Championships Held: AJW Japanese Tag Team Championship, JWP Tag Team Championship, UWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship, WWWA Tag Team Championship, Twin Stars of ARSION Championship, NWA Women’s Pacific and NEO Championship, NEO Itabashi Tag Team Championship, NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Championship, NEO Tag Team Championship, and the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship
Tournaments Won: ARSION Twin Stars of ARSION League (1999) and the AJW Tag League The Best (2000)
Awards Won: None

Notable Matches:

• November 14th, 1990 with Mima Shimoda vs. Kaoru Maeda and Mika Takahashi  (title win)
• March 27th, 1994 with Mima Shimoda vs. Cuty Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki (title win)
• September 2nd, 1995 with Mima Shimoda vs. Jaguar Yokota and Lioness Asuka  (title defense)
• August 9th, 1997 with Mima Shimoda vs. Aja Kong and Kyoko Inoue
• October 18th, 1997 with Mima Shimoda vs. Kumiko Maekawa and Momoe Nakanishi  (title defense)
• December 26th, 1998 with Shimoda and Kyoko Inoue vs. Manami Toyota, Takako Inoue, and Yumiko Hotta
• March 4th, 2000 with Mima Shimoda vs. Kumiko Maekawa and Tomoko Watanabe
• September 18th, 2005 with Kyoko Inoue vs. Amazing Kong and Haruka Matsuo   (title win)
• February 1st, 2008 with Makoto vs. Aya Yuuki and Minori Makiba (title win)
• August 29th, 2009 with Mima Shimoda vs. Atsuko Emoto and Kyoko Kimura

Signature Moves:

• 825 (Reverse DDT)
• Airplane Spin
• Blazing Chop (Overhead Chop)
• Death Valley Bomb
• German Suplex Hold
• Jumping Piledriver
• Piggyback Drop
• Powerbomb

Sample of Matches Reviewed on Joshi City:

• August 25th, 1993 – Bull Nakano, Suzuka Minami, Etsuko Mita, Mima Shimoda, and Bat Yoshinaga vs. Eagle Sawai, Harley Saito, Miki Handa, Yukari Osawa, and Leo Kitamura in AJW
• July 3rd, 2001 – Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda vs. PIKA and POKO in ARSION
• July 17th, 2006 – Kyoko Inoue and Etsuko Mita vs. Amazing Kong and Kyoko Kimura in NEO

In Action:

Death Valley Bomb

Jumping Piledriver

Piggyback Drop

Back to Retired Wrestlers

The post Etsuko Mita appeared first on Joshi City.

NEO Ladies was a Joshi promotion that had many re-starts but was running in some form from 1998 to 2010. Originally it was a break-off promotion from All Japan Women, and the name was supposed to be Nippon Women’s Wrestling but they had a trademark issue with New Japan Pro Wrestling.  So they went with NEO Ladies instead as the promotion name. Kyoko Inoue was the Ace of the promotion, but over the years many wrestlers made their name in NEO including Natsuki Taiyo, Nanae Takahashi, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Ayako Hamada, and others.

This show was condensed down to one hour on Samurai TV, but luckily instead of showing all the matches heavily clipped, they opted to just show the three main matches. This was a big event for NEO, as it featured a defense of both of their major titles as well as the Retirement Match of Yuka Nakamura. Here are the matches we’ll be watching:

• NEO Tag Team Championship: Kyoko Inoue and Etsuko Mita vs. Amazing Kong and Kyoko Kimura
• NWA Women’s Pacific Championship and NEO Singles Championship: Yoshiko Tamura vs. Kayoko Haruyama
• Yuka Nakamura Retirement Match: Yuka Nakamura vs. Mima Shimoda

This wasn’t the match order on the show live, but was re-arranged on the broadcast so that the retirement match went last.

