicks Natsumi in the head, backbreaker by Hiroyo and she puts Natsumi in a crab hold. Hanako breaks it up, she stays in to help Tam but Hiroyo drops them both with a double backdrop suplex. Tam gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton onto Natsumi, Hiroyo follows with a reverse double kneedrop, and she picks up the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto and Tam Nakano win!

Even though it wasn’t a very long match, it was certainly enjoyable. Natsumi and Tam are both young but already show a lot of talent, its going to be fun watching their careers continue to grow. The vets Hiroyo and Hanako did their part as well, and while I am not the biggest fan of Hanako, she didn’t bring the match down which is all I could ask for. Fast paced and fun, the type of match that works really well in the midcard as it wouldn’t take any attention away from the bigger matches but was still entertaining.  Mildly Recommended

Command Bolshoi and Kazuhiro Tamura vs. Konami and Minoru Tanaka

Bolshoi and Konami start the match, they quickly go to the mat as Konami goes for Bolshoi’s arm, but Bolshoi gets away and ends up in the mount. Konami grabs Bolshoi’s ankle but they end up back on their feet, wristlock by Konami but Bolshoi reverses it into a hammerlock and they trade holds. They end in a stalemate and both tag out, Tamura pushes Tanaka into the ropes and he gives a clean break. Tanaka gets Tamura into the ropes but doesn’t return the favor as he kicks Tamura in the leg, they trade wristlocks but like Bolshoi and Konami they end up in a stalemate. Tamura and Tanaka trade elbows, Tanaka dropkicks Tamura in the leg and makes the tag to Konami. Konami continues on Tamura’s leg but Tamura chops her in the chest, Konami fights back but Tamura kicks her in the chest. Kick to the back by Tamura and he rakes Konami’s face with his forearm, Tamura picks up Konami and tags in Bolshoi. Bolshoi gets Konami on her shoulders and stretches her before flipping Konami to the mat, Tamura kicks Konami in the chest and Bolshoi covers her for two. Backdrop suplex by Bolshoi and she tags Tamura, as Tamura and Bolshoi take turns working over Konami. Konami fights back against Bolshoi with elbows but Bolshoi takes her to the mat and applies a short armbar, Konami wiggles to the ropes and gets there for the break. Armbreaker by Bolshoi and she tags Tamura, who comes in the ring with a diving elbow to Konami’s arm. Tamura stays on Konami’s arm, Tanaka finally comes in to break things up but Bolshoi snaps Konami’s arm over the top rope. Tamura kicks Konami but Konami slides away and kicks Tamura in the chest. Tamura kicks her back and hits a brainbuster, cover by Tamura but Konami bridges out of the pin. Tamura goes for a PK but Konami ducks it, bodyscissors roll-up by Konami but it gets two.

Konami kicks Tamura in the head and finally tags in Tanaka, Tanaka dropkicks Tamura and hits a dragons screw on Bolshoi. Tanaka boots Tamura and hits a missile dropkick, he applies a cross armbreaker but Tamura gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Kicks by Tanaka but Tamura hits a Sling Blade, kick by Tamura in the corner and he hits a springboard cannonball out of the corner for a two count. Tanaka comes back with a jumping head kick before tagging in Konami, kicks by Konami and she hits an enzuigiri. Konami goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, Tamura goes off the ropes but Konami hits a pair of head kicks. Release German by Konami, but Tamura kicks out of the cover. Kicks by Konami to the ribs but Tamura hits her with a hard lariat, he goes up top and nails the missile dropkick for two. Tamura goes off the ropes and hits the PK, but that gets a two as well. Tamura tags in Bolshoi, palm strike by Bolshoi but Konami dropkicks her. Konami catches Bolshoi’s arm and applies a cross armbreaker, she reverts it to an ankle hold but Bolshoi gets out of it. Bolshoi and Konami grapple on the mat with Bolshoi getting the better of it as she puts Konami in a short armbar. Bolshoi goes off the ropes and hits a Tiger Feint Kick, Bolshoi goes for an armbar but Konami blocks it. Triangle Choke by Bolshoi but Konami gets out of it, Bolshoi manages to re-apply the cross armbreaker but Tanaka breaks it up. Tamura comes in and kicks Konami in the stomach, Bolshoi picks up Konami and hits a Samoan Driver for two. Bolshoi picks up Konami but Tanaka runs in and kicks Bolshoi in the knee, Konami applies an ankle hold while Tanaka puts Tamura in one as well, but Bolshoi eventually gets to the ropes. Back up, high kick by Konami and she goes for Bolshoi’s leg again, but Bolshoi blocks it and puts Konami in a Fish Stretch Sleeper. Konami struggles, but has to submit! Command Bolshoi and Kazuhiro Tamura are the winners.

As the title for the match implies, this was definitely a technical bout. While mat-based matches are typically not my favorite, I still can respect when wrestlers do the style wel. Tanaka let Konami do the bulk of the work, which makes sense considering where they were wrestling, and she looked good in the defeat as she survived a lot of offense from Tamura and Bolshoi. They mixed in ‘bigger’ spots from time to time but it was mostly a grounded match, with all four working submissions. I do wish that Konami was finished with a submission that focused on a body part that had been worked over and no one really sold the limb work long term, which I normally don’t care about but is a bit problematic in matches with a major submission element. Overall an entertaining match, I probably am not the target audience but still enjoyable.  Recommended

The post GPS Promotion HERO15: Re:SAIL on 3/20/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

It is hard to summarize how important Manami Toyota was and always will be to Joshi Wrestling. That’s another column for another day, but from her career in AJW to her continued role in wrestling she has left a mark that will never be forgotten. This retirement show does a match style that isn’t uncommon at anniversaries or retirements, nor is it the first gauntlet match of Manami Toyota’s career. The idea behind the match is Manami Toyota will have a long series of singles matches, the vast majority of which have a one minute time limit (except the first and last few matches). The list of wrestlers she will be against includes old friends, current enemies, and everyone between. Some pairings will be serious, some will be playful, but its really about giving the wrestlers a chance to say goodbye in their own way. Of course, it is filmed for our enjoyment as well. This will be the longest match list of any show I will ever review, here is what we have in store for us:

• Manami Toyota vs. Mayumi Ozaki, Yumi Ohka, Maya Yukihi, and Alex Lee
• Manami Toyota vs. Tequila Saya
• Manami Toyota vs. Mochi Miyagi and Hamuko Hoshi
• Manami Toyota vs. Meiko Satomura
• Manami Toyota vs. Emi Sakura
• Manami Toyota vs. Rina Yamashita
• Manami Toyota vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki
• Manami Toyota vs. AKINO
• Manami Toyota vs. Risa Sera
• Manami Toyota vs. Drake Morimatsu
• Manami Toyota vs. Cherry
• Manami Toyota vs. Aoi Kizuki
• Manami Toyota vs. Yuki Miyazaki
• Manami Toyota vs. Bolshoi Kid
• Manami Toyota vs. Sakura Hirota and GAMI
• Manami Toyota vs. Kaori Yoneyama
• Manami Toyota vs. Sonoko Kato
• Manami Toyota vs. Leon
• Manami Toyota vs. Yuu Yamagata
• Manami Toyota vs. ASUKA
• Manami Toyota vs. Kaho Kobayashi
• Manami Toyota vs. Hikaru Shida
• Manami Toyota vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto
• Manami Toyota vs. Ayako Hamada
• Manami Toyota vs. Chikayo Nagashima
• Manami Toyota vs. Ikuto Hidaka
• Manami Toyota vs.  Papillon Akemi
• Manami Toyota vs. Gabai-jichan
• Manami Toyota vs. Kanjyouro Matsuyama
• Manami Toyota vs. KID
• Manami Toyota vs. Small Antonio Inoki
• Manami Toyota vs. Otoko Sakari
• Manami Toyota vs. Isami Kodaka
• Manami Toyota vs. Ryuji Ito
• Manami Toyota vs. Carlos Amano
• Manami Toyota vs. Mima Shimoda
• Manami Toyota vs. Itsuki Yamazaki
• Manami Toyota vs. Bull Nakano
• Manami Toyota vs. Chigusa Nagayo
• Manami Toyota vs. Jaguar Yokota
• Manami Toyota vs. Mariko Yoshida
• Manami Toyota vs. Nanae Takahashi
• Manami Toyota vs. KAORU
• Manami Toyota vs. Kaoru Ito
• Manami Toyota vs. Tomoko Watanabe
• Manami Toyota vs. Takako Inoue
• Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta
• Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue
• Manami Toyota vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto
• Manami Toyota vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto
• Manami Toyota Retirement Match: Manami Toyota vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

There also will be a retirement ceremony, which I won’t “review” but I will still discuss at the end of the article. As I mentioned, the vast majority of these matches have a one minute time limit, except for the opener and the final series of matches against Tsukasa Fujimoto. There is a method to the madness, as for some sections the string of wrestlers in a row is promotion-based, then with the older veterans from Toyota’s heyday going last.

The event starts with by far the least fair match of the night, as Manami Toyota faces off against all four members of Ozaki Army. Mayumi Ozaki and Manami Toyota have been battling since the early 90s in AJW and never stopped, as they had matches in GAEA Japan and of course OZ Academy as well. The other members have less of a connection, but they still happily join in as Toyota is beaten by all four of them (plus of course Police). The match goes better once Toyota isolates Ozaki, but it doesn’t last long as Toyota is quadruple teamed and tosses out of the ring. Ozaki Army takes the fight into the crowd and pummel Toyota, Ozaki returns to the ring as the referee counts and Toyota is counted out! Ozaki Army win the match.

So on a night that Manami Toyota has over 50 matches, she starts out getting beaten with chairs and whatever other weapons they can find. Toyota eventually does make it back into the ring, at first Ozaki throws the flowers at her but eventually does pick them up and nicely hands them to her. The other members of Ozaki Army follow suit, except for Police, who throws a chair at her instead. Police was always an asshole.

Tequila Saya is next. Saya is an Ice Ribbon wrestler with limited interactions with Toyota over the years, with only a few tag matches between them. Toyota doesn’t seem to take Saya too seriously  as she sends her flying with a missile dropkick, moonsault by Toyota and she gets the three count! Manami Toyota defeats Tequila Saya. Toyota doesn’t get much of a chance to relax as its back to a handicap match, with Toyota facing off against the Lovely Butchers. They bring Manami a hat and instead of fighting, they all dance together. They even get Toyota do do their signature pose but they jump her while she is doing it and give her the double body block for the double pin three count! Manami Toyota falls for the second time tonight, but they still all pose together and no hard feelings are had.

Next down the ramp is the woman that has no chill – Meiko Satomura. Satomura and Toyota first wrestled in GAEA in the late 90s and had many encounters in the promotion of the years. Since GAEA Japan closed their paths have crossed a few times in Satomura’s Sendai Girls’ promotion. Satomura and Toyota have such a high level of respect for each other that it took time for them to lock up, Satomura eventually hits a DDT and cartwheel kneedrop but the minute has already expired and the match is a Draw. Gatoh Move wrestler and owner Emi Sakura enters the ring, Sakura immediately goes in with chops and delivers the low crossbody in the corner. Toyota slaps Emi Sakura, Riho runs in and with Toyota they pose over Sakura. Toyota puts Sakura in a camel clutch, and she submits! Manami Toyota gets her second win of the night.

Young WAVE wrestler Rina Yamashita is Toyota’s next challenger, Toyota boots her but Rina kicks out of her continuous covers. Rina connects with a hard shoulderblock but she is so excited she never covers Toyota and the time expires. They hug before Rina exits the ring and Tsubasa Kuragaki takes her turn. Kuragaki and Toyota began their battles in JWP back in 2006 and haven’t stopped, as they frequently were paired up in OZ Academy. Kuragaki gets Toyota in the corner and lariats her, she gets Toyota on her back in a backbreaker before she drops her to the mat. Kuragaki goes up top and nails a moonsault, but Toyota bridges out of the cover. Kuragaki picks up Toyota and lariats her, but the bell rings as the match is a Draw. Another hug, and fellow OZ Academy wrestler AKINO takes her spot.

Six matches down, lots more to go! AKINO is another common enemy and foe from OZ Academy, which was Toyota’s primary home the last several years. AKINO gets Toyota in the corner and bootscrapes her, but doesn’t go for the pin as time expires for the Draw. AKINO helps her up before Ice Ribbon wrestler Risa Sera charges the ring to take her shot at the retiring legend. A slew of Ice Ribbon wrestlers jump into the ring with Risa Sera and they all attack Toyota in the corner, Sera goes up top and she nails the diving kneedrop, she hits a second one but the bell rings before she can cover her so the match is a Draw. Almost all retirement matches at some point have a string where the retiring wrestler is attacked by tons of wrestlers in rapid succession, and it may not be the last time. But Toyota gets a special gift from the Ice Ribbon wrestlers after Sera’s match, and everyone poses for the camera.

Drake Morimatsu is next! You may not be familar with Drake, she current wrestles in GUTS WORLD, she started her career in FMW and is definitely an ‘old school’ veteran. She comes into the ring with a baseball bat and hits Toyota with it a few times, lariat by Drake and she covers Toyota, but pulls her up before the three count. Another lariat but she does the same thing, she hits a Samoan Driver but Toyota kicks out of the cover. Drake gets the bat again and hits Toyota with it, but the bell rings which saves Toyota from more carnage. I really enjoyed the feel of this one, very different as Drake showed her old FMW side with the weapon-based offense.

Cherry bops down to the ring, she repeatedly steps on Toyota’s toes and chops her in the face, but Toyota chops her back. Toyota wins the strike exchange but the bell rings, signifying the match is a Draw. Aoi Kizuki is next, Aoi is a young popular Freelancer that wrestles in a variety of promotions. Aoi immediately dropkicks Toyota and hits a jumping lariat, double wrist-clutch suplex by Aoi and she goes for the swivel body press, but Toyota gets her feet up. Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb by Toyota and she gets the three count! Toyota has won her third match of the evening. Aoi is laughing and smiling even as getting pinned, which is accepted in these situations as I am sure she was thrilled to be part of Toyota’s retirement show.

Next is Yuki Miyazaki, she charges Toyota but Toyota boots her. She goes up top but Yuki joins her and gives her a big ‘ol kiss. Superplex by Yuki and she puts Manami in a Compromising Position, where she stays until the bell rings for the One Minute Draw. Poor Toyota, that’s what happens when you wrestle Yuki. Bolshoi Kid comes down, this is I am assuming Command Bolshoi wrestling in her old gimmick, which is a more playful clown. Bolshoi Kid gives Toyota a little bag and they both throw things into the crowd, but Bolshoi Kid schoolboys her from behind for the three count! A rare loss for the gullible Manami Toyota, hopefully she learned something from this experience.

