Event: NOMADS’ Freelance Summit
Date: May 20th, 2022
Location: Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 470
Broadcast: Streamed on Zaiko

One of the more interesting developments in the last six months or so in the world of Joshi is wrestlers creating Freelancer stables that also put on their own events. We have COLOR’S, PROMINANCE, Rebel X Enemy, and here we get to watch my personal favorite: NOMADS’. NOMADS’ comprises of four wrestlers: Natsu Sumire, Maya Yukihi, Rina Yamashita, and Miyuki Takase. All are great. Course, as Freelancers, they are welcome and encouraged to wrestle all around the world on their own schedule, but they work together behind the scenes and will occasionally put on their own Freelance shows. Like this one, which is the first! As all four are very respected on the scene, they have a fair amount of influence to bring in the top Freelancers for the event. Particularly special about this card, besides the surprise match from Natsu Sumire, is the return of Kaho Kobayashi! Kaho is my stealth favorite and has been out of action for a year, so its great to see her back. Here is the full card:

• Exhibition Match: Miyuki Takase vs. Natsu Sumire
• Momoka Hanazono vs. Tae Honma
• Hikari Shimizu, Rina Amikura, and Yuko Sakurai vs. Kaori Yoneyama, Maika Ozaki, and Makoto
• Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Kaho Kobayashi
• ASUKA and Yuu vs. SAKI and Saori Anou
• Maya Yukihi and Rina Yamashita vs. Miyuki Takase and Ryo Mizunami

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

Miyuki Takase vs. Natsu Sumire
Exhibition Match

Natsu attacks Takase before the match starts and stomps on her, Natsu picks up Takase but Takase blocks the slam attempt and hits a snapmare. Another snapmare by Takase and a third, she puts Natsu in a bodyscissors and rolls her around the ring. She eventually lets go, scoop slam by Takase and she covers Natsu for two. Takase puts Natsu in the corner, she tries to pull her back out but Natsu holds on for dear life. Natsu asks for a breather and gets some water, the referee keeps Takase at bay while Natsu composes herself. Natsu finally recovers, she throws Takase into the opposite corner and hits a back elbow. Natsu calls for and attempts her famous Bronco Buster, but Takase slides under it and cradles Natsu for two. Takase stomps Natsu, Irish whip by Takase and Natsu collapses near the ropes. Dropkick by Takase, she gets Natsu on her shoulders but Natsu slides off and hits a jumping neckdrop. Natsu boots Takase in the face twice while she is against the ropes, cover by Natsu but it gets two. Natsu picks up Takase, Takase chops her and goes off the ropes but Natsu delivers a big boot. Natsu goes for the cover but the bell rings as she does so, as time has expired. The match is a Draw.

A five minute exhibition is clearly going to end in a Draw, but it was still great to see Natsu in the right place (both mind and body) to wrestle again. Natsu was never a high end wrestler and wouldn’t have beaten Takase anyway, but she is entertaining and has the charisma that not many wrestlers possess. Natsu has a lot of fans around the world that appreciate the qualities she brings to the table, as she is a fun change of pace that has comedic elements to her character but isn’t a full-blown comedy wrestler that is limited in what she can do. A fun way to kick off the show and it would be hard to complain about an unadvertised match anyway, nothing but positives to take away from a surprise Natsu Sumire match even if it was short with an obvious conclusion.

