SEAdLINNNG’s last event never made air that I am aware of, so after a month break we are back with more action from Takahashi’s promotion. This event was billed as Nanae Takahashi’s 20th Anniversary match, which may end up being a night she’ll never forget for mostly the wrong reasons. We also have a ZERO1 Offer match as well as wrestlers from WAVE, Marvelous, and Sendai Girls’. Here is the full card:

• Ayako Hamada and Takako Inoue vs. Rin Kadokura and Takumi Iroha
• Ikuto Hidaka and Masato Tanaka vs. Kohei Sato and Kotaro Suzuki
• Hiragi Kurumi and Yuki Miyazaki vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto and Yumiko Hotta
• Arisa Nakajima and Sareee vs. Rina Yamashita and Ryo Mizunami
• DASH Chisako and Meiko Satomura vs. Nanae Takahashi and Yoshiko

Per usual, this was shown on a two hour TV Broadcast so some matches will be clipped.

Ayako Hamada and Takako Inoue vs. Rin Kadokura and Takumi Iroha

We join the match slightly in progress with Inoue in the ring with Kadokura, Kadokura goes for a crossbody but Inoue catches her and tosses the rookie to the ground. Elbows by Kadokura and they trade kicks, Inoue gets the better of it and she tags in Hamada. Hamada gives Kadokura a hard elbow and a pair of scoop slams, cover by Hamada but it gets two. Hamada works on Kadokura’s arm but Iroha breaks it up, Inoue comes in but Kadokura quickly rolls her up for two. Dropkick by Kadokura and she tags Iroha, kicks by Iroha and she knocks Inoue to the mat before kicking Hamada for extra measure. Hamada comes in after that but Kadokura returns too and the youngsters dropkick Inoue and Hamada. Iroha goes up top but Inoue joins her and armdrags her to the mat. German suplex hold by Iroha, but Inoue kicks out. Iroha goes off the ropes but Inoue catches her with a head kick, picking up a two count. Inoue tags Hamada, Hamada kicks Iroha in the head repeatedly but Iroha blocks one and the pair trade elbows. Iroha ducks Hamada’s heel kick and hits a superkick, bridging underhook suplex by Iroha and she gets a two. Hamada catches Iroha with the heel kick the next time she tries, she goes up top but Kadokura grabs her from the apron. This gives Iroha time to recover and she hits a Liger Bomb for a two count. Iroha tags Kadokura, dropkicks by Kadokura and she covers Hamada for two. Iroha returns and they both attack Hamada in the corner, headscissors by Kadokura but Hamada catches her when she goes for a hurricanrana. Crab hold by Hamada but Kadokura manages to get to the ropes, elbows by Kadokura but Hamada fires back with a boot. Inoue comes in and they hit a double elbow drop, Hamada puts Kadokura in a Mexican Surfboard but Iroha breaks it up. Side slam by Iroha to Hamada, Kadokura goes up top and she delivers a missile dropkick for a two count cover. Hurricanrana by Kadokura, but Inoue breaks up the cover. Kadokura goes off the ropes but Hamada levels her with a lariat, Hamada goes up top and she nails the moonsault for the three count cover! Inoue and Hamada are the winners.

A really solid opener, most of the match was shown and everyone got a chance to shine. Kadokura is clearly green, her strikes lack impact and she was the clear weak link of the match, but she came around a bit by the end and the final stretch of the match worked well. Iroha continues to really impress me, I hope she gets a chance at a bigger role somewhere soon as she definitely is one of the rising stars on the Joshi scene. Hamada and Inoue were as you’d expect, they aren’t going to go over the top in an opener but they played their roles well. Overall an enjoyable match.  Mildly Recommended

Ikuto Hidaka and Masato Tanaka vs. Kohei Sato and Kotaro Suzuki

Hidaka and Suzuki begin for their teams and trade submissions, armdrag by Hidaka and he hits a headscissors, but Suzuki quickly flips to his feet. Tanaka and Sato tag in, they trade chops and elbows until Tanaka floors Sato with a jumping elbow. Tanaka goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, jackknife by Hidaka but the cover gets two. Hidaka picks up Sato and connects with a high kick, but Suzuki breaks up the cover. Hidaka goes for Sliced Bread #2 but Suzuki catches him and hits a tombstone piledriver. Blue Destiny by Suzuki and Sato kicks Hidaka in the chest. Piledriver by Sato to Hidaka, he picks up Hidaka and he hits a German suplex hold for the three count! Sato and Suzuki win the match.

Way too clipped down to get excited about. A few good moves were hit, but with less then four minutes shown they spent half of that showing just intro-level limb work before they cut straight to the home stretch. ZERO1 fans may have been excited when the match got announced but SEAdLINNNG clearly was not catering to them as it was by far the most clipped match on the show.