(c) Kyoko Inoue and Etsuko Mita vs. Amazing Kong and Kyoko Kimura
NEO Tag Team Championship

Kimura and Kong attack Mita and Inoue from behind before the match starts and both hit running strikes in the corner before pulling their opponents out of the ring. Kong and Kimura throw Mita and Inoue into the chairs at ringside, Kimura gets a chain and she chokes Inoue with it while Mita manages to fight back against Kong with chair shots. Kimura drags around Inoue with the chain before choking her with it from the apron, they finally get back into the ring as Kimura goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Inoue. Kimura hits Inoue with the chain some more, Inoue finally fights back and goes for a powerbomb but Kimura gets out of it by repeatedly hitting her in the head with the chain. We jump ahead in the match to Mita and Kimura trading strikes, sunset flip by Kimura but it gets two. Kong comes in and kicks Mita, Inoue then comes in too and hits a German suplex onto Kimura while Mita applies a jackknife for a two count. Mita picks up Kimura and hits the Death Valley Bomb, but the cover only gets a two. Mita drags up Kimura, Kong comes in but she accidentally hits Kimura with a Uraken. Mita picks up Kimura but Kimura whips off a backdrop suplex, backfist by Kong and Kimura hits another backdrop suplex but Inoue breaks up the cover. Kimura goes up top, Kong picks up Mita but Mita gets away from her and joins Kimura. Avalanche Electric Chair by Mita, but Kong breaks up the cover by kicking the referee. Inoue runs in but she lariats Mita by accident, Big Boot by Kimura but Mita barely gets a shoulder up. Kimura goes off the ropes, Mita blocks the Big Boot and goes for a Death Valley Bomb, but Kong pushes them over. Kimura gets her chain and hits Mita in the face with it, Big Boot by Kimura and she gets the three count! Amazing Kong and Kyoko Kimura are your new champions!

This was way too clipped to get excited about as only about 6 minutes of 23 were shown, but I liked what I saw. I mean there would be no excuse to show anything that wasn’t entertaining when the match is condensed by that much, but it seems like they kept the entire beginning and end uncut so it didn’t just feel like a highlights collection. Kimura was one of the baddest wrestlers in Joshi for a decade, whether it was diving off of balconies or hitting people with chains, she didn’t mess around. Everyone played their role well and none came out of the match looking weak (although we didn’t see much from Kong). A fun condensed match but too clipped to recommend.

(c) Yoshiko Tamura vs. Kayoko Haruyama
NWA Women’s Pacific Championship and NEO Singles Championship

We join this match well in progress, with Haruyama dragging Tamura to her feet off the mat. Tamura elbows Haruyama and hits an Alabama Slam, cover by Tamura but it gets a two count. Tamura picks up Haruyama but Haruyama blocks a suplex and hits a trio of STOs. Haruyama picks up Tamura but Tamura hits a quick DDT, backdrop suplex by Tamura and she covers Haruyama for two. Tamura picks up Haruyama but Haruyama avoids her charge and clubs her repeatedly in the corner. Haruyama puts Tamura on the top turnbuckle before joining her, but Tamura elbows Haruyama off. Haruyama re-joins her but Tamura hits an avalanche side slam, Tamura quickly goes back up top and she hits a somersault senton for a two count. Tamura picks up Haruyama, elbows by Tamura but Haruyama ducks one and kicks Tamura in the head. Haruyama goes up top but Tamura elbows her before she can jump off and joins her. Knees by Haruyama while they are still up top and Haruyama jumps off with Orange☆Tomahawk. A diving leg drop follows, cover by Haruyama but it gets a two count. Haruyama goes up top once again but Tamura kicks her in the head and goes up as well, avalanche backdrop suplex by Tamura and she slowly covers Haruyama for two. The referee checks on Haruyama as she seems out of it but Tamura kicks him out of the way and hits a series of elbows. Cocky cover by Tamura, and Haruyama barely gets a shoulder up. Haruyama ducks Tamura’s high kick and hits the Keene Hammer, but Tamura kicks out. Haruyama drags Tamura to her feet and goes for another one, but Tamura gets out of it and rolls up Haruyama for a two count. Heel kicks by Tamura but Haruyama lariats her in the back of the head, she goes off the ropes but Tamura nails an elbow smash. Tamura picks up Haruyama and delivers a cobra clutch suplex, another cobra clutch suplex by Tamura and she hits a third, but Haruyama kicks out of the pin. Tamura picks up Haruyama and connects with elbows, she takes off her elbow pad and hits one final elbow smash, picking up the three count! Yoshiko Tamura is still the champion.