Momoka Hanazono vs. Tae Honma

They both hype the crowd before Momoka decides to attack Tae from behind, they circle each other before tying up. Momoka gets Tae to the mat and twists her hair before throwing her into the corner. She gets a… bubble maker and holds it into Tae’s face, spraying her with bubbles. Momoka picks up Tae and slams her face into the mat, she gets the bubble maker again along with her plastic flower and sits on Tae’s back while spraying bubbles everywhere and choking her. I’m not really sure how to describe it so that’s the best I got. Momoka puts her toys away and Irish whips her, the referee decides to help and assists Momoka in kicking Tae in the chest. Momoka throws the referee to the mat before jumping off his back, hitting a footstomp on Tae for a two count. Irish whip by Momoka but Tae avoids the dropkick attempt and hits one of her own. Tae snaps Momoka’s arm, she picks up Momoka but Momoka elbows her and the two trade blows. Momoka kicks Tae in the shin and flips off everyone, but Tae kicks her in the shin back. Gut punch by Momoka, they do some shenanigans around the referee before Momoka hits a big spear on Tae for a two count. Momoka goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody, but that gets two as well. Irish whip by Momoka but Tae blocks it, she flings Momoka to the mat and puts her in an armbar. Momoka tries to get a hand on the ropes but Tae captures that arm too, Momoka keeps inching however and gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Tae goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Tae but it gets two. Tae picks up Momoka and gets her back in the Fujiwara Armbar, she applies the Tae Lock and Momoka has no choice but to submit! Tae Honma is the winner.

I think this is the first full match I’ve seen of Momoka, I like her methods. She is a little goofy but she can wrestle, and she got serious when she needed to. Fun personality, solid wrestling skills, maybe one to keep an eye on if she finds a better opportunity to shine down the road. Tae is really good of course and for a sub-ten match this was pretty entertaining as they kept things interesting and Tae’s focus on the arm was consistent. Nothing that will blow you away, but for an opener not given a lot of time I think it delivered.  Mildly Recommended

Hikari Shimizu, Amikura, and Yuko Sakurai vs. Kaori Yoneyama, Ozaki, and Makoto

COLOR’S attack before the bell rings, they stack their opponents in the corner but the veterans soon take back over and isolate Amikura in the ring. They pose on Amikura, Shimizu and Yuko briefly pose with them before they help their tag partner out of the situation. Yoneyama is isolated in the ring as all three of COLOR’S run over her before hitting a triple body press. Things settle down with Yuko and Yoneyama as the legal wrestlers, Yoneyama grabs Yuko by the nose and chops it before tagging in Maika. Lariat by Maika in the corner and she hits an elbow drop for two. Maika puts Yuko in a camel clutch but it is quickly broken up, Yuko then puts Maika in a camel clutch but Maika muscles out of it. Irish whip by Maika but Yuko hits a dropkick and tags Amikura. Amikura and Maika take turns trying to shoulderblock each other over with no luck, kick by Maika but Amikura clubs her in the chest and finally shoulderblocks her to the mat. Amikura picks up Maika and chops her a few times, she gets Maika into the corner but Maika fires out of it with a hard shoulderblock, giving her time to tag Makoto.

Big boot by Makoto in the corner and she hits a double kneedrop for two. Makoto picks up Amikura, Amikura gets away but Amikura missing the senton attempt and Makoto is back on offense. Makoto goes off the ropes but Amikura clubs her and hits a twisting senton for two. She makes the tag to Shimizu, Shimizu comes in the ring with a diving crossbody which also gets a two count. Shimizu picks up Makoto, they go back and forth until Makoto blocks a Shimizu cradle attempt and hits a heel drop. Double underhook suplex by Makoto, but Shimizu kicks out of the cover. Makoto kicks Shimizu around but Amikura catches her with a powerslam, Shimizu then hits a footstomp off of Amikura’s back. Shimizu picks up Makoto, knee by Shimizu but Makoto drills her with a boot. Makoto picks up Shimizu but Shimizu slides away, superkick by Shimizu but Makoto delivers a spear. She goes off the ropes but Shimizu slams her, and both wrestlers are down on the mat. They roll to their own corners and tag in Yuko and Yoneyama, shoulderblock by Yuko to Yoneyama but Yoneyama hits Mongolian Chops.