Hiragi Kurumi and Yuki Miyazaki vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto and Yumiko Hotta

Hotta and Miyazaki start things off but are slow to engage, they trade wristlocks until Fujimoto comes in and Miyazaki is double teamed. Taiyo won’t count the cover since Hotta hasn’t run off the ropes yet (one of those weird rules I mentioned earlier), Fujimoto stays in as legal and Miyazaki throws her down by her hair. Miyazaki tags in Kurumi, body press by Kurumi and she applies a modified cattle mutilation. She releases Fujimoto after a moment and tags Miyazaki back in, leg drop by Miyazaki and she applies a submission hold with Kurumi’s help. Taiyo gets involved and ends up helping Fujimoto, Miyazaki gets back in control and applies a submission hold, but Taiyo covers up Fujimoto due to the pose the hold put her in. Taiyo doesn’t allow indecency. Taiyo dropkicks Miyazaki and helps Fujimoto double team her, but again Miyazaki gets the better of Fujimoto and remembers to bounce off the ropes before covering her for two. Dropkick by Miyazaki and she tags Kurumi, front flip senton by Kurumi and both wrestlers bounce off the ropes lots of times to make Taiyo happy. Fujimoto bridges out of a pin attempt and dropkicks Kurumi, leaving both wrestlers down on the mat. Hotta comes in with renewed vigor and plays around with Taiyo, as everyone puts on headbands. Kurumi is thrown to the mat and everyone runs over her, Kurumi gets annoyed and shoulderblocks everyone, even Hotta. Cannonball by Kurumi to Hotta, she goes up top but Hotta avoids the diving body press. Cover by Hotta but she forgot to run off the ropes so Taiyo won’t count it. Fujimoto reminds her so Hotta starts going off the ropes, meanwhile Fujimoto and Kurumi trade pin attempts. Hotta finally covers Kurumi, but it only gets two. Hotta goes off the ropes but Miyazaki kicks her from the apron, enzuigiri by Fujimoto to Kurumi and she hits the Venus Shoot. La Magistral by Hotta to Kurumi and she gets the three count! Hotta and Fujimoto are the winners.

You can’t go into matches with Taiyo as the referee too seriously as these matches are always the token SEAdLINNNG comedy match. There was still some solid action in it and I thought that Kurumi looked fantastic, but there wasn’t much of a rhythm as they had to constantly stop to do something silly. The best part of Taiyo matches is she always does some wrestling in it, I miss her quite a bit so even 10 seconds of Taiyo wrestling is better than nothing. Overall a fine match and it was interesting to see Hotta getting into the comedy, but just don’t go in expecting a wrestling clinic as that is not what this match was designed to provide.  Mildly Recommended

Arisa Nakajima and Sareee vs. Rina Yamashita and Ryo Mizunami

Nakajima and Yamashita start off but Sareee and Mizunami are in the ring too and everyone trades elbows. Sling Blade and a dropkick by Nakajima to Mizunami but Mizunami comes back with a hard shoulderblock. Nakajima boots Mizunami but Mizunami gets up and the two trade elbows. Nakajima tags in Sareee, Sareee elbows Mizunami but Mizunami hits a shoulderblock followed by a scoop slam. Leg drop by Mizunami and she tags Yamashita, Yamashita trades chops with Sareee until Sareee dropkicks Yamashita into the corner. They trade quick pins with no result so Sareee tags Nakajima back in, Nakajima dropkicks Yamashita and hits a knee against the ropes. Nakajima goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, covering Yamashita for two. Yamashita comes back with a knee of her own and hits a big backdrop suplex, covering the veteran for two. Kicks by Yamashita and she goes off the ropes, she hits one lariat but Nakajima pulls her down by her hair before she can hit another one. Nakajima stomps on Yamashita but Yamashita fires back with a hard elbow. Lariat by Yamashita and she tags in Mizunami, Mizunami picks up Nakajima and hits a powerslam for two. Running leg lariat by Mizunami but Nakajima kicks out again, she goes off the ropes but Nakajima ducks a lariat and they trade elbows.

