Event: Hikaru Shida Produce “10th Anniversary ~ REvenge”
Date: October 9th, 2018
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 550

From time to time I review something that is special and difficult to find, and this is one of those times. Last fall, Hikaru Shida produced her own event which took place at the famed Korakuen Hall. The event was released (obviously, since I am reviewing it), but only on DVD and was only sold by Hikaru Shida at live events. I’ve kept my eye out online for the last six months hoping to find it with no luck, however a friend recently went to Japan and he picked up the DVD for me. So I finally get to watch it! As with most wrestler produce events, it has a very unique line-up with unusual pairings. Here is the full card:

• Kaori Yoneyama and Koharu Hinata vs. Mio Momono and Rina Yamashita
• Buffalo, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Misaki Ohata vs. Gabai Ji-chan, Toru Owashi, and Yako Fujigasaki
• Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Maika Ozaki
• Aja Kong and TARU vs. Hagane Shinnou and Risa Sera
• Hikaru Shida vs. Naomichi Marufuji

All the Joshi wrestlers have profiles on the website, you can click on their names above to go straight to it. As this was released on DVD, all matches will be shown in full.

Kaori Yoneyama and Koharu Hinata vs. Mio Momono and Rina Yamashita

Mio and Kaori start the match, kick by Mio as they go into a fast exchange as they trade armdrags and trips before reaching a stalemate. Koharu and Rina are tagged in, Koharu asks for a knucklelock but then can’t reach Rina’s hands. Kaori comes in and puts Koharu on her shoulders, so Mio comes in also and gets on Rina’s shoulders as well to make things even. Koharu slides off Kaori’s back and they attack Rina, double Irish whip to Rina and they hit a double dropkick. Rina is put into the ropes and slapped in the chest by both of them, Koharu returns to the ring with Rina and grabs her wrist so she can walk the ropes. She walks over halfway around the ring before hitting an armdrag, tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Koharu and she goes for a slam, but Rina blocks it and hits a scoop slam of her own. Rina gives Koharu the Giant Swing, Mio comes in and ‘jumps rope’ with Koharu’s body as she swings around until she finally trips on her. Rina snapmares Koharu and puts her in a chinlock, Mio comes in and pulls on Rina’s hair to give her more torque, which Rina didn’t overly appreciate. Mio goes off the ropes before dropkicking Koharu, Rina tags in Mio and Mio throws Koharu into the corner.

Mio throws down Koharu by the hair and dropkicks her, she does it again before Rina comes over and helps her step down on Koharu’s face. Rina gets in the ring, she kicks Mio and throws her at Koharu but Koharu moves out of the way. Mio and Rina keep messing with each other as they hurt the other with Koharu taking the brunt of whatever they are doing, Mio picks up Koharu but Koharu dropkicks her and tags in Kaori. Kaori goes for a senton but Mio moves, Rina comes in but Kaori avoids their charges and throws Mio into Rina before hitting a senton/dropkick combination. Kaori drop toeholds Rina onto Koharu, running senton by Kaori and she picks up Mio so she can chop her. Mio rolls away and hits a spinning headscissors followed by a dropkick, she goes up top but Koharu runs over and grabs her from the apron. Rina comes in too and gets rid of Koharu, she helps Mio go for a senton but Kaori moves out of the way. Mio cradles Kaori and hits a footstomp, she elbows Rina to tag her in and Rina lariats Kaori in the corner. Cover by Rina, but it gets a two count.

Rina picks up Kaori but Kaori lands on her feet on the backdrop suplex attempt, Kaori goes for a crossbody but Rina catches her. Koharu dropkicks them over, Northern Lights Suplex by Kaori but it gets a two count. Kaori tags Koharu, dropkick by Koharu and she applies a hanging armbar over the top rope. She lets go after a moment and hits a diving bodypress, Kaori then hits a diving senton before Koharu goes up top and delivers a diving footstomp but Mio breaks up the cover. Koharu dropkicks Rina into the corner but Mio dropkicks her, vertical suplex by Rina to Koharu but Koharu kicks out of the cover. She goes for another one but Koharu blocks it, backslide by Koharu but Mio breaks it up. Double Irish whip to Mio but she hits a headscissors/side headlock takedown combination, double lariat by Rina and she kicks Koharu in the face. Rina goes off the ropes and nails Koharu with a lariat, and she picks up the three count! Rina Yamashita and Mio Momono win!

Humor in wrestling is pretty hard to hit with me, but Mio Momono is one of the few that does it right. Her interactions with Rina were amusing throughout, but she can also back it up with the wrestling as well which is more important. The match alternated between being funny and serious but the bulk of the humor was between teammates, not between teams so it never brought down the premise that both teams were trying to win at all times. A good way to kick off the event, its sure to be a quirky show but Mio does “quirky” right and is a pleasure to watch.  Mildly Recommended

Buffalo, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Misaki Ohata vs. Gabai Ji-chan, Toru Owashi, and Fujigasaki

They talk on the microphone for awhile to start, whatever they said must have pissed off Ohata as she mounts Yako and elbows the hell out of her. Yako returns the favor as they go back and forth, Toru separates them however and they end up doing a six wrestler chain. Gabai Ji-chan grabs Hiroyo’s butt which makes her mad so she suplexes him, curb stomp by Misaki to Yako as she is still mad about whatever she said before. Things settle down with Buffalo staying in the ring with Yako as the legal wrestlers, elbow by Buffalo and he applies a chinlock while ripping at Yako’s face. Buffalo stomps Yako and puts her in the ropes so he can stretch her some more, Irish whip by Buffalo and he hits a back elbow before covering her for two. Buffalo tags in Hiroyo, he stays in the ring and they hold Yako so that Misaki can run in and pull on her nose. Yako fights Hiroyo off with elbows but Misaki hits her from the apron, she comes in and Hiroyo picks up Misaki to assist her in kicking Yako. Buffalo jumps on Hiroyo’s back, then Misaki jumps on too before Hiroyo hits a double kneedrop onto Hiroyo. Hiroyo picks up Yako and clubs her, she goes for a powerbomb but Yako blocks it and hits a back bodydrop. Hip attack by Yako, and she makes the hot tag to Toru. Toru fights off everyone by himself, he chops Hiroyo but Hiroyo chops her back. They trade chops back and forth and then take turns trying to shoulderblock the other over until Hiroyo sends Toru to the mat.

Hiroyo tags in Buffalo while Gabai Ji-chan is also tagged in, Gabai Ji-chan hits Buffalo with his cane but Buffalo hits a vertical suplex. Cover by Buffalo, but it gets two. Misaki and Hiroyo come in and hit running strikes on Gabai Ji-chan in the corner, Buffalo goes to do one but Gabai Ji-chan collapses before he can hit a move. Toru and Yako come in and double team Buffalo, Gabai Ji-chan goes for a powerbomb but is too weak to pick up Buffalo. Buffalo tags Misaki, Misaki goes up top and hits a missile dropkick onto Gabai Ji-chan. She goes for a suplex but Gabai Ji-chan grabs the ropes with his cane to prevent himself from going over. Gabai Ji-chan trips Misaki and hits her in the butt with the cane, Toru jumps in with Yako but Buffalo and Misaki also come in. Yako hits a super oil check (with a mini drill of some sort) on both of them, Misaki drops Yako with a Stunner and gets the oil drill but Toru puts on a mask of Makoto Oishi (Misaki’s husband) and jumps in the way of Gabai Ji-chan. Misaki gives him an oil check anyway, she does the same to Gabai Ji-chan but Gabai Ji-chan drops his cane in the process and runs off the ropes, hitting a dropkick. He grabs the hand drill and gives Misaki an oil check, but Misaki blocks it and hits a standing crucifix bomb for the three count!  Buffalo, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Misaki Ohata win.

While the last match was the type of comedy I can handle, this one landed with me far less. It was 75% comedy and some of it got a chuckle out of me, but most of it just seemed overly silly and I’d have rather seen Hiroyo Matsumoto and Misaki Ohata do something more serious. Maybe a few laughs if this is your type of thing, but pretty skippable fare for me.

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Maika Ozaki

They lockup to start but break cleanly, takedown by Chihiro and she applies an ankle lock. She switches to a side headlock, Maika Irish whips out of it and the two collide with neither going down. They take turns trying to shoulderblock each other over until Chihiro succeeds, she picks up Maika and puts her in a Fujiwara Armbar. She changes the hold to an armbreaker but Maika inches to the ropes and makes it to force the break. Chihiro applies an armlock and tosses Maika to the mat, cover by Chihiro but it gets a two count. Wristlock by Chihiro and she goes back to the armbar but Maika reaches the ropes. Chihiro throws Maika to the corner and hits a body avalanche, scoop slam by Chihiro and she hits a somersault senton. Another senton by Chihiro, and she covers Maika for two. Maika tries to get Chihiro on her shoulders but Chihiro blocks it and applies a Cobra Twist, but Maika gets out of it and hits a fireman’s carry slam.

Elbow drops by Maika and she hits a senton, picking up a two count. Maika picks up Chihiro and both wrestlers go for lariats, but both stay on their feet. They trade lariat attempts until Chihiro knocks down Maika, she goes off the ropes but Maika fires up with a lariat of her own for a two count. Maika gets Chihiro on her shoulders and applies an Argentine Backbreaker, she spins Chihiro to the mat and covers her for two. Maika goes up to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton, but Chihiro kicks out of the pin. Maika goes all the way up but Chihiro avoids the diving senton, spear by Chihiro and she covers Maika for a two count. Chihiro picks up Maika and they trade elbows, big release German by Chihiro and she positions Maika in front of the corner. Diving somersault senton by Chihiro, but Maika barely kicks out of the pin. Chihiro picks up Maika and hits the waterwheel drop, cover by Chihiro and she gets the three count! Chihiro Hashimoto wins!

