Event: Marvelous 6th Anniversary
Date: May 1st, 2022
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown
Broadcast: Streamed on Zaiko and Passmarket

I don’t get to watch a lot of Marvelous these days, which is a shame since they are a fun little promotion. Run by Chigusa Nagayo and led by Takumi Iroha, they have had a lot of issues the last few years with wrestlers leaving or getting injured, but they still plug along and put on entertaining events. This is a big show for them, as for their Anniversary event they are running Korakuen Hall. Its not a long event with only five matches (I’ll only be reviewing the Joshi matches, so four for our purposes), but that doesn’t mean it won’t deliver. Even though this is a Marvelous event, the titles for the revived GAEA Japan promotion will be defended, since Chigusa Nagayo is a big part of its occasional revival. Here is the Joshi portion of the card:

• An Chamu, Chikayo Nagashima, and Makoto vs. Ai Houzan, Miyako Matsumoto, and Yurika Oka
• Maria vs. Riko Kawahata
• AAAW Championship: Takumi Iroha vs. Yuu
• AAAW Tag Team Championship: Itsuki Aoki and Rin Kadokura vs. Kaoru Ito and Tomoko Watanabe

All wrestlers on the show have a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. Onto the show!

An Chamu, Nagashima, and Makoto vs. Ai Houzan, Matsumoto, and Yurika Oka

Team Matsumoto attack their opponents from behind to start the match, Chamu is isolated and triple teamed in the corner. Makoto and Nagashima eventually return to even the odds, and eventually Houzan stays in the ring with Chamu to become the legal wrestlers. Kick to the check by Chamu, she picks up Houzan while Nagashima comes in the ring so they can double team her. Chamu tags Makoto, kick by Makoto to Houzan and she hits a hard shoulderblock. Another shoulderblock by Makoto, and she covers Houzan for two. Makoto works a headlock, Houzan pushes her back into the corner and Makoto tags Nagashima and Nagashima keeps up the assault on Houzan, but Houzan eventually delivers a dropkick and tags Matsumoto. Matsumoto throws Nagashima into the corner but when she charges in, Nagashima puts her in a hanging armbar. She lets go and steps on Matsumoto’s hands, running kick by Nagashima and she covers Matsumoto for two. Nagashima goes for another kick but it gets blocked, Nagashima knocks Matsumoto to the mat but Matsumoto bridges out of the pin. Nagashima returns to the dominate position anyway, Complete Shot by Nagashima and she tags Chamu.

Chamu dropkicks Matsumoto before hitting a DDT for a two count. Schoolboy by Chamu and she applies a figure four, but Matsumoto gets to the ropes for the break. Chamu goes for a hip attack but Matsumoto moves, kick by Matsumoto and she delivers a Stunner followed by a Shining Wizard for two. Matsumoto tags Oka, lots of dropkicks by Oka and she covers Chamu for two. Face crusher by Oka, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Nagashima grabs her from the apron. This gives Chamu time to recover and she throws Oka back to the mat, hair toss by Chamu and she hits a running double knee in the corner. Chamu picks up Oka, Oka gets away from her but Chamu kicks Oka in the head. Fisherman suplex by Chamu, and she covers Oka for two. Makoto is tagged in, Makoto boots Oka in the corner and hits an armdrag. Makoto applies an armbar but it gets broken up, scoop slam by Oka and everyone on her team runs over Makoto’s stomach. Nagashima and Chamu eventually get in the ring to help their partner, spinning headscissors by Oka to Makoto and she hits a dropkick. Oka charges Makoto but Makoto drop toeholds her into the ropes and delivers a big boot for two. Drop toehold by Oka and she cradles Makoto for two. Dropkick by Oka and she tags Houzan, dropkicks by Houzan to Makoto and she covers her for two. Houzan picks up Makoto and hits a series of elbows, dropkick by Houzan but Makoto boots her in the throat.

Double kneedrop by Makoto, but it gets two. Makoto picks up Houzan but Houzan slides away, and the two trade flash pins for two counts. Double underhook suplex by Makoto and she tags Nagashima, boots by Nagashima to Houzan but Houzan gets away and delivers a few quick dropkicks. Houzan picks up Nagashima but Nagashima blocks her slam and hits one of her own. She goes off the ropes but Oka cuts her off with a dropkick, double dropkicks to Nagashima and Matsumoto kicks Nagashima in the back. Houzan goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Houzan but it gets two. Houzan goes back up top again with an assist from Oka, but Makoto boots Oka and tosses Houzan to the mat. Chamu kicks Houzan before Nagashima hits a suplex for two. Nagashima goes to the top turnbuckle but Houzan avoids the diving footstomp, Makoto tries to help but boots Nagashima by mistake. Cover by Houzan to Nagashima, but it gets a two count. Scoop slam by Nagashima but Houzan rolls her up for two. Houzan goes off the ropes but Nagashima boots her in the head, Nagashima picks up Houzan and nails a Fisherman Buster for the three count! Chikayo Nagashima, Makoto, and An Chamu are the winners!

A perfectly fine multi-wrestler tag match. I haven’t seen Oka in awhile, she looked really good and is coming along well, she flies under the radar due to Sendai Girls’ not being talked about much these days but she certainly has all the basics down. It is difficult in a sub-15 minutes six wrestler match for everyone to get some shine, but no one looked out of place as the veterans controlled things and the young wrestlers got their moments. Ultimately not a match that will stick in the brain but nothing wrong with it either, pretty solid work by all.

Maria vs. Riko Kawahata

They are making it obvious from the start that there is a ten minute time limit, which is an ominous sign. Maria immediately goes for a dropkick but Riko moves, boot by Maria and she kicks Riko into the ropes. Running boot by Maria, she goes to the apron and hits a slingshot footstomp. Kick to the ribs by Maria and she hits a heel drop, Riko recovers but Maria hits a dragon screw. Maria hits Riko in the knee before applying an ankle hold, she lets go after a moment and hits a sliding kick. Maria keeps on Riko’s knee and slams her into the mat, she puts Riko in an armtrap crossface but eventually lets go and picks Riko up. Riko snaps off an enzuigiri and delivers a sliding kick of her own, covering Maria for two. Maria quickly puts Riko in a kneelock but Riko gets to the ropes for the break, Maria charges Riko but Riko moves, sunset flip by Maria and the two trade cradle pin attempts. Maria gets Riko’s back and applies an Octopus Hold, they end up on the ground as Maria pulls on Riko’s arm but Riko doesn’t submit. Maria kicks at Riko but Riko nails her with a superkick, Northern Lights Suplex Hold by Riko but it gets two.