On paper, Manami Toyota vs. GAMI and Sakura Hirota looks normal, but it isn’t….. since both are dressed as Manami Toyota. So this is Manami Toyota vs. her two clones. The real Toyota is double teamed and imitated by the two impostors, Oil Check by Sakura and GAMI hits Toyota with her horn. Luckily for Toyota the bell rings and the match is a Draw. Up next is Kaori Yoneyama, she is affiliated with YMZ but wrestles in a bunch of promotions including OZ Academy and Stardom. Yoneyama wants Toyota to wave a flag she brought down to the ring, which she does, but Yoneyama schoolboys her from behind for a two count. Yoneyama goes for a roll-up but Toyota reverses it, getting the three count! Manami Toyota gets her fourth win of the night. OZ Academy wrestler Sonoko Kato takes her turn, lots of kicks by Kato as she is taking this one minute match very seriously. Cannonball by Kato and she nails the diving leg drop, but the bell rings as she makes the cover so the match is a Draw. Manami gives Kato a rolling cradle just for fun before Kato leaves the ring and the next wrestler enters.

Leon throws Toyota into the corner and spears her, another spear by Leon and she hits the Frog Splash, but Toyota kicks out of the cover. Heel drop by Toyota and she nails the Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb, but Leon barely kicks out of the cover and the bell rings, as time has expired. Leon barely survives and other Pure Dream wrestlers get into the ring as they all give Manami Toyota their final goodbyes. Yuu Yamagata is next, these two have had very limited interactions over the years even though they are seasoned veterans, as Toyota rarely wrestled in Pro Wrestling WAVE. Enzuigiri by Yuu but Toyota hits a snap vertical suplex and a second one The bell rings soon thereafter as the time has expired, making the match a draw!

WAVE wrestler ASUKA comes down and she hits Toyota with a springboard moonsault, dropkick by ASUKA and Toyota falls out of the ring. ASUKA dives out onto her with a tope con hilo, she then goes back up top and hits a missile dropkick down to the floor, in an homage to Toyota. Everyone is hurt outside the ring as the bell rings, as time has expired. ASUKA seems more hurt than Toyota as she likely regrets that spot, Toyota returns to the ring as my personal favorite Kaho Kobayashi enters. Kaho dropkicks Toyota and goes up top to hit a missile dropkick, elbows by Kaho and she covers Toyota for a two count. Boots by Toyota and she nails the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, and she picks up the three count! Manami Toyota defeats her fifth wrestler so far today.

Hikaru Shida takes the next shot (this is the 21st match for Manami Toyota so far), while her friend Syuri watches from ringside. Shida goes for hip attacks, at first Toyota blocks them with her own hip but she finally connects with one. Syuri comes in the ring and with Shida they both kick Toyota, but Toyota breaks out of the cover. Falcon Arrow by Shida, but the bell rings before she can make a cover so the match is a Draw. Syuri returns and both present Toyota with flowers, once she is able to get back up. Hiroyo Matsumoto and her Godzilla mask is next, she shakes Toyota’s hand but kicks her before putting the Godzilla mask onto Toyota. Body avalanche by Hiroyo, she takes the mask off Toyota and hits a missile dropkick. Toyota slowly gets up, Hiroyo allows her to go up top and she hits a missile dropkick as the bell rings, giving Toyota another Draw.

Ayako Hamada is the next challenger, Hamada immediately dropkicks Toyota but she misses the heel kick. Enzuigiri by Hamada and she hits a DDT, superkick by Hamada but Toyota kicks out of the pinfall. Samoan Driver by Hamada, but the bell rings before she can finish the cover, as Toyota escapes another match with a Draw. The rest of the WAVE wrestlers get in the ring and they pose with Toyota for a photo-op, signifying the end of the WAVE string of challengers.

Veteran Freelancer Chikayo Nagashima is Toyota’s next opponent, she has a long history with Toyota as they fought in both GAEA and OZ Academy over the years. Chikayo hits Toyota repeatedly with her jacket and puts her in the rolling cradle, this takes literally the entire match until Chikayo stops just in time to get the three count pinfall! Chikayo Nagashima defeats Manami Toyota! Never know what is going to happen in these matches. Ikuto Hidaka is next, Hidaka is a ZERO1 wrestler with limited interactions with Toyota over the years. Toyota dropkicks Hidaka as soon as the match starts but Hidaka strikes her back, snap German by Toyota and she hits a heel drop for a two count. Boots by Toyota but the bell rings before anything else of note happens, and the match is a Draw.

Things are going off the rails a bit, as Papillon Akemi is next. He wrestles in smaller promotions such as GUTS World and I have no idea how he got into this match. Kick and a snapmare by Akemi, but Toyota puts him in the rolling cradle, but the bell rings before she can finish the move for a cover. The match is a Draw. Gabai-jichan very very slowly comes down to the ring (he has an ‘old man’ gimmick so he can’t walk very fast), with Toyota getting impatient in the ring for him to hurry up. The referee starts the match and the 20 count, Toyota goes out to help Gabai-jichan get into the ring while they pose for pictures. Toyota helps roll Gabai-jichan into the ring but he knocks her back to the floor with his cane, and Toyota is counted out! Gabai-jichan wins by dubious means, but the crowd enjoyed it.

The series continues going down the wrong path as creepy wrestler Kanjyouro Matsuyama is the next one down. Matsuyama tries to attack Toyota with his fan, but she avoids it and hits him with it instead. They trade slaps until Matsuyama is thrown into the corner, she gets Toyota’s wrist and walks the ropes, but he falls off of them before he can finish the move. The bell rings, and the match is declared a Draw. KID is next, I can’t find anything online on who KID is, but Toyota promptly boots him in the face and gets the three count pinfall! Toyota gets her sixth win of the gauntlet. Small Antonio Inoki is next, we still have a few more goofy challengers, punches to the head by Small Inoki and he applies a Cobra Twist. He goes up top and hits the diving kneedrop, more kneedrops by Small Inoki and he hits an enzuigiri. He goes to put Toyota in an Octopus Hold but the bell rings, the match is a Draw!

Otoko Sakari (Alexander Otsuka) is the next opponent, as Toyota faces her second man of the night that is only wearing a thong. Strikes by Toyota, she goes for a sunset flip but Sakari blocks it. Sakari tries to get away but Toyota grabs him by the thong, pulling it down to expose Sakari. The referee finds this offensive so he rings for the bell, disqualifying Sakari, giving Toyota her seventh win so far! Isami Kodaka is next, he throws streamers at Toyota to distract her before kicking Toyota out of the ring and sailing out onto her with a tope suicida. Back in the ring, Kodaka grabs Toyota’s hair but Toyota kicks him low and delivers the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex Hold for the three count! Toyota gets her eighth win of the evening. Big Japan wrestler Ryuji Ito is the final male challenger in this intergender run of opponents, he comes down to the ring with a barbed wire board. He sets up the board in the corner but Toyota jumps him and tries to throw him into it. He blocks it and goes for a suplex, but Toyota reverses the suplex and puts the barbed wire board on the mat. Ito scoop slams Toyota onto the barbed wire board, but Toyota kicks out of the pin. Ito keeps her on the board, he goes up top and he nails the Dragon Splash for the three count! Manami Toyota is defeated by the Big Japan star.

Now we have reached a run of challengers from Toyota’s past. Retired wrestler Carlos Amano is first, Amano and Toyota held tag team championships together in both GAEA Japan and OZ Academy. They don’t want to wrestle, so they set up chairs in the ring and talk to each other instead. I can’t understand what they are saying, but they seem to be having a good time. Amano gives Toyota a letter, which she reads as the bell rings. The match is, obviously, a Draw. Mima Shimoda is next, with her friend and long time tag partner Etsuko Mita joining her at ringside. But Toyota won’t go at it alone, as old teammate and friend Toshiyo Yamada joins her at ringside as well to make everything fair. These four were friends and foes back in the mid-90s in AJW. Shimoda charges Toyota and hits a jumping neck drop, Mita runs in and chops Toyota in the chest as they both double team Toyota i the ropes. Yamada trips Shimoda from the floor, she gets in the ring as Toyota puts Shimoda in a camel clutch, kicking Shimoda in the chest. Around this time the bell rings, and the match is a Draw. Mita brings in a big present for Toyota and all four pose together in the ring.

Itsuki Yamazaki is next, she may be the least-known wrestler to casual fans as she retired back in 1991. You may know her better as part of the Jumping Bomb Angels, a popular Joshi tag team in the late 80s. She and Toyota also wrestled at Toyota’s 25th Anniversary Show, so the two made a strong bond during their brief time in AJW together. Yamazaki gets Toyota to the mat and starts working over her arm, Irish whip by Yamazaki and she hits a running elbow in the corner. Yamazaki pulls Toyota out of the ring and poses her for a picture, they get back in but the bell rings before she can do anything else, as the match is a Draw. Up next is Bull Nakano, yes THE LEGENDARY BULL NAKANO which obviously is exciting for me as I love Bull Nakano and this is her first televised match of any sort in over five years. Nakano looks great, and comes down to the ring with her nunchucks. Once the bell rings, she hits Toyota in the stomach with the nunchucks, but Toyota avoids the next shot and schoolboys Nakano for the three count! Manami Toyota wins and picks up her ninth victory so far.

Very few wrestlers could follow Nakano and not be a drop down in status, but Chigusa Nagayo is next. Nagayo is still a fairly active wrestler, she currently owns and promotes the wrestling promotion Marvelous. Nagayo and Toyota worked together quite a bit in GAEA Japan, and Nagayo already is tearing up before she even gets into the ring. They tie-up as both are getting emotional, but Toyota hits a scoop slam and covers Nagayo for the three count! They hug on the mat, as Manami Toyota wins her 10th match. Equally legendary Jaguar Yokota is next, as we reach a big string of wrestlers. Nakano, Nagayo, and Yokota are three of the biggest names in Joshi over the last 30 years and it feels really special seeing them all here to help send Toyota into retirement. Yokota is more stone-faced as they lock-up, Yokota kicks Toyota in the head and hits a somersault kick but the bell rings before she can further capitalize. The match is a Draw.

Mariko Yoshida is the next challenger, she also has had a great career and is best known for her work in ARSION. She’s also already crying before the match starts, Yoshida throws Toyota in the corner and boots her in the face. Toyota ducks the next boot but Yoshida puts her in the Spider Twist, luckily for Toyota the bell rings before she can submit, so the match is a Draw. Nanae Takahashi is next, she and Toyota both were in AJW together in the late 90s. Nanae charges Toyota and knocks her to the mat, Natsuki Taiyo comes in and dropkicks Toyota in the corner. Nanae grabs Toyota but Toyota drops her with the Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb, Nanae returns to her feet however and hits a Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb of her own for the three count! Nanae Takahashi wins the match!

It is now KAORU’s turn, KAORU is still an active wrestler and has battled with Toyota in a number of promotions over the years, ranging from AJW in the early 90s up to Marvelous and Diana just a few years ago. KAORU immediately hits Toyota repeatedly with her wooden panel, she picks up Toyota and suplexes her onto it but the referee won’t count the cover since she used the weapon. KAORU drags Toyota to the corner and tries to top the wood piece onto Toyota, but Toyota rolls out of the way as the bell rings. The match is a Draw as Kaoru Ito comes down, Ito and Toyota wrestled with and against each other many many times in the 1990s while wrestling AJW and also won the JWP Tag Team Championship together. Ito isn’t feeling the love as she immediately slams Toyota, Yoshida and another wrestler get in the ring and hit a double facecrusher. Diving footstomp by Ito, and she covers Toyota for the three count! Manami Toyota falls to Ito in painful fashion, but she gets a nice bouquet of flowers for her troubles.

The next challenger is Tomoko Watanabe, like Ito she wrestled with and against Toyota during much of their run in AJW in the 90s. The match starts but Watanabe wants a selfie with Toyota so they do that first. Lariat by Watanabe and she hits another one, a third lariat by Watanabe and a fourth, but as she goes for the cover the bell rings, and the match is a Draw. Former AJW wrestler Takako Inoue is next, they were usually on opposing teams in the tag division and kept wrestling after AJW folded in LLPW, OZ Academy, and Diana. Takako shakes hands but then grabs her baton, Toyota ducks the shot but Takako hits a DDT instead. Takako goes up top as Toyota joins her, but Takako hits an avalanche chokeslam for two. DDT by Takako and she goes up top again, but Toyota ducks the Takako Panic as the bell rings. The match is a Draw as they end the match with an embrace.

Veteran wrestler Yumiko Hotta is next, she has her chain with her of course. Hotta was one of Toyota’s main foes in their AJW years, and they had multiple title matches in their heyday. Hotta gets right to kicking Toyota but Toyota pushes her against the ropes, she charges Hotta but Hotta nails her with a heel kick. Cover by Hotta, but Toyota barely kicks out. Hotta picks up Toyota but Toyota sneaks in a cradle, she goes off the ropes but Hotta delivers another heel kick for the three count! Yumiko Hotta is the winner, as I think all these matches is starting to wear on Toyota a bit. Takako Inoue’s long time tag partner Kyoko Inoue is next (no relation), as we have seen with this set of wrestlers these two used to be common enemies in AJW. They eventually tie-up and Kyoko flings Toyota to the mat, Pyramid Driver by Kyoko Inoue but the bell rings as time expires, the match being declared a Draw. Some of the veteran wrestlers return to the ring again and give Toyota more flowers, as she prepares for Tsukasa Fujimoto.

The one minute time limit is out the window now, as Manami Toyota faces her last opponent, Tsukasa Fujimoto. While Manami Toyota didn’t train Fujimoto, their careers crossed several times as far back as 2011. Toyota was impressed with Fujimoto’s abilities, and in 2015 it was Tsukasa Fujimoto that Manami Toyota endorsed as her ‘successor’ and gave her permission to use all of the Japanese Ocean moves. So this is a fitting final opponent, as Toyota has her last match against the wrestler she believes will best continue her legacy. Before the match starts, Aja Kong gives Toyota some flowers – Kong and Toyota had a long match in late October which is likely why she wasn’t in the Gauntlet. Shinobu Kandori then comes down and gives Toyota flowers as well, she had a ‘final’ match with Toyota on October 22nd.