Nakajima gets Mizunami to the mat first and goes for a few quick pins with no luck, German suplex hold by Nakajima but that gets a two as well. Nakajima goes for a dragon suplex but Mizunami reverses it with a Saito Suplex, Nakajima lands near her corner and Sareee tags herself in. Sareee tries to suplex Mizunami with no luck, release German by Mizunami but Sareee dropkicks her against the ropes. Four more dropkicks by Sareee and she hits a German suplex hold, but Mizunami kicks out at two. Missile dropkick by Nakajima, both her and Sareee get on different turnbuckles and they both hit missile dropkicks. They both hit two more missile dropkicks until Yamashita grabs Nakajima and comes into the ring, Yamashita joins Sareee up top and she hits a superplex. Spear by Mizunami to Sareee, she goes off the ropes and Sareee ducks the lariat, but Yamashita lariats Sareee instead. Lariat by Mizunami, but Nakajima breaks up the cover. Mizunami goes to charge Sareee but Nakajima kicks her, German suplex hold by Sareee but it gets a two count. Yamashita runs in and lariats Sareee, Mizunami lariats Nakajima but Sareee catches Mizunami with a Uranage. She goes for another one but Mizunami blocks it and hits a hard lariat. Sareee temporarily gets away from Mizunami but eats another lariat for her trouble, Mizunami hits a lariat again and covers Sareee for two. Mizunami has had enough and plants Sareee with the Hot Limit, and she picks up the three count!  Yamashita and Mizunami win!

A bit more hateful than I was expecting, but Nakajima brings that to the table sometimes regardless of the situation. A very enjoyable match, as I mentioned all four of these wrestlers are high end and it was a fast physical sprint from bell to bell. It was a nice change of pace from the last match as no one was laughing here, with lots of hard strikes and neck compressing suplexes from all the wrestlers. Both teams worked together really well as there were no miscues or mistakes from either, and the match was just unpredictable as something was always happening. It didn’t have any ‘control segments’ but you wouldn’t expect any in a 12 minute match, they just went all-out instead. The newer wrestlers here are all ones to watch, but Nakajima showed why she is one of the top Joshi wrestlers on the current scene. Really fun, only really hurt by the shortness of it.  Recommended

DASH Chisako and Meiko Satomura vs. Nanae Takahashi and Yoshiko

Chisako and Yoshiko start the match as the promotional leaders look on from the apron, these two aren’t friends either however as they quickly start trading hard strikes. Yoshiko gets Chisako to the mat first and applies a camel clutch, she throws Chisako into the corner and tags in Takahashi. The SEAdLINNNG stars double team Chisako for a moment, Takahashi clubs Chisako down to the mat and kicks her into the corner. They end up on the floor and Takahashi throws Chisako into the crowd, they return to the ring after a moment and Yoshiko comes in hit a backbreaker on Chisako. Missile dropkick by Takahashi and she covers Chisako for a two count. Quick cutter by Chisako and she tags in Satomura, Satomura chokes Takahashi with her knee and kicks Takahashi in the chest. Takahashi fires back with a lariat and goes for a splash off the second turnbuckle, but Satomura gets her knees up and kicks Takahashi in the back of the head. STF by Satomura but Takahashi wiggles to the ropes and forces the break. Satomura tags in Chisako, dropkicks by Chisako but Takahashi blocks the Northern Lights Suplex. Chisako ducks a lariat and hits the move anyway, picking up a two count. Chisako tags in Satomura, Satomura puts Takahashi in a sleeper and then applies an ankle hold when Takahashi goes for a kick. Satomura kicks Takahashi some more but Takahashi catches one and drops Satomura to the mat.

This gives Takahashi time to tag in Yoshiko, lariats by Yoshiko and she hits a running senton. She hits a second one but Chisako trips her from the apron when she goes for a third, she gets in the ring but Yoshiko lariats both of them. Yoshiko lariats Satomura in the corner and she hits face washes, but Satomura jumps up and elbows her. Satomura catches Yoshiko with a heel kick and tags in Chisako, Chisako goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick. Yoshiko starts her comeback with an elbow and they trade strikes, Chisako goes off the ropes and she boots Yoshiko to the mat for a two count. She goes off the ropes again but this time she eats a hard slap, elbows by Yoshiko in the corner and she hits mounted elbows and slaps. Pump handle slam by Yoshiko, and she covers Chisako for two. Chisako blocks the Chokebomb and hits a Stunner, but Yoshiko hits a lariat. Chisako ducks the next one and hits a release German, she goes off the ropes but Yoshiko hits a lariat. She tags in Takahashi, backdrop suplex by Takahashi but Chisako kicks out. Satomura comes in and kicks Takahashi, she stays in but Takahashi lariats both of them. Satomura falls out of the ring so Takahashi sails out after her with a tope suicida, inside the ring Yoshiko elbows Chisako and Takahashi lariats her once she returns. Takahashi goes off the ropes but Chisako catches her with a hurricanrana for a two count.