A basic but fundamentally sound match. This was an odd one for this show, as neither have a real connection with Hikaru Shida or each other so I am not sure how it came about. Even though Chihiro was clearly winning, she did give Maika a few spots before putting her away. The German suplex was beautiful and painful, easily the highlight of the match. There was nothing wrong with this at all, they worked together well and everything was smooth, it just felt a bit like an exhibition for the bulk of it before business picked up in the last two minutes. Perfectly watchable but nothing memorable.

Aja Kong and TARU vs. Hagane Shinnou and Risa Sera

Things immediately break down with Hagane and Risa in control, they have a ladder and they hit TARU with it. Risa puts the ladder on TARU and hits a running kneedrop, Risa grabs TARU’s leg and puts him in the ropes while Hagane gets a giant sword, but TARU avoids the sword strike. Hagane drops the sword and gets in the ring, but Kong trips him the floor and throws Hagane into chairs at ringside. TARU goes outside the ring with Risa and stabs her in the head with I think some scissors, while Kong hits Hagane with a chair. Risa is naturally bleeding as TARU stabs her with what I have now decided is a carving fork, meanwhile Kong takes Hagane into the crowd and slams him into a wall. TARU and Risa have returned to the ring as TARU beats her with a stick before choking her with it. They exit the ring again and battle up into the crowd, Hagane finally gets the better of Kong and hits her with a chair. TARU and Risa are up by the balcony now as Mio Momono tries to shield the crowd from a rumbling TARU, as we go back to ringside where Kong is beating up Hagane. Risa and TARU return to the ring, he gets a kendo stick with barbed wire wrapped around it and pushes it into Risa’s head, Risa gets back to her feet and elbows TARU but TARU snapmares her and digs at her wounds.

Hagane come in the ring but so does Kong and she hits him with a paint can. She hits Risa with it too for good measure, Kong and TARU start to argue on who should beat up Risa with TARU finally picking her up. Risa fires up and elbows both of them but she eats a double vertical suplex for her trouble, Kong grabs Risa and bites her on the forehead. Kong hits Risa with the paint can again, cover by Kong but Risa kicks out. Risa elbows Kong but Kong absorbs the blows and smacks Risa back to the mat. Hagane comes in the ring but Kong rakes him in the eyes, she tags in TARU (guess we are doing tags now) and TARU strikes Risa in the corner. TARU chokes Risa with some wrist tape while Kong knocks Hagane off the apron for no reason, TARU goes for a suplex but Risa lands on her feet and schoolboys TARU for two. She gets the barbed wire kendo stick and hits TARU with it before tagging in Hagane, Hagane cleans house and hits a swandive dropkick onto TARU. He gets the giant sword and uses it to drive TARU into the corner. He launches off the sword and kicks TARU in the head, Hagane puts TARU on the mat and stacks a few chairs on top of him. He put the giant sword in the corner so he can stand on it up top, but Kong grabs him from the apron before he can jump off. TARU joins Hagane and hits a superplex onto the chairs, he picks up Hagane and hits a chokebomb for a two count. TARU tags in Kong, Kong picks up Hagane and drops him with a backdrop suplex for a two count.

She picks up Hagane again and hits a brainbuster, but Hagane gets a shoulder up. Kong calls for the Uraken but Hagane ducks it and hits a lariat, Kong doesn’t go down as they trade lariat attempts until Hagane finally sends Kong to the mat. This gives him time to tag in Risa, Risa throws Kong into the corner and hits a running elbow strike. She chucks a chair at Kong and then hits a running double knee into it, Risa puts a chair on Kong’s chest and hits a reverse kneedrop for two. She gets the ladder and props it in the corner, she gets a surfboard out and gets on the ladder with it, riding the surfboard down the ladder and hitting a splash of sorts. Risa picks up Kong but Kong slaps her, Kong grabs the surfboard and cracks Risa in the head with it. TARU returns and lariats Risa in the corner, Kong follows with her own lariat and gets her paint can, but Risa ducks and she accidentally hits TARU. Risa puts a few chairs on the mat while Hagane sets up a table at ringside, Risa suplexes Kong onto the chairs and covers her for two. TARU is put on the table while Risa sets up the ladder in the ring, Hagane gets on the top turnbuckle and dives out of the ring with a splash through the table to TARU while Risa jumps off the ladder with a double kneedrop to Kong. Cover by Risa, but Kong kicks out. Risa grabs Kong but Kong snaps off a brainbuster, but before she can cover Risa the bell rings as time expires. The match is a Draw.

This was an experience. First of all, I don’t love the Draw here. Its useful and necessary sometimes but this was a non-televised produce show, no real reason that someone couldn’t have been pinned as no one needed protecting. Anyway, this was one of those chaotic hardcore matches where you aren’t sure if they really had a plan going into it as the violence was prevalent but random. Neither team really worked together much, as predicted, and the match mostly focused on Aja Kong and TARU beating people up. Some of the spots worked and some didn’t, but I will say it was rather captivating and Risa Sera is great. Certainly not a traditional match, but worth a watch as long as you go in with the right expectations.  Mildly Recommended

Hikaru Shida vs. Naomichi Marufuji

Tie-up to start, Marufuji pushes Shida into the ropes and gives a clean break, but Shida chops him in the chest. Marufuji gets Shida in the corner and chops her hard in the chest, Shida gets back up and fires off a few elbows while avoiding Marufuji as he goes for knee strikes. Headlock by Marufuji, Shida eventually gets out of it but Marufuji shoulderblocks her down. Kip-up by Shida and she hits a hurricanrana followed by a knee while Marufuji is against the ropes. Shida drags Marufuji’s head over the apron, she goes out to the floor and delivers a kneelift. Shida throws Marufuji into the ring post, she set up a chair at ringside and jumps off of it to hit a jumping knee to Marufuji. Shida slides Marufuji back in, she goes for a vertical suplex but Marufuji blocks it and chops her in the chest. More chops by Marufuji, he kicks Shida in the head before covering her for two. Marufuji dumps Shida out of the ring and goes out after her, hard chops by Marufuji around the ring and he goes back in to wait for Shida. Shida rolls in too, Irish whip by Marufuji but Shida hits a step-up enzuigiri.

She goes off the ropes but Marufuji boots her in the face, chinlock by Marufuji but Shida gets a foot on the ropes. Shida fights back with elbows but Marufuji knocks her down with a lariat, he puts Shida in the corner and chops her in the chest some more. Jumping elbow by Marufuji but Shida blocks the suplex attempt and hits a vertical suplex of her own. Shida charges Marufuji but Marufuji moves, Shida tosses Marufuji out to the apron and hits a kneelift. Marufuji falls out of the ring, Shida goes to the top turnbuckle and dives out with a crossbody. Shida rolls Marufuji back in, she goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. She goes up again and hits another missile dropkick before hitting a third, she climbs the turnbuckles one last time and hits a final missile dropkick for a two count cover. Shida goes for the Falcon Arrow but Marufuji blocks it, chop by Marufuji but Shida slaps him and hits a high knee. Falcon Arrow by Shida, but Marufuji kicks out of the pin. Shida goes off the ropes but Marufuji blocks the knee, strike combination by Marufuji and Shida falls hard to the mat.

The referee starts a count but Shida returns to her feet, knee by Marufuji and he goes up top but Shida recovers and joins him. Marufuji headbutts Shida back down but Shida joins him again, superplex by Shida and she covers Marufuji for two. Marufuji chops Shida but Shida fires back with elbows as they trade blows, Marufuji goes off the ropes but Shida nails him with a jumping knee for two. Three Count by Shida, but again Marufuji kicks out. Shida picks up Marufuji and hits more knees, she goes off the ropes and hits the Tamashii no Three Count but Marufuji barely gets a shoulder up. Shida goes up top and his a Diving Somato, but the pin gets another two. She goes off the ropes but Marufuji kicks her back, jumping knee by Marufuji and he covers Shida for a two count. Another knee by Marufuji, he gets Shida to her knees and knees her in the back of the head. Marufuji waits for Shida to get up and plants her with the Ko-oh, cover by Marufuji and he gets the three count! Naomichi Marufuji is the winner.

Matches like this are going to get a wide range of reactions. Due to Marufuji’s status in wrestling (he has had competitive matches against the likes of Misawa, Kobashi, Akiyama, Okada, Tanahashi, etc.), he was going to be the dominating wrestler in the match one way or the other. So a fair chunk of the match was Marufuji in control, turning Shida’s chest into hamburger and shrugging off Shida’s attempts to fight back. Its not a different dynamic than we saw earlier with Risa Sera and Aja Kong, but since they are different genders it will make some people squirm anyway. But that doesn’t mean it was just an extended squash as it clearly was not, Shida got in a fair amount of offense and several nearfalls, it was just a constant battle for her to get one over on Marufuji. Shida played a very sympathetic wrestler here, trying to win against someone who humiliated her a year ago at her own produced show, and the crowd was behind her attempts to right that wrong. A hard hitting affair but nothing that crossed the line to feeling inappropriate or excessive, overall an entertaining match even if the end result was never in question.  Recommended

The post Hikaru Shida “10th Anniversary ~ REvenge” on 10/9/18 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Every now and then, there are Joshi matches on non-Joshi shows that sometimes fly under the radar. Promotions such as DDT, K-DOJO, Mr. Gannosuke, FMW, and FREEDOMS all either have Joshi wrestlers on their roster or frequently bring in Joshi wrestlers for special matches. Once a few Joshi matches have taken place in various non-Joshi promotions, I will review them to help get some exposure for some of the lesser-known wrestlers that don’t make TV as often. Plus you never know, there may be a hidden gem that is just waiting to be uncovered.