Tsukasa Fujimoto finally arrives and the match begins, Fujimoto immediately dropkicks Toyota and tries to get Toyota on her shoulders, but Toyota blocks it. Dropkick by Fujimoto as they reach a stalemate, Toyota twists up Fujimoto in the ropes and dropkicks her in the back. Fujimoto falls out of the ring, Toyota goes up top but Fujimoto recovers before Toyota can jump off and knocks Toyota to the floor. Fujimoto then gets on the top turnbuckle and dives down onto Toyota, Toyota returns to the ring but Fujimoto connects with a missile dropkick. Toyota recovers and puts Fujimoto in the rolling cradle, Toyota lets go and goes up top, delivering a missile dropkick. She goes up top again and hits another missile dropkick, but Fujimoto springs back to her feet and hits a dropkick of her own. Fujimoto sits Toyota in the corner and dropkicks her in the chest, she goes for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex but Toyota blocks it and hits a heel drop. Cover by Toyota, but it gets a two count. Toyota gets up on the top turnbuckle and she nails the moonsault, but Fujimoto bridges out of the pin. Fujimoto gets up near the ropes but Toyota grabs her and goes for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex. Fujimoto wiggles out of the hold and cradles Toyota for two, kicks to the back by Fujimoto and she hits a PK for a two count. Fujimoto goes up top but Toyota hits her she can jump off and joins her, Fujimoto goes over her back and hits an avalanche sunset flip powerbomb for two. Fujimoto goes for the Venus Shoot, but Toyota grabs her from behind and delivers the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex for the three count! Manami Toyota wins!

The match immediately starts again, elbows by Fujimoto and she goes up top, but again Toyota joins her. Fujimoto knocks Toyota into the Tree of Woe and hits the diving footstomp, cover by Fujimoto but Toyota kicks out. Venus Shoot attempt again by Fujimoto but Toyota blocks it the same way, Fujimoto slides off Toyota’s back this time and hits a series of jumping footstomps for two counts. Fujimoto gets Toyota on her shoulders and hits the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, but Toyota gets a shoulder up. Heel drop by Toyota, she grabs Fujimoto and decapitates her with a Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb. Both are slow to recover, Fujimoto picks up Toyota but Toyota snaps off a suplex. Toyota picks up Fujimoto and hits another Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb, and she picks up the three count! Manami Toyota wins for the second time against Fujimoto.

Fujimoto quickly gets back up as the final match begins, kicks to the back by Fujimoto and she goes up top, but Toyota boots her off the top turnbuckle to the floor. Toyota goes up top and dives down onto Fujimoto (and a slew of other wrestlers that wanted to be part of the last dive of Toyota’s career), she slides Fujimoto back in and goes up top, hitting a missile dropkick. Cover by Toyota, but it gets two. Toyota picks up Fujimoto and hits the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, but Fujimoto gets a shoulder up. Toyota goes back up top but Fujimoto gets her feet up on the moonsault attempt, Fujimoto kips up and hits the Tsukka-chan☆Bomb, but Toyota kicks out. Fujimoto picks up Toyota and hits the PK, dropkick by Fujimoto and she hits a second one followed by a third. Fujimoto goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, which she follows with two more. Another missile dropkick by Fujimoto, she covers Toyota but it only gets a two count. Venus Shoot by Fujimoto, she grabs Toyota and delivers the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex for the three count! Tsukasa Fujimoto wins the final match in Manami Toyota’s career.

Following the match, many of the wrestlers Toyota faced tonight surround the ring, while Toyota says her final words. She gives Fujimoto her final blessings, and Fujimoto speaks for a moment as well. After that, per her wishes, a chair is brought into the ring and Toyota has her hair cut shorter, with her hair being donated to use for wigs for people that lost their hair due to medical issues. A photo and video slideshow then appears on the big screen, highlighting Toyota throughout her career, which continues for several minutes.

 

The post Manami Toyota Retirement Show on 11/3/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

*I am slowing bringing my Joshi Reviews from Puroresu Central over to Joshi City so I can have all my Joshi reviews in one place. Some features of my current reviews on this site may be missing as my style has changed over the years, however I will have it match the Joshi City review format as closely as I can. The original review date can be found at the bottom of the review, I will try not to make any major changes to the text unless I see something that needs clarifying or correcting.*

As far as JWP events go, this is a pretty big one. First of all, Kana is on the card, which automatically elevates it. More importantly there is also a Hikaru Shida singles match as well as two title matches. How did I not review this event sooner? It sounds heavenly. Here is the full card:

– SAKI vs. Yako Fujigasaki
– Eri and KAZUKI vs. Hanako Nakamori and Kana
– Arisa Nakajima vs. Hikaru Shida
– JWP Tag Team and Daily Sports Tag Team Championship: Leon and Ray vs. Rabbit Miyu and Rydeen Hagane
– JWP Openweight Championship: Kayoko Haruyama vs. Command Bolshoi

All the wrestlers above profiles on the website, you can click on their names to go straight to it.

SAKI vs. Yako Fujigasaki

They tie-up to kick things off and trade elbows before SAKI throws down Fujigasaki by her hair. Fujigasaki returns the favor but SAKI throws down Fujigasaki by her hair again. SAKI stomps on Fujigasaki but Fujigasaki hits a diving double chop for a two count cover. Fujigasaki applies a Muta Lock but SAKI gets out of it and hits a trio of snapmares before applying a stretch hold. Fujigasaki kicks SAKI and throws her into the corner, Irish whip by Fujigasaki and she dropkicks SAKI. Face crusher by SAKI, cover, but it gets a two count. SAKI applies a crab hold, she releases the hold and goes for a reverse splash off the ropes, but Fujigasaki moves out of the way. Scoop slam by Fujigasaki and she covers SAKI for two. SAKI and Fujigasaki trade elbows until Fujigasaki hits a trio of dropkicks, Fujigasaki picks up SAKI but SAKI blocks the scoop slam. Backslide by SAKI, but Fujigasaki kicks out at two. SAKI applies a bodyscissors and rolls Fujigasaki around the ring before applying a Camel Clutch. Fujigasaki wiggles to the ropes to get the break, SAKI picks her up and hits a snapmare but Fujigasaki jumps up on the second turnbuckle and hits a sunset flip for a two count. A backslide doesn’t work either, Fujigasaki goes off the ropes but SAKI grabs her and applies a stretch hold. SAKI puts Fujigasaki in the Rocking Horse, she picks up Fujigasaki and hits a scoop slam. SAKI goes up to the top turnbuckle but Fujigasaki avoids the reverse splash. Fujigasaki goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she grabs SAKI and hits a wrist-clutch Northern Lights Suplex for a two count. Scoop slam by Fujigasaki, she goes up top but SAKI avoids the diving bodypress. SAKI goes off the ropes and hits a pair of shoulderblocks. Another shoulderblock by SAKI and she covers Fujigasaki for two. SAKI picks up Fujigasaki but Fujigasaki sneaks in an inside cradle for two. Wing Clutch Hold by Fujigasaki, but it gets a two as well. Irish whip by Fujigasaki but SAKI hits a vertical suplex. SAKI slams Fujigasaki near the corner, she goes to the second turnbuckle and hits the reverse senton splash for the three count! SAKI wins!

I wouldn’t say this was good, I can’t really think of any positive words to say actually. There were a lot of things here that didn’t quite work, and when a vertical suplex is the big setup move for the finish it is not a great sign. It went longer than it needed to as they ran out of things to do around minute four, and aside from a unique finish there is no real reason to watch this one.

Eri and KAZUKI vs. Hanako Nakamori and Kana

Nakamori and Eri begin the match and Nakamori tosses Eri to the mat. Nakamori tosses her down again but KAZUKI kicks her from the apron. KAZUKI gets in the ring, they throw Nakamori into the corner and both hit running strikes. DDT by Eri and Nakamori eats a double dropkick. Eri and KAZUKI apply leg submission holds before letting the hold go, snapmares by Eri to Nakamori but Nakamori boots her to the mat and tags in Kana. Kana and Eri have an elbow battle that doesn’t go well for Eri, and Kana dropkicks Eri to the mat. They trade elbows again, dropkick by Eri but Kana stays up. Kana kicks Eri in the chest a few times but Eri catches one and applies an ankle hold. Kana rolls out of it but Eri gets the hold re-applied, Kana suplexes her way out of the hold but Eri hits a tornado DDT for a two count. Eri tags in KAZUKI and KAZUKI kicks Kana in the leg. Reverse double kneedrop by KAZUKI near the corner, she goes up top but Kana avoids the diving kneedrop. Nakamori comes in but KAZUKI kicks Nakamori back, Kana catapults off Nakamori’s back and kicks KAZUKI in the corner. Kana kicks KAZUKI and goes for the chickenwing, but KAZUKI gets out of it. KAZUKI picks up Kana but Kana blocks the cutter and kicks KAZUKI in the head for a two count cover. Crossface chickenwing by Kana but Eri gets by Nakamori to break it up. Kana tags in Nakamori, Nakamori goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on KAZUKI.

Nakamori goes up again and hits another missile dropkick, fisherman suplex by Nakamori to KAZUKI and it gets a two count. Nakamori kicks KAZUKI in the leg and goes off the ropes, but KAZUKI knees her in the stomach. KAZUKI goes up top but Nakamori kicks her and joins her. Eri comes in but Kana also runs in and she suplexes Eri. Avalanche Fisherman Buster by Nakamori to KAZUKI, but KAZUKI barely gets a shoulder up. Nakamori goes for a Capture Buster by KAZUKI blocks it, Kana comes in but KAZUKI ducks their kicks. KAZUKI drops Nakamori onto Kana, she picks Nakamori back up and slams her to the mat for a two count. KAZUKI tags in Eri and Eri dropkicks Nakamori. DDT by Eri, she picks up Nakamori but Nakamori hits a fisherman suplex. Eri comes back with another DDT, but the cover gets two. Codebreaker by KAZUKI to Nakamori, and Eri rolls up Nakamori for a two count. Eri and Nakamori trade strikes, Eri goes off the ropes but Kana elbows her. KAZUKI knocks down Kana and then hits a backdrop suplex onto Nakamori. Eri tries a few quick pins on Nakamori with no luck, Eri goes off the ropes but Nakamori boots her. KAZUKI boots Nakamori so that Eri can roll her up, but Kana breaks up the count. Kana and Nakamori both kick Eri, but KAZUKI breaks up the pin. Shining Wizard by Nakamori to Eri, but Eri barely gets a shoulder up. Nakamori picks up Eri and she plants her with the Chinkonka Driver, and she picks up the three count! Hanako Nakamori and Kana are your winners.

This had some good moments but the flow just felt off. It was utterly non-gripping in terms of being captivating, I think partly because it had no structure to speak of. It was just random action until the match randomly ended with no real drama or emotion. I love Kana but I still can’t recommend this match, just pretty average all things considered.

Arisa Nakajima vs. Hikaru Shida

After trading holds for a bit, armdrag by Shida but Nakajima armdrags her back. Irish whip by Shida and she knocks down Nakajima with a hip attack. Another hip attack by Shida and she hits a backbreaker. Shida punches Nakajima in the back, Irish whip to the corner and she hits a jumping knee for a two count. Shida applies a crab hold but Nakajima crawls to the ropes to force the break. Backbreaker by Shida but Nakajima plants her with a DDT followed by a dropkick. Nakajima applies a kneelock and then a single leg crab hold before pulling on Shida’s hair. Knee by Nakajima and she hits another one in the corner, Irish whip by Nakajima and she jumps up on the top turnbuckle, but Shida pushes her to the apron. Shida joins Nakajima on the apron and they trade elbows, a battle that Nakajima gets the better of as Shida crashes to the mat. Nakajima gets on the top turnbuckle but Shida throws a kendo stick at her to knock her to the floor. Nakajima gets a hair and hits Shida with it, and they trade blows with their respective weapons. Shida surprisingly gets the better of it and she hits Nakajima repeatedly with the stick. They battle around the ring, with Shida slamming Nakajima’s back into the apron. Nakajima throws Shida into the chairs as a retort before slamming her head into the ring post. Nakajima then gets on the apron and hits a missile dropkick down to the floor, Nakajima slides Shida back in and hits another missile dropkick. Shida elbows Nakajima as they trade shots, release German suplex by Nakajima and she knees Shida against the ropes. Running boot by Nakajima and she hits a footstomp to Shida’s stomach. Rolling Germans by Nakajima, she goes up top but Shida joins her and knocks Nakajima to the apron. Shida grabs Shida while on the second turnbuckle and suplexes Nakajima back into the ring. Shida goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Shida but it gets two.

Shida goes off the ropes and hits an enzuigiri, facebuster by Shida and she applies a chinlock. Nakajima gets to the ropes to get the break, Shida picks her up and hits a backbreaker. Shida picks up Nakajima again but Nakajima slides away and sneaks in a schoolboy for two. Release German suplex by Nakajima and both wrestlers are down on the mat. They trade elbows as they return to their feet, Shida goes off the ropes but Nakajima blocks the knee. Shida blocks Nakajima’s kick also but Nakajima drops her with a release dragon suplex. Elbows by Nakajima, she picks up Shida but Shida blocks the suplex. Nakajima goes off the ropes but Shida hits a jumping knee. Shida puts Nakajima on the top turnbuckle, she joins her but Nakajima headbutts her off. Shida avoids the diving footstomp however and knees Nakajima in the back, Three Count by Shida but Nakajima gets a shoulder up. Falcon Arrow by Shida, but again the cover gets two. Shida knees Nakajima in the head a few times, she tries to go off the ropes but Nakajima hits a package suplex for a two count. Nakajima goes for a dragon suplex but Shida blocks it and applies an inside cradle for two. Nakajima charges Shida but Shida hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Fireman’s carry backbreaker by Nakajima, she puts Nakajima on the top turnbuckle and drops her back-first onto the top turnbuckle. Cover by Shida, but Nakajima barely kicks out. Shida goes off the ropes and hits a Three Count, but Nakajima quickly rolls her up for two. German suplex by Nakajima but Shida hits a Three Count. Shida nails the Tamashii no Three Count, and she gets the three count pinfall! Hikaru Shida wins the match!