Riko picks up Maria and hits a high kick, knee by Riko and she puts Maria in a cross armbreaker. Maria wiggles to the ropes to get the break, Riko goes off the ropes but Maria hits a dropkick. Cross armbreaker takedown by Maria and she keeps it locked in, but Riko rolls out of it so Maria applies an ankle hold instead. She switches to a cross kneelock and then a figure four leglock, but Riko gets to the ropes. Maria goes off the ropes but Riko boots her, they trade strikes until Maria knocks Riko off her feet. Maria picks up Riko and hits a snap suplex, but Riko returns fire with a release German. Just one minute left in the match as they go into high gear, trading flash pins with no success. Kick by Maria and she goes for Riko’s arm, but Riko rolls away and kicks Maria in the stomach. Head kick by Riko, she goes to the top turnbuckle but Maria avoids the moonsault. Cradle by Maria, but Riko kicks out. Snap suplex by Maria, but the bell rings before she can do anything else as time expires. The match is a Draw.

For a match clearly designed to be a Draw (they kept the time up on the big screen and showed it throughout), this was really good. I’m a little behind in my Marvelous viewing but Maria is progressing really well, I don’t know why she isn’t getting more of a push somewhere but she has a lot of great moves and shows emotion. Her submission game is smooth, everything they did was fluid. Riko looked good as well but this felt more like a showcase for Maria, which makes sense as this is her home promotion. An entertaining match, would like to see these two get more time without a telegraphed end result.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Takumi Iroha vs. Yuu
AAAW Championship

They tie-up to start, Yuu pushes Takumi into the ropes but she allows Takumi to get back up. They end up on the mat and trade holds, Takumi spins away from Yuu and slaps her back before retreating. Side headlock by Takumi, Yuu Irish whips out of it and the two collide with neither going down. Takumi tries to shoulderblock Yuu over with no luck, she tries again but Yuu shoulderblocks her down. Scoop slam by Yuu but Takumi avoids her running senton, successful shoulderblock by Takumi and she kicks Yuu in the chest. Cover by Takumi, but Yuu pushes her off with ease and returns to her feet. Snapmare by Takumi and she kicks Yuu in the back, but Yuu gets up and chops Takumi in the chest. Spinning sidewalk slam by Yuu and she hits a senton, Takumi quickly rolls out of the ring and tries to recover. She eventually does so and gets on the apron, but Yuu knocks her back down to the floor. Yuu drops down in the ring and rolls out of it and over the apron, landing on top of Takumi. Yuu returns to the ring as Takumi slowly follows, cover by Yuu but it gets a two count. Yuu picks up Takumi but Takumi kicks her, she goes for a suplex but Yuu pushes her away. Kick combination by Takumi and she hits a PK followed by a sliding kick. Snap vertical suplex by Takumi, she picks up Yuu and applies a sleeper hold. Yuu inches to the ropes and makes it to force a break, Takumi kicks Yuu in the corner and delivers a dropkick.

Another kick by Takumi but Yuu eventually catches one and chops Takumi in the chest. They trade blows until Yuu knocks Takumi to the mat, she picks her back up and hits a crossbody for a two count. Yuu gets on the second turnbuckle but Takumi recovers and hits an elbow, she joins Yuu and hits a superplex down to the mat. Takumi positions Yuu and goes to the top turnbuckle, diving senton by Takumi and she covers Yuu for two. Takumi throws Yuu into the corner and tries to pick her up, but Yuu won’t budge. Takumi charges Yuu but Yuu knocks her to the mat, cannonball by Yuu and she covers Takumi for two. Yuu goes for a powerbomb but Takumi blocks it, slaps by Yuu but Takumi blocks the powerbomb again. Takumi charges Yuu but Yuu slams her to the mat, Yuu goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a Reverse Splash for a two count. Yuu goes up top but Takumi elbows her, Takumi joins Yuu but Yuu chops her back to the mat and hits a diving crossbody for two. Yuu picks up Takumi but Takumi hits a back bodydrop, Yuu quickly hits a running senton though to stay in control. Yuu picks up Takumi but Takumi hits a heel kick, chops by Yuu and she slaps Takumi to the mat. Another chop by Yuu but Takumi elbows her, kicks by Takumi and she covers Yuu for two. Kick combination by Takumi, she goes for a powerbomb but Yuu shrugs her off. More kicks by Takumi, she puts Yuu in the corner and positions her for the Running Three. Yuu blocks it so Takumi superkicks her in the face, she tries again and this time nails the Running Three for the three count! Takumi Iroha wins and retains the championship.

This was a really fun match, however it may have gone a few minutes longer than it needed to based on the setup. The story of the match was simple – Yuu was bigger and stronger than Takumi so Takumi slowly cut her down with strikes until she was weak enough to get up for the Running Three. Its a good story but a heavyweight hoss/strike battle doesn’t necessarily need to be 20+ minutes to tell it as it did get a little repetitive at times. Takumi’s kicks always deliver and the match felt like hers to lose from the start as Yuu didn’t really have any convincing nearfalls – the story was always about Takumi. A match I enjoyed for sure, a safe defense for Takumi but still a solid one.  Recommended

Itsuki Aoki and Rin Kadokura vs. Kaoru Ito and Tomoko Watanabe
AAAW Tag Team Championship

The kids attack the vets before the match starts, Watanabe is then isolated and double teamed. Rin stays in as legal and snapmares Watanabe, hitting a sliding knee for a two count. Watanabe comes back with a suplex and hits a scoop slam, leg drop by Watanabe and she puts Rin in a crab hold. Rin gets out of it so Watanabe puts her in a Scorpion Deathlock instead, Ito comes in and stands on Rin’s hands before stomping on them. Watanabe lets go of the hold so she and Ito can drive Rin’s knees into the mat, Watanabe tags Ito and Ito lariats Watanabe in the corner. Crab hold by Ito, Itsuki tries to break it up but is unable to do so. Ito pulls on Rin’s hair but eventually stops and applies a chinlock, Itsuki tries to help again and eventually Ito lets go. Ito stands on Rin and applies a single leg crab hold, but Rin gets to the ropes for the break. Rin finally hits a move as she delivers a jumping neck drop, giving her time to tag Itsuki. Itsuki elbows Ito but Ito elbows her to the mat, Itsuki gets back up but promptly is elbowed down again. She keeps trying with no luck, but does manage to get Ito off her feet with a face crusher. Body press by Itsuki, but it gets two. Itsuki tries to pick up Ito but Ito blocks it, Irish whip by Ito and Itsuki tries to shoulderblock Ito over with no success. Hard shoulderblock by Ito and she hits a footstomp, running senton by Ito and she covers Itsuki for a two count. Ito tags Watanabe, Watanabe goes for a suplex but Rin attacks her from behind.