On one hand, I liked that they just cut the match in half and showed the last ten minutes in its entirety, as I hate it when clipped matches just do clip-clip-clip so its hard to get into a match. The downside is that we joined them after both were already hurt/exhausted but without seeing anything that made them hurt which took some of the fun out of it. Tamura is one of the better Joshi wrestlers from the 2000s that many fans don’t know much about, she was a great striker and had an aura to her that either a wrestler has or they don’t. They went to the top turnbuckle a bit more often than seemed necessary, it felt like every 30 seconds someone was going up top for some reason or another, but this was the main event of the show and the title match so you can understand both wrestlers going “all out” to pick up the win. I liked it as I enjoy the head-drop suplexes and snug elbows, but I do wish I could have seen the match in full instead of just the long home stretch.  Mildly Recommended

Yuka Nakamura vs. Mima Shimoda
Yuka Nakamura Retirement Match

After a feeling out process and basic limb work, Shimoda boots Nakamura in the chest and puts her in a camel clutch. Shimoda gets Nakamura into the corner and chokes her with her boot, Shimoda throws Nakamura to the mat but Nakamura catches her with a jumping lariat. Shimoda returns the favor, she picks up Nakamura but Nakamura knocks her down with a jumping knee. Nakamura picks up Shimoda and throws her into the corner, jumping knee by Nakamura but Shimoda boots her in the chest. Shimoda gets on the second turnbuckle but Nakamura kicks her out of the ring, Nakamura goes up top and dives onto Shimoda with a diving crossbody to the floor. Face crusher by Nakamura and she puts Shimoda in a camel clutch with a bit of hair pulling, she lets go after a moment and stretches out Shimoda’s back. Stomps by Nakamura and she hits running boots to the head, cover by Nakamura but it gets a two count. Shimoda slaps Nakamura and they get into a slap battle, which Nakamura wins as she sends Shimoda crashing to the mat.

Nakamura picks up Shimoda but Shimoda elbows her off, Nakamura gets on the second turnbuckle and she delivers a Tornado DDT for a two count cover. Heel drop by Nakamura but Shimoda hits one of her own, another one by Nakamura and she hits a release German suplex. Seven more heel drops by Nakamura, she goes up top and she nails the diving footstomp for a two count cover. Nakamura goes up top but Shimoda joins her, Nakamura knocks Shimoda off but Shimoda avoids her dive and applies a folding backslide for two. Shimoda picks up Nakamura but Nakamura blocks the suplex attempt, Nakamura applies a couple flash pins but both get a two. Running knees by Nakamura, she covers Shimoda but Shimoda barely gets a shoulder up. Nakamura goes up top but Shimoda recovers and approaches the corner, Nakamura hits a modified Calf Branding and Shimoda falls out to the floor. Nakamura goes back to the top turnbuckle jumps out of the ring with a diving footstomp to the floor, she gets back in the ring and patiently waits for Shimoda to recover. She finally drags her back in, Nakamura goes to the top and hits another diving footstomp, but Shimoda kicks out of the cover. Nakamura picks up Shimoda but Shimoda whips out a backdrop suplex, they trade elbows until Nakamura crumples to the mat. Heel drop by Shimoda, and she covers Nakamura for two. Shimoda puts Nakamura on the top turnbuckle and joins her, but Nakamura elbows her off. Shimoda moves when Nakamura jumps off the top, but Nakamura delivers a running knee and applies the Romantic Clutch for the three count! Yuka Nakamura wins the match.

The post-match ceremony was condensed since they had to squeeze it onto a one hour show, but included wrestlers saying farewell to Nakamura, a bell salute, and of course lots of streamers. This was a unique retirement match as Nakamura not only won, but controlled the bulk of the action. Not that Shimoda needed the win but most of the time a retiring wrestler loses their last match. Nakamura hit all of her signature moves, including the always fun diving footstomp out to the floor, and held nothing back in her final wrestling match. An entertaining match and a fitting end to Nakamura’s career.  Recommended

The post NEO Summer Stampede 2006 on 7/17/06 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

As I continue my journey of experiencing new wrestlers and new promotions, next up is Joshi promotion ARSION. ARSION was founded by Aja Kong in 1998 with Rossy Ogawa acting as President, a name many will recognize as the owner of Stardom. By 2001 things had changed a bit, as Aja Kong left the promotion after disagreements with management and Lioness Asuka took over the book. This lead to new wrestlers being pushed and a change in the overall feel of the promotion, which we are jumping right in the middle of with this review. The promotion had three titles, two of which will be defended on this show. Here is the full card:

• Ai Fujita vs. Yuu Yamagata
• Chaparita ASARI and Faby Apache vs. Rie Tamada and Rena Takase
• Bionic J vs. GAMI
• TWINSTAR OF ARSION Championship: Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda vs. PIKA and POKO
• Lioness Asuka vs. Mariko Yoshida
• QUEEN OF ARSION Championship: Ayako Hamada vs. Michiko Omukai

Since this was shown on TV in a two hour block, a few of the matches will be clipped.