This was pretty fantastic. Nakajima and Shida are both high-level wrestlers and they got plenty of time here to do what they wanted to do. Shida’s focus on Nakajima’s back was well done as she did a ton of damage to it, and the weapon usage outside of the ring was brief but showed how serious both wrestlers were. They were both very on point with their strikes/suplexes and it stayed heated from bell to bell. A great match, check it out.  Highly Recommended

(c) Leon and Ray vs. Rabbit Miyu and Rydeen Hagane

This match is for the JWP Tag Team and Daily Sports Tag Team Championship. Miyu and Hagane attack before the match starts and isolate Leon in the ring. Leon kicks Hagane away and scoop slams Miyu on top of her before hitting a footstomp on her. Ray runs in and they hit a double dropkick on Hagane, cover by Leon but it gets two. Leon tries to slam Hagane with no luck, and Hagane slams her instead. Body press by Hagane but Leon easily kicks out. Hagane tags in Miyu and Miyu dropkicks Leon. Miyu throws Leon into the corner and stands on her, Irish whip by Miyu but Leon hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Leon tags in Ray, and Ray knocks down Miyu in the corner, she puts Miyu in the ropes and dropkicks her in the back. Ray covers Miyu but Miyu bridges out of it, she goes off the ropes but Leon kicks her from the apron. Miyu armdrags both of them, Hagane lariats Ray and Miyu hits a tornado DDT. Vertical suplex by Miyu and she tags in Hagane. Hagane dropkicks Ray but Ray hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Leon goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Hagane, she covers Hagane but it gets two. Hagane goes for a suplex but Leon lands on her feet, Leon goes for a spear but Hagane blocks it. Leon rolls behind Hagane’s back and dropkicks her in the head, and back up they trade elbows. Hagane goes off the ropes but Leon picks her up and drives Hagane into the corner so that Ray can hit a slingshot dropkick. Leon charges Hagane and hits a shoulder tackle, double Irish whip to Hagane but she hits a double lariat. Hagane picks up Leon and puts her upside down in the corner before hitting a body avalanche.

Miyu comes in to help and they double team Leon, Hagane goes to the corner and she hits a reverse splash for a two count. Hagane goes up top but Leon avoids the dive, knees by Leon but Hagane catches her with a powerslam. Hagane tags in Miyu and Miyu hits a missile dropkick. Miyu goes up top and hits another missile dropkick to Leon, but Leon kicks out of the cover. Miyu slaps Leon but Leon picks her up and tosses Miyu out of the ring. Hagane runs in but she gets dumped to the floor also, Ray goes for a moonsault but Hagane pulls her out of the ring, Miyu then goes up top and she dives out onto both Leon and Ray with a plancha suicida. Hagane gets on the apron, she picks up Miyu in a press slam and throws her onto both their opponents. Hagane rolls Leon back in, Miyu goes up top and she goes off Hagane’s shoulders with a senton. Hard elbow by Miyu, and she covers Leon for another two count. Miyu goes up top but Ray runs in and kicks her in the head before she can jump off. Leon joins Miyu up top and she hits an avalanche fisherman buster, cover by Leon but Miyu gets a shoulder up. Leon picks up Miyu but Miyu gets away, Leon destroys Miyu with a spear but Hagane breaks up the cover. Quick roll-up by Miyu for two, but Leon hits a heel kick.

Miyu ducks the next one, elbows by Miyu and she nails the Rabbit Suplex Hold but it is broken up by Ray. Spinning kick by Leon and she makes the tag to Ray while Hagane is also tagged in. Ray hits the Space Rolling Elbow in the corner followed by the Sling Blade, Ray picks up Hagane as Leon comes back in but Hagane hits a double backdrop suplex. Lariat by Hagane to Ray, Miyu goes up top as does Hagane, and Ray jumps off Hagane’s back with a footstomp. Reverse Splash by Hagane, but Leon barely breaks up the cover. Hagane goes up top again and she nails the diving body press, but Ray gets a shoulder up. Leon runs in and spears Hagane, with Ray following with a tiger feint kick. Ray picks up Hagane as Miyu goes up top, but Miyu missile dropkicks Hagane by accident. Leon goes up top and hits a Swanton Bomb, Ray follows with a moonsault but Miyu breaks up the cover. Miyu suplexes Ray and hits a cutter onto Leon, lariat by Hagane to Ray but it only gets two. Hagane goes for the Rainmaker but Ray ducks it and hits a hurricanrana, but Hagane rolls through it. Leon breaks that up, double superkick to Hagane and Leon hits another spinning heel kick as does Ray. Ray goes up to the top turnbuckle and she nails the Skytwister Press, picking up the three count pinfall! Leon and Ray are still your champions.

Another high caliber match, maybe a step below the last one but not by much. They didn’t waste time here doing things that didn’t matter, it was just constant action with strikes, suplexes, spears, and everything else. It was perfectly fluid as there weren’t any noticeable mistakes, and all four were smooth as they all showed great teamwork. Leon and Ray are really fun to watch, if you haven’t seen them wrestle before then you need to.  Recommended

(c) Kayoko Haruyama vs. Command Bolshoi

This match is for the JWP Openweight Championship. Haruyama knocks down Bolshoi right as the match starts but Bolshoi returns to her feet and they lock knuckles. Bolshoi goes for Haruyama’s arm but Haruyama gets out of it, Bolshoi applies a sleeper but Haruyama rolls away. Bolshoi goes for a triangle choke but that doesn’t work either as Haruyama slams Bolshoi to the mat to get out of it. Waistlock by Bolshoi and she applies a short armbar, Haruyama gets out of it and she hits a lariat. Irish whip by Haruyama and she blocks Bolshoi’s headscissors attempt. Haruyama applies a double underhook and hits a facebuster, she then picks up Bolshoi and hits a second one. Haruyama goes for a third but Bolshoi blocks it and they trade elbows. Lariat by Haruyama, she goes up top but Bolshoi smacks her and joins her. Haruyama snaps Bolshoi over the top rope and knocks her back into the ring, Haruyama goes up top but Bolshoi recovers and joins her again. Avalanche uranage by Bolshoi, cover, but Haruyama gets a shoulder up. Back up, Haruyama kicks Bolshoi into the corner and hits repeated short range lariats. Haruyama puts Bolshoi on the top turnbuckle but Bolshoi grabs her arm and applies an armbar. Bolshoi stays up top but Haruyama hits her and goes up as well, hitting a powerslam to the mat. Haruyama goes off the ropes and hits a sliding lariat, but Bolshoi kicks out of the cover. Haruyama picks up Bolshoi but Bolshoi hits a tiger feint kick followed by a palm strike. Another tiger feint kick and Bolshoi applies La Mistica, double reverse armbar by Bolshoi and she covers Haruyama for two. Tiger suplex hold by Bolshoi, but that gets two as well. Bolshoi picks up Haruyama and tries to get her on her shoulders, but Haruyama knees out of it. Dragon screw leg whip by Bolshoi but Haruyama hits a few lariats. Palm strike by Bolshoi, she gets Haruyama on her shoulders and she hits a Samoan Driver for a two count.

Bolshoi goes off the ropes but Haruyama picks her up and hits a modified Emerald Frosion for two. Haruyama stomps Bolshoi and goes up top but Bolshoi hits a palm strike. Haruyama hits a diving guillotine legdrop, she goes back up top and hits another one but Bolshoi barely kicks out. Haruyama picks up Bolshoi but Bolshoi hits a hurricanrana, but Haruyama rolls through it for two. Haruyama kicks Bolshoi, she picks her up but Bolshoi slides away and hits a palm strike. Lariats by Haruyama and she hits one final one for a two count. Haruyama picks up Bolshoi but Bolshoi hits a crucifix hold for two. Bolshoi charges Haruyama and delivers the Piko Knee Smash, she runs at Haruyama and hits a second one. One final Piko Knee Smash by Bolshoi, cover, but Haruyama barely gets a shoulder up. Bolshoi picks up Haruyama and hits a Michinoku Driver, but Haruyama again kicks out. Bolshoi goes off the ropes and hits a palm strike, but Haruyama fires back with a lariat. Another palm strike by Bolshoi but Haruyama hits a lariat. Haruyama and Bolshoi trade blows, with Haruyama hitting a lariat to win the battle. Haruyama goes off the ropes and hits another lariat, sliding lariat by Haruyama but the cover gets a two count. Haruyama picks up Bolshoi but Bolshoi gets on her shoulders, and she hits the Limelight for the three count! Bolshoi is the new champion!

And yet another high end match, this event really killed it with the last three matches. I am actually not a big fan of Haruyama but Bolshoi was on point the entire match, she brought the energy and the action that it needed and Haruyama played her part. Big moves, hard suplexes, and like the last few matches they didn’t waste a lot of time doing moves that didn’t matter. No real resting to speak of as Bolshoi is a physical specimen, they just went for it. Haruyama is a bit lumbering but Bolshoi made up for it, a great title match.  Recommended

The post JWP “Crunchy Hurricane in Shinjuku” on 7/11/15 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Occasionally I like to review an odd event that wasn’t televised, so today I decided to give PURE-J some love. PURE-J was born out of JWP when JWP shut down last spring, it has the same wrestlers and set-up, they just lost the rights to the name and the JWP titles. On this show, we have a six team tag tournament plus a special singles match featuring Yumiko Hotta! Here is the full card:

• Dream Tag Tournament Quarter Final: KAZUKI and Rydeen Hagane vs. Yako Fujigasaki and Saori Anou
• Dream Tag Tournament Quarter Final: Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki vs. Hikari Shimizu and Syoko Sekiguchi
• Dream Tag Tournament Semi Final: KAZUKI and Rydeen Hagane vs. Leon and Miyuki Takase
• Dream Tag Tournament Semi Final: Command Bolshoi and Tae Honma vs. Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki
• Manami Katsu vs. Yumiko Hotta
• Dream Tag Tournament Final: Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki vs. KAZUKI and Rydeen Hagane

All the wrestlers on the show have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. Since I am watching this on DVD, all matches will be shown in full.

KAZUKI and Rydeen Hagane vs. Yako Fujigasaki and Saori Anou

Rydeen and Saori start the match but Yako attacks Rydeen from behind, Rydeen stacks them both into the corner and hits a body avalanche before putting Saori in a backbreaker. Yako breaks it up but Rydeen hits a double backdrop suplex, Rydeen puts both of them in crab holds but lets go after a moment. Yako leaves the ring and Rydeen puts Saori into her own crab hold, but Saori gets into the ropes. Saori gets away from Rydeen but Rydeen drops her with a backbreaker, body press by Rydeen and she gets a two count. Rydeen picks up Saori but Saori reverses the backdrop suplex, kick by Saori but Rydeen judo tosses her to the mat and tags in KAZUKI. KAZUKI flings Saori down and goes for her arm, but Yako quickly breaks it up. KAZUKI throws both Yako and Saori in the corner and hits a running knee, another knee by KAZUKI and she stacks both Yako and Saori across the ropes in the corner before hitting a double kneedrop. Saori clubs on KAZUKI but KAZUKI knees her, sidewalk slam by Saori and she covers KAZUKI for two. KAZUKI knees Saori again and the two trade shots, backslide with a bridge by Saori but KAZUKI kicks out. Saori tags in Yako, hip attacks by Yako to KAZUKI and she gets KAZUKI on her shoulders, but Rydeen breaks it up.

Yako kicks Rydeen out of the ring, she goes back to Yako and hits a wrist clutch suplex. Missile dropkick by Yako, and she covers KAZUKI for a two count. Saori comes in while Yako goes up top, she tries to help Yako hit a senton but KAZUKI rolls out of the way. KAZUKI tags Rydeen, lariat by Rydeen and she covers Yako for two. Saori runs in but Rydeen lariats both of them, Rydeen picks up Yako and drops her with a German suplex. Reverse Splash by Rydeen and she hits a second one, but Saori breaks up the cover. Lariat by Rydeen in the corner and she hits a second one, more lariats by Rydeen and she covers Yako, but Yako gets a shoulder up. Knees by Rydeen but Yako avoids the lariat and cradles Rydeen for a two count. Another roll-up by Yako but KAZUKI breaks it up, Yako picks up Rydeen and with Saori they hit a double backdrop suplex. Yako goes up top and hits a swivel body press, but the pin is broken up. Saori tries to help but hits Yako by accident, German suplex by Rydeen to Yako and she nails her with a lariat for the three count! KAZUKI and Rydeen Hagane win and continue in the tournament.

Even though it was just a reasonably short opener, I really liked this match. Rydeen has really developed into a beast, she was tossing around and lariating both Yako and Saori at will and I really enjoy power wrestling done well. Really she was the main force here, KAZUKI did a few things but she was mostly letting the younger wrestler do the work while she saved her energy for the rest of the tournament. Yako continues to improve, she looks a bit better each time I see her, and Saori is always a pleasure. A solid way to kick off the event.  Mildly Recommended

Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki vs. Hikari Shimizu and Syoko Sekiguchi

Hikari and Natsumi begin the match, they both go off the ropes and have a quick exchange but they end up on their feet again. Syoko runs in and with Hikari they dropkick Natsumi, but Hanako comes in and helps even things out. Natsumi tags in Hanako and they double team Hikari, Hanako snapmares Hikari and kicks her in the back. Hikari returns the favor, Hanako knees Hikari in the corner but Hikari dropkicks her and tags in Syoko. Hanako swats away Syoko’s dropkick and puts Syoko in a stretch hold, Syoko gets into the ropes but Hanako tosses her down with an armdrag out of the corner. Hanako stomps on Syoko and she covers the rookie for a two count. Syoko dropkicks Hanako, she picks her up but Hanako blocks the slam attempt and knees Syoko in the head. Another dropkick by Syoko and she hits a face crusher, she tags in Hikari and Hikari dropkicks Hanako. Irish whip by Hikari and she armdrags Hanako out of the corner, elbow by Hikari but Hanako elbows her back as they trade shots. Hanako kicks Hikari in the chest to send her to the mat, Hikari goes off the ropes and she delivers a bulldog. PK by Hikari, and she covers Hanako for a two count.

Fisherman suplex by Hanako, she goes off the ropes but Syoko hits her from the apron. Syoko comes in but Hanako dropkicks both of them, she tags in Natsumi and Natsumi elbows Hikari against the ropes. Cartwheel armdrag by Natsumi and she dropkicks Hikari for a two count. Natsumi picks up Hikari and slams her in front of the corner, Natsumi gets on the second rope and hits a diving sunset flip for another two. Hikari kicks Natsumi in the chest and hits a leg sweep, cover by Hikari but Natsumi kicks out. Hikari tags in Syoko, dropkicks by Syoko and Hikari returns so they both can dropkick Natsumi. Syoko goes for a STO but Natsumi blocks it, Natsumi and Syoko trade elbows until Syoko delivers the STO for a two count. Syoko picks up Natsumi and elbows her into the corner, dropkick by Natsumi but Syoko hits another STO. Syoko gets on the second turnbuckle but Natsumi tosses her back to the mat, front flipping neckbreaker by Natsumi but Syoko kicks out. Missile dropkick by Hanako, Natsumi gets on the top turnbuckle and she hits a diving body press. Natsumi goes for the swinging neckbreaker but Syoko blocks it, cradle by Syoko but it gets a two count. Syoko goes off the ropes but Natsumi avoids her charge, Hanako boots Syoko and Natsumi nails the Neck Twist for the three count! Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki win and continue in the tournament.