Chisako dropkicks Takahashi in the corner and nails a diving footstomp off the top, but Takahashi kicks out of the cover. Chisako goes up top but Takahashi gets her feet up on the Hormone Splash, Takahashi goes up but Satomura grabs her from the apron. Chisako joins Takahashi up top and hits an avalanche cutter, but Yoshiko breaks up the cover. Chisako tags in Satomura, kicks by Satomura and she hits a rebound elbow out of the corner. Jumping kick by Takahashi but Satomura kicks her back and hits the cartwheel kneedrop. Sleeper by Satomura but Takahashi quickly gets out of it, kicks to the chest by Satomura and she applies a submission hold. Yoshiko breaks it up with a lariat, she picks up Satomura but Takahashi lariats Yoshiko by accident. Chisako runs in to elbow Takahashi, backdrop suplex by Satomura to Takahashi and she covers her for two. Backdrop suplex by Takahashi and she hits a lariat, but Satomura kicks out of the cover. Nana☆Racka by Takahashi, she goes up top but Satomura joins her and hits a superplex. Sleeper by Satomura, Chisako gets Yoshiko in the corner to stop her from breaking it up, Death Valley Bomb by Satomura but Yoshiko flings Chisako at Satomura to break up the cover (breaking Takahashi’s teeth in the process by accident). Diving senton by Yoshiko onto both Satomura and Takahashi, she then lariats Satomura and Takahashi plants Satomura with a belly to back piledriver. Superman punch by Takahashi, she picks up Satomura and nails the One Second EX for the three count! The winners are Nanae Takahashi and Yoshiko.

Another great match, although I would not have expected any different from them. As I assumed lots of hard strike exchanges, I think they pretended later that it was Satomura that broke Takahashi’s teeth but admittedly that is a better story than Chisako’s boot accidentally doing it. I loved that everyone got a moment to shine, every wrestler had the upper hand at some point and no one was made to look weak which should be the goal of all matches. Yoshiko looked really fired up as she has all year and the veterans were all on point. I was surprised Satomura lost, but that does show the level of commitment to this feud as I am sure it will be lasting for awhile longer. Action-wise it was similar to the last match but this one got almost ten more minutes, definitely worth the watch.  Highly Recommended

The post SEAdLINNNG Takahashi 20th Anniversary on 7/11/16 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Ice Ribbon “10th Anniversary Show”
Date: May 4th, 2016
Location: Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium in Kanagawa, Japan
Announced Attendance: 1,552

Welcome to the biggest Joshi event so far in 2016! As the name of the show implies, this is Ice Ribbon’s 10th Anniversary show, and they pulled out all the stops. The big story coming into the show was the return of Emi Sakura, one of the original founders and trainers of Ice Ribbon that left the promotion back in 2012. This isn’t a full time return, she just came back for the Anniversary show and it wouldn’t have been the same without her as she had such a big role for much of the promotion’s history. We also get a Meiko Satomura appearance and for some reason Kazunari Murakami showed up. Here is the full card:

• Bete Noire, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Maruko Nagasaki vs. Hiroe Nagahama, Makoto, and Ryo Mizunami
• GENTARO and Takashi Sasaki vs. Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto vs. Miyako Matsumoto, 235, and Ueki vs. Papillon Akemi and Kazunari Murakami
• Akane Fujita, Hamuko Hoshi, and Mochi Miyagi vs. Kurumi, Manami Toyota, and Tequila Saya
• Triangle Ribbon Championship: Cherry vs. Misaki Ohata vs. Kyuri
• Kyoko Kimura vs. Maya Yukihi
• Meiko Satomura vs. Tsukushi
• Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Nanae Takahashi and Emi Sakura
• ICExInfinity Championship: Risa Sera vs. Yuuka

You can click on the wrestler’s name above to go to their profile here on Joshi City, if I have one. I am going to go ahead and get this out of the way – the show aired on Samurai TV which means it was condensed to two hours. On top of that they still have the highlight packages, interviews, etc. so the in-ring time will be reduced which will lead to clipped matches. I don’t blame Ice Ribbon, yes if it was on Nico Nico it probably would air in full but no promotion is going to pass on being on a more popular channel. But it is still worth noting since this card had a lot of matches so many will be clipped.

Bete Noire, Matsumoto, and Maruko Nagasaki vs. Nagahama, Makoto, and Ryo Mizunami

We join this match in progress, with Nagasaki and Nagahama up on their respective teammates shoulders playing chicken. Nagasaki wins by taking off Nagahama’s armband, but she is attacked by Makoto and company. Makoto and Nagasaki stay in as legal and Makoto hits a rolling senton for two. Nagasaki sneaks in a schoolboy for two and Makoto tags in Nagahama, and Nagahama dropkicks Nagasaki. Bridging suplex by Nagahama, she picks up Nagasaki but Nagasaki quickly applies a wrist-clutch roll-up and picks up the three count! The Maruko Army wins!