Double Irish whip to Watanabe but she hits a double rebound crossbody on both of her opponents, Itsuki manages to get Watanabe down with a drop toehold (with some help) and hits a sliding kick. Itsuki sets up Watanabe in the ropes and chargers in, but Ito grabs Itsuki from the apron and Watanabe hits a lariat. Watanabe goes off the ropes but Itsuki catches her with a STO for two. Itsuki tags Rin, they pick up Watanabe but Ito runs in with a double lariat. Itsuki and Rin recover and hit a double superkick to Watanabe, diving body press by Itsuki from the second turnbuckle and Rin follows with a double footstomp for a two count. Rin picks up Watanabe but Ito returns again and hits a lariat. Ito tries again to help but she hits Watanabe by accident, release German by Rin to Watanabe but Watanabe returns to her feet. Rin plants her again, this time with a release Dragon Suplex, she hits a Northern Lights Suplex Hold but Watanabe kicks out. Rin gets Watanabe’s back, Itsuki superkicks Watanabe and Rin hits a crucifix drop for two. Double superkick to Ito, Rin tries to superkick Watanabe but she hits Itsuki by accident. Lariat by Watanabe to Rin and she tags Ito. Lariat by Ito, and she covers Rin for two. Ito picks up Rin and nails a powerbomb, Itsuki runs in but Ito drops her with a uranage.

Rin and Itsuki end up outside the ring and Ito drills them both with a dropkick through the ropes, Watanabe throws Rin back in and Ito delivers a sit-out powerbomb but Itsuki breaks up the pin. Watanabe gets on the top turnbuckle, Ito feeds Rin to her and Watanabe hits a diving lariat. The cover is broken up again, Ito gets on the second turnbuckle but Itsuki elbows her before she can jump off. Watanabe takes care of Itsuki which allows Ito to hit a diving footstomp, but her cover is broken up. Watanabe gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a body press to Rin, Ito goes all the way up but Itsuki grabs her from the apron. Itsuki distracts Ito until Rin can recover, Rin joins Ito and hits a Frankensteiner. Rin waits for Ito to get up and hits a jumping DDT, but she is too hurt to capitalize and Ito is up first. Ito picks up Rin as Watanabe runs in, but Watanabe lariats Ito by mistake. Itsuki gets Rin on her shoulders and helps her set up for the crucifix slam on Ito, Rin hits the move on Ito and holds her down for the three count! Rin Kadokura and Itsuki Aoki are the new champions!

Poorly done ending aside, with Ito not even willing to keep her shoulders on the mat for a big title win up for grabs, this was a VERY Veteran vs. Young Underdog match. The entire structure was just Itsuki and Rin doing their damnedest to just knock their opponents off their feet, let along get a nearfall. Its not necessarily a bad story, and with Ito and Watanabe definitely not a surprising one, as that has been their go-to match setup for probably the last 15 years. But it led to some problems, like some really iffy transitions (for example when Ito recovered first after being dropped by Rin’s DDT) and the win coming across as a fluke lucky win. Rin and Itsuki are both exciting young wrestlers, so giving them a tiny bit more of a rub wouldn’t have hurt anything, although its surprising enough that Watanabe and Ito lost so I guess we have to take what we can get. I give Itsuki and Rin credit for trying hard, and Ito/Watanabe for mostly rolling with the punches, but it still would be disingenuous to say the match was good even if they got the winners right. It wasn’t bad, and is perfectly watchable, but predictable in structure and for such a big match it would have been nice if they had gone a little outside the box to surprise us.

The post Marvelous 6th Anniversary on 5/1/22 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

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

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

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

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

Ayako Sato vs. Nanami

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

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

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

Jaguar Yokota vs. Madeline

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

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

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

Haruka Umesaki and Kaoru Ito vs. Kyoko Inoue and Sareee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Haruka Umesaki vs. Miyuki Takase

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sareee vs. Yoshiko

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Banny Oikawa vs. Nanami

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

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

Ayako Sato vs. Sakura Hirota

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

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

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

Jaguar Yokota and Madeline vs. Mikoto Shindo and Tomoko Watanabe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

It is extremely rare for me to just review one match from a show, but it is equally rare for a match from Diana to appear anywhere I can see it, so here we are. Diana has posted a few match videos on their new Youtube channel, including this one I am reviewing now, and since I have missed Sareee I wanted to see how the match was. They only released this one match from the event, but since it is the main match I wanted to watch I am not complaining too loudly.

Sareee’s 2017 was interesting to say the least. She started the year as part of the Diana roster, but in February she left the promotion and joined SEAdLINNNG. She stayed in SEAdLINNNG until October, when it was announced she was leaving that promotion and becoming a Freelancer. But she ended up back in Diana again, right where she started. She is a fantastic young wrestler but appears to be having issues finding her place in the Joshi scene. Kaoru Ito is a respected veteran from the heyday of AJW, she still regularly wrestles in Diana. Ito has the clear experience advantage here even though Sareee never goes down easily to anyone.

They start with a test of strength, which Ito gets the better of, but Sareee knocks Ito to the mat and applies a kneelock. She lets go after a moment and starts stomping on Ito’s leg before dropkicking it, she goes back to the kneelock but Ito gets out of it and throws Sareee in the corner. Lariat by Ito and she applies a crab hold, she then applies a camel clutch before letting go and hitting a scoop slam. Cover by Ito but Sareee bridges out of it, clubbing blows by Sareee and she puts Ito in a crossface. Ito breaks the hold and stands on Sareee near the ropes, side slam by Ito but Sareee blocks the chokeslam attempt and hits an armdrag. Dropkick by Sareee but Ito hits a hard elbow, Sareee goes off the ropes and applies a bodyscissors roll-up for two. Back up they trade elbows, lariat by Ito but Sareee hits a drop toehold and dropkicks Ito while she is against the ropes. Another dropkick by Sareee, she picks up Ito and applies a waistlock, but Ito breaks it. Sareee goes off the ropes but Ito blocks the bodyscissors roll-up and hits a suplex, footstomp by Ito and she hits a senton for a two count. Ito gets on the second turnbuckle but Sareee recovers and tosses her to the mat, Sareee then gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving footstomp.

Sareee then goes all the way up and delivers a second diving footstomp, cover by Sareee but Ito kicks out. Sareee picks up Ito but Ito delivers a hard lariat, uranage by Ito and Sareee falls out of the ring. Baseball slide by Ito, they both get back into the ring and Ito goes for a powerbomb, but Sareee reverses it into a sunset flip. Ito goes for another powerbomb but Sareee reverses it into a hurricanrana, she picks up Ito and hits a German suplex hold for two. Sareee goes off the ropes but Ito levels her with a lariat, Ito picks up Sareee and finally nails the powerbomb, but Sareee barely gets a shoulder up. Ito goes to the top turnbuckle but Sareee recovers and joins her, Ito pushes Sareee down but Sareee gets back up and knocks Ito out of the ring. Ito keeps trying to get back into the ring with Sareee blocking her as the referee makes the count, Sareee ends up on the apron as the referee reaches five (apparently Diana uses a five count), but the referee counts out Ito and declares Sareee the winner! Sareee wins by Countout.