Ai Fujita vs. Yuu Yamagata

We join in progress as Fujita scoop slams Yamagata before putting her in a crab hold. Yamagata makes it to the ropes, Irish whip by Fujita and she delivers a dropkick for a two count. Fujita keeps it on the mat as she applies a sleeper, but Yamagata gets a foot on the ropes. Yamagata fights back with a pair of dropkicks but Fujita rocks her with an elbow and ducks Yamagata’s crossbody attempt. Fujita throws Yamagata in the corner and hits a Space Rolling Avalanche, standing moonsault by Fujita but it only gets two. Jumping lariat by Fujita, she picks up Yamagata but Yamagata rebounds out of the corner with a triple jump crossbody. Fujita levels her with another elbow, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick for two. Fujita picks up Yamagata and hits a release German, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails the moonsault for the three count! Fujita is your winner.

A short match clipped shorter, but not a bad opener. Yamagata showed flashes of ability, just from this I wouldn’t have known she’d be as good as she ended up being but I am not surprised either. Fujita was known for her high flying offense, she mostly stayed grounded here however she did hit a nice looking moonsault. Decent showcase for both wrestlers.

Chaparita ASARI and Faby Apache vs. Rie Tamada and Rena Takase

This match is also joined in progress, with Tamada in the ring with Faby. Takase randomly runs in and spears Faby but Faby avoids Tamada’s missile dropkick. Faby tags in ASARI but Tamada catches her with a Stunner, Tamada goes off the ropes but ASARI pushes her out of the ring. ASARI then goes up top and sails out of the ring down onto both Tamada and Takase, they return to the ring and both ASARI and Faby hit missile dropkicks. Tamada blocks a Northern Lights Suplex but Faby lariats Tamada, helping ASARI hit the move. Frankensteiner by ASARI to Tamada, but the cover gets two. ASARI goes up top but Tamada grabs her from behind and throws ASARI to the mat. German suplex by ASARI but Tamada is back up and hits a roaring elbow. That gives her time to tag in Takase while Faby is tagged in as well, and Faby puts Takase in a Mexican Surfboard. Tamada helps from the apron which allows Takase to apply a quick cross armbreaker, but Faby gets a toe on the ropes.

Takase knocks Faby out of the ring, she then goes up top and dives out of the ring onto ASARI and Faby. Takase gets a chair but the referee tries to get it from her, while the referee is distracted Tamada grabs another chair and whacks Faby with it. Tamada then sets up Faby near the ropes and props the chair against her before hitting a dropkick into the chair from the top turnbuckle. Takase grabs Faby and hits a German suplex hold, but Faby barely kicks out. Takase goes up top but hits a crossbody on Tamada on accident, Faby goes off the ropes but Tamada trips her from the apron. Faby recovers and hits a jumping heel kick on Takase, she goes up top but Takase avoids the diving headbutt. Missile dropkick by Tamada, Takase goes up top and hits a diving crossbody for two. Takase goes off the ropes but Faby levels her with a lariat, Takase sneaks in a backslide but Faby hits another heel kick. Liger Bomb by Faby, and she gets the three count! ASARI and Faby Apache win the match.

What an odd match. Now about four minutes were clipped which can hurt a match in regards to flow and it making sense, but even without that it was probably all over the place. Faby played such an odd role, she really didn’t sell anything long term and each time she hit a big move she would do the ‘cocky’ cover as if she had been winning the whole match. When Faby wasn’t driving me nuts, everything else was great though. Love Takase, she showed a lot of promise and ability for such a young wrestler, and Tamada was on point. ASARI must have been clipped out, as she wasn’t shown as much and played a bit role. Overall I still enjoyed it, lots of solid action, I just wish it was a bit tighter in presentation.  Mildly Recommended