This was extremely clipped so I can’t really give an opinion on the match, aside to say that I thought it was neat that the Ice Ribbon rookie got to pick up the win. I haven’t gotten a chance to see much of her but what we really briefly saw here she looks good. A waste of Matsumoto, Makoto, and Mizunami but what can ya do, all these early matches will be clipped something fierce.

GENTARO and Sasaki vs. Kodaka and Miyamoto vs. Matsumoto, 235, and Ueki vs. Papillon Akemi and Murakami

Murakami and Matsumoto start off, Matsumoto slaps Murakami and then runs like hell. Sound decision. But she isn’t running from him, but up to a mat up on the stage so they can grapple. Murakami goes after her and rakes her face on the ramp, but Akemi comes to her rescue and everyone beats down Murakami. Wrestlers are brawling everywhere, with some staying on up the stage while others are in the crowd, pins are apparently legal up on the stage where Murakami is grappling with random wrestlers. Matsumoto is insanely up in the bleachers, she stands up on the rail and dives down onto wrestlers on the floor. We clip ahead to Matsumoto being in the ring on the top rope, about to do a move on Akemi, but Murakami comes in so she hops down. Murakami sits down on Matsumoto in the corner, Matsumoto rolls up Murakami with assistance and everyone holds down Murakami for the three count! Matsumoto, 235, and Ueki win!

I know I didn’t need to do something resembling play by play, but if you have a certain favorite wrestler and you don’t see their name above, then they didn’t do a hell of a lot on what was shown. We got no guns which seems like a wasted opportunity and needless to say it was too clipped up to really get into. A few nice spots though, love Matsumoto’s dive off the balcony.

Akane Fujita, Hamuko Hoshi, and Mochi Miyagi vs. Kurumi, Manami Toyota, and Tequila Saya

This match actually starts from the beginning, with Hoshi and Kurumi trying to knock each other over with no luck. Kurumi is triple teamed and posed on, and we clip ahead to Kurumi hitting a powerslam on Fujita. Kurumi tagged Saya, crossbodies by Saya but she only gets a two on Hoshi. Dropkick by Saya, Fujita grabs Saya from the apron however and Hoshi hits a body avalanche. Hoshi tags Miyagi, Miyagi throws Saya into the corner so she can tag Kurumi back in. Chaos ensues as Saya and Toyota come in the ring, and Saya hits a diving crossbody. Missile dropkick by Kurumi to Miyagi, and she covers her for two. Kurumi goes up top and hits a flying body press, but the cover is broken up. Hoshi helps and throws Miyagi onto Kurumi, Fujita slams Kurumi and both Hoshi and Miyagi hit diving body presses. Miyagi picks up Kurumi but Kurumi kicks her and applies La Magistral for a two count. Lou Thesz Press by Miyagi and she hits another one for a two count. Miyagi goes up top and hits a guillotine leg drop for two. Cover by Miyagi on Kurumi, and she gets the three count! Fujita, Hoshi, and Miyagi win the match!

We got about half of this match, so we are getting better. It was clipped to highlight Kurumi, which is great as it is her first match back but it meant we didn’t get to see any Toyota which was sad. Kurumi did look really good in her return however, and for a fresh rookie, Saya did pretty well also. Hoshi and Miyagi are an acquired taste but are solid, and Fujita is fun as well. Too clipped up to recommend but it was nice to see Kurumi again.

(c) Cherry vs. Misaki Ohata vs. Kyuri

Kyuri is double teamed right off the bat, but then they turn on Cherry, which doesn’t go well as Cherry attacks them both in the corner. We clip ahead to Kyuri hitting a diving crossbody on both wrestlers, getting a two count on both. She hits another crossbody on Ohata before hitting a Back Stabber on Cherry, Ohata German suplexes Cherry onto Kyuri but it only gets two. Ohata picks up Cherry and hits a spinning chop followed by a dropkick, but Cherry dumps her out of the ring. Ne Kohistral by Kyuri on Cherry, and she gets the three count! Kyuri is the new champion!

While I doubt this match would have rocked my world anyway, it was only a five minute match and was clipped on top of that. I love Ohata so I hate seeing her in such a short match, but she did have the most memorable spot of the match so there is that. It isn’t worth skipping because it was too short, but if you are fan of any of these three there is not enough here to get excited about.