I am a bit behind in doing this, so I have a lot of recent matches to review today! I will be reviewing:

• June 21st, 2016 – Dump Matsumoto vs. Miss Mongol on FMW “June Blood”
• July 13th, 2016 – Ayako Hamada and Ryo Mizunami vs. GENTARO and The Winger on FREEDOMS “Tokyo Death Match Carnival 2016”
• July 19th, 2016 – Manami Kanda vs. Micro on GUTS World “Vol. 98: Bukotsu War 2016”
• July 19th, 2016 – Drake Morimatsu vs. Konaka = Pehlwan on GUTS World “Vol. 98: Bukotsu War 2016”
• July 21st, 2016 – Emi Sakura and Hibiscus Mii vs. Riho, Kotori, and Sayaka Obihiro on HEAT-UP “Dream-Up 2016”
• July 26th, 2016 – Koharu Hinata vs. Micro on Mr. Gannosuke Produce “Kishindo Returns 20”
• July 29th, 2016 – Hana Kimura vs. Reika Saiki on WRESTLE-1 “Symbol Tour”
• July 31st, 2016 – Alex Lee and Tiran Shisa vs. Ayumu Honda and Bambi on K-DOJO “Super In TKO Garden City Chiba”
• August 28th, 2016 – Akane Miura, Miyu Yamashita, and Yuka Sakazaki vs. Hyper Misao, Syoko Nakajima, and Yuu on DDT “Ryogoku Peter Pan 2016”

Lots of wrestling! Sleaze! Hardcore! Intergender! Babies! Everything you could ask for.

Dump Matsumoto vs. Miss Mongol
FMW “June Blood” on June 21st, 2016

Mongol attacks Matsumoto outside the ring before the match starts, which quickly backfires as Matsumoto hits Mongol with a kendo stick and stabs her repeatedly in the head with a spike. We clip ahead to them being in the ring and Mongol hitting Matsumoto with a metal pin, cover by Mongol but it gets two. We jump to Matsumoto trying to throw Mongol into the barbed wire, but Mongol slides down to stop her momentum. Matsumoto does care and rakes her into the barbed wire anyway before Irish whipping her into the barbed wire ropes on the other side. Koharu Hinata runs in to try to help Mongol but she elbows Mongol by accident, leading to Mongol kicking Hinata out of the ring while Matsumoto watches. Lariat by Matsumoto and she hits a body press, but Hinata breaks up the cover. Matsumoto gets mad and approaches Hinata, but Mongol sneaks up from behind and pushes her into the barbed wire ropes. Inside Cradle by Mongol, and she picks up the three count! Miss Mongol wins!

This was a six minute match clipped down to two minutes, so obviously not enough was shown to get excited about. It is always fun to see Matsumoto though, she moves slower than she used to but she still has that violent streak that we know and love. A few fun spots and both took a ride into the barbed wire so the pain felt evenly distributed. I enjoyed it for what it was.

Ayako Hamada and Ryo Mizunami vs. GENTARO and The Winger
FREEDOMS “Tokyo Death Match Carnival 2016” on July 13th, 2016

Hamada and Mizunami charge their opponents to start but the idea quickly backfires as they are both attacked with chairs. They set up chairs in the corners but Hamada and Mizunami throw them into the chairs, Hamada grabs Winger and tries walking the ropes, but she is knocked out of the ring. Mizunami is thrown out of the ring too but Hamada takes the chair from GENTARO and throws him into the ring post. Winger avenges GENTARO by doing the same to Hamada and then chokes her with a chair, while GENTARO gets another chair and hits Mizunami in the head with it. Hamada boots GENTARO and goes to check on Mizunami, while the men return to the ring to wait. Hamada gets in too and takes the chair from GENTARO, but she gets double teamed before GENTARO covers her for two. Mizunami gets in the ring, bleeding from the head, which GENTARO makes worse by biting her. Winger picks up Mizunami and he bites Mizunami in the head too, DDT by Winger onto a chair and he covers her for two. GENTARO returns and hits a splash on Mizunami, but he gets a two count as well. GENTARO goes for a piledriver but Mizunami blocks it with a back bodydrop. Mizunami hits GENTARO with a chair but Winger runs in and attacks her from behind.

GENTARO picks up Mizunami and goes for a chair shot, but Mizunami ducks it and spears him. Lariat by Mizunami in the corner, Hamada comes in with a chair while GENTARO is put in the Tree of Woe. Hamada throws the chair at Winger before hitting a baseball slide on GENTARO. They then use the chairs to hit Winger low before doing the same to GENTARO, Mizunami picks up GENTARO and slams him to the mat before going up top and deliver the diving leg drop for a two count. Lariat by Mizunami to Winger, they set up chairs in the ring and sit both GENTARO and Winger onto them, but when they charge them they are drop toeholed onto the chairs. GENTARO throws Mizunami out of the ring and picks up Hamada, hitting a brainbuster onto the chair for a two count. Double flapjack to Hamada onto a chair, cover by GENTARO but Mizunami breaks it up. Mizunami is thrown out of the ring while Winger breaks a lighttube into the ring, but Hamada takes it from him and hits Winger in the head. Hamada grabs a chair before going up top, and she nails a moonsault onto Winger with the chair. Cover by Hamada, but Winger gets a shoulder up. Hamada picks up Winger and she delivers the AP Cross on the chair, picking up the three count pinfall! Hamada and Mizunami are the winners.

That was definitely a crazy match. It was a little over ten minutes long but never slowed down for a second, there was constantly someone being hit with a chair or having some other act of violence done against them. Mizunami and Hamada are about the same size as GENTARO and Winger so it never felt like an uneven match, Hamada is more than capable of holding her own which she showed by easily putting away Winger. The amount of chairs used was due to it being GENTARO’s primary weapon of choice but it just made it all the more meaningful the one time a lighttube was used as it felt like something fresh. A chaotic and fun bloody brawl.  Recommended

Manami Kanda vs. Micro
GUTS World “Vol. 98: Bukotsu War 2016” on July 19th, 2016

They tie-up to start, Kanda kicks Micro and she bounces the little one off the ropes. Kanda throws down Micro by her hair and slams her head into the mat before applying a Camel Clutch. Irish whip by Kanda but Micro hits a trio of crossbodies for a quick two count. Micro throws Kanda into the corner and hits a dropkick, but Kanda comes back with a lariat and hits a scoop slam. Crab hold by Kanda but Micro gets into the ropes, scoop slam by Kanda but Micro rolls her up for a two count. Micro picks up Kanda but Kanda hits a scoop slam, she goes off the ropes and hits a bodypress for two. Kanda throws Micro into the corner and hits an elbow followed by a face crusher, Kanda gets on the second turnbuckle but Micro shakes the ropes to send her back to the mat. Now Micro goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Micro but Kanda gets a shoulder up. Kanda and Micro trade elbows, shoulderblock by Kanda and she covers Micro for two. Kanda picks up Micro but Micro applies an inside cradle for two. Micro tries a few more quick pins with no luck, hard shoulderblock by Kanda but Micro applies a crucifix pin for two. Micro tries more quick pins but can’t hold Kanda down, running footstomp by Kanda and she knocks down Micro with a lariat. Sliding lariat by Kanda, and she gets the three count! Manami Kanda wins!

All I can say is that this was an actively average and bland match. It was just not engaging or interesting in any way, there is probably a reason that they have stayed on smaller indies. Neither were bad, there weren’t any mistakes, but there was nothing really positive about it either. Thoroughly skippable.

Drake Morimatsu vs. Konaka = Pehlwan
GUTS World “Vol. 98: Bukotsu War 2016” on July 19th, 2016

The match starts really slow as they are in no rush to get started, Drake finally stops messing around and hits Konaka with a baseball bat. Chops by Drake and she chokes Konaka against the ropes before throwing him down into the corner. Drake starts on Konaka’s arm as I regret watching this match, chinlock by Drake but Konaka gets into the ropes. Now it is Konaka that works on Drake’s arm but Drake snapmares him and hits a leg drop. Konaka kicks Drake back and applies a necklock over the top rope, swandive chop to the head by Konaka and he does a quick post before going for the cross armbreaker. Drake gets into the ropes but Konaka quickly applies an armbar, Drake again inches to the ropes and she forces another break. Stomps by Konaka but Drake fires back with a lariat, Konaka rolls out of the ring but Drake goes out after him. Konaka attacks Drake from behind but Drake chops him and they battle into the stands. They return to the ring and Drake hits Konaka with a chair but Konaka takes it from her, Drake takes it back and tosses the chair out of the ring before hitting a lariat. Another lariat by Drake and she covers Konaka, but picks him up before the three count. Samoan Driver by Drake, she picks up Konaka and hits a Michinoku Driver, but Konaka grabs her arm when she goes for a cover and applies an armbar. Drake struggles for a moment before she taps out! Konaka = Pehlwan wins the match.

No lie, this match kinda bored me to tears. Konaka doesn’t show a lot of emotion and Drake is obviously limited so for a ten minute match not a whole hell of a lot happened. I am not sure who the target audience for this match is but it wasn’t me, just a flat mid-card match.

Emi Sakura and Hibiscus Mii vs. Riho, Kotori, and Sayaka Obihiro
HEAT-UP “Dream-Up 2016” on July 21st, 2016

Sakura is jumped before the match starts and is triple teamed, Mii comes in the ring to help but Kotori requests her to leave so she does. I bet being able to understand the pre-match talking would have helped. Sakura comes back and hits a crossbody on all three before tagging in Mii, Kotori stays in to face her and immediately puts Mii in the cross armbreaker. Mii gets into the ropes but Sakura runs up the corner and hits an armdrag before tagging in Obihiro. Obihiro floors Mii but Mii bridges out of the cover, elbow by Obihiro but Mii bridges out again. They go through this a few times until Mii collapses, Mii manages to hit a Stunner and she dropkicks Obihiro in the head. Sakura isn’t around for her to tag while Riho is also tagged in, Kotori comes in too and they all roll over Mii. Mii gets away and manages to tag Sakura this time, and they double team Riho. Riho dropkicks Mii out of the ring and tags in Kotori, Obihiro also comes in but Sakura rams them into each other and hits a crossbody in the corner on them both. Double underhook slam attempt by Sakura but Kotori slides down her back and applies a sleeper. Mii runs in but Riho grabs her, Obihiro comes in but Sakura kicks her away. Riho and Kotori get on the second turnbuckle and hit dual footstomps onto Sakura, cover by Kotori but it gets two. Kotori goes off the ropes but Sakura catches her with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, giving her time to tags in Mii. Riho is also tagged in and slaps Mii, dropkick by Riho and she hits a jumping knee in the corner. Eye poke by Mii but Kotori hits a diving crossbody as does Riho for a two count. Northern Lights Suplex by Riho, but Mii kicks out again, Riho throws Mii in the corner but Mii slides out to the apron and hits a missile dropkick. Mii tags Sakura, she picks up Riho and hits the double underhook backbreaker. Sakura goes up top but Riho moves when she goes for a senton, tilt-a-whirl roll-up by Riho but Sakura kicks out. Kotori comes in and hits a judo throw on Sakura, Somato by Riho and she covers Sakura for the three count! Riho, Kotori, and Obihiro win!