This is definitely a “small show” match. I love Sareee’s energy, and she hit everything she had against Ito, but Ito at this stage of her career is pretty limited. She works ok within those limitations, and the passion is still there, but she really can’t go at the pace you’d expect from a Sareee match. Not all the offensive looked great due to these issues, but the bulk of the action was solid and Sareee’s dropkicks were great. The ending was either botched, or dumb, I can’t tell which one as Sareee was actually out of the ring when the referee did the “five” count. I am not sure if Sareee was expecting him to count slower, or if they have some weird rules I don’t know about. Odd ending beside, this wasn’t a bad match but hovered around “slightly above average.” Worth a watch if you missed watching Sareee as much as I did, but nothing special overall.

The post Sareee vs. Kaoru Ito in Diana on 2/10/18 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

One thing that I am a complete sucker for is retirement shows. I love the atmosphere, the emotion, everything about them. Sure, not all wrestling retirements stick long term (looking at you, Chigusa Nagayo) but I still enjoy them anyway, as not only are they special events but the wrestlers tend to put a little more effort to make the send-off for their friend more memorable. I purchased this event on DVD as it didn’t air anywhere, I’ll only be reviewing the regular wrestling matches on the show. Here is the card:

• Debbie Malenko, Jaguar Yokota, and Kaoru Ito vs. Kyoko Inoue, Takako Inoue, and Mariko Yoshida
• Aja Kong, AKINO, and Mary Apache vs. Leon, Mariko Yoshida, and Melissa
• Aoi Kizuki and Misaki Ohata vs. Bambi and Cherry
• Maruko Yoshida Retirement Match: Mariko Yoshida vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto

All the wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names to go straight to it. These matches won’t have a ton of backstory but I’ll at least fill in some gaps on who the wrestlers are and why they are on the card.

Debbie Malenko, Yokota, and Ito vs. Kyoko Inoue, Takako Inoue, and Mariko Yoshida

Yoshida and Malenko start the match, they grapple until Malenko gets Yoshida to the mat, but Yoshida switches positions with her as struggle for control. Malenko gets a short armbar applied but Yoshida quickly gets into the ropes for the break, Yoshida tags in Kyoko while Ito is also tagged in. Ito immediately hits a big lariat, she picks up Kyoko and the pair trade elbows. Short range lariat by Ito but Kyoko doesn’t go down, she returns fire as the veterans go back and forth with lariats. Kyoko wins the battle and tags in Takako, double Irish whip to Ito and she eats a double kick to the gut. Yoshida comes in too and poses on top of Ito, she stays in and tries to suplex Ito, but Ito blocks it and hits a back bodydrop. Ito throws Yoshida into the corner and hits a lariat, running senton by Ito and she covers Yoshida for two. Crab hold by Ito but she lets go after a moment, Irish whip by Ito but Yoshida flips over her back and cradles Ito for two. Yoshida tags in Takako, boots by Takako to Ito but Ito lariats her to the mat. Takako elbows Ito away and delivers a high kick, but Ito eventually has enough and drops her with a uranage. Ito tags in Yokota but Takako catches her with a backdrop suplex. Yoshida comes in but Yokota sends them both down, they recover however and Takako cradles Yokota for two. Yokota recovers and shoulderblocks Takako into the corner, Irish whip by Yokota but Takako hits a bridging backdrop suplex for two.

She tags in Kyoko, lariat by Kyoko but Ito runs in and lariats Kyoko. Things break down as all six come into the ring, Kyoko gets Yokota onto the top turnbuckle and hits a superplex for two. Kyoko picks up Yokota and goes for a powerbomb, but Yokota reverses it with a hurricanrana. Somersault legdrop by Yokota and she tags in Malenko, who comes in the ring with a diving face crusher for two. Running back elbow by Malenko and she hits a second one, but Kyoko chops her to the mat. Malenko goes for a cutter but Kyoko pushes her off and tags in Yoshida, double underhook facebuster by Yoshida and she covers Malenko for a two count. Irish whip by Yoshida but Yoshida is grabbed from the apron, giving Malenko a chance to deliver a boot. Yokota comes in and helps Malenko hit a double backdrop suplex onto Yoshida, before Ito follows with a diving footstomp. Malenko picks up Yoshida and delivers a Northern Lights Suplex, but the pin is broken up. STF by Malenko but Yoshida crawls to the ropes to get the break. Everyone runs in the ring as the action breaks down, Kyoko lariats both Ito and Malenko and Yoshida cradles Malenko for two. Yoshida picks up Malenko and puts her in the Spider Twist, and she has no choice but to submit! Double Inoue and Mariko Yoshida are the winners!

A fun way to kick off the show. What I loved the most was the maximum effort shown by everyone, I mean Kyoko hit a superplex while 56 year old Yokota was flying around with a hurricanrana and somersault legdrop, they didn’t hold anything back. Malenko looked great in her first official wrestling match since 1993, and Kaoru Ito is still really solid as well. Even though it was a ‘reunion’ match they didn’t wrestle like it as there were no lighthearted moments – they were all in from start to finish. Better than I would have imagined, enjoyable in every aspect.  Recommended

Aja Kong, AKINO, and Mary Apache vs. Leon, Mariko Yoshida, and Melissa

Yoshida and AKINO start the match, AKINO immediately sneaks in a backslide but it gets a two count. AKINO goes off the ropes but lll kicks her from the apron, Yoshida and AKINO grapple on the mat and trade submissions until they reach a stalemate. lll and Apache tag in, armdrag by lll but Apache returns the favor as they go back and forth. They reach a stalemate as well as they return to their feet, Irish whip by Apache but lll delivers the spear. lll tags in Melissa, elbow drop by Melissa and she applies the Kondo Clutch, but Apache gets into the ropes. Apache gets away from Melissa, Melissa goes for a scoop slam but Apache blocks it and lands on top of her. Heel kick by Apache and she tags in Kong, Irish whip by Kong but Melissa hits a lariat. Kong doesn’t budge, they both try to knock the other one over but Kong outsmarts Melissa and knocks her to her knees. Kong picks up Melissa but Melissa knocks Kong to the mat with a lariat, diving strike by Melissa and she tags in Yoshida. Kong punches Yoshida in the throat and kicks her in the head, she goes for a suplex but Yoshida lands on her feet and applies a sleeper. Kong almost goes to sleep but gets a hand on the ropes in time, Yoshida goes for a suplex but she can’t get Kong over. Leon comes in to help but Kong suplexes both of them instead, giving her time to tag in AKINO. Kicks by AKINO to Yoshida but Yoshida blocks a lariat attempt and puts AKINO in the Spider Twist.