Kyoko Kimura vs. Maya Yukihi

Yukihi starts the match holding a whip and immediately uses it on Kimura, Ozaki gets up on the apron and helps as well until the referee finally calms things down. Yukihi looks like she is into S&M with the black outfit and the whip, which may or may not be what they are going for. Kicks by Yukihi and she hits a knee, Ozaki returns to the ring and she hits Kimura with a chain. Kimura knocks down Yukihi and jaws with Ozaki, boots by Kimura and she stomps on Yukihi’s face. Kimura gets a drink from a water bottle and slowly spits water onto Yukihi’s face, Yukihi doesn’t like that and fires up a bit and she hits a series of slaps. Lots of slaps by Yukihi. Yukihi goes up top and hits a somersault legdrop, cover by Yukihi but it gets two. Kimura slides behind Yukihi and applies a sleeper, Yukihi struggles but just as she is dozing off in runs Ozaki to break it up. Kimura and Ozaki trade elbows, Ozaki spits red mist into Kimura’s face and Yukihi rolls her up for a two count. Kicks by Yukihi, she covers Kimura but it gets another two. Yukihi gets a chain and hits Kimura in the head with it repeatedly, Ozaki holds Kimura but Yukihi kicks Ozaki by accident. Hard punch by Kimura and she hits a chokebomb, picking up a two count. Heel drop by Kimura and she puts Yukihi back in the sleeper, and this time no one is there to save Yukihi as she goes to sleep! Kimura gets the win.

This was clipped (I know I keep saying that but I don’t want people to think they are going to watch the full match), but I think we got the gist of it. I don’t… know if Yukihi is trying to be sexy with her black leather outfit as she whips people, but she is probably ticking off a few boxes of what some guys find desirable. Anyway, Yukihi still has issues with her strikes, her kicks and slaps both look weak. But when she wasn’t doing strikes, everything else worked well, with Kimura always being on point. Ozaki and Kimura had some good chemistry and the ending stretch was perfect. This is the best match of the card so far mostly due to Kimura, and overall it was entertaining.  Mildly Recommended

Meiko Satomura vs. Tsukushi

Satomura and Tsukushi start politely with a tie-up, Tsukushi dropkicks Satomura but Satomura shrugs it off. Satomura punches Tsukushi in the face but Tsukushi dropkicks her in the knee. Satomura blocks the hurricanrana and kicks Tsukushi in the head, sending her to the mat. Crab hold by Satomura and she applies a STF, she picks up Tsukushi and slams her hard back down. Short armbar by Satomura but Tsukushi inches to the ropes and forces the break. Satomura kicks Tsukushi in the chest but Tsukushi dropkicks her in the knee and hits another dropkick in the corner. Ankle hold by Tsukushi and she boots Satomura in the chest, she goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick. Tsukushi dropkicks Satomura in the corner but Satomura comes back with kicks. Hard elbow by Satomura but Tsukushi rolls Satomura to the mat and applies a kneelock. Satomura quickly reverses it but Tsukushi gets into the ropes, Tsukushi gets up and elbows Satomura but Satomura sends her back down. Tsukushi goes off the ropes but Satomura kicks her in the head, the referee starts a Ten Count but Tsukushi slowly gets up just to eat a backdrop suplex. Kicks to the chest by Satomura but Tsukushi elbows her and nails the tiger suplex hold for a nearfall. Tsukushi goes for the Harukaze but Satomura catches her legs and flings her to the mat, elbow by Satomura but Tsukushi slaps her. Harukaze by Tsukushi, but Satomura barely gets a shoulder up. Satomura gets away from Tsukushi and hits a Pele Kick, Death Valley Bomb by Satomura and she gets the three count! Meiko Satomura wins the match.

I liked this match a lot, I just wish that Tsukushi had gotten in a bit more. I know she is 18 and Satomura is… Satomura, but Tsukushi does have multiple title reigns so I wouldn’t have minded if she had a bit more success before losing. Tsukushi really only had two nearfalls, the rest of the match was her fighting an uphill battle. Which she did very well, and Satomura was deadly with her strikes in a very entertaining way. A match well worth watching, it just didn’t go to that next level to really pull me in.  Recommended

Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Nanae Takahashi and Emi Sakura