This was a cute short little mid-card match. Kotori and Riho are a lot of fun to watch, I always enjoy it when I get a chance to watch them. Two young wrestlers with a lot of potential. Sakura and Mii are great too, and the match was really fluid for a crazy match with tons of interference and quick offense. Not a ton of substance but enjoyable.  Mildly Recommended

Koharu Hinata vs. Micro
Mr. Gannosuke Produce “Kishindo Returns 20” on July 26th, 2016

Unlike the last match, this one starts slowly as they feel each other out with Micro hitting the first move of the match with a bodyslam. She picks up Hinata and throws her down by her hair, but Hinata returns the favor and stomps down Micro in the corner. Scoop slam by Micro and she puts Hinata in a crab hold, but Hinata crawls to the ropes and forces the break. Micro at one point trapped Hinata’s arms too so she couldn’t grab the ropes, which is a smarter tactic than I am used to seeing in my pro wres. Hinata comes back with a kick, Micro scoops her up but Hinata falls on top of Micro for a two count. Now it is Hinata that puts Micro in the crab hold, she then lets it go only to put Micro in a Surfboard. Back up they trade elbows, Micro goes off the ropes but Hinata catches her with a dropkick. Another dropkick by Hinata, she picks up Micro and hits a few slaps before kicking her again. Scoop slam by Hinata and she covers Micro for a two. Knees by Hinata and she kicks Micro out of the corner, diving crossbody by Hinata but that gets a two as well. Bodyscissors into a roll-up by Hinata and she also tries an inside cradle as well as a backslide, but Micro kicks out each time. Micro charges Hinata and grabs her by the leg, she hits a unique leg sweep roll-up and she gets the three count! Micro wins!

I enjoyed this a bit more than I probably should have, it wasn’t anything special and wasn’t overly exciting, but Micro does so many little things that I had a good time watching it. Trapping the arms when putting on a crab hold is so smart but rarely done, and I loved the leg sweep pin which I have never seen before. Hinata was solid too, both wrestlers are itty bitty so they are limited in what they can do, but overall it was still a pretty solid match.  Mildly Recommended

Hana Kimura vs. Reika Saiki
WRESTLE-1 “Symbol Tour” on July 29th, 2016

They begin with a knuckle lock and a Test of Strength which Hana gets the better of. Hana applies a headlock on the mat before applying a leg submission, Hana then gets in the mount position and goes for an armbreaker but Reika gets to the ropes. Scoop slam by Hana and she applies a crab hold, but again Reika gets to the ropes to force a break. Back up they trade elbows, dropkick by Reika and she dropkicks Hana into the corner. Kicks to the chest by Reika and she hits a scoop slam, kicks by Reika to Hana’s leg and she hits another slam for a two count cover. Reika goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but Hana bridges out of the pin. Hana applies a stretch hold before tossing Reika off and slams her into the corner. Double knee to the back by Hana and she dropkicks Reika for a two count cover. Hana picks up Reika but Reika sneaks in an inside cradle, kicks by Reika and she nails an enzuigiri for a two. Head kick by Reika, and she picks up the three count pinfall! The winner of the match is Reika Saiki.

This was a very rookiesque match. A little rough around the edges, pretty basic, and nothing incredibly exciting. Some moves were executed really well, Reika has nice kicks and Hana’s ground game is solid, but other moves looked a bit weaker and they seemed to get a bit lost at least once. A necessary match for their growth but not something I could recommend.

Alex Lee and Tiran Shisa vs. Ayumu Honda and Bambi
K-DOJO “Super In TKO Garden City Chiba” on July 31st, 2016

Shisa starts with Honda, they bounce off the ropes until Shisa hits an armdrag followed by a dropkick. Lee and Bambi are tagged in and trade wristlocks, they both go for shoulderblocks until Lee knocks Bambi to the mat. Lee tags in Shisa, he goes for a scoop slam but Bambi lands on top of him. Honda comes in the ring and they both boot Shisa, Bambi puts Shisa into the ropes and both she and Honda kick Shisa in the chest. Bambi tags in Honda, Honda dropkicks Shisa and hits an armbreaker followed by a body press onto Shisa’s arm. He tags Bambi back in, kicks by Bambi and she covers Shisa for a two count. Bambi gets her whip and chokes Shisa with it, she lets go just to whip him and makes the tag to Honda. Honda dropkicks Shisa in the corner, another dropkick by Honda and he tags Bambi. Shisa kicks Bambi when she charges her and delivers a dropkick, giving him time to tag in Lee. Lee knees Bambi but Honda hits her from the apron, he comes in the ring but Lee kicks them before hitting a double face crusher. Kick to the face by Lee, and she covers Bambi for two. Lee and Bambi trade elbows, Lee goes off the ropes but Bambi catches her with a boot. Another boot by Bambi, and she gets a two count cover. Bambi applies a double reverse armbar, but Lee gets a foot on the bottom rope. Bambi tags in Honda, armbreaker by Honda and he hits a hammerlock Backstabber. Lee kicks Honda in the chest and hits a high kick, she tags in Shisa and Shisa hits a jumping elbow in the corner. Running seated senton by Shisa in the corner and he hits a gutwrench suplex for two. Shisa goes off the ropes but Honda catches him with a kick, Northern Lights Suplex by Shisa but Honda kicks out. Shisa goes for a corkscrew quebrada but Honda avoids he, he knocks Lee off the apron as Bambi comes in the ring, and they double team Shisa. Bambi hits a running knee on Shisa, Honda gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick, but Lee breaks up the cover. Shisa sneaks in a schoolboy on Honda for a two count, he also tries a backslide and La Magistral but those get a two count as well. Shisa charges Honda but Honda hits a cross armbreaker takedown, and Shisa submits! Ayumu Honda and Bambi win the match!

As everyone that knows me is aware I have a natural liking of wrestlers in wrestling masks, so I naturally thought that Shisa was by far the most impressive wrestler in this match. Bambi and Lee are both pretty stiff/awkward, they are competent wrestlers but don’t really do anything to set themselves apart. Honda wasn’t impressing me until the cross armbreaker takedown, which I will admit looked really nice, but otherwise this was just a match on a small show that felt like it went a bit too long. Some solid moments but overall lackluster.

Akane Miura, Miyu Yamashita, and Yuka Sakazaki vs. Hyper Misao, Syoko Nakajima, and Yuu
DDT “Ryogoku Peter Pan 2016” on August 28th, 2016

Nakajima and Yamashita are the first two in, Nakajima takes Yamashita to the mat but Yamashita applies a headscissors. Nakajima bridges out of it, knee by Yamashita and she tags in Akane. Yuu tags in too, Yuu and Akane try to shoulderblock each other over which Yuu gets the better of. She tags in Misao but Akane catches her crossbody attempt and slams her to the mat. Akane tags in Sakazaki, spinning headscissors by Sakazaki but Misao chokes her with a handkerchief. Snapmare by Misao and she puts Sakazaki in the Rocking Horse, cover by Misao but it gets a two count. She tags in Yuu, Yuu chops Sakazaki and she hits a spinning side slam. She tags in Nakajima, flipping neckbreaker by Nakajima but Sakazaki elbows her away. Nakajima stops her from tagging out though, Sakazaki tries to shoot a streamer gun at Nakajima but Nakajima reverses it. Dropkick by Sakazaki and she makes the hot tag to Akane, Akane shoulderblocks everyone and hits a double lariat on Nakajima and Misao. Nakajima comes back with a springboard armdrag, Nakajima puts Akane in a few quick pins but Akane kicks out each time. Nakajima goes for a double underhook but Akane back bodydrops out of it, hurricanrana by Nakajima and she tags in Yuu. Yamashita tags in too, chops by Yuu and she hits the Oklahoma Stampede for a two count. High kick by Yamashita but Yuu catches her with a Judo Throw and tags in Misao. Jumping crossbody by Misao and she hits a few weak uppercuts, another crossbody by Misao and she slams Yamashita onto her knee for a two count. Misao gets on the top turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody, but Yamashita rolls through it and hits a Buzzsaw Kick for two. Misao tags in Nakajima, Akane comes in and she blocks Nakajima’s Tiger Feint Kick. Akane holds Nakajima so that Yamashita can hit her Magical Girl Kick, jumping lariat by Yamashita to Misao and she nails the Attitude Adjustment for the three count! Akane Miura, Miyu Yamashita, and Yuka Sakazaki are the winners!