AKINO rolls out of it and puts Yoshida in the Spider Twist instead, but Yoshida also rolls out of it and applies an ankle hold. AKINO gets out of it and puts Yoshida in a cross armbreaker, but Yoshida pins down AKINO’s shoulders for a two count. High kick by AKINO, Apache runs in but Yoshida blocks her powerbomb attempt and throws Apache out of the ring. AKINO has gone up top in the meantime but Melissa joins her and hits an avalanche Samoan Drop, Leon goes up top and nails a somersault senton onto AKINO for a two count. Leon picks up AKINO but AKINO blocks the Capture Buster, Apache runs in and lariats Leon before Kong drops her with a backdrop suplex. High kick by AKINO, she covers Leon but Yoshida breaks it up. AKINO picks up Leon but Leon slides away, she goes for a sunset flip but AKINO blocks it. Melissa runs in and elbows AKINO, double underhook facebuster by Yoshida to AKINO and Leon delivers her diving body press for another two count cover. Leon picks up AKINO but AKINO avoids her kick and punches Leon in the head. Yoshida tries to help but boots Leon by accident, Melissa comes in but she is shoulderblocked by Kong and Apache. Kong and Apache accidentally run into each other, Leon goes off the ropes and delivers a high kick, but AKINO snaps off a hurricanrana for the three count! Aja Kong, AKINO, and Mary Apache are the winners.

Not as good as the last match but still solid. There were some chemistry issues, which isn’t surprising since some of these wrestlers don’t wrestle each other very often (if ever), but it all came together for the home stretch. AKINO was the workhorse here, she was really on top of her game and helped tie the match together. Too disjointed to recommend too strongly but I still an easy and entertaining watch.  Mildly Recommended

Aoi Kizuki and Misaki Ohata vs. Bambi and Cherry

Aoi and Misaki attack before the match starts and double team their opponents in the corner, double vertical suplex to Bambi and they then suplex Cherry on top of her. Ohata and Cherry stay in as the legal wrestlers, Misaki tags in Aoi and Aoi hits Mongolian Chops onto Cherry. Elbow by Aoi in the corner and she hits a face crusher, running senton by Aoi and she covers Cherry for two. Misaki returns but Cherry hits a jumping neck drop on both of them, Cherry picks up Aoi but Aoi snaps her back over her knee before slamming Cherry fast-first into the match. Aoi goes for a diving senton but Cherry moves, Cherry goes for an armbreaker and gets it locked in, but Aoi quickly wiggles to the ropes for the break. Cherry tags Bambi, Bambi chops Aoi in the corner and Cherry returns as both hit running hip attacks onto Aoi. Irish whip by Bambi, reversed by Aoi but Bambi avoids her charge and hits a high kick. Running boot by Bambi, and she covers Aoi for two. Bambi charges Aoi but Aoi kicks her back and applies a sunset flip for two, Bambi goes off the ropes but Aoi chops her in the chest and hits the double wrist-clutch armsault. Jumping lariat by Aoi and she tags in Misaki, Misaki elbows Bambi in the corner and delivers the low crossbody. Misaki goes up top but Bambi ducks the crossbody and boots Misaki in the face. Misaki fights back and dropkicks Bambi in the face, she goes off the ropes but Bambi delivers a big boot again. Bambi tags Cherry, Cherry goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, double Irish whip to Misaki and she is knocked down by a double shoulderblock. Body press by Bambi, Cherry goes to the top turnbuckle and nails the Swanton Bomb, but Aoi breaks up the cover. Cherry goes off the ropes but Aoi elbows her, Misaki cradles Cherry but it gets a two count. Bambi tries to help but boots Cherry by accident, lariat by Misaki to Cherry and she hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Misaki picks up Cherry and nails the Fisherman Buster, but Bambi breaks up the pin. Misaki picks up Cherry but Cherry gets away and chops her in the face, uranage by Cherry and both wrestlers are down. Cherry recovers first but Aoi dropkicks her, double Irish whip to Cherry but Cherry avoids them both and cradles Misaki for two. Bambi is back but Aoi throws her out of the ring, Misaki cradles Cherry from behind but Cherry reverses it as they trade flash pins. Spinning chop by Ohata and she applies a hammerlock into a cradle for the three count! Misaki Ohata and Cherry win the match.

This felt like a standard midcard tag match, which is to say it was perfectly fine but nothing memorable about it at all. Bambi can’t really keep up with Aoi and Misaki so the pace wasn’t quite what you’d expect, and some of the strikes were a bit loose. Cherry looked inspired though and had a lot of emotion, and generally speaking nothing was really wrong with it and they kept it short. Decent enough but nothing more than that.

Mariko Yoshida vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto
Mariko Yoshida Retirement Match

Yoshida asks for Matsumoto’s hand as the match starts, Matsumoto goes to shake it but Yoshida cradles her for a quick two count. Starting her retirement match with a bang. Kick to the stomach by Yoshida and she throws down Matsumoto by the hair, another kick by Yoshida and she covers Matsumoto for two. Choke by Yoshida and she puts Matsumoto in a headscissors, but Matsumoto quickly gets out of it. Bodyscissors by Yoshida but Matsumoto gets out of that as well and puts Yoshida in a crab hold, Yoshida crawls to the ropes and she reaches them to force the break. Chops by Matsumoto, she gets Yoshida on her shoulders and tries to decide where to toss her, with the wrestlers at ringside trying to discourage her. Matsumoto eventually tosses Yoshida out of the ring anyway and down onto the wrestling mob at ringside, but the wrestlers help out and hold Matsumoto out on the floor so that Yoshida can go to the top turnbuckle and dive down onto Matsumoto. Back in the ring, Matsumoto puts Yoshida in the corner and all the wrestlers at ringside come into the ring to take turns on Yoshida, with a variety of strikes, hugs, and even a kiss. Yoshida comes out of this two minutes later in pretty rough condition, Matsumoto covers her but she only gets a two count. Crab hold by Matsumoto but again Yoshida reaches the ropes, scoop slam by Matsumoto and she delivers the reverse double kneedrop, but Yoshida gets a shoulder up.