I’m not sure if I can say this match as ‘good’ but it was rather exciting. It was pretty simple in structure, which is expected with two rookies, but they kept the action moving so it never got dull. I’m not a big fan of Hanako and think she was a bit clunky in parts, but Natsumi looked great which helped make up for that. There was only one notable botch, which isn’t bad considering the experience levels, and most of it was pretty smooth. Who knows if Hikari and Syoko will stick around long term, but neither looked too out of place which is always a plus. Overall a bit lacking but it had some fun parts.

KAZUKI and Rydeen Hagane vs. Leon and Miyuki Takase

Leon and Miyuki attack KAZUKI and Rydeen before the match starts, they knock KAZUKI out of the ring before hitting a double dropkick onto Rydeen. Miyuki stays in as legal and hits a few dropkicks, Rydeen scoops her up but Miyuki slides around and applies a sleeper. Rydeen drives Miyuki into the corner to try to get her off, but Miyuki gets her to the mat and applies a headscissors. Miyuki drives Rydeen’s head into the mat until KAZUKI comes in and puts Miyuki in a headscissors also. Leon breaks that up, KAZUKI and Rydeen both judo toss their opponents to the mat before Rydeen starts flinging Miyuki around the ring. Rydeen scoops up Miyuki and puts her in a backbreaker, she puts Miyuki in the corner and hits a body avalanche. Lariat by Rydeen and she hits a vertical suplex, Miyuki goes off the ropes with attempted shoulderblocks but Rydeen doesn’t go down. Diving elbow smash by Miyuki, and she covers Rydeen for a two count. Miyuki tags in Leon, running shoulder tackle by Leon and she hits a bulldog off the ropes. Leon goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Leon but Rydeen kicks out. Leon goes off the ropes but Rydeen blocks the spear, she gets Rydeen up in a press slam before dropping Leon to the mat. Lariat by Rydeen and she hits a powerslam, but Leon gets a hand on the ropes.

Rydeen tags in KAZUKI but Leon cradles her for a two, leg clutch backdrop suplex by KAZUKI, but that gets a two count as well. KAZUKI gets up on the turnbuckles but Miyuki grabs her from the apron, Leon joins KAZUKI and she hits a fisherman suplex down to the mat. Knees by KAZUKI and she hits a Codebreaker, she goes off the ropes but Leon delivers the spear for two. Leon tags Miyuki, Miyuki picks up KAZUKI but KAZUKI avoids her dropkick and hits a running knee. Rydeen comes in and lariats Miyuki in the corner, running knee by KAZUKI and Rydeen hits a backbreaker. Another running knee by KAZUKI, but Leon breaks up the cover. KAZUKI and Rydeen go to attack Miyuki but Leon pushes her out of the way and hits a spear on both of her opponents. Miyuki picks up KAZUKI and hits a rolling fireman’s carry slam, frog splash by Leon and Miyuki follows with a guillotine legdrop. Miyuki goes off the ropes but KAZUKI catches her with a cutter, Rydeen hits a reverse splash and KAZUKI follows with a reverse double kneedrop. Cover by KAZUKI, but Leon barely breaks it up. KAZUKI picks up Miyuki and goes off the ropes, but Leon knees KAZUKI before Miyuki rolls her up for two. Rydeen picks up Miyuki and hits a backdrop suplex, KAZUKI goes up top and nails a diving kneedrop for the three count! KAZUKI and Rydeen Hagane win and advance to the Finals.

Another fun match from WANTED ’14, they are a quality team. Leon is a very respected veteran for a reason, everything she did here was so crisp and she guided Miyuki to the point that she didn’t feel like a rookie at all. They also felt like a real team, constantly working together, which is impressive considering they don’t usually interact. Rydeen has really gotten over as a power house and got to show off a bit more here, although KAZUKI was far more involved as she took over the last half of the match. A really entertaining midcard tag match, this tournament has over-delivered so far.  Recommended

Command Bolshoi and Tae Honma vs. Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki

Tae and Natsumi start the match, Tae pushes Natsumi into the ropes and Bolshoi comes in to help, but it ultimately backfires. Tae trips Natsumi and puts her in a cross kneelock, but Hanako comes in and breaks it up. Tae tags in Bolshoi, Natsumi and Bolshoi trade strikes until Bolshoi rolls Natsumi to the mat and puts her in a kneelock. Hanako breaks it up again, she tags Natsumi to her corner so that she can tag in. Hanako kicks Bolshoi into the corner, Irish whip by Hanako but Bolshoi grabs her arm and applies an armbar over the ropes. Bolshoi twists Hanako’s arm in the top rope before tagging in Tae, dropkick to the arm by Tae but Hanako hits a fisherman suplex. Hanako puts Tae in a crab hold, but Tae crawls to the ropes and gets the break. Hanako tags in Natsumi and hits a series of dropkicks onto Tae, Tae trips Natsumi however and puts her in a kneelock. Natsumi gets into the ropes, Tae tags Bolshoi and Bolshoi hits a vertical suplex. Bolshoi picks up Natsumi and puts Natsumi in an ankle hold, Hanako comes in to help but Bolshoi puts her into an ankle hold also. Bolshoi wraps their legs together and with Tae they put both their opponents into crab holds. They leg go after a moment, uranage by Bolshoi to Natsumi and she covers her for two. Bolshoi goes off the ropes but Hanako hits her from the apron, cartwheel into a cradle by Natsumi but Bolshoi kicks out. Natsumi tags in Hanako, boots by Hanako and she goes up top, but Bolshoi runs over and hits a palm strike.

Bolshoi tries to suplex Hanako back in the ring but Hanako blocks it and hits a leg drop, Hanako goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick for a two count. Hanako goes for a fisherman suplex but Bolshoi blocks it, palm strikes by Bolshoi but Hanako kicks her in the chest. Triangle choke by Bolshoi but Hanako gets a foot in the ropes for a break, Bolshoi tags in Tae and Tae goes for the cross armbreaker but Hanako blocks it. Tae picks up Hanako and goes for the short armbar, but Natsumi breaks it up. Natsumi dropkicks Tae, Bolshoi elbows Natsumi and hits a Tiger Feint Kick onto Hanako. Tae quickly covers Hanako, but it gets a two count. Tae picks up Hanako but Bolshoi lariats both Tae and Bolshoi, Neck Twist by Natsumi to Tae and Hanako boots Tae in the face for a two count. Hanako hits a legdrop off the second turnbuckle, Natsumi then hits a diving body press before Hanako ends the chain with a Shining Wizard. Cover, but Bolshoi breaks it up. Hanako picks up Tae but Tae blocks the fisherman buster, cross armbreaker takedown by Tae but Hanako gets a foot on the ropes. Tae picks up Hanako, palm strike by Bolshoi and Tae rolls up Hanako for a two count. Tae goes off the ropes but Hanako kicks her in the head, head kick by Hanako but Bolshoi breaks up the cover. Hanako picks up Tae and nails the fisherman buster, and she picks up the three count! Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki win the match and go to the tournament Finals.

Another solid match, nothing on this event is blowing me away but its been very steady since the start. Bolshoi was all over the place here, in a good way, as she was always involving herself and doing her damnedest to get her team the win. You’d think it would be tempting for a vet to coast a bit on a small non-televised show, but she certainly wasn’t. The leg work on Natsumi was good, ultimately not important to the conclusion but both wrestlers kept at it and I thought Tae showed a lot here. Still not thrilled with Hanako but she didn’t do anything here to hurt the match, she isn’t the fastest or most crisp wrestler but Natsumi was generally the focus. A fun match, worth a casual watch.  Mildly Recommended

Manami Katsu vs. Yumiko Hotta

Manami attacks Hotta before the match starts with elbows in the corner, Hotta elbows her back and the two trade blows. Manami tries to shoulderblock Hotta with no luck, Hotta lariats Manami to the mat and finally gets to take her coat off. Single leg crab hold by Hotta but Manami quickly gets to the ropes. Hotta kicks Manami out of the ring, she goes out after her and tosses Manami around the floor. Hotta returns to the ring with Manami slowly following, kicks by Hotta and she throws Manami to the mat before putting her in a chinlock. Hotta bites Manami in the head but Manami hits a lariat in the corner, more lariats by Manami but Hotta blocks the bulldog. Hotta boots Manami in the head, but Manami recovers and the two trade elbows. Manami knees Hotta in the back to get her to the mat, crab hold by Manami but Hotta gets into the ropes for the break. Hotta goes for a sleeper but Manami quickly gets to the ropes, Hotta kicks Manami in the chest and covers her for two. Manami rolls Hotta to the mat and applies a kneelock, but Hotta is in the ropes already and easily gets the break. Back up, Katsu ducks a lariat and re-applies the rolling kneelock, but again Hotta gets to the ropes. Hotta rolls out of the ring but Manami goes out after her and throws a chair at her, Manami throws another chair at Hotta before taking her up into the crowd so she can ram Hotta’s head into the wall. Manami spits water at Hotta and brings her back into the ring, Samoan Drop by Manami and she boots Hotta while she is against the ropes. Another boot by Manami and she hits a third, lariat by Manami but Hotta doesn’t go down. Elbows by Hotta and she palm strikes Manami, Manami gets up and elbows Hotta but Hotta applies a sleeper. She lets Manami go and kicks her in the head, Hotta puts Manami in a rear naked choke and Manami quickly taps out! Yumiko Hotta is the winner.

I understand what they were trying to do here, but the results were a bit iffy. Try as she might, Manami just wasn’t able to elevated by Hotta, it just felt like a fly annoying a lion. It didn’t help that there were a few miscommunications and they even had to re-do a move, which is never ideal. But even though Manami got in offense it just felt like she was delaying the inevitable more than anything else. Not a bad match, just too predictable with nothing particularly memorable.

Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki vs. KAZUKI and Rydeen Hagane

Hanako and Natsumi attack before the match starts, Hanako and Natsumi both go for armdrags out of the corner but Rydeen and KAZUKI knock them both out of the ring instead. Rydeen and KAZUKI brawl around the floor before sliding Natsumi back in, double Irish whip by Rydeen and KAZUKI and they hit a double shoulderblock. Rydeen and KAZUKI stretch Natsumi until Hanako breaks it up, KAZUKI tosses Natsumi down by the hair and hits a kneedrop, cross leglock by KAZUKI, but Natsumi wiggles to the ropes to force the break. Scoop slam by KAZUKI and she hits a kneedrop, cover by KAZUKI but Natsumi kicks out. KAZUKI tags Rydeen, Rydeen puts Natsumi in a crab hold but Hanako breaks it up. Natsumi gets back up and trades elbows with Rydeen, hard shoulderblock by Rydeen and she covers Natsumi for two. Rydeen tags in KAZUKI, knees by KAZUKI and she taunts Hanako on the apron. KAZUKI applies a sleeper but Natsumi gets a toe on the ropes, Irish whip by KAZUKI but Natsumi hits a jumping crossbody and makes the hot tag to Hanako. Kicks by Hanako to KAZUKI but KAZUKI knees her in the back, knees to the stomach by KAZUKI and she covers Hanako for two. Hanako kicks KAZUKI in the head to regain the advantage, she goes up top and hits a combination armdrag/headscissors on both opponents. Hanako tags in Natsumi, dropkicks by Natsumi to KAZUKI and she applies a hanging armbar. Schoolboy by Natsumi, but KAZUKI kicks out. Natsumi goes up top but Rydeen grabs her from the apron, KAZUKI puts Natsumi on her shoulders but Natsumi wiggles away. Footstomp by KAZUKI and she hits a double underhook gutbuster, cover by KAZUKI but Natsumi barely gets a shoulder up. KAZUKI tags in Rydeen, Rydeen lariats Natsumi in the corner before she hits a second one. More lariats by Rydeen but Natsumi rolls over her shoulders and covers her for two.

Rydeen scoops up Natsumi and applies a backbreaker, but Hanako breaks it up. Rydeen hits a backdrop suplex on both Natsumi and Hanako, double lariat by Rydeen and she goes back to concentrating on Natsumi. Rydeen picks up Natsumi and press slams her onto Hanako, backdrop suplex by Rydeen to Natsumi and she hits a pair of reverse splashes for a two count. Rydeen goes up top but Natsumi avoids the body press, Hanako kicks Rydeen and Natsumi covers her for two. Natsumi tags Hanako, Hanako picks up Rydeen but Rydeen hits a powerslam. Rydeen goes up top but Hanako recovers and kicks her before she can jump off, Hanako joins Rydeen and hits a fisherman suplex down to the mat. Diving body press by Natsumi and Hanako delivers the Shining Wizard, but Rydeen barely kicks out. Hanako goes up top but Rydeen avoids the diving legdrop, Codebreaker by KAZUKI to Hanako and Rydeen hits a sliding lariat. KAZUKI goes up top and nails the diving double kneedrop, Rydeen then goes up top and hits the diving body press, but Natsumi breaks up the cover. Headbutt by Hanako to Rydeen but KAZUKI knees her, Natsumi dropkicks KAZUKI but Rydeen lariats Natsumi. Lariat by Rydeen to Natsumi, she picks up Hanako and hits a fireman’s carry slam for a two count. Rydeen goes off the ropes but Hanako kicks her in the head, another head kick by Hanako but Rydeen fires back with a lariat. Natsumi kicks Rydeen in the stomach, fisherman buster by Natsumi but KAZUKI breaks up her cover. Running kick to the head by Hanako and she delivers a Buzzsaw Kick to Rydeen, but Rydeen gets a shoulder up on the pin. Hanako goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails a diving guillotine leg drop, and she picks up the three count! The winners of the match and the tournament are Hanako Nakamori and Natsumi Maki!