Nakajima and Takahashi kick things off for their respective teams, they jockey for position on the mat but neither gets a clear advantage. Sakura and Fujimoto are tagged in as Sakura faces her trainee, elbows by Fujimoto and she dropkicks Sakura down. Sakura regains the advantage and slaps Fujimoto before tagging in Takahashi, backdrop suplex by Takahashi and she puts Fujimoto in a crab hold. Fujimoto gets to the ropes and Takahashi tags Sakura, Sakura throws down Fujimoto by the hair and chops her into the corner. Sakura puts Fujimoto in the Surfboard, stomps by Sakura and she slams Fujimoto to the mat. She tags Takahashi back in, elbows by Takahashi but Fujimoto returns fire. Fujimoto goes for a hurricanrana but Takahashi catches her and applies a crab hold. Fujimoto gets to the ropes and dropkicks Takahashi, giving her time to tag in Nakajima. Missile dropkick by Nakajima, Takahashi tags Sakura but Nakajima fights off both of them. German suplex by Nakajima to Takahashi and she hits running boots on both her opponents. Elbows by Nakajima to Takahashi but Takahashi slaps her and hits an assisted sidewalk slam for two. Sakura kicks Takahashi by accident, allowing Nakajima to hit a German suplex hold for two. Nakajima goes off the ropes but Takahashi catches her with a head kick, headbutt by Takahashi and she delivers a lariat. Nakajima crawls to her corner and tags Fujimoto, missile dropkick by Fujimoto but Takahashi slams her to the mat. Fujimoto elbows both Sakura and Takahashi, Sakura holds Fujimoto but Takahashi elbows Sakura by accident.

German suplex on Takahashi with a jackknife by Fujimoto, but it gets two. Fujimoto goes up top but Takahashi joins her and she delivers a superplex, sliding kick by Takahashi and she covers Fujimoto for two. Takahashi goes for a backdrop suplex but Fujimoto elbows out of it, Nakajima runs in but Takahashi hits a hard lariat on both of them. Spinning sit down powerbomb by Takahashi and she makes the tag to Sakura, Sakura picks up Fujimoto and hits a double underhook lift into a backbreaker. Another one by Sakura but Fujimoto gets back in control and kicks Sakura repeatedly in the chest and back. PK by Fujimoto, but it gets two so she hits another one. Takahashi breaks up the pin this time, Fujimoto goes for the Venus Shoot but Sakura reverses it with a powerbomb. Reverse Splash by Sakura, but Fujimoto bridges out of the pin. Kicks by Fujimoto, Sakura tries to return the favor but Nakajima runs in and catches her leg. Double missile dropkick to Sakura, but she kicks out of the pin. Venus Shoot attempt by Fujimoto but Sakura catches her ankle and applies a crab hold. Fujimoto eventually gets to the ropes, Nakajima is in the ring but Sakura superkicks her. Takahashi sits on the top turnbuckle, then Sakura Frankensteiners her onto Fujimoto. Sakura goes up top and hits the moonsault, but Nakajima breaks up the cover. Takahashi drops Nakajima with a backdrop suplex, Sakura goes back up top and both she and Takahashi hit diving body presses onto Best Friends. Sakura drags up Fujimoto and nails a Tiger Driver, but Fujimoto barely gets a shoulder up. She picks up Fujimoto again and drops her right on her head with a backdrop suplex, but again it gets two. Sakura goes up top and calls for the Nyan Nyan Press, but Fujimoto is up and kicks her before she jumps off. Nakajima joins Sakura up top and hits a gutwrench suplex to the mat, Tsukadora by Fujimoto but Sakura barely kicks out. Tsukka-chan☆Bomb by Fujimoto, but this time Takahashi breaks it up. Takahashi elbows Fujimoto but Nakajima takes care of her, enzuigiri by Fujimoto and she finally hits the Venus Shoot for the three count! Best Friends win!

This match was awesome, I enjoyed every minute of it. I was concerned going in that Sakura had been ‘off the grid’ for so long (still wrestling but mostly for Gatoh Move which doesn’t have the same level of wrestlers as Best Friends are) that she would have issues keeping up, but those fears were unfounded. She was really motivated against her former trainee Fujimoto, and since that was the pairing for the majority of the match I have to assume she wanted to help put over her star pupil. Sakura had two different reversals the first two times Fujimoto went for the Venus Shoot but couldn’t block it the third time, and there were so many convincing nearfalls in this match. I also loved that Sakura/Takahashi had miscommunications but Best Friends didn’t, as the more experienced team was more on the same page than the team that hadn’t wrestled together in many years. Some of the moves were just sick in their execution, and everyone came out of it looking strong as even though Sakura got pinned she showed she can still hang with anyone. Her best match in years and overall just a must-see match with not only great wrestling but emotion and meaning as well.  Highly Recommended