Matsumoto goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick, another cover but she only gets two. Yoshida slaps Matsumoto but Matsumoto slaps her back, Matsumoto goes for a powerbomb but Yoshida gets out of it and applies the sleeper hold. Spider Twist by Yoshida but Matsumoto gets up while still in the hold and slams Yoshida into the turnbuckles. Yoshida flips Matsumoto and applies a cross armbreaker, but Matsumoto gets to the ropes. Boots by Yoshida but Matsumoto hits a body avalanche against the ropes, she goes for the sliding lariat but Yoshida ducks it and puts Matsumoto in an armtrap facelock. Yoshida reverts it into the Spider Twist but after struggling for a bit, Matsumoto is able to make it to the ropes. Yoshida picks up Matsumoto and goes for the Air Raid Crash, but Matsumoto blocks it and goes for a powerbomb. Yoshida rolls out of it, Matsumoto goes for the backdrop suplex and eventually hits it, but is too hurt to make the cover. They slowly get up and trade strikes, with Matsumoto winning the battle with a hard club to the head. Matsumoto picks up Yoshida but knocks her back down with an elbow, she drags Yoshida to her feet and nails the powerbomb, but Yoshida gets a shoulder up. Matsumoto picks up Yoshida and goes for the backdrop suplex, but Yoshida reverses it with the Air Raid Crash! She’s too hurt to make the quick cover, she eventually does so but Matsumoto kicks out. Back up, hard lariats by Matsumoto and she nails the Backdrop Driver for the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto is the winner!

As I mentioned at the top, I love retirement matches, and this one certainly hit the spot. Obviously Yoshida isn’t the force she was in her prime, but she still can bring it when she needs to and mostly kept up with one of the top Joshi wrestlers on the scene. Yoshida had a few really close calls, with the Air Raid Crash and Spider Twist, but realistically speaking she wasn’t going to win against her younger trainee even though she put up a good fight. The match was played pretty straight, as it went almost 20 minutes and only a few minutes of that was spent doing retirement match type spots, and they really delivered. Yoshida went out holding nothing back (and taking lots of damage in the process), showing why she in her heyday was one of the top female wrestlers in the world. Really entertaining match and worth tracking down.  Highly Recommended

The post Mariko Yoshida Retirement Mariko Final – 11/19/17 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.

It has been a long time since I reviewed a really random event, so here we go! CRYSIS is a faction led by Jaguar Yokota, one of the greatest wrestlers in Joshi history. It is a large stable, with wrestlers ranging from Chikayo Nagashima to TARU being part of the group.  Chigusa Nagayo also has a match, a rare televised appearance of the former AJW great and current owner of Marvelous. Also on the show, we get a wrestler debut (!) along with participation from Diana and WAVE. Here is the full card:

• ASUKA and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Ryo Mizunami and Megumi Yabushita
• Battle Royal with: Gabai-jichan, Hiroyo Matsumoto, KAORU, Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru, Mariko Yoshida, Mima Shimoda, Mochi Miyagi, and Yamada Man Pondo
• Choun Shiryu and Madoka vs. Kyoko Inoue and Kaoru Ito
• Street Fight: Chikayo Nagashima and KAZUKI vs. Jun Kasai and Buffalo
• Chigusa Nagayo, AKIRA, and Shiro Koshinaka vs. Seiji Miyane, Jaguar Yokota, and TARU

All of the Joshi wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name to go straight to it. As this aired on Nico Pro, the show is unclipped. For better or worse.

ASUKA and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Ryo Mizunami and Megumi Yabushita

Ryo and Tsukasa start things off, they trade wristlocks until Ryo pounds Tsukasa to the mat. Hard shoulderblock by Ryo but Tsukasa comes back with a dropkick, scoop slam by Ryo but Tsukasa bridges out of the cover and hits a dropkick. Jumping elbow by Ryo in the corner, Megumi comes over and holds Tsukasa so that Ryo can hit a lariat. Ryo tags in Megumi, Megumi has a belt with her and hits Tsukasa repeatedly with it. Megumi chokes Tsukasa with it, scoop slam by Megumi and she covers Tsukasa for two. Megumi applies a leg submission and then a chinlock, but Tsukasa gets to the ropes for the break. Megumi picks up Tsukasa and hits a scoop slam, double kneedrop by Megumi and she applies a crab hold. ASUKA breaks it up, Megumi picks up Tsukasa but Tsukasa hits a hurricanrana for two. Tsukasa tags in ASUKA, ASUKA boots Megumi repeatedly in the head before throwing her in the corner. ASUKA moonsaults over Megumi and dropkicks her, Space Rolling Elbow by ASUKA and she dropkicks Megumi in the head for a two count. Megumi quickly applies a cross armbreaker takedown but ASUKA gets a foot on the ropes, ASUKA goes off the ropes and hits a rebound crossbody for two. ASUKA tags in Tsukasa, Tsukasa kicks Megumi in the back but Megumi ducks the PK. Twisting bodypress by Tsukasa but Megumi puts her in a submission, Tsukasa wiggles to the ropes and manages to force the break. Tsukasa throws Megumi in the corner but Megumi applies a hanging armbar, Megumi goes up top and hits a missile dropkick to Tsukasa’s arm.

Tsukasa fires back with a dropkick but Ryo hits her from the apron and Megumi drops her with a judo throw. She tags in Ryo, spear by Ryo to Tsukasa but Tsukasa blocks the uranage. German suplex by Ryo and she hits a legdrop for a two count. Ryo goes off the ropes but ASUKA dives off the top turnbuckle with a crossbody, double Irish whip to Ryo and ASUKA dropkicks her. Tsukasa dropkicks Ryo too, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick for a two count cover. Tsukasa picks up Ryo but Ryo gets Tsukasa on her shoulders, Tsukasa flips off and rolls Megumi to the mat before hitting a PK. She tags in ASUKA, ASUKA goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick for two. Fireman’s carry takeover by ASUKA and she goes for Megumi’s arm, Megumi gets back up and hits a series of elbows. ASUKA charges Ryo but Ryo hits an overhead belly to belly, lariat by Ryo and she nails a uranage for a two count. Ryo drags up ASUKA but ASUKA blocks the full nelson, hard lariat by Ryo but ASUKA kicks out of the cover. Megumi comes in but ASUKA knocks them both down with a springboard moonsault, Tsukasa comes in and they both kick Ryo in the head. Gutwrench suplex by ASUKA, and she covers Ryo for two. Chokeslam by ASUKA, but Megumi breaks up the cover. ASUKA goes up top but Ryo rolls out of the way of the moonsault, superkick by ASUKA but Ryo knocks her down with a lariat. Megumi hits a German suplex onto Tsukasa while Ryo hits a lariat onto ASUKA, but ASUKA kicks out of the cover. Ryo picks up ASUKA and nails the Hot Limit, and she picks up the three count! Ryo Mizunami and Megumi Yabushita get the win.