Bionic J vs. GAMI

As we join the match, Bionic J is kneeing GAMI, Irish whip by Bionic J and she hits GAMI in the stomach with a nunchuck. GAMI takes it from her but Bionic J delivers a superkick, she goes for a shoulder tackle but GAMI catches her with a guillotine. GAMI gets Bionic J to the mat but she gets into the ropes, GAMI puts Bionic J on the top turnbuckle and she hits a Frankensteiner, but Bionic jumps to her feet and hits a lariat. Cutter by Bionic J but GAMI bounces up from that and hits a lariat followed by a STO. GAMI goes up top and hits a diving elbow drop, picking up a two count. Chokeslam by Bionic J and she applies a Texas Cloverleaf, but GAMI gets into the ropes. Bionic J throws GAMI into the corner but GAMI drop toeholds her when she charges in and kicks her in the face. GAMI goes for a pump handle but Bionic J blocks it and hits a double underhook facebuster. Bionic J gets on the second turnbuckle but GAMI avoids the diving leg drop and hits a lariat. Pump handle sitout slam by GAMI, but Bionic J kicks out of the cover. GAMI punches Bionic J in the face and puts her in a cross necklock, forcing Bionic J to submit! GAMI is your winner.

Not a whole lot to this one, some good power moves by both but also some random no-selling that didn’t really add anything to the match. It wasn’t a bad watch, as long as you don’t mind some of the more silly aspects of ‘fighting spirit’ cropping up.

(c) Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda vs. PIKA and POKO

PIKA and POKO start off with the advantage as they hit dives out of the ring, but one backfires as one of the clowns takes out the other clowns. Shimoda stays in the ring with with, we’ll say PIKA, and pokes her in the eyes, but the other two clowns come in the ring and confuse Shimoda on which one she had really poked in the eyes. Frankensteiner by POKO, then PIKA hits a sunset flip for a two count. PIKA goes for lariats and finally knocks Shimoda over, sunset flip by PIKA and she rolls her around the ring for a two count. Shimoda gets on the top turnbuckle but PIKA avoids her somersault and applies La Magistral for a two count. PIKA goes up top but Shimoda avoids the moonsault, kick by Shimoda and she covers PIKA for two. Shimoda tags in Mita but PIKA rolls her up for two. She gets on the top turnbuckle and hits a cannonball, picking up two again. She goes for another dive but Mita gets her feet up. POKO comes in the ring and distracts Mita, missile dropkick by… PIKA we will say but Mita hits a double chop to the chest. All three clowns pick up Mita but Mita gets out of it, La Magistral by… POKO but it gets a two count. Shimoda comes off the top with a double missile dropkick, Mita picks up POKO and hits a folding powerbomb for two. Mita goes for a powerbomb but she gets hit in the head with a fan, POKO goes for a hurricanrana but Mita blocks it and hits a Death Valley Bomb for the three count! LCO retain their championship.

This was a really odd way to use LCO. LCO are known for being brutal (they were generally heels) but here they are doing shtick. Not being overly cooperative but they still had to take part in it. A few cute spots but I can’t say I enjoyed it as I’d much rather see LCO in a real tag match and keep the clowning around more towards the bottom of the card. Not a good match at all.

Lioness Asuka vs. Mariko Yoshida

They jockey for position to start and end up on the mat, but after a moment they return to their feet. They return to the mat with Asuka on top, Yoshida goes for a triangle choke but Asuka gets out of it and they end up in the ropes. Yoshida goes for a cross armbreaker but Asuka blocks it and gets back up before kicking Yoshida. Asuka baseball slides Yoshida in the leg and drags her out of the ring, throwing Yoshida into a row of chairs forcefully. She goes for a suplex on the floor but Yoshida lands her her feet, snapmare by Asuka and she kicks Yoshida in the back. Asuka slides a table in the ring and then slides Yoshida back in as well, kicks by Asuka and she slaps Yoshida in the face. Asuka slams Yoshida into the table, she then puts the table across Yoshida’s chest and hits a footstomp off the top turnbuckle onto it. Liger Bomb by Asuka, but Yoshida barely gets her shoulder up. Asuka goes for a high kick but Yoshida catches her foot and applies an ankle hold, she then grabs Asuka around the neck before applying a cross armbreaker.