Since I have been less enthused with Hanako so far in this tournament, I have to say that she did step up here and looked pretty good in the Final. I really enjoyed this, considering it was their third match of the night they didn’t slow down at all or show any signs of wear. Even though Hanako and Natsumi aren’t a regular team, they still wrestled like one, and they all worked together really well. It was chaotic, and there wasn’t a lot of structure to it, but it was certainly exciting to watch. Normally I do like a bit more ‘meaning’ behind things but a thrown together tournament tends to be a bit more laid back, they were just trying to put on a fun show and I think they accomplished that. No obvious flaws, a fun match and a fitting end to the tournament.  Recommended

The post PURE-J “JxA Dream Tag Tournament” on 7/14/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

*Over the next month, I will be slowly bringing my Joshi Reviews from Puroresu Central over to Joshi City so I can have all my Joshi reviews in one place. Some features of my current reviews on this site may be missing as my style has changed over the years, however I will have it match the Joshi City review format as closely as I can. The original review date can be found at the bottom of the review, I will try not to make any major changes to the text unless I see something that needs clarifying.*

Even though JWP has had many events in 2014, this is the first event I have been able to track down for the year. I am sure more will pop up later, or I will just have to hunt around a little bit harder to find them, one or the other.  JWP has a small army of their own wrestlers but as you can see here they also use a lot of ‘outside talent’ as well. This was a big card for them as we have three title matches and other ‘big’ singles matches to help end the year in style. Here is the full card:

– Yako Fujigasaki vs. Yua Hayashi
– JWP Jr. Championship and POP Championship: Rabbit Miu vs. Eri
– Jaguar Yokota, KAZUKI, and Raideen Hagane vs. Manami Toyota, Tsukushi, and Neko Nitta
– KAORU vs. Kayoko Haruyama
– Hanako Nakamori vs. Kana
– JWP Tag Team Championship and Daily Sports Tag Team Championship: Command Bolshoi and Kyoko Kimura vs. Leon and Ray
– JWP Openweight Championship: Arisa Nakajima vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

I’m not sure I have seen all these ladies before, so it will be interesting to see how this event turns out.

Yako Fujigasaki vs. Yua Hayashi

They circle to start before going straight to trading elbows, they trade elbows near the ropes and Hayashi gets Fujigasaki into the corner.  Irish whip by Hayashi and she connects with a heel kick, she goes for a kick but Fujigasaki catches it.  Hayashi kicks her in the chest anyway, then hits a second kick and a third.  Hayashi goes off the ropes and delivers another kick, cover, but it gets a two count.  Armbar by Hayashi and she kicks Fujigasaki in the back.  Irish whip by Hayashi but Fujigasaki hits a dropkick.  Another dropkick by Fujigasaki and she hits a third dropkick.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Fujigasaki picks up Hayashi and goes for a slam but Hayashi lands on top of her for a two count.  Takedown by Hayashi and she applies a cross armbreaker but Fujigasaki gets a foot on the bottom rope.  Kicks to the side by Hayashi, she goes off the ropes but Fujigasaki connects with a dropkick.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Fujigasaki picks up Hayashi but Hayashi gets away, backslide by Hayashi but it gets two.  School boy by Hayashi, but it gets a two count as well.  Hayashi picks up Fujigasaki but Fujigasaki slaps her and puts her in a wing clutch hold for a two count.  Dropkick by Fujigasaki, cover, but it gets a two count.  Fujigasaki picks up Hayashi and delivers a Double-Wrist Armsault, and she picks up the three count.  Your winner:  Yako Fujigasaki

The results I found called it a “double-wrist armsault,” I’d have just called it a wrist-clutch northern lights suplex.  But no one asked me.  This was really basic and not good, I mean first one wrestler hit the same move four straight times, then the other hit the same move three straight times, not really thinking outside of the box here.  I don’t know much about either of these two and maybe this is all they are capable of, but a really short and not overly entertaining opener.

(c) Rabbit Miu vs. Eri

This match is for the JWP Jr. Championship and POP Championship.  Eri and Miu lock knuckles, Eri pushes Miu down but Miu comes back and throws Eri to the mat.  Wristlock by Miu, reversed by Eri, Miu rolls out of it and hits a series of knees.  Irish whip by Miu and she delivers a dropkick.  Cover, but it gets a one count.  Scoop slam by Miu and Miu applies a crab hold.  Miu picks up Eri and throws her into the corner before throwing her down by her hair.  Eri throws Miu to the mat by her hair and chokes her in the corner.  Eri picks up Miu and Eri hits a scoop slam.  Another scoop slam by Eri, cover, but it gets a two count.  Eri applies a cross armbreaker but Miu throws Eri to the mat.  Miu chokes Eri against the ropes, Irish whip by Miu but Eri hits an elbow smash.  Irish whip by Eri and she dropkicks Miu into the corner.  Irish whip by Eri, reversed, and Miu hits a jumping elbow.  Kick to the stomach by Eri and she hits a DDT, but Miu gets up and hits her own DDT.  Another DDT by Eri but Miu hits another one as well.  Elevated DDT by Eri, she goes off the ropes and hits a tilt-a-whirl DDT.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Eri charges Miu but Miu pulls down the top rope, sending Eri to the apron.  Miu then gets a running start and dropkicks Eri out of the ring.  Miu goes out to the apron and hits a dropkick off the apron to the floor.  Miu slides Eri back into the ring, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick.  Cover, but it gets a two count.

Miu applies a choke before pulling back on Eri’s hair.  Eri gets to the ropes to force a break, Miu goes off the ropes and hits a running knee.  Brainbuster by Miu, cover, but it gets two.  Miu picks up Eri, waistlock by Miu, Eri elbows her off and hits a DDT.  Eri picks up Miu but Miu ducks the lariat and hits a release German suplex.  Miu goes up to the top turnbuckle but Eri dropkicks her, sending Miu crashing to the floor.  Eri goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody down to the floor.  Eri picks up Miu and slides her into the ring, Eri goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick.  A second dropkick by Eri and she hits a third.  Cover by Eri, cover, but it only gets a two count.  Eri picks up Miu and hits a hard elbow but Miu elbows her back and they trade blows.  Eri and Miu trade lariats, until Eri punches Miu in the face.  Cover by Eri, but Miu gets a shoulder up.  Eri picks up Miu and hits a suplex, Eri goes up to the top turnbuckle but Miu recovers and joins her up top.  Superplex by Miu, she goes off the ropes and hits a running cannonball for a two count.  Miu picks up Eri and applies a waistlock, roll-up by Eri but it gets a two count.  Eri picks up Miu and she punches Miu in the head, cover, but it gets two.  Eri picks up Miu, backfist by Eri and she hits a few elbows.  Big boot by Miu, cover, but it gets a two count.  Waistlock by Miu and she hits a German suplex hold for a two count.  Miu picks up Eri and she hits the Rabbit Suplex Hold for a three count.  Your winner and still champion:  Rabbit Miu

This was a pretty good match and it had some cute spots.  Lots of DDTs, but I guess if you have to spam a move it may as well be one that you can hit from a lot of different angles.  I’m not sure if I had seen Eri before but she shows promise, she is still quite young.  It was in the right spot on the card, even though it was a title match they both are still young and figuring out how to structure matches.  Considering their age this was solid, and they really did go all out to put on an entertaining match. Mildly Recommended

Jaguar Yokota, KAZUKI, and Raideen Hagane vs. Manami Toyota, Tsukushi, and Neko Nitta

Hagane and Nitta start things off.  Waistlock by Nitta, reversed by Hagane but Nitta elbows out of it.  Hagane grabs Nitta by the tail and hits it with her elbow.  She then hands the tail to Yokota, and Yokota bites it.  KAZUKI then yanks the tail over the top rope, Hagane grabs her and throws Nitta down by the tail.  Yokota comes in and hits an elbow on Nitta in the corner, as does KAZUKI.  Hagane and KAZUKI apply wristlocks to Nitta, Yokota then comes in the ring and they post on Nitta.  Toyota and Tsukushi come in and break it up, Irish whip by Hagane to Nitta but Nitta hits a springboard armdrag.  Nitta tags in Tsukushi while Hagane tags in Yokota, and Tsukushi dropkicks Yokota.  Irish whip by Tsukushi but Yokota avoids the dropkick, Yokota goes off the ropes but Tsukushi dropkicks her.  Tsukushi goes off the ropes but Yokota hits a lariat followed by a delayed scoop slam.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Tsukushi clubs Yokota in the chest but Yokota elbows her back and they trade strikes.  Elbows by Tsukushi but Yokota elbows her hard to the mat and tags in KAZUKI.  Drop toehold by Tsukushi to KAZUKI and she knocks Hagane and Yokota off the apron.  Toyota and Nitta come in the ring and everyone runs over KAZUKI’s back, Tsukushi ties up Hagane in the ropes and Nitta hits a dropkick.  Toyota then hits a dropkick as well, with Tsukushi ending with one.  Crossbody by Tsukushi, cover, but it gets a two count.  Tsukushi goes off the ropes but KAZUKI knees her in the midsection.  Double knee drop by KAZUKI, cover, but it gets a two count.  KAZUKI tags in Hagane, Hagane picks up Tsukushi but Tsukushi blocks the slam.  Irish whip by Tsukushi, reversed, but Hagane knocks Tsukushi to the mat.  Hagane picks up Tsukushi in a press slam and drops her to the mat.  Cover by Hagane, but it gets a two count.  Hagane picks up Tsukushi but Tsukushi gets away, roll-up by Tsukushi but it gets a two count.  Tsukushi goes up to the top turnbuckle but Hagane recovers and joins her up top.  Tsukushi gets on Hagane’s back and applies a stretch hold while they are still on the top turnbuckle.  Tsukushi tries to pull Hagane off the turnbuckle and finally slams her to the mat with Nitta’s help.  Scoop slam by Tsukushi, cover, but it gets a two count.  Tsukushi tags in Toyota, and Toyota comes off the top with a missile dropkick.

Toyota picks up Hagane, Irish whip, but Hagane can’t shoulderblock Toyota down.  She tries again with no luck, and Toyota hits a big boot.  Scissors kick by Toyota, cover, but it is broken up.  Toyota picks up Hagane but KAZUKI kicks her from behind.  Double Irish whip to Toyota but Toyota ducks the lariat and Tsukushi comes off the top turnbuckle with a crossbody.  Hagane and KAZUKI catch her, but Toyota pushes them to the mat.  Toyota picks up Hagane, Irish whip, but Hagane hits a lariat.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Hagane tags in Yokota, Yokota charges Toyota but Toyota hits a snapmare.  Yokota returns the favor and applies the Octopus Hold, Irish whip by Yokota to the corner, reversed, but Yokota hits a hurricanrana when Toyota charges in.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Irish whip by Yokota, reversed, and Toyota hits the Oklahoma Roll.  Waistlock by Yokota but Toyota reverses it and hits a German suplex. Toyota tags in Nitta, Nitta goes up top but Yokota punches her and joins her.  Superplex by Yokota, cover, but it gets a two count.  Yokota picks up Nitta but Nitta dropkicks her in the knee.  Nitta hits Yokota with her tail, she goes off the ropes and performs a victory roll for a two count.  Irish whip by Nitta, reversed, and Yokota hits a backdrop suplex.  Yokota picks up Nitta and hits a fisherman suplex, and she tags in KAZUKI.  Hagane comes in too and Hagane hits a moonsault off the top turnbuckle.  KAZUKI then comes off the top with a diving double kneedrop, cover, but Toyota breaks it up.  KAZUKI goes off the ropes but Tsukushi cuts her off with a dropkick.  Nitta slaps Hagane, Tsukushi comes in the ring, double Irish whip to Hagane but Hagane hits a double lariat.  KAZUKI picks up Nitta and hits a K-Crusher, cover, but Nitta gets a shoulder up.  KAZUKI picks up Nitta and puts her onto her shoulders, but Nitta slides away.  Nitta hits a sidewalk slam to KAZUKI, then Tsukushi comes off the top turnbuckle with an assisted senton.  Nitta goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a corkscrew senton, cover, but it is broken up.  La Magistral by Nitta, but again it is broken up.  Nitta goes off the ropes but KAZUKI gets her onto her shoulders.  Nitta slides off her back and she rolls up KAZUKI for a two count.  KAZUKI hits a jawbreaker on Nitta, she gets her onto her shoulders and hits the Death by Roderick.  Cover, and she picks up the three count.  Your winners:  Jaguar Yokota, KAZUKI, and Raideen Hagane

I gotta admit, they didn’t have to ‘bring it’ but they did, to the best of their ability anyway.  For an undercard match with some legends I thought they would just be coasting, until they started hitting moonsaults and diving kneedrops and everything else.  I don’t want to overpraise it as there wasn’t much structure and it wasn’t very long, but for what they did it was quite entertaining.  I guess I would consider this a pleasant undercard surprise, when you go in expecting nothing and they hold your attention throughout the match.  Good effort all around.  Mildly Recommended

KAORU vs. Kayoko Haruyama

KAORU and Haruyama tie-up to start but they break cleanly.  Tie-up again but again they break.  KAORU stomps Haruyama on the foot, Irish whip to the corner, reversed, but Haruyama stops charging when KAORU gets her foot up.  Lariats in the corner by Haruyama once she puts her foot down, Haruyama goes off the ropes and she hits a lariat.  Cover, but it gets a two count. KAORU gets a board and tries to hit Haruyama with it, but Haruyama ducks.  KAORU finally pops Haruyama with it and hits hers again, KAORU picks up Haruyama but Haruyama hits a DDT.  Haruyama kicks KAORU in the face and connects with another high kick, she goes off the ropes but KAORU hits her with the board.  Cover, but the referee doesn’t count due to the shenanigans.  KAORU throws Haruyama out of the ring and goes out after her, and KAORU throws Haruyama into the ring post.  KAORU throws Haruyama into a bunch of chairs, she slides her back into the ring but Haruyama snaps off a German suplex.  Underhook facebuster by Haruyama, she picks up KAORU and she hits a second one.  Haruyama picks up KAORU and she hits a third one, German suplex hold by Haruyama but it gets a two count.  Back kick by Haruyama, she picks up KAORU and hits a scoop slam.  Haruyama goes up to the top turnbuckle but KAORU rolls out of the way of the leg drop and kicks Haruyama in the face.  KAORU goes up to the top turnbuckle but Haruyama rolls out of the way of the moonsault.  Haruyama charges KAORU but KAORU ducks it, Haruyama hits the lariat on the second try and picks up a two count.  A second lariat by Haruyama, but it gets another two count.  Haruyama picks up KAORU, she goes for a slam but KAORU slides away and hits the Excalibur.  KAORU picks up Haruyama and hits a second one, KAORU picks up Haruyama and she hits a third Excalibur.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Hurricanrana by KAORU, cover, but it gets another two.  La Magistral by KAORU, and she picks up the three count.  Your winner:  KAORU

What an odd little match.  KAORU hits her finisher three times, then a hurricanrana… then wins with La Magistral?  I was expecting a Haruyama hope spot or something, but there was nothing like that.  There was no lack of effort but the structure was head scratching from start to finish, I am not even sure what they were going for.  Maybe I didn’t get it, but it wasn’t for me even though the action itself was solid for the most part.