Another good thing about wrestler produced shows is there tends to be very little fluff. This is a midcard-caliber match under normal circumstances, so the show really starts off with a bang as everyone here has the experience to put on a fun match. ASUKA continues to improve, and both Tsukasa and Ryo have main-event level skills so it didn’t feel like an opener at all. Solid match all the way around.  Mildly Recommended

Battle Royal
With Gabai-jichan, Hiroyo Matsumoto, KAORU, Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru, Mariko Yoshida, Shimoda, Mochi Miyagi, & Yamada Man Pondo

Yoshida targets Hiroyo right off the bat, but all the wrestlers end up in a giant headscissors chain, Gabai-jichan strolls in the ring and tries to roll them into a crab hold but he is too old and weak to do so. Miyagi does it instead but they roll into the ropes, Pondo and Ranmaru go after Miyagi but Miyagi rolls under then and poses. Pondo hits Ranmaru with a Stop Sign and poses as well, but Miyagi whips him and with everyone else covers Pondo for the three count! Yamada Man Pondo is eliminated. Ranmaru immediately schoolboys Miyagi, everyone else joins in and she is held down for three! Mochi Miyagi is eliminated. KAORU gets her board and starts hitting people with it, she tries to drop it onto Shimoda but Shimoda moves out of the way. KAORU tries to to the same with Yoshida with the same result, Hiroyo is up next but she also rolls out of the way. They hold down Ranmaru and KAORU drops it on her (or slightly misses, the camera couldn’t really see it), Gabai-jichan comes in but he tosses his cane to KAORU which makes her act old herself.

She tosses it to Hiroyo, Shimoda gets the cane next and Gabai-jichan knocks over both KAORU and Shimoda. KAORU and Shimoda are covered by the other participants, and both are counted down for three! Mima Shimoda and KAORU are eliminated. Hiroyo and Yoshida target Ranmaru but she avoids their attack, Gabai-jichan pushes Hiroyo over but everyone attacks him. Gabai-jichan schoolboys Ranmaru, and he gets the three count! Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru is eliminated! Gabai-jichan pokes Hiroyo with his cane, Yoshida tries to boot Gabai-jichan but Gabai-jichan moves and she kicks Hiroyo by accident. Hiroyo snaps Gabai-jichan’s cane and throws it to the mat, Irish whip to Gabai-jichan but he speeds up and lariats both of them. Vertical suplex by Gabai-jichan to Hiroyo, he goes to Yoshida but he hurts his back going for a powerbomb. Yoshida holds Gabai-jichan but Hiroyo lariats her by accident, Gabai-jichan slams Hiroyo on top of Yoshida and covers her for the three count pinfall! Mariko Yoshida is eliminated. Just Gabai-jichan and Hiroyo are left now, lariat by Gabai-jichan to Hiroyo and she goes for a powerbomb but Hiroyo lands on hop of him for the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto wins the Battle Royal!

As I mentioned above, Battle Royals in Japan are generally more humorous affairs. A few funny moments but overall not a whole lot to it, even if it is always nice to see Mariko Yoshida.

Choun Shiryu and Hagane Shinnou vs. Kyoko Inoue and Kaoru Ito

Inoue and Shiryu start the match and tie-up, Inoue pushes Shiryu into the ropes and she gives a clean break. They lock knuckles, Shiryu goes off the ropes but Inoue hits a hard shoulderblock. Shiryu stomps on Inoue’s foot and tags in Shinnou, kicks to the chest by Madoka but Inoue pushes him into the corner. Inoue tags in Ito, lariat by Ito in the corner but Shinnou dropkicks her back. Ito doesn’t go down, Shinnou goes for a suplex but Ito reverses it into a suplex of her own. Shinnou tries to lariat Ito but fails, and Ito gives Shinnou a hard lariat instead. Ito puts Shinnou in a crab hold, but Shinnou gets into the ropes for a break. Ito stomps down on Shinnou’s back before tagging in Inoue, Ito stays in and they both suplex Shinnou. Inoue tosses Shinnou by his head and hits a vertical suplex, elbow drop by Inoue and she tags Ito back in. Camel Clutch by Ito but Shiryu breaks it up, Ito picks up Shinnou but Shinnou flips out to the apron and hits a swandive dropkick. This gives him time to tag in Shiryu, Shiryu throws Ito into the corner and hits a running elbow followed by a pair of kicks and a diving thrust kick for a two count cover.

Ito knocks down Shiryu with a lariat and hits a footstomp, running splash by Ito and she covers Shiryu for two. Ito picks up Shiryu but Shiryu elbows her off, he goes off the ropes but Ito catches him with an uranage. Ito tags in Inoue, elbow by Inoue but Shiryu chops her back and they trade blows. Drop toehold by Shiryu and he goes for a Tiger Feint Kick, but Inoue catches him and drops Shiryu to the mat. Lariat by Inoue, and she covers Shiryu for a two count. Ito comes in to help but both she and Inoue run into each other by accident, dropkick dropkick to Inoue and Ito but Inoue hits a lariat on both Shiryu and Shinnou. They call out of the ring, Inoue goes out after them while Ito goes for a baseball slide, but she kicks Inoue by mistake. Shiryu gets in the ring and catapults off the referee and delivers a diving kick to Ito’s face. Inoue is slid back in and double teamed, cover by Shiryu but Ito breaks it up. Shiryu goes up top but Ito hits him before he can jump off, Inoue joins Shiryu and delivers a superplex. Diving footstomp by Ito, cover by Inoue but Shinnou breaks up the cover. Inoue picks up Shiryu and nails the Niagara Driver, cover by Inoue and she gets the three count! Kyoko Inoue and Kaoru Ito are the winners.

I enjoyed this match way more than I should have. Ito and Inoue are the ‘old school’ Joshi stars that don’t always feel the need to do things like sell for their opponents, and so few wrestlers do that these days it comes across as fresh and interesting. I don’t mean they are being jerks, its just the style, eventually Shinnou was able to knock over Ito which just made it a bigger moment. But for the most part Ito and Inoue were tossing around the male indie wrestlers so it had the opposite dynamic that you may think if you didn’t know the wrestlers. No complaints, Inoue and Ito can still go, an entertaining little match.  Mildly Recommended

Chikayo Nagashima and KAZUKI vs. Jun Kasai and Buffalo

Chikayo and KAZUKI attack before the match starts with chairs, Buffalo is isolated in the ring and double teamed with chair shots. KAZUKI puts a bucket over Buffalo’s head and kicks it, Kasai comes in the ring and trades strikes with Chikayo. KAZUKI attacks Kasai from behind with a chain but Kasai headbutts her, and the action spills out of the ring. Buffalo and Kasai take over on the floor, KAZUKI is put on a table while Kasai goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving splash onto KAZUKI. Kasai gets a barbed wire bat and pushes it into Chikayo’s head, Buffalo rolls Chikayo back into the ring and hits her with a back elbow. Buffalo stomps Chikayo and elbows her into the corner, running elbow by Buffalo and he tags in Kasai. Big boot by Kasai and he slices Chikayo’s face with… a board of some sort, leg drop by Buffalo from the apron and he kicks Chikayo in the head. Cover by Kasai, but it gets a two count. Kasai picks up Chikayo and bites her head, piledriver by Kasai and he covers Chikayo for two. Kasai brings a ladder into the ring but Chikayo kicks him low and hits both Kasai and Buffalo with the metal bucket. Chikayo goes up top and hits a diving footstomp to Kasai’s groin, KAZUKI hits Kasai repeatedly with a chain before hanging him over the top rope with it. KAZUKI pulls Kasai back into the ring and hits a couple reverse double kneedrops for a two count.