I really love the Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers, they all have unique characters and show a strong ability on the mat to go with their flashy moves to wow the crowd. Misao was the clear weak link of the teams as she got lost once and has weak strikes, but everyone else looked solid. Yamashita is someone that more Joshi fans would be talking about if she “made TV” more often, hopefully DDT will allow/encourage them to take bookings other places at some point so she can get out in the wild a bit more. A fun exhibition match with memorable spots and some quality wrestlers.  Mildly Recommended

The post Joshi Match Review Medley: FMW, DDT, WRESTLE-1, and K-DOJO! appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Hikaru Shida Produce “The 3rd Synopsium Of Mythology ~ Sublimation & Universality”
Date: May 1st, 2016
Location: Nishi Kumin Center in Osaka, Japan
Announced Attendance: 234

Occasionally I like to take a step out of the normal world of Joshi and into the dark underbelly, where wrestlers put on their own unique shows that fit their own tastes. Hikaru Shida is a Freelancer that occasionally enjoys putting on her own events, then invites all her friends to have unusual matches you’d never see anywhere else. This line-up definitely fits that description. Here is the full card:

• Kagetsu and Mika Iida vs. Koharu Hinata and Rina Yamashita
• Hibiscus Mii vs. Yako Fujigasaki and Hiroto Okubo vs. TORU
• Gabaiji-chan vs. Manami Toyota
• Aoi Kizuki vs. Syuri
• Hikaru Shida, Jun Kasai, and Toru Owashi vs. Sawako Shimono, Magnitude Kishiwada, and Tadasuke

I realize these shows are not as well known but dammit someone has to review them so it may as well be me. I don’t have a lot of the profiles for the above wrestlers on Joshi City but the ones I do are active links if you want to know a bit more about the Joshi wrestlers.

Kagetsu and Mika Iida vs. Koharu Hinata and Rina Yamashita

Yamashita and Iida start for their teams and trade some quick holds, big shoulderblock by Yamashita and Hinata jumps on her back to help Yamashita hit a double kneedrop. Yamashita tags in Hinata, elbows by Hinata to Iida but Iida returns the favor. Iida bounces Hinata around the ring and throws her down by the hair, cover by Iida but it gets two. Iida tags Kagetsu and Kagetsu kicks Hinata in the back, Yamashita runs in to help but Iida tosses her out of the ring. Kagetsu puts Hinata in the ropes and chops her before hitting a dropkick, running elbow by Kagetsu but Hinata fights back with elbows. Kagetsu knocks Hinata back to the mat but Hinata hops up and hits a spinning headscissors. This gives her time to tag Yamashita, Iida comes in too but Yamashita shoulderblocks both of them down. Kagetsu and Yamashita trade elbows, Kagetsu springboards up to the top trope and knocks over Yamashita with a missile dropkick.

Running elbow by Kagetsu in the corner but Yamashita hits a hard knee followed by a kick to the head for a two count cover. Kagetsu catches Yamashita with a dropkick and tags in Iida, Iida throws Yamashita in the corner and hits a running uppercut. More uppercuts by Iida but Yamashita hits a lariat followed by a backdrop suplex. Yamashita tags in Hinata, Hinata gets on the top turnbuckle and goes for a diving crossbody on Iida, but Iida moves and Yamashita catches her. Yamashita throws Hinata at Kagetsu, Hinata grabs Iida but she eats an uppercut. Hinata kicks Iida and delivers a tornado DDT, she goes up top and hits the diving crossbody for a two count. Hinata goes for a bodyscissors roll-up by Iida blocks it and applies an abdominal stretch. Dropkick by Iida and she puts Hinata in a cross armbreaker, but Hinata makes it to the ropes. Iida dropkicks Hinata and hits a fisherman suplex hold, but Yamashita breaks up the cover. Hinata sneaks in a few quick pins with no luck, Iida finally blocks one and puts Hinata in the Mudo, Hinata struggles but has no choice but to submit! Iida and Kagetsu are the winners.

A perfectly acceptable opener, even if it didn’t do anything overly memorable. Everything was pretty smooth here, which I wasn’t sure would happen with Hinata in there (Hinata is young and adorable, but still honing her skills). I was hoping with Kagetsu and Iida in there they would do something a bit more special but it stayed pretty mellow throughout. Not a bad way to start but pretty forgettable.

Hibiscus Mii vs. Yako Fujigasaki
TORU vs. Hiroto Okubo

All four wrestlers begin the match in the ring and tie-up, but they all end up knocking each other over. Even though it appears to be two singles matches, they are also interacting with each other randomly as well, just to make it more confusing. Mii gets Fujigasaki in a submission while TORU does the same to Okubo, and they both cover their opponents for two. TORU dropkicks Okubo out of the ring, he goes to do a dive but at that moment Mii suplexes Fujigasaki in his path and he trips. Mii kicks TORU for getting in her way before hitting a sliding kick on Fujigasaki, Mii wants to do a dive but Okubo puts TORU in a submission hold in her way. He slowly inches out of her way, Fujigasaki and Okubo attack their opponents in opposite corners and Fujigasaki attacks both TORU and Fujigasaki, but then Fujigasaki and Okubo start to fight. This allows Mii and TORU time to recover, and they roll up their opponents as both get a three count! Mii and TORU are your respective winners.

I don’t have a lot to say about this weird little match. There were some cute spots with both ‘matches’ interacting with each other, but besides that it was just a few minutes of strike battles before a quick ending. Very unique but still safe to skip.

Gabaiji-chan vs. Manami Toyota

As you probably guess, this match is pretty much all shtick and takes several minutes to get going. Gabaiji-chan gets the advantage over Toyota and hits her with his cane, but it doesn’t as long as he is old and tripped. Toyota puts Gabaiji-chan in the Muta Lock but Gabaiji-chan gets his cane on the ropes to break the hold. Gabaiji-chan slowly gets to the top rope, he grabs Toyota’s arm and slowly walks the ropes but Toyota knocks his cane away and he crotches himself on the top rope. Gabaiji-chan drops his cane however and suddenly wrestles with the ability of a young man, as he hits a dropkick followed by a swandive crossbody for a two count. Gabaiji-chan goes for a chokeslam but Toyota elbows out of it, Toyota kicks Gabaiji-chan into the corner and he grabs his cane which kills his youth again. Toyota gets Gabaiji-chan on her shoulders but Gabaiji-chan catches his cane on the top rope to block the hold. Toyota goes up top but Gabaiji-chan holds his cane up so that Toyota can’t hit the moonsault. Gabaiji-chan tries to hit Toyota with his cane but Toyota blocks it and kicks Gabaiji-chan. Gabaiji-chan’s cane is knocked away from him, allowing him to hit Toyota with a chokeslam. Gabaiji-chan goes up to the top turnbuckle but Toyota rolls out of the way of the somersault senton. Gabaiji-chan slides away from Toyota but he hurts his back when he tries to pick her up. Toyota gets Gabaiji-chan on her shoulders and hits the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex for the three count! Toyota is the winner.

Like the last match, this was just about what you’d expect it to be, but Toyota played along and it did have some funny spots. Gabaiji-chan is a good character and is an entertaining act, but purely as a midcard type of act of course as there isn’t much more you can do it with. Toyota was fun as well, overall not a bad watch but clearly just a comedy match.

Aoi Kizuki vs. Syuri

After Syuri gets Kizuki to the mat with a headlock, Syuri puts Kizuki in a wristlock but Kizuki reverses it. Kizuki boots down Syuri in the corner and hits a series of chops before putting Syuri in a camel clutch. She then puts Syuri in a stretch hold but Syuri comes back with a Backstabber and stomps on Kizuki on the mat. Kicks by Syuri to the chest and back, but Kizuki hits a crossbody for two. Mongolian Chops by Kizuki and she hits a series of running sentons, but Syuri avoids one and kicks Kizuki into the corner. Jumping knee by Syuri and she hits a double arm suplex for a two count. Cross armbreaker by Syuri but Kizuki gets a foot on the rope, back up Kizuki regains control and puts Syuri in a backbreaker. Kizuki goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton, but Syuri kicks out of the cover. Knees by Syuri but Kizuki hits a jumping lariat, suplex by Kizuki and she gets a two count.

Kizuki goes up top and delivers the swivel body press, but Syuri gets a shoulder up. Syuri snaps off a German suplex but Kizuki gets up and hits a German suplex of her own. Jumping lariat by Kizuki but Syuri returns with a jumping knee, Syuri takes down Kizuki and puts her in a seated armbar. Back on their feet they trade elbows, kick by Syuri and she drops Kizuki with a knee lift. Kizuki hits a quick German suplex hold for two, Kizuki sneaks in a series of quick pinfalls but Syuri kicks out each time. Kizuki goes off the ropes but Syuri catches her with a high kick. After trading pin attempts, Kizuki goes for a crossbody but Syuri rolls through it. Jumping knee by Syuri and she hits a German suplex hold, but Kizuki kicks out. Kicks by Syuri but Kizuki catches one and hits a dragon screw, inside cradle by Syuri but it gets a two count. Jumping lariat by Kizuki but Syuri hits a high kick as the bell rings, signifying time has expired. The match is a Draw.

The best match of the night so far, although I don’t think it reached its full potential. I am not really sure what happened to Kizuki as I was enjoying her a lot more last year, she seems to have slipped down a bit into silly offense so it was hard to take her as a serious threat to Syuri. Syuri was great of course but even this felt like a toned down version of Syuri as she didn’t hit as much of her signature offense. It just felt oddly flat, even though much of the action flowed nicely. A good match but a step below what I would hope to see from Syuri, overall solid but nothing more than that.  Mildly Recommended

Hikaru Shida, Kasai, and Owashi vs. Shimono, Kishiwada, and Tadasuke

Shida begins the match against KISHIWADA AKA BIG BOSS MA-G-MA and I am already excited. They trade chops, which Kishiwada gets the better of, Shida goes for a hip attack but Kishiwada doesn’t budge. Kishiwada throws Shida to her corner so she can tag in someone else, and Kasai comes in as the legal wrestler. Tadasuke tags in too, he runs the ropes with Kasai but neither gets an advantage so they tag in Shimono and Owashi. Owashi taunts Shimono so Shimono stomps on his foot, drop toehold by Shimono and she shoulderblocks Owashi to the mat. She can’t slam him though, as Owashi lands on top of her, which gives him a chance to tag in Kasai. Kasai drops Shimono with a piledriver and tags in Shida, backbreakers by Shida to Shimono and she puts her in a crab hold but Shimono crawls to the ropes to break it up.