Hanako Nakamori vs. Kana

Kana offers a handshake to start the match but Nakamori kicks her in the head.  Nakamori kicks Kana into the corner, Irish whip, but Kana kicks Nakamori back.  She kicks her again but Nakamori delivers a high kick.  Nakamori grabs Kana but Kana blocks the slam attempt, elbows by Nakamori and she goes off the ropes, but Kana takes her to the mat and applies a cross armbreaker.  Nakamori struggles in the hold but eventually gets a foot on the bottom rope.  Kicks to the chest by Kana, she picks up Nakamori but Nakamori chops her in the chest.  Slap by Nakamori but Kana catches her arm and applies an armbar.  Kana reverts it into a cross armbreaker but Nakamori rolls to the ropes and gets a foot on the ropes again.  Kana wraps Nakamori’s arm in the ropes and stomps down on it.   Kick to the chest by Kana and she kicks Nakamori in the back.  More kicks to the chest by Kana but Nakamori hits an enzuigiri.  Sliding kick by Kana, she goes off the ropes but Nakamori delivers a high kick.  Sliding kick by Nakamori, cover, but it gets a two count.  Nakamori picks up Kana but Kana slaps her, Nakamori catches a kick by Kana and she hits a scoop DDT.  Cover, but it gets two.

Nakamori pulls Kana to the mat and applies a modified armbar, but Kana reverses it into an ankle hold.  Nakamori gets into the ropes to get the break, Kana picks her up but Nakamori elbows out of it.  Kana gets Nakamori’s back and she applies an Octopus Hold, she rolls Nakamori to the mat and she gets a two count.  Kick to the head by Kana, she goes up to the top turnbuckle but Nakamori hits her and joins her up top.  Kana elbows Nakamori back to the mat but Nakamori hits a high kick.  Nakamori goes back up tight and hits a vertical suplex.  Nakamori goes for another kick but Kana ducks it, headbutt by Nakamori but Kana hits a trio of backfists followed by a high kick.  Cover by Kana, but it gets a two count.  German suplex hold by Kana, but that gets a two count as well.  Kana kicks Nakamori as she sits on the mat, cover, but it gets a two count.  Kana quickly applies the cross armbreaker, Nakamori rolls out of it but Kana applies a crossface chicken wing.  Nakamori gets out of it and she kicks Kana in the head, Kana goes off the ropes but Nakamori blocks the sliding kick before hitting one of her own.  Shining Wizard by Nakamori and she hits another one, cover, but it gets a two count.  Nakamori goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a jumping knee to Kana’s face.  Cover, but Kana barely gets a shoulder up.  Nakamori picks up Kana but Kana gets her back and slaps on the Kana Lock.  Nakamori struggles but it doesn’t matter, she is out and the referee stops the match.  Your winner:  Kana

Hmmm Kana.  Anyway, once I got over my affection for my favorite Joshi wrestler, I realized this was a good match but far from great.  Nakamori really took it to Kana, I will give her that, but so much of the offense ended up not really meaning that much.  There were tons of kicks to the heads, lots of arm submissions, but really all Kana needed was the Kana Lock in the middle of the ring and Nakamori was done.  I didn’t feel that Kana really wore down Nakamori to prepare for that move as it is a ‘put you to sleep’ move, not a ‘snap your arm’ move.  The strikes were generally snug and it was an even match so it was anyone’s game, I just wish the action through the match had some connection to the ending.  I still liked it, since it set a good pace and I couldn’t look way due to the Kana Factor, but it was really only a solid mid-card match at best.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Command Bolshoi and Kyoko Kimura vs. Leon and Ray

This match is for the JWP Tag Team Championship and Daily Sports Tag Team Championship.  Leon and Ray attack their opponents from behind to start the match, and they go outside the ring to battle it out.  Leon and Ray take their opponents near the stage and both jump off of it onto their opponents.  Leon throws Bolshoi into a row of chairs before taking her up into the crowd but Bolshoi and Kimura take back over.  Bolshoi gets on Kimura’s shoulders and they beat on Leon.  Bolshoi takes Leon back to the ringside area and they get back into the ring.  Bolshoi picks up Leon, Irish whip to the corner and Kimura hits a jumping elbow.  Bolshoi wraps Leon in the ropes and applies a stretch hold, but the referee gets her to break the hold.  Bolshoi tags in Kimura, Kimura picks up Leon and hits an armbreaker.  Kimura elbows Leon in the arm and then kicks her before choking Leon with her boot.  Kimura applies an armbar on the mat, but Ray breaks it up.  Kimura grabs Leon’s arm and tags in Bolshoi.  Bolshoi kicks Leon and clubs her in the back of the head.  Bolshoi kicks Leon back but Leon hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.  Leon tags in Ray and Ray hits a cartwheel elbow in the corner. Ray goes off the ropes and hits a Sling Blade on Bolshoi, cover, but it gets a two count.  Ray picks up Bolshoi, she goes off the ropes but Bolshoi kicks her.  Irish whip by Bolshoi, reversed, Kimura comes in the ring but Ray gets past them and hits a double dropkick.  Kimura and Bolshoi fall out of the ring, and both Leon and Ray dive out of the ring on them to the floor.  Ray slides Bolshoi back into the ring, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a cartwheel kick off the ropes to Bolshoi’s legs.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Ray picks up Bolshoi, waistlock by Ray but Bolshoi elbows out of it.  Bolshoi drops Ray onto the bottom rope, she goes off the ropes but Leon cuts her off.  Tiger Feint Kick by Ray, cover, but Bolshoi kicks out at two.  Ray positions Bolshoi in front of the corner, she goes up to the top turnbuckle but Bolshoi gets her knees up when Ray goes for a moonsault.  Palm thrust by Bolshoi, cover, but it gets a two count.  Bolshoi tags in Kimura, Kimura grabs Ray and knees her into the corner.  Kimura puts Ray over the second rope and kicks Ray in the chest.  Slingshot doublestomp by Kimura and she kicks Leon off the apron.  Kimura picks up Ray and hits a shoulder breaker.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Kimura goes off the ropes but Ray avoids the doublestomp.  High kick by Ray and she hits another one followed by an enzuigiri.  Ray tags in Leon but Kimura kicks Leon as she charges in.  Elbow by Leon but Kimura elbows her back and they trade shots.  Kimura gets the better of it, Leon goes off the ropes but Kimura hits a bit boot.  Bolshoi runs in to attack Leon as well, swinging kick by Bolshoi and Kimura hits a running boot to the face.  Cover, but it gets a two count.

Kimura picks up Leon but Leon lands on her feet on the suplex attempt and drops Kimura onto her knee.  Leon goes up to the top turnbuckle but Kimura is up and joins her.  Kimura picks up Leon but Leon slides down her back and lands on her feet.  Ray kicks Kimura from the apron, Leon grabs Kimura and picks her up, holding her in the hair.  Ray then comes off the top turnbuckle and slams Kimura’s head back into the mat.  Cover by Leon but Kimura kicks out at two.  Leon goes up to the top turnbuckle but Kimura moves when she goes for the senton.  Kimura applies the sleeper to Leon while Bolshoi holds back Ray, Kimura waits for Leon to get up and delivers a headbutt, and she makes the tag to Bolshoi.  Bolshoi hits a palm thrust onto Leon but Leon hits a backbreaker.  Leon charges Bolshoi but Bolshoi hits a Tiger Feint Kick.  Tilt-a-whirl slam by Leon, cover, but it gets a two count.  Leon goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a frog splash, cover, but Kimura breaks it up.  Ray drops Kimura with a German suplex, Leon goes up to the top turnbuckle but Bolshoi hits a palm thrust.  Kimura and Bolshoi get their opponents up in different corners, Kimura hits a superplex and then Bolshoi hits an avalanche armdrag.  Cover by Bolshoi but it gets a two count.  Bolshoi hits a tiger suplex hold on Leon, but it gets another two.  Bolshoi goes off the ropes, Leon ducks the lariat, Bolshoi holds Leon for Kimura but Leon ducks and Kimura kicks Bolshoi.  Leon runs into Bolshoi, cover, but it gets a two count. Leon picks up Bolshoi and hits a scoop slam, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a rope walk dropkick onto Kimura.  Ray and Leon both superkick Bolshoi and then kick Kimura as well, they both go up top to different turnbuckles and hit stereo moonsaults/sentons.  Cover by Leon to Bolshoi, but it gets a two count.  Leon picks up Bolshoi and hits a fisherman buster, cover, but Kimura breaks it up.  Leon picks up Bolshoi again and goes for a second one but Bolshoi reverses it into a DDT.  Leon and Bolshoi trade slaps, Ray grabs Bolshoi from behind but Bolshoi moves when Leon charges in, causing Leon to hit Ray.  Bolshoi knocks over Leon, and both wrestlers are down on the mat.  Bolshoi charges Leon but Leon rolls up Bolshoi for a two count.  Kimura comes in, she headbutts Leon and then Bolshoi hits a jumping knee onto Leon.  Cover, but Ray breaks it up.  Bolshoi waits for Leon to get up but Leon catches her with a Capture Buster.  Leon quickly picks up Bolshoi and goes for a second one, Bolshoi briefly reverses it with a small package but Leon rolls through it and plants Bolshoi with another Capture Buster.  Cover, and she picks up the three count.  Your winners and new champions:  Leon and Ray

This was pretty hit and miss.  At times the moves looked great, but at other times moves were sloppy and just poorly hit.  It was almost like a toned down version of Sabu match – just try a bunch of cool stuff and as long as you hit 90% of it you’re doing ok.  But I get so spoiled by Joshi I just don’t expect to see mistakes. The spots they did hit did look really good and they were flying around the ring in a very exciting manner.  They also kept it going, it wasn’t a short match but there was no wasted time.  I wish it was more smooth from start to finish but it still had it’s entertaining parts.

(c) Arisa Nakajima vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

This match is for the JWP Openweight Championship.  They get straight to it as they charge into each other, side headlock takedown by Nakajima but Fujimoto gets out of it, trip by Fujimoto but Nakajima bridges up.  Fujimoto throws Nakajima into the corner, reversed, Fujimoto jumps up to the top turnbuckle but Nakajima knocks her off and down to the floor.  Nakajima attacks Fujimoto with chairs up in the crowd and they walk up to the upper aisle.  Snapmare by Nakajima and she kicks Fujimoto in the face.  Fujimoto rolls Nakajima to the ground and returns the favor, Irish whip by Nakajima into the wall and Fujimoto delivers a dropkick.  Fujimoto picks up Nakajima and takes her back to ringside, and Fujimoto hits Nakajima with a chair.   Nakajima and Fujimoto trade elbows, and Fujimoto slides Nakajima back into the ring.  Fujimoto twists Nakajima in the ropes and she delivers a dropkick.  Fujimoto kicks Nakajima in the chest repeatedly and she throws Nakajima into the corner.  Fujimoto chokes Nakajima with her knee and she goes for a cutter, but Nakajima reverses it with a backdrop suplex.  Knee to the head by Nakajima and she knees Fujimoto repeatedly in the corner.  Nakajima picks up Fujimoto, Fujimoto goes for an enzuigiri but Nakajima ducks and hits a German suplex hold for a two count.  Nakajima goes up to the top turnbuckle but Fujimoto joins her, Nakajima knocks Fujimoto down into the tree of woe and she hits a doublestomp off the top turnbuckle.  Nakajima goes up to the top turnbuckle and she hits a diving doublestomp.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Nakajima picks up Fujimoto and knees Fujimoto in the face.  Nakajima goes off the ropes but Fujimoto delivers a dropkick. Dropkick by Fujimoto in the corner, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick.  Cover, but it gets a two.  Fujimoto applies a crossface and then a cross armed submission hold, but Nakajima makes it to the ropes.  Kicks to the back by Fujimoto, she goes for an armdrag but Nakajima blocks it.  Waistlock by Nakajima but Fujimoto gets out of it, Fujimoto hits an enzuigiri and then kicks Nakajima in the head.  Cover, but it gets a two count.  Fujimoto picks up Nakajima, she runs up the ropes in the corner but Nakajima kicks her down to the apron.  Nakajima then climbs up to the top turnbuckle and grabs Fujimoto’s head, slamming it into the apron as she jumps to the floor.  Nakajima returns to the ring with Fujimoto slowly following, but Nakajima kicks Fujimoto as she gets on the apron.  Nakajima then goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a doublestomp all the way down to the floor.

Nakajima gets back in the ring but her leg is hurt, so people at ringside check her out while Fujimoto is still lying on the floor.  She gets checked on too as Nakajima gets back up, and the referee starts a count.  Fujimoto slowly makes it back into the ring in time, Nakajima goes up to the top turnbuckle and she dropkicks Fujimoto.  She goes up top again and hits another missile dropkick.  Up goes Nakajima a third time and she again dropkicks Fujimoto in the head.  Cover, but Fujimoto gets a shoulder up.  Nakajima picks up Fujimoto and hits a backfist, Nakajima goes for a dragon suplex but Fujimoto rolls her up for a two count. Knee to the back of the head by Nakajima and she kicks Fujimoto in the face.  Nakajima picks up Fujimoto but Fujimoto hits a scoop slam.  Kicks to the head by Fujimoto, she picks up Nakajima and hits two crucifix slams, but both get two counts.  Fujimoto picks up Nakajima, she runs up the corner and she kicks Nakajima in the head.  Fujimoto then goes off the ropes but Nakajima catches her and suplexes her to the mat.  Both wrestlers slowly get up and they trade elbows, Fujimoto ducks one and hits a series of uninterrupted elbows, sending Nakajima to the mat.  Fujimoto runs up the corner but Nakajima ducks the kick and punts her in the face, busting Fujimoto’s lip badly in the process.  Nakajima goes off the ropes but Fujimoto does also and applies the Venus Screw for a two count.  Fujimoto goes off the ropes, elbow by Nakajima but Fujimoto returns the favor.  Cutie Special by Nakajima, but it gets a two count.  Fujimoto goes off the ropes and hits a PK, cover, but it gets two.  Another PK, but again Nakajima kicks out.  Fujimoto and Nakajima trade slaps, elbows by Nakajima and she sends Fujimoto to the mat.  Cover, but Fujimoto barely kicks out.  Nakajima picks up Fujimoto and hits a trapped German suplex, but it only gets a two count.  Nakajima picks up Fujimoto again and she delivers the dragon suplex hold, and this time she gets the three count.  Your winner and still champion:  Arisa Nakajima

What a brutal match. And not brutal in a bad way, I mean it in a “Fujimoto needs medical attention” kind of way. I have to first make a small complaint – I know this happens in smaller promotions with less cameras, but I was annoyed the camera missed the doublestomp out to the floor. You could still kinda see it through the crowd but an epic spot like that needs more attention, especially considering I think it legitimately hurt both of them. But then Nakajima punted the hell out of Fujimoto’s face just for added drama anyway. Besides the brutality, the energy they showed was astounding, I got tired just watching them as even late in the match they were still going full tilt. Towards the end some of their strikes looked like they stopped having as much impact (such as the PKs) but I can chalk that up to exhaustion since it was very late in the match, and since ultimately those strikes didn’t lead to the end of the match it didn’t make either look weak. I really liked just about everything about this match, it just had that big time feel you want from the main event of a promotions’s biggest show of the year, and they put everything on the line and left me in awe. Just fantastic. Highly Recommended

event reviewed on 1/6/15

The post JWP “Climax 2014” on 12/28/14 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

This event is not a lower level one like the recent Ice Ribbon show I reviewed, however it is also one that only came out on DVD. I picked this event because this is the last title match of Kyoko Kimura’s long career, and I wanted to watch it. But it also has some other interesting match-ups, such as Natsumi Maki teaming with Sareee and I get to watch Tam Nakano for the first time. Here is the full card:

• Tam Nakano vs. Yako Fujigasaki
• Megumi Yabushita vs. Rydeen Hagane
• KAZUKI vs. Sawako Shimono
• Sareee and Natsumi Maki vs. Yako Fujigasaki and Manami Katsu
• JWP Tag Team and Daily Sports Championship: Hanako Nakamori and Kyoko Kimura vs. Command Bolshoi and Leon

You can click on the wrestler’s name above if I have their profile created, Tam Nakano will be added shortly. This event was shown in full, so we get to watch it in all its glory.