KAZUKI brings the ladder to the middle of the ring but Kasai suplexes her on it, he tags in Buffalo but KAZUKI drops him with a Codebreaker. Chikayo comes in but Buffalo lariats both of them, he puts the ladder on his neck and helicopters it into both opponents. Buffalo tries to push Chikayo with the ladder but KAZUKI helps push Buffalo into the corner, kicks by Chikayo and she hits Buffalo with a chair. KAZUKI goes up top and slams the ladder down onto Buffalo, then Chikayo goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving footstomp onto Buffalo and the pile of chairs/ladder. Chikayo grabs Buffalo but Buffalo kicks her in the stomach, Buffalo throws the ladder at Chikayo and makes the tag to Kasai. Kasai lariats Chikayo in the back of the head, another lariat by Kasai but KAZUKI breaks up the cover. Kasai picks up Chikayo and hits a scoop slam, he sets up the ladder and climbs it, but Chikayo joins him and spits red mist into his face. Kasai falls to the mat and Chikayo dives off the ladder with a footstomp. Cover, but Buffalo breaks it up. Fisherman Buster by Chikayo to Kasai, but Kasai kicks out. Chikayo gets a chair but Kasai blocks it and hits Chikayo with the chair instead. Kasai runs off the ropes repeatedly and hits a lariat, but the cover gets two. Kasai picks up Chikayo and delivers the double underhook facebuster, he scoop slams Chikayo in front of the ladder before climbing up and nailing the Pearl Harbor Splash. Cover by Kasai, and he gets the three count! Jun Kasai and Buffalo are the winners.

Like the last match, while I wouldn’t call this a MOTYC it was certainly really entertaining. Lots of brutal moves in this match, from the table splash to the footstomp to Kasai’s groin, as no one was holding back. Fast paced with never a dull moment, its one of those matches you can’t look away from. A nice change of pace from the type of action I usually see on Joshi shows, an enjoyable match overall if you’re into this sort of thing (crazy weapon-filled brawls).  Recommended

Chigusa Nagayo, AKIRA, and Shiro Koshinaka vs. Seiji Miyane, Jaguar Yokota, and TARU

Yokota and Nagayo start the match, Nagayo pushes Yokota against the ropes and she gives a clean break. Irish whip by Nagayo but Yokota ducks the heel kick, scoop slam by Yokota and she covers Nagayo for two. They tag out as TARU and Koshinaka come in, TARU tries to shoulderblock Koshinaka over but Koshinaka delivers a hip attack. Chinlock by Koshinaka but TARU kicks him in the stomach and both wrestlers tag out as AKIRA and Miyane become the legal wrestlers. AKIRA and Miyane trade holds, they end up on the mat but Miyane gets away from AKIRA and they face off again. AKIRA goes for a suplex but Miyane blocks it and hits a vertical suplex of his own, Octopus Hold by Miyane but Nagayo breaks it up. AKIRA tags in Koshinaka, hip attacks by Koshinaka to Miyane and he tags in Nagayo. Chops by Nagayo, Miyane returns fire but Nagayo chops him to the mat and kicks him against the ropes. Nagayo tags AKIRA but TARU comes in to help Miyane, they both suplex AKIRA before Miyane makes the tag to Yokota. Nagayo tags in too but TARU hits Nagayo from the apron, Yokota hits Nagayo in the stomach with a rod before choking her with it. TARU stays in as the legal wrestler and starts on Nagayo’s arm, he takes Nagayo out of the ring and tosses her around in the crowd. Back in the ring, kicks by TARU to Nagayo but Nagayo fights back and the two trade shots. TARU tags in Yokota, Miyane comes in too and they triple team Nagayo in the corner.

Kicks by TARU but Nagayo catches him with a backdrop suplex and tags in Koshinaka. Hip attack by TARU, Yokota and Miyane come in but they get hip attacks as well. Koshinaka goes up top and hits a diving hip attack onto TARU, cover by Koshinaka but TARU kicks out. Koshinaka tags AKIRA, AKIRA goes up top and hits a diving body press, but Miyane breaks up the cover. AKIRA goes off the ropes but TARU catches him with a chokebomb and tags in Yokota, AKIRA kicks Yokota however and tags in Nagayo. Nagayo grabs Yokota and hits a vertical suplex, waistlock by Nagayo but Yokota gets out of it with a roll-up for two. Nagayo tosses Yokota into the corner but Yokota catches her coming in and kicks her in the head. Nagayo pulls Yokota back to the middle of the ring and puts her in the Scorpion Deathlock, but TARU quickly breaks it up. Nagayo catches Yokota with a sidewalk slam, but TARU breaks up the cover. TARU and Yokota both suplex Nagayo, Miyane goes up top and hits Nagayo with a diving crossbody for a two count. Yokota then goes up top but Nagayo avoids her somersault senton, Koshinaka and AKIRA both come in and clear the ring so that just Nagayo and Miyane are left. Backdrop suplex by Nagayo to Miyane and she drops him with a snap piledriver, but Miyane gets a shoulder up. Scorpion Deathlock by Nagayo, and Miyane has no choice but to submit! Chigusa Nagayo, AKIRA, and Shiro Koshinaka win!

Unlike the other matches on this show with long-time veterans, this one was a bit too slow for my liking. It was just really by the numbers, the match was almost 20 minutes and the only interesting parts were when Chigusa Nagayo and Jaguar Yokota squared off. I am not sure of Miyane’s backstory but (obviously) he isn’t very good yet and negatively impacted the match during several of his segments. Its always a pleasure to see veteran wrestlers like Shiro Koshinaka or AKIRA, but the match was just a bit too long and listless. This would have worked better in the midcard, but as the main event it was a bit disappointing.

The post CRYSIS Produce on 7/23/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Policewoman vs. Sarubobo Mask

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cherry with her winnings

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