Asuka gets into the ropes, Yoshida picks her up but Asuka hits a lariat. Yoshida comes back with a German suplex but Asuka blocks the Spider Twist, Yoshida gets the triangle choke locked in but Asuka powerbombs out of it. Asuka gets on the top turnbuckle but jumps back off and stomps Yoshida, she goes up again but Yoshida punches her and joins Asuka up top. Superplex by Yoshida but Asuka hits a quick Blue Thunder Driver. Yoshida comes back and drops Asuka with the Air Raid Crash, but Asuka kicks out of the pin attempt. Cross armbreaker by Yoshida but Asuka gets a foot on the ropes, Yoshida hits another Air Raid Crash but again it gets a two count. Yoshida goes off the ropes but Asuka delivers a high kick, Asuka goes to pick up Yoshida but Yoshida slaps her in an armtrap crossface. La Magistral by Yoshida into the Spider Twist, but Asuka inches to the ropes to force the break. Yoshida goes for another Air Raid Crash but Asuka blocks it and hits the Towerhacker Bomb for a two count. Asuka slides Yoshida out of the ring and throws her into the crowd, she removes the mat at ringside and sets up her table. Asuka puts Yoshida on the table and goes up top, hitting a footstomp down to the floor and through the table. Yoshida is quickly slid back into the ring, Liger Bomb by Asuka but Yoshida barely gets a shoulder up. Heel kick by Asuka, she picks up Yoshida and drops her with the LSD II for the three count! Lioness Asuka is the winner!

It is hard to be mad about a match this entertaining but it certainly had its issues. First of all, the result is what it had to be if Asuka was going to be taken seriously, but she has a reputation as being a selfish worker for a reason as she survived every one of Yoshida’s normal signature moves and then sprinted around the ring like nothing happened to win the match. Asuka was feeling no ill effects during the home stretch, which is classic Asuka but made Yoshida look weak in the process. That being said I liked it anyway, Yoshida is so slick with her submissions and Asuka’s style is a bit different as it mixes in fast pace with brutality very effectively. Definitely worth the watch but better if you know what you are getting into, long-term selling is not Asuka’s strong suit.  Recommended

(c) Ayako Hamada vs. Michiko Omukai

Omukai dropkicks Hamada instead of shaking hands as they start with a bang, Hamada tosses Omukai out of the ring and then sails out onto her with an Asai Moonsault, but Omukai hits her with a chair as she jumps out. Hamada gets the chair from Omukai and hits her with it, Hamada slides Omukai back in the ring and she hits a swandive missile dropkick. Springboard crossbody by Hamada but Omukai rocks her with an elbow, Hamada elbows Omukai back and they exchange hard strikes. They finally slow down as Hamada hits a vertical suplex and she puts Omukai in a modified cloverleaf, but Omukai gets out of it and hits an armdrag. She applies a submission but Hamada gets to the ropes, kicks by Omukai to the head of Hamada and she hits a palm thrust to send Hamada to the mat. Omukai pounds on Hamada’s face in the mount position, busting open Hamada in the process. Omukai focuses on Hamada’s bleeding head, she goes for a powerbomb but Hamada pushes her off.

Suplex by Omukai but Hamada headbutts her, more headbutts by Hamada and she hits mounted headbutts until Omukai is bleeding too. Omukai is bleeding everywhere as they trade headbutts, hard elbow by Omukai and she covers Hamada for two. Hamada puts Omukai in an Octopus Hold, she takes it to the mat but Omukai gets a foot on the ropes. Bodyscissors into a submission by Hamada and they trade submissions until Omukai gets to the ropes. Hamada goes for a powerbomb, Omukai blocks it and goes for a cross armbreaker, but Hamada blocks that and puts Omukai on the top turnbuckle. Hamada then joins her and hits a face crusher to the mat, cover by Hamada but it gets two. Hamada charges Omukai but Omukai catches her in a triangle choke, Hamada struggles but manages to make it to the ropes. Omukai picks up Hamada but Hamada slides away and hits a palm strike. Shining Kick by Omukai, she covers Hamada but Hamada gets a foot on the ropes. Spinning backfists by Omukai but Hamada ducks one and slaps her. Spiral Bomb by Hamada, but Omukai barely gets a shoulder up on the cover. Jumping heel kick by Hamada, and she picks up the three count! Your winner and still champion: Ayako Hamada!

Now this was a great match, I loved it. Omukai has great looking and convincing submissions, while Hamada brought lots of fire. The blood loss worked here as both wrestlers snapped a bit once they were busted open, particularly Hamada, and it helped the match go from trading spots to two trying to kill each other. The time went by quickly and nothing felt excessive or out of place. Considering how early Hamada was into her career, she clearly “got it” at a young age, if you are a Hamada fan you really need to track this match down. Perfect way to end the card, it started slow but definitely ended with a bang.  Highly Recommended

The post ARSION Starlight 2001 on 7/3/01 Review appeared first on Joshi City.