Tam Nakano vs. Yako Fujigasaki

Nakano and Yako circle to start, they trade holds and shoulderblocks until Nakano knocks Yako to the mat. Nakano goes for a suplex but Yako blocks it and hits a scoop slam, camel clutch by Yako and she puts Nakano in the ropes. Dropkick by Yako, she picks up Nakano and hits a facebuster before applying a Muta Lock. Nakano crawls to the ropes to force the break, Yako picks up Nakano but Nakano blocks the suplex and hits a heel kick. Body block by Nakano and she hits another one, a third body block by Nakano and she covers Yako for two. Yako goes for a Vertebreaker but Nakano gets out of it and hits a lariat in the corner. Another lariat by Nakano, and she covers Yako for two. Back up they trade elbows until Yako knocks Nakano to the mat, she goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick. Another missile dropkick by Yako, she goes up top a third time but Nakano avoids the Swivel Body Press. Kick to the chest by Nakano and she hits a pair of running sentons for a two count. Nakano picks up Yako and hits a Samoan Drop, she goes for another one but Yako blocks it. Crab hold by Yako, but Nakano crawls to the ropes to force the break. Yako goes for a double wrist armsault but Nakano reverses it and applies a jackknife for two. They trade flash pins with neither having success, lariat by Nakano and she gets a two count. Nakano goes off the ropes but Yako elbows her and hits the double wrist armsault. Diving body press by Yako, she goes up top again and nails the Swivel Body Press for the three count! Yako Fujigasaki is the winner.

Nakano is still a little rough around the edges, which isn’t shocking considering she hasn’t been wrestling long but is still worth noting. So this match has to be viewed more as a learning experience than anything else, although Yako looked solid as she continues to progress. I saw flashes of ability for Nakano so she isn’t a lost cause, she just isn’t very crisp yet. A more traditional opener as the young wrestlers get some live practice, but a pretty average match overall.

Megumi Yabushita vs. Rydeen Hagane

After feeling each other out a bit, Megumi gets Rydeen’s hands down onto the mat and stomps on both of them, before twisting her around by the hair. Megumi rolls Rydeen to the mat, Rydeen switches positions with her however and stands on Megumi’s stomach. Rydeen drags Megumi to the middle of the ring but Megumi applies an ankle hold, Megumi releases it after a moment and puts Rydeen in a crab hold. Rydeen gets to the ropes for the break, Megumi rolls Rydeen over and knees down onto her stomach. Megumi Irish whips Rydeen but Rydeen reverses it and hits a judo throw, she hits a couple more judo throws and joins Megumi on the mat, but Megumi quickly puts her in a headscissors. Megumi goes for the triangle choke but Rydeen squeezes out of it, sleeper by Megumi but Rydeen picks up Megumi and hits a back bodydrop.

Rydeen picks up Megumi but Megumi blocks the suplex attempt, Rydeen re-positions Megumi and hits a backdrop suplex for two. Megumi comes back with a face crusher and a dropkick, she gets on the second turnbuckle and applies a hanging armbar when Rydeen charges in. Megumi comes off the top with a jumping knee to Rydeen, she picks her up and tries to throw Rydeen into the corner, but Rydeen reverses it and hits a lariat. Shoulderblock by Rydeen, and she covers Megumi for two. Rydeen goes for a powerbomb but Megumi reverses it into a sleeper hold, Rydeen drives Megumi into the corner to get out of it and hits a series of short range lariats. Rydeen goes off the ropes and hits another lariat, and she covers Megumi for a two count. Rydeen goes up top and hits a diving body press, but Megumi kicks out of the cover. Rydeen goes for the Rainmaker, but Megumi ducks it and applies a backslide for two. Megumi quickly puts Rydeen in a schoolboy, and she picks up the three count! Megumi Yabushita wins!

An odd little match. Not a bad one, I like Rydeen but Megumi is a unique pairing for her since their styles are very different. Megumi does more the sneaky veteran with some submission holds deal, while Rydeen is a power wrestler. It led to some entertaining moments for sure but it felt odd having Megumi controlling the action since Rydeen had such a size and strength advantage. Not bad for an early card match, but I think Rydeen could have better matches against other veterans.

KAZUKI vs. Sawako Shimono

They go into a battle of strength to start, Shimono gets the better of it as she shoulderblocks KAZUKI to the mat for a two count. Shimono sits down onto KAZUKI and applies a camel clutch, but KAZUKI quickly gets out of it and works over Shimono’s arm. Shimono rolls out to the apron but KAZUKI knocks her to the floor and twists Shimono’s arm in the ring post. KAZUKI gets on the apron and dives out onto Shimono with I assume a diving kneedrop, she picks up Shimono and throws her into the crowd. Back in the ring, KAZUKI knees Shimono in the arm and knocks her into the corner, she charges Shimono and hits a running knee to the stomach. Shimono comes back with a jumping knee and hits another one in the corner, but KAZUKI knocks her over when Shimono poses. The referee tries to separate them so they team up to attack the referee in the corner (that took a turn), Shimono and KAZUKI trade elbows until Shimono lariats KAZUKI against the ropes. Knees by KAZUKI but Shimono hits a Samoan Drop, she goes for a Raideen Drop but KAZUKI avoids it and hits a running double knee strike. Codebreaker by KAZUKI and she hits the double knee in the corner, she puts Shimono across the middle rope and hits a double kneedrop onto her stomach. Knee by KAZUKI, she goes off the ropes but Shimono catches her with a lariat. Raideen Drop by Shimono, she picks up KAZUKI but KAZUKI sneaks in a sunset flip for two. Shimono applies an inside cradle, it only gets two but she levels KAZUKI with a lariat. Shimono goes up top but KAZUKI joins her, KAZUKI slides away and she slams Shimono to the mat. KAZUKI picks up Shimono and hits the TKO, but Shimono bridges out of the cover. KAZUKI goes up top and delivers the diving double kneedrop, and she gets the three count! KAZUKI wins.

Another match I’d consider above average, but nothing too special. It was well worked, both have their style down pat, but there is a reason that never really climbed the ranks. They are solid wrestlers but not overly exciting, nothing really special or memorable happened during the match. Decent enough but nothing beyond that.

Sareee and Natsumi Maki vs. Yako Fujigasaki and Manami Katsu

Natsumi and Yako start the match, with Yako immediately going on the attack and she throws around Natsumi by the hair. Scoop slam by Yako, she grabs Sareee and slams her onto Natsumi before hitting a footstomp. Yako attacks Natsumi in the ropes, she throws Natsumi in the corner but Natsumi avoids her charge and applies a sunset flip for two. She tags in Sareee, Sareee throws Yako by her hair and hits a scoop slam. Sareee applies an evil camel clutch version of the Muta Lock, she releases the hold after a moment and Irish whips Yako, but Yako hits a jumping double chop and tags in Manami. Manami throws Sareee into the mat before putting her in the Mexican Surfboard, Manami runs over Sareee’s back before covering her for two. Manami elbows Sareee in the corner and hits a double underhook into a backbreaker, running knee by Manami and she puts Sareee in a crab hold. Natsumi breaks it up but Manami shoulderblocks both of them, Sareee goes for a suplex but Manami blocks it. Manami goes off the ropes but Sareee nails the release German before tagging in Natsumi. Natsumi hits a few dropkicks but Manami shrugs them off, elbow by Manami but Natsumi cartwheels away from her and hits a dropkick. Cover by Natsumi, but it gets two.

Manami kicks Natsumi and hits a face crusher, backdrop suplex by Manami and she covers Natsumi for a two count. Manami tags Yako, Yako goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick. Another missile dropkick by Yako and she puts Natsumi in a crab hold, but Natsumi gets to the ropes. Yako picks up Natsumi but Natsumi gets away and applies a satellite armbar, but Manami quickly breaks it up. Natsumi goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but Yako kicks out of the cover. Natsumi tags in Sareee, Sareee and Yako trade elbows until Yako knocks down Sareee with a hip attack. Sareee comes back with a dropkick, fisherman suplex hold by Sareee but Yako kicks out. Sareee goes for a German but Yako blocks it, double wrist armsault by Yako but it gets two. Yako gets Sareee on her shoulders and applies a backbreaker, but Natsumi breaks it up. Reverse Splash by Manami, Yako goes up top and she hits a diving body press, but Natsumi breaks up the pin. Yako tries to pick up Sareee but Sareee rolls her up with a jackknife for two. They trade flash pins, dropkick by Sareee and Natsumi comes in to hit the Backlash. German suplex hold by Sareee, but Manami breaks it up. Sareee Germans Manami, she then goes up top with Natsumi and they both hit diving body presses on Yako. Uranage by Sareee to Yako, and she picks up the three count! Sareee and Natsumi Maki pick up the big win!

I thought this match was quite fun, even if I think Manami brought it down a bit. Sareee is such a good wrestler, I watch her every chance I get as she is the total package. Natsumi is entertaining, not as crisp yet as Sareee but she’s still early in her career. Both teams worked together well, although Natsumi and Sareee had more double teaming/helping than their opponents did which is always a concern with thrown-together tag teams. An entertaining match, mostly due to Sareee but other wrestlers contributed to that as well, and Yako was solid in her second match of the night.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Hanako Nakamori and Kyoko Kimura vs. Command Bolshoi and Leon
JWP Tag Team and Daily Sports Championship

Leon and Nakamori start for their respective teams, they trade strikes until Leon goes for a spear which Nakamori avoids. Leon gets back to her feet and both wrestlers tag out, Kyoko and Bolshoi circle each other before finally tying up. They go back and forth with waistlocks with Bolshoi getting Kyoko to the mat first, Kyoko gets up but Bolshoi armdrags her back down before they face off again. Leon comes in and attacks Kyoko from behind, but Nakamori runs in too and evens the odds. Bolshoi and Leon get the better of it and attack both their opponents in the corner before applying stretch holds. Leon is tagged in and starts working on Kyoko’s arm, but Kyoko gets away and tags in Nakamori. Nakamori kicks Leon in the back and some more in the corner, big boot by Nakamori and she puts Leon and the ropes so Kyoko can help too. Scoop slam by Nakamori and she hits a leg drop before covering Leon for two. Nakamori tags Kyoko back in, backbreaker by Kyoko and she jumps down on Leon’s back. Crab hold by Kyoko but Leon eventually makes it to the ropes, kicks to the head by Kyoko and she knocks Leon into the ropes. Irish whip by Kyoko but Leon hits a spear which gives her time to tag in Bolshoi, Bolshoi dropkicks both Kyoko and Nakamori before going for a uranage on Kyoko, but Kyoko blocks it. Kyoko goes off the ropes but Bolshoi catches her leg and applies an ankle hold, Kyoko rolls out of it however and tosses Bolshoi to the mat. Cobra Twist by Bolshoi but Nakamori breaks it up, grounded necklock by Bolshoi but Kyoko muscles out of it and hits a vertical suplex. Kyoko tags in Nakamori, boots by Nakamori and she goes up top, but Bolshoi knocks her onto the apron. Nakamori pushes her down and goes for the missile dropkick anyway, but Bolshoi sidesteps it and hits a palm thrust.

High kick by Nakamori and she hits a Shining Wizard, but Bolshoi kicks out of the cover. Nakamori goes for another kick but Bolshoi catches it and hits a dragon screw, she tags in Leon who comes in the ring with a missile dropkick. Nakamori blocks the Capture Buster but Leon spears her, Tiger Feint Kick by Bolshoi and Leon hits another spear for a two count. Leon goes up top and hits a diving body press, but Kyoko breaks up the cover.  Leon goes back up but Nakamori avoids the Swanton Bomb, now Nakamori goes up top but Leon joins her before she can jump off. Kyoko comes in too and powerbombs Leon, who superplexes Nakamori in the process. Bolshoi comes in but both she and Kyoko strike each other at the same time, sending both to the mat. Leon and Nakamori slowly recover and trade elbows, knee by Nakamori and she kicks Leon in the head. Fisherman Buster by Nakamori, but the cover gets a two. Kick to the head by Nakamori, she goes up top but Leon avoids her dive. Kyoko runs in as both she and Nakamori headbutt their respective opponents, Kyoko picks up Leon and with Nakamori they hit an assisted Gory Bomb. Cover by Nakamori, but Leon kicks out. Michinoku Driver by Nakamori, she picks up Leon but Leon blocks the reverse powerslam. Capture Buster by Leon, but she is too hurt to make the cover. Leon picks up Nakamori and they trade high kicks, Nakamori goes off the ropes but Leon delivers a spear. Leon picks up Nakamori but Kyoko gets back in the ring, she tries to headbutt Leon but headbutts Nakamori by accident. Quick roll-up by Leon, bu tit gets two. Bolshoi runs in and hits the Piko Knee Smash, Capture Buster by Leon and she picks up the three count! Leon and Command Bolshoi are the new champions!

A bit slow moving at times, but overall I enjoyed it. It was probably a bit longer than it needed to be considering the pace, but with it being a title match and the main event it had to go a decent amount of time. The best compliment I can give the match is that everything was hit smoothly and nothing felt forced, all four of these wrestlers are veterans and you could tell from watching them. What it lacked was anything particularly exciting, it was sound throughout but it only had a few brief spurts of intense action. A good match and a necessary one to get the title off of Kyoko, nothing too memorable but a solid effort by all.  Mildly Recommended

The post JWP on 1/9/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.