(c) Risa Sera vs. Yuuka

Yuuka immediately rolls up Sera with a bridge for two, she goes for another one but Sera reverses it and they return to their feet. They grab each other by the hair until Sera flings Yuuka down and stomps her in the corner. Crab hold by Sera and she then puts Yuuka in the Rocking Horse, Sera goes for a double knee drop but Yuuka moves and dropkicks Sera out of the ring. Yuuka goes up to the top turnbuckle and she dives out onto Sera with a plancha, Yuuka slides Sera back in and goes up top, hitting a diving crossbody for two. Sera gets back up and they trade elbows, a hard elbow by Yuuka sends Sera to the mat and she covers her for two. Sera blocks Yuuka’s cross-legged move attempt and applies a high angle crab hold, but Yuuka gets to the ropes. Sera hits a reverse splash kneedrop to Yuuka’s back, elbow by Sera but Yuuka hits a tornado DDT out of the corner. Cross-legged suplex hold by Yuuka, but it gets two. Yuuka goes up top and hits the Angel Thunder, but again Sera gets a shoulder up. Yuuka kicks at Sera but Sera fights back with hard elbows to the back of the head. Falcon Arrow by Sera, she goes up top but Yuuka elbows her before she can jump off and joins her. Frankensteiner by Yuuka and she hits a cross-legged belly to back suplex hold for a nearfall. Sera catches Yuuka as she goes off the ropes with a fireman’s carry slam, she goes for the Ayers Rock but Yuuka reverses it with a roll-up. Sera elbows Yuuka down in the corner and hits a running double knee, Ayers Rock by Sera but Yuuka barely kicks out. Sera goes up top but Yuuka avoids the Diving Double Knee Drop, roll-up with a bridge by Yuuka but it gets two. A backslide with a bridge also gets two, Yuuka goes off the ropes but Sera catches her with an elbow. Ebisu Drop by Sera and she nails a sit-down powerbomb, but Yuuka kicks out. Sera goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers the Diving Double Knee Drop, and she picks up the three count! Sera wins the match and is still the champion.

As I mentioned at the top, this was a rough spot for them. It was a perfectly fine match but it had little chance of being better than the two matches that came before it as while both have a lot of spunk they aren’t on the same level as Nakajima, Fujimoto, Sakura, etc. Yuuka in particular is still growing, seems like a bit of a stretch to put her in the main event of their biggest show but they must see a lot in her down the road. The emotion was there by the wrestlers and Sera has gotten a mean streak recently, but the transitions were shaky and I never brought into Yuuka having a chance of winning. Solid and fun, but that is about as far as it went.  Mildly Recommended

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Championships Held: ICExInfinity Championship, International Ribbon Tag Team Championship, and the IW-19 Championship
Tournaments Won: None
Awards Won: None

Notable Matches:

• September 16th, 2011 vs. Tsukushi  (title win)
• March 23rd, 2012 vs. Tsukushi  (title win)
• October 13th, 2013 vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto  (title challenge)
• March 30th, 2014 with Tsukushi vs. Maki Narumiya and Risa Sera  (title challenge)
• March 21st, 2015 vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto  (title win)
• September 19th, 2016 with Tsukushi vs. Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto  (title win)
• June 11th, 2017 with Tsukushi vs. Hamuko Hoshi and Ibuki Hoshi  (title win)
• December 31st, 2017 vs. Risa Sera  (title win)
• March 14th, 2020 vs. Maya Yukihi  (title challenge)

Signature Moves:

• Cattle Mutilation
• Diving Body Press
• Flying Nut Cracker
• German Suplex Hold
• Nut Cracker
• Nut Driver

Sample of Matches Reviewed on Joshi City:

• May 4th, 2016 – Akane Fujita, Hamuko Hoshi, and Mochi Miyagi vs. Kurumi, Manami Toyota, and Tequila Saya in Ice Ribbon
• July 11th, 2016 – Hiragi Kurumi and Yuki Miyazaki vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto and Yumiko Hotta in SEAdLINNNG
• July 31st, 2016 – Hiragi Kurumi and Kaori Yoneyama vs. Kagetsu and Maruko Nagasaki at Hiroyo Matsumoto Produce
• August 23rd, 2016 – 235 and Risa Sera vs. Hiragi Kurumi and Maruko Nagasaki in Ice Ribbon
• May 24th, 2017 – Hiragi Kurumi and Sareee vs. Rin Kadokura and Takumi Iroha in SEAdLINNNG
• January 14th, 2018 – Mio Momono, Fujita, Nagahama, and Mizunami vs. Akai, Kurumi, Iroha, and Fujimoto in SEAdLINNNG
• August 19th, 2018 – Hiragi Kurumi vs. Rina Yamashita in WAVE
• May 25th, 2019 – Fujita, Hiragi Kurumi, and Miyagi vs. Hamuko Hoshi, Ibuki Hoshi, and Fujimoto in Ice Ribbon
• November 23rd, 2019 – Akane Fujita and Hiragi Kurumi vs. Miku Aono and Satsuki Totoro in Ice Ribbon

In Action:

Diving Body Press

Nut Cracker

Nut Driver

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