Shida puts Shimono on her shoulders and spins her down into a backbreaker, but the cover is broken up. Shida’s teammates come into the ring to help, as do Gabaiji-chan and Toyota, but Gabaiji-chan takes so long to do an attack that Shimono recovers and tosses all of them one by one. The action spills out of the ring (with Gabaiji-chan still alone in it), but they eventually return with Shida being stomped by Kishiwada and Tadasuke. Kishiwada hits a body avalanche in the corner before hitting a suplex, he tags in Shimono who continues the beatdown. Team Kishiwada take turns tagging in as Shida is the Face in Peril on her own show, Kasai comes in to help but Shimono takes care of him. Kishiwada goes for a suplex by Shida blocks it and hits a vertical suplex of her own. Hip attack by Shida and she tags in Owashi, Tadasuke tags in too but Owashi drops him with a dragon screw.

Tadasuke comes back with a vertical suplex, Kishiwada and Kasai are tagged in and they trade lariats with neither wrestler going down. Kasai finally wins that battle but Kishiwada gets back up and lariats Kasai to the mat. They tag in Shimono and Shida, enzuigiri by Shida but Shimono knocks her to the mat and hits a seated senton for two. Kishiwada and Tadasuke come in the ring and Tadasuke rocks Shida with a hart lariat. Brainbuster by Kishiwada to Shida, but Shida gets a shoulder up on the cover. Fire Thunder Driver by Kishiwada, but this time the cover is broken up. Kishiwada hits a moonsault off the second turnbuckle, he picks up Shida but she reverses the powerbomb attempt with a hurricanrana. Shida is triple teamed in the corner but her teammates come in and help clear the ring. Hip attack by Shida to Shimono, Kasai goes up top and hits the Pearl Harbor Splash, but the group pin is broken up. Shida sits up Shimono and hits a running knee, but Shimono reverses the cover into her own two count. Shida slams Shimono to the mat but Shimono sneaks in an inside cradle for two. Jumping knee by Shida and she drops Shimono with a Falcon Arrow. Three Count by Shida, and she gets the victory!

Well this was certainly quite the spectacle. The best thing about cards like these is the random assortment of wrestlers. The chances of getting a ‘five star match’ on a produced show are slim to none, but you get fun stuff like this. Shida and Kishiwada are two of my favorites so I enjoyed watching them mix it up quite a bit. Everyone got in a bit of a chance to shine, however I still would have preferred the match just be a two on two match as until the end there weren’t any longer segments so two wrestlers could get a real rhythm together. I enjoyed it for the uniqueness and getting to see Shida in a different environment, but not exactly a must see.  Recommended

The post Hikaru Shida “3rd Synopsium of Mythology” on 5/1/16 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Championships Held: None
Tournaments Won: None
Awards Won: None

Notable Matches:

• July 20th, 2013 vs. Soft Imai
• February 15th, 2014 vs. Syuri

Signature Moves:

• Dropkick
• La Magistral

In Action:

Coming Soon

Back to Joshi Freelancers

The post Koharu Hinata appeared first on Joshi City.

Every few weeks, I will review Joshi matches that took place in non-Joshi promotions. Promotions such as DDT, K-DOJO, Mr. Gannosuke, and FREEDOMS all either have Joshi wrestlers on their roster or frequently bring in Joshi wrestlers for special matches. Usually there is just one match per show (at the most), so as soon as a few take place I will review them in an attempt to not miss any great matches that may have flown under the radar. It also allows me to take a look at some Joshi wrestlers I don’t see as much, as not all Joshi wrestlers are active in the larger promotions that frequently have their events make TV.

I only have two today, I am mostly using this as an excuse to review Ohata vs. Takahashi, it was released on one of their collection shows but it was the only match from 2016 shown. So it goes in a Medley. Today I will be reviewing:

• Kagetsu and Cherry vs. Miss Mongol and Miss Koharu in Super Battle FMW on 1/24/16
• Misaki Ohata vs. Nanae Takahashi in WAVE on 1/3/16

Short review, let’s get it rolling.

Event: Super Battle FMW
Date: January 24th, 2016
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 302

Kagetsu and Cherry vs. Miss Mongol and Miss Koharu

Kagetsu and Koharu begin the match but Cherry attacks Koharu from behind and things immediately break down. Cherry and Kagetsu knock their opponents down in the corner and do some comedy tag spots on Koharu before things go back to Kagetsu and Koharu. Kagetsu elbows Koharu in the corner and hits a missile dropkick for a two count cover. Irish whip by Kagetsu but Koharu hits a spinning headscissors followed by a low Tiger Feint Kick. Crab hold by Koharu and she puts Kagetsu in the Muta Lock, but Cherry breaks it up. Cherry is tagged in and she pulls out Koharu’s hair before hitting a dropkick. Koharu rolls away from Cherry and hits a spinning headscissors, she covers her but Cherry grabs the ropes. Running footstomps by Koharu but Cherry hits a Northern Lights Suplex. Koharu kicks Cherry away and hits a tornado DDT, and she finally tags in Mongol. Mongol hits jumping lariats on Cherry before hitting a backdrop suplex, covering her for two.

Dump Matsumoto appears at the top of the ramp to watch as the action continues, Cherry chops Mongol in the neck and tags Kagetsu. Swandive missile dropkick by Kagetsu and she knocks Mongol onto the ramp. Everyone starts to battle on the ramp in front of Matsumoto, but they return to the ring with no damage done. Mongol is double teamed but she lariats both her opponents, Kagetsu picks up Mongol and she hits a Samoan Drop for two. Koharu hits a diving crossbody and then Mongol suplexes Kagetsu, but Kagetsu still won’t stay down. Kagetsu finally gets away from Mongol but Mongol immediately puts her in a crab hold. Dump Matsumoto and her helper have seen enough, she comes in with a kendo stick and hits everyone she sees. Lariat by Matsumoto on Mongol and they throw Kagetsu onto Mongol, allowing her to get the three count! Kagetsu and Cherry win! After the match Matsumoto continues to beat everyone with kendo sticks, making a lasting impression.

I appreciate Dump Matsumoto trying to make this match interesting but there just wasn’t much here to get excited about. I have never been impressed with Cherry, Koharu is still a bit rough even though she is adorable, and Mongol is in twilight of her career. That left Kagetsu to do the bulk of the work, and she looked good when she was in there, but too much of it was just uneventful. Matsumoto and Zap T (I am assuming) coming out at the end to set up a future match at least made it somewhat memorable, but just an average experience overall at best.

Event: WAVE Happy New Year WAVE ‘16
Date: January 3rd, 2016
Location: Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 377

Misaki Ohata vs. Nanae Takahashi

They start with a knuckle lock and end up on the mat with Ohata in control, but Takahashi gets into the ropes. Back up, shoulderblock by Takahashi and she hits another one, followed by an elbow drop to the head. Takahashi slaps Ohata in the corner but Ohata comes back with an elbow. Takahashi rolls Ohata to the mat and applies a modified stretch hold, Ohata gets out of it and they trade elbows back on their feet. Headscissors by Ohata and she hits a running crossbody while Takahashi is against the ropes. Ohata goes for a tornado DDT but Takahashi pushes her off, Ohata hits a DDT anyway and delivers a diving crossbody for a two count cover. Snap German by Takahashi and she kicks Ohata in the side of the head, but Ohata comes back with elbows. Lariat by Takahashi in the corner but Ohata reverses the backdrop suplex into a German suplex.

Takahashi bounces back with one of her own but Ohata hits a series of rolling Germans. Ohata goes up top but Takahashi slaps her and goes up top also. Superplex by Takahashi, she goes up top herself but Ohata avoids the diving body press. Ohata gets on the second turnbuckle, Takahashi joins her but Ohata slides between her legs and hits a powerbomb for two. Ohata gets on the top turnbuckle but Takahashi gets her feet up when she dives off. Blue Thunder Driver by Takahashi, she picks up Ohata but Ohata hits a standing crucifix bomb for two. Fisherman Buster by Ohata but Takahashi kicks out of the cover again. Ohata goes for the Black Dahlia but Takahashi blocks it and hits a Nana☆Racka. Takahashi picks up Ohata but Ohata hits another standing crucifix bomb. Backdrop driver by Takahashi, she charges Ohata but Ohata catches her with a quick roll-up for two. Back up, Takahashi hits a big lariat, they trade blows on their feet and Takahashi hits another lariat for a two count. One Second EX by Takahashi, and she gets the three count! Nanae Takahashi is the winner.

The only thing missing from this match was simply time. Over 30% of the match was missing from this airing, and it made the match a bit disjointed at times since so much of the action was clipped out. Ohata and Takahashi are two of the wrestlers in Japan I enjoy the most, and it was a great combination with Takahashi’s strength vs. Ohata’s speed. They fought like it was a title match, not just a normal match in front of under 400 people, and it made it feel important. I can’t give it too high of a recommendation simply due to the clipping but still worth a watch as it was presented.  Mildly Recommended

The post Joshi Match Medley #2: Super Battle FMW and WAVE appeared first on Joshi City.

And now it is OZ Academy’s turn for their first review of the new year! OZ Academy had two shows on back to back days, and even though the other one had the title match it was this event that made air first (the show on January 10th will air next month). This isn’t as big of an event on paper but it does have some Legends battling as well as a handful of singles matches that should be fun to watch. Here is the full card:

• Manami Toyota vs. Mika Iida
• Koharu Hinata vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki
• Hamuko Hoshi and Kaori Yoneyama vs. Mayumi Ozaki and Yumi Ohka
• Hikaru Shida vs. Rina Yamashita
• Aja Kong, Dynamite Kansai, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. AKINO, Kagetsu, Kaho Kobayashi, and Sonoko Kato

This event aired in full from one hard camera, let’s get to the matches.

Manami Toyota vs. Mika Iida

Iida tries bouncing Toyota off the ropes, but Toyota blocks it and starts tossing Iida around the ring. Toyota applies a chinlock on the mat until Iida bites her hand, palm strike by Iida and she puts Toyota in a bodyscissors. Toyota bites her foot to get out of it and then bites her arm before bopping Iida in the head. Double underhook suplex by Toyota and she applies a crab hold, kicks to the leg by Toyota and she hits a leg drop. Bridging vertical suplex by Toyota, she goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick. Another missile dropkick by Toyota and she covers Iida for a two count. Toyota puts Iida in the ropes and she dropkicks Iida in the back for a two count. Iida snaps off a side Russian leg sweep and applies a kneelock, but Toyota gets to the ropes. Missile dropkick by Iida and she applies an ankle hold, but again Toyota gets the break. Missile dropkick by Iida but Toyota blocks the Fisherman Suplex, uppercuts by Iida and this time she hits the Fisherman Suplex Hold for a two count. Toyota gets Iida up but Iida slides down her back and rolls her up for two. Iida for for a bodyscissors roll-up but Toyota catches her and slams Iida to the mat. Scissors Kick by Toyota, she goes up top and she nails the moonsault, but Iida barely gets a shoulder up. Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex Hold by Toyota, and she gets the three count! Toyota wins the match.

This was a pretty basic opener but well worked, with each wrestler having a set strategy for winning the match. Iida going for Toyota’s leg was smart since Toyota had the strength advantage, but Toyota was just too much for her. I must admit I was a bit distracted by MIO just being naturally adorable during the match, not sure how long it will take me to get used to seeing her as a referee. Not a bad way to kick things off, always a pleasure to see Toyota.  Mildly Recommended

Koharu Hinata vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki

Kuragaki tosses Hinata around the ring to start, Hinata tries to dropkick Kuragaki but she can’t get her to the mat. Kuragaki hits a dropkick of her own and applies a half camel clutch, she works a side headlock before stretching Hinata with both feet. Kuragaki  goes for a suplex but Hinata gets out of it and hits a quick hurricanrana. Spinning headscissors by Hinata and she dropkicks Kuragaki, but she can’t pick her up for the slam. Kuragaki catches Hinata when she goes for a crossbody and slams her to the mat, crab hold by Kuragaki and she hits a delayed bodyslam. Hinata hits a series of running footstomps, Hinata gets on the second turnbuckle and she hits a tornado DDT. Hinata goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, getting a two count cover. She goes for another slam with no luck, Kuragaki scoops her up and hits a military press slam. Lariats by Kuragaki in the corner and she hits a backdrop suplex for a two. Kuragaki goes for a suplex but Hinata reverses it into a small package, backslide by Hinata but that gets a two as well. Hinata charges Kuragaki but Kuragaki puts her in an Argentine Backbreaker until Hinata has to submit! Kuragaki wins!

I enjoyed this more than I should have. This is just a dynamic that I have always enjoyed in wrestling, the spunky little underdog against the big veteran wrestler is almost always money. Hinata is pretty inexperienced but was led really well here by Kuragaki, and Kuragaki seemed to have fun throwing her around the ring. For a match early on in the card I think it did what it intended to do and I was entertained.  Mildly Recommended

Hamuko Hoshi and Kaori Yoneyama vs. Mayumi Ozaki and Yumi Ohka

The match immediately goes outside the ring as Police gets involved, they finally return with Ohka whipping Yoneyama around. MIO tries to get Ohka to calm down but it doesn’t really work, and Ohka tags in Ozaki. Yoneyama is hung over the top rope with a chain as the beatdown continues for several minutes until Yoneyama finally dropkicks both of them and tags in Hoshi. Hoshi shoulderblocks both of them and rubs her belly in Ohka’s face before hitting a running belly smash. Cutter by Hoshi to Ohka but Ohka gets the whip and hits Hoshi with it. Ohka chokes Hoshi with the whip over the top rope, she tags in Ozaki and Ozaki hits Hoshi with a chain. Ozaki goes for a powerbomb but Hoshi gets out of it  and hits a Samoan Drop.

Ozaki avoids the body press but Hoshi hits the running belly bump for a two count. She tags Yoneyama and they double team Ozaki in the corner, Yoneyama goes up top but Police grabs her, allowing Ozaki to hit a suplex. Ohka and Ozaki takes turns hitting Yoneyama, Police runs in and lariats Yoneyama, cover by Ozaki but she gets two. Backdrop suplex by Ohka to Yoneyama but Yoneyama comes back with a running knee. Police hits Yoneyama with a chain, Hoshi comes in to help however and Yoneyama hits a senton on Ohka. Hoshi goes up top and hits a diving body press, then Yoneyama does and hits a diving senton. Yoneyama goes off the ropes but Ohka hits a chokebomb, they trade quick pin attempts but both gets twos. Ohka goes off the ropes, she hits a big boot on Yoneyama and she gets the three count! Ozaki~gun get the win.

This isn’t really my cup of tea, too much random interference and Hoshi isn’t one of my favorites, but I guess it accomplished it’s goal. Ozaki~gun has to win some matches as a faction, otherwise it doesn’t work, and beating two well-known outsiders is a good way to do it. MIO blended in the background a bit more for me in this one, and called it as down the middle as one can for an Ozaki~gun match. Not a bad match but nothing that needs to be sought out.

Hikaru Shida vs. Rina Yamashita

They trade headlocks to kick off the match, shoulderblock by Yamashita but Shida hits a hip attack. Shida tries to knee Yamashita while she is on the mat but Yamashita moves, Irish whip by Yamashita on the floor but Shida throws her into the ring post. Shida sets up a chair and jumps off of it with a knee to Yamashita’s head. Back in the ring, backbreaker by Shida and she covers Yamashita for two. Shida goes for the hip attack but Yamashita blocks it and hits a series of lariats in the corner. Yamashita picks up Shida but Shida rolls her to the mat and applies a front guillotine. Shida picks up Yamashita and hits a quick hurricanrana followed by a hip attack. Shida knocks Yamashita to the apron and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Yamashita knocks her back into the ring. Yamashita lariats Shida to the apron but Shida returns to the ring and suplexes Yamashita back into the ring. Back up they trade elbows but Yamashita hits a big lariat and both wrestlers are out. Yamashita hits a backdrop suplex and applies a sleeper, but Shida rolls out of it. Shida rolls up Yamashita and hits the Three Count, but it only gets two. Shida gets Yamashita on her shoulders and hits the GTS, another Three Count by Shida and she gets the three count! Hikaru Shida wins the match.

I love Shida, which is well documented, but sometimes a missed move can really leave an impression and Shida was about as close to hitting me with that Go To Sleep as she was to hitting Yamashita. If I can look beyond that for a moment, this was a quality ten minute match. Yamashita is a bit limited but works well in matches like this that are shorter and more focused. I enjoyed it, the whiffed move was regrettable but otherwise it was pretty damn fun.  Mildly Recommended

Aja Kong, Kansai, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. AKINO, Kagetsu, Kobayashi, and Sonoko Kato

This one starts slow, which isn’t surprising in an eight wrestler match with quite a few veterans in it. Matsumoto is targeted to start and attacked by all four of her opponents, dropkicks by Kobayashi but Matsumoto slams her and tags in Kong. Kong has no issue slamming the smaller Kobayashi around the ring, her teammates come in and Kobayashi is quadruple teamed in the corner. Kong continues chopping and clubbing Kobayashi until Kobayashi finally gets away and tags Kagetsu. Kicks by Kagetsu, Kobayashi comes back in and they dropkick Kong to the mat. Now it is Kong’s turn to get hit in the corner by all her opponents, but Kong fights out of it and suplexes Kato and AKINO before making the tag to Fujimoto. Fujimoto dropkicks Kagetsu and they trade elbows as well as dropkicks, Fujimoto rolls up Kagetsu but it gets a two count. Missile dropkick by Kagetsu and she tags AKINO, jawbreaker by AKINO and Fujimoto hits a step-over sunset flip for two. PK by Fujimoto but AKINO kicks her in the head. Matsumoto eventually runs in and suplexes AKINO from behind, and Fujimoto tags Kansai. Kicks by Kansai and she trades elbows with AKINO, suplex by AKINO and she covers Kansai for two.

Kansai goes up top but AKINO joins her, Matsumoto runs in but AKINO hurricanranas her back out of the ring. Double superplex on Kansai, hurricanrana by AKINO but Matsumoto breaks up the pin. Kong comes in as AKINO hits a high kick on Kansai, and both women are on the mat. Matsumoto and Kato are both tagged in, and Matsumoto drops her with a big gutbuster. Reverse Splash attempt by Matsumoto but Kato gets her feet up, Fujimoto runs in and catapults off two wrestlers to dropkick Kobayashi as she gets in the ring. Matsumoto then picks up Fujimoto and throws her out of the ring onto their opponents, but Matsumoto is double teamed in the ring. Diving legdrop by Kato to Matsumoto, but the pin is broken up. Enzuigiri by Fujimoto to Kato, and Kong drops her with a backdrop suplex. Backdrop suplex by Matsumoto to Kato, but the pin is broken up. Kato catches Matsumoto with a dragon suplex, other wrestlers run into the ring again but Kong cleans house. Matsumoto hits Kong by accident, high kicks by Kato and AKINO to Matsumoto and Kato nails the Dragon Valley, but the cover is broken up. Kagetsu comes in but kicks Kato by accident, Kong hits Kato with a paint can and Matsumoto nails the Liger Bomb on Kato for the three count! Kong, Kansai, Matsumoto, and Fujimoto win!

This one was also fun. That is the theme of this event, fun matches that don’t transcend that too much but are still enjoyable. It started slow and was pretty cliche the first ten minutes, but the last five minutes or so were really entertaining. Everyone was on the same page, and each wrestler concentrated on their strengths without doing too much. Kato is really under-rated, she is a high quality wrestler, and there were no weak links here although not all the wrestlers got much of a chance to get everything in. For a house show type event, a fitting main event as it was probably a blast live.  Mildly Recommended

The post OZ Academy “The Wizard of OZ” on January 11, 2016 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

• Akai Saki and Cherry vs. Makoto Oishi and Shunma Katsumata in DDT on January 3rd, 2016
• Bambi and Koharu Hinata vs. SAKI and Manami Kanda in K-DOJO on January 10th, 2016
• Haruka Kato vs. Makoto in Mr. Gannosuke Produce on January 12th, 2016

Event: DDT “New Year Lottery Special! 2016”
Date: January 3rd, 2016
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 1,750

Akai Saki and Cherry vs. Makoto Oishi and Shunma Katsumata

Cherry attacks Saki before the match even starts, which kinda sets the tone for how this one is going to go. Cherry lariats both Oishi and Katsumata and she scratches Katsumata on the back. Cherry tags Saki, Katsumata slams Saki and he tags Oishi. Oishi drops a fist onto Saki and he tags Katsumata back in, Katsumata puts Saki in the ropes and he dropkicks her in the face. Cherry breaks up the pin and goes for her own pin on Saki, but Saki keeps kicking out. Big boot by Akai on Katsumata and she boots him again, but Cherry runs in and rolls up Akai for a two count. Akai boots Oishi also and tags Cherry, they both kick Katsumata before Cherry chops Oishi in the throat. Cherry rolls up Akai, but Oishi rolls her over and covers them both for the three count! Oishi and Katsumata win the match.

The carnage continues as everyone tries to pin Akai, but Akai clears the ring. She does a promo but suddenly the celebrity LiLiCo appears and chokes Akai with a chain! LiLiCo chokes out Akai and pins her, and she gets the three count! LiLiCo is your new Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion!

There wasn’t much to this one since it was just a backdrop for the bigger storyline of Akai being the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion. The story was well told and the crowd enjoyed it, it was just too short of a match to get excited about. Always a pleasure to see Saki though.

Event: K-DOJO “Club-K Super in TKP Garden City”
Date: January 10th, 2016
Location: TKP Garden City in Chiba, Japan
Announced Attendance: 312

Bambi and Koharu Hinata vs. SAKI and Manami Kanda

Bambi and SAKI are the first pair in, they try to knock each other over until Bambi connects with a big boot. Bambi tags Hinata and Hinata throws down SAKI by her hair. SAKI tags Kanda, Hinata dropkicks Kanda but Kanda slams her to the mat, SAKI is tagged in and she throws the little Hinata around the ring. Kanda takes a turn on Hinata as well, and she stretches her on the mat. Hinata hits a spinning headscissors to get away and she tags in Bambi. Bambi knocks down both SAKI and Kanda, they go for a double suplex but Bambi blocks it. Bambi gets her whip and whips both of them with it, but SAKI rolls her up for two and applies a stretch hold. Rocking Horse by SAKI to Bambi but Bambi hits a neckbreaker and tags Hinata. Hinata comes off the top with a diving body press, getting a two count on SAKI. Bambi comes in and helps Hinata kick SAKI before tossing Hinata down onto her. Hinata elbows SAKI into the corner, Hinata sneaks in a few pinfalls but SAKI kicks out each time and hits a bodyslam. Giant Swing by SAKI and she applies a single leg crab hold, but Hinata makes it to the ropes. SAKI goes up top but Hinata avoids the Reverse Splash and hits a dropkick. SAKI and Hinata trade elbows but Hinata hits a step-up hurricanrana. Vertical suplex by SAKI and she tags in Kanda while Hinata tags Bambi. Bambi and Kanda trade elbows, Northern Lights Suplex by Kanda but it only gets two. Neckbreaker by Kanda and she delivers a sliding lariat, but Hinata breaks it up. Big boot by Bambi and she nails a second one, Bambi slams Kanda in front of the corner and she nails the Bambing Body Press for the three count! Bambi and Hinata win!

One of the downfalls of having wrestlers that are not familiar with each other and not very experienced in general is the matches tend to have miscommunications. There were plenty of those in this match, from small things to bad botches. When they were on the same page the action was fine, but overshadowed by the mistakes. I have grown to like Hinata the bit I have seen of her, little wrestlers that can take offense tend to enhance matches, but overall not a good match.

Event: Mr. Gannosuke Produce “Kishindo Returns 19”
Date: January 12th, 2016
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 255

Haruka Kato vs. Makoto

Kato elbows Makoto and hits a quick crossbody, but Makoto comes back with a shoulderblock and throws Kato in the corner. Dropkick by Kato and she hits a face crusher, but Makoto hits a bodyslam. Makoto throws down Kato by her hair and stands on Kato in the corner, Camel Clutch by Makoto but Kato gets to the ropes. Makoto runs at Kato but Kato avoids the somersault attack and applies a hanging armbar. Dropkick by Kato and she hits another one, getting a two count. Cross armbreaker by Kato but Makoto gets to the ropes, they return to their feet and trade elbows until Makoto knocks Kato to the mat. Makoto goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, picking up a two count. Cartwheel kneedrop by Makoto, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Kato tosses her back to the mat. Sleeper by Kato and she slaps on the cross armbreaker, Makoto rolls to her stomach so Kato applies a short armbar instead. She goes back to the armbreaker, but Makoto wiggles to the ropes and forces a break. Kato picks up Makoto but Makoto boots her hard in the chest, double underhook suplex hold by Makoto but Kato barely gets a shoulder up. Makoto goes for a spear but Kato quickly rolls her up for two, satellite cradle by Kato but it gets a two as well. Kato goes off the ropes but Makoto plants her with a spear, Rising Star Suplex by Makoto and she gets the three count! Makoto is your winner.

This was a nice little match. Kato is one of the more frustrating wrestlers for me to watch. Her psychology is usually top notch, she is good at focusing on the arm and stays on it throughout the match. But she isn’t a great athlete so she isn’t very smooth with a lot of what she does. Makoto is almost the opposite, she has been wrestling for awhile and is smooth most of the time, but her offense can be a bit all over the place. So it was an odd combination to be sure, the bulk of the match was fine but it had a few rough patches. Worth watching for Kato’s submission game, I just wish she had a few other pieces as if she did she’d be amazing to watch.  Mildly Recommended

The post Joshi Match Medley #1: DDT, K-DOJO, and Mr. Gannosuke appeared first on Joshi City.

Back in the early 90s, FMW was the first predominantly male promotion in Japan to have a women’s division, as up to that point men and women were separated into different promotions. That is largely how it still is today with large promotion, however many indy promotions have men and women wrestling together (now they wrestle against each other, however in FMW the divisions were kept separate). FMW died back in 2001, but the latest version popped up this year and use many of the same wrestlers that old school FMW did.

Since it wouldn’t be a true FMW event without women wrestling on the card as well, two of the seven matches featured Joshi wrestlers. This included a “inter-promotional match” with FMW facing off against JWP. Here are the two Joshi matches I will be reviewing:

– Kayoko Haruyama and Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Miss Mongol and Miss Koharu
– Ayako Hamada vs. Ray

This naturally won’t be a long review, but since women were an important part of FMW I did not want to neglect the event altogether. Let’s get right into it.

Kayoko Haruyama and Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Miss Mongol and Miss Koharu

Team FMW attacks before the bell rings but it immediately backfires, as Haruyama isolates young Koharu for a beatdown. Kuragaki takes a turn as well but Koharu hits a headscissors on Kuragaki and tags in Miss Mongol. Haruyama comes in the ring too but Mongol lariats both of them while the crowd voices their approval. Haruyama and Mongol trade strikes but they crush the referee in the corner, Mongol goes for the Bronco Buster on Haruyama but Haruyama moves and the referee is hit instead. The referee is hit again as he has now taken the most damage in the match, but he recovers pretty quickly as the action continues. Koharu comes in and they hit a double vertical suplex on Haruyama, but Haruyama hulks back up as Kuragaki comes in the ring. Double shoulderblock to Koharu and they put her in a double backbreaker, Mongol runs in but Haruyama takes Koharu so Kuragaki can put Mongol in a backbreaker as well. Diving leg drop by Haruyama to Koharu, but Mongol breaks up the pin. Mongol gets the whip but hits Koharu by accident, double underhook facebuster by Haruyama to Koharu but Koharu barely gets a shoulder up. Koharu sneaks in a backslide for two, Mongol comes back in but Kuragaki suplexes her. Haruyama goes up top as does Kuragaki, moonsault by Kuragaki and Haruyama hits a diving guillotine legdrop for the three count! Team JWP win the match.

This one started really slow but it picked up and the last few minutes were solid. Koharu is this adorable little thing and she almost didn’t fit in with three power wrestlers, which meant of course she was the one taking damage most of the match. Some of the transitions and strike portions didn’t look great as they weren’t being snug, but for a midcard tag match there was nothing wrong with it. Haruyama and Kuragaki are still awesome, Haruyama will be missed when she retires.

Ayako Hamada vs. Ray

This match was pretty clipped, which is disappointing since I enjoy both wrestlers. After feeling each other out (they didn’t clip that part), Hamada kicks Ray hard in the face for the first big move of the match. Hamada quickly goes for the moonsault but Ray moves, now Ray goes up top but Hamada gets her feet on on the moonsault attempt. High backdrop suplex by Hamada but Ray gets out of the powerbomb and they trade kicks. Tiger feint kick by Ray and this time she hits the moonsault, but Hamada kicks out of the cover. Hamada roars back with a lariat, sit-down powerbomb by Hamada but the cover gets two. AP Cross by Hamada, and she gets the three count! Hamada wins the match.

I am not sure what was clipped as only half of the match was shown, but it may explain why we went from “feeling out” to “dropping bombs” with no middle portion. What we saw was fine, both are quality wrestlers and Ray still flies around very well. A good showing by both but I can’t recommend a match clipped in half.

The post FMW on December 22 2015 Review – Joshi Matches Only appeared first on Joshi City.