Yoneyama goes off the ropes but Yuko hits a scoop slam, she tries to go off the ropes but Maika hits her from the apron. Maika comes in, Yuko fights them off briefly but ultimately Maika and Yoneyama run through some double team moves successfully. Yoneyama gets on the second turnbuckle but hits her before she can jump off, Amikura gets Yoneyama on her shoulders and puts her upside down in the opposite corner. All three COLOR’S members attack Yoneyama, Yuko covers Yoneyama but it gets two. Yuko picks up Yoneyama but Yoneyama cradles her, Yuko gets a Dragon Sleeper applied before hitting the Final Cut, but the cover is broken up. All six wrestlers end up in the ring, the veterans get the upper hand and Yoneyama cradles Yuko for the three count! Yoneyama, Ozaki, and Makoto are the winners.

This was a little rough around the edges but not actively bad. There were bound to be some issues here – the COLOR’S team are generally well trained and solid enough wrestlers, but they aren’t high end wrestlers either and sometimes there were some awkward moments. Facing off against new opponents no doubt didn’t help, as the chemistry wasn’t really there. The veteran team clearly had the experience edge but they didn’t really “control” the action as they probably should have, with the exception of Makoto who is pretty entertaining. The hot ending helped and it wasn’t long enough to be offensive, but if this match wasn’t on the show at all I don’t think it would have hurt anything as it just came across as midcard fodder.

Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Kaho Kobayashi

Kaho kicks Hiroyo during the handshake and starts on Hiroyo’s wrist, headlock by Kaho but Hiroyo Irish whips out of it and the two collide with neither going down. Hiroyo goes off the ropes as does Kaho, jumping shoulderblock by Kaho but Hiroyo stays up and knocks over Kaho with her own shoulderblock. Kaho kips up and hits an armdrag off the ropes, tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Kaho and Hiroyo falls out of the ring. Kaho goes off the ropes to do a dive but rolls back into the ring instead before posing to the crowd. Hiroyo seems annoyed as she returns to the ring, front necklock by Kaho but Hiroyo blocks the suplex attempt and hits one of her own. Hiroyo picks up Kaho and puts her across the second rope in the corner, she charges in and knees Kaho in the midsection. Double kneedrop by Hiroyo and she covers Kaho for two. Hiroyo stomps on Kaho and chops her in the corner, she chops Kaho around the ring as Kaho takes the abuse and asks for more. Kaho eventually Flair Flops, Hiroyo approaches Kaho but Kaho cradles her for two. Dropkick by Kaho and she stomps on Hiroyo’s foot repeatedly, Hiroyo blocks a slam attempt but Kaho wiggles away from her and dropkicks Hiroyo in the arm. Kaho gets Hiroyo on her shoulders but collapses under the weight, both wrestlers slowly get up and Kaho knocks over Hiroyo with a dropkick.

Another dropkick by Kaho and Hiroyo falls out of the ring, Kaho goes to the top turnbuckle and dives out onto Hiroyo with a plancha suicida. Kaho slides Hiroyo into the ring and goes up top again, hitting a missile dropkick for two. Kaho picks up Hiroyo, she goes off the ropes but Hiroyo blocks the cradle and hits a backdrop suplex. Hiroyo picks up Kaho and the two trade elbows, Kaho goes to stomp on Hiroyo’s foot but Hiroyo does so first and slams Kaho face-first into the mat. Reverse double kneedrop out of the corner by Hiroyo, but Kaho kicks out of the cover. Kaho fires up but Hiroyo elbows her, she goes for the Liger Bomb but Kaho gets away from her and hits a hurricanrana for two. La Magistral by Kaho, but that gets a two as well. Kick to the face by Kaho and she hits a Fisherman Suplex Hold, but Hiroyo kicks out. Kaho goes off the ropes but Hiroyo levels her with a back elbow, but Kaho rolls through the cover. Kaho goes for the 120% Schoolboy but Hiroyo rolls through it, elbows by Kaho but Hiroyo elbows her back. Step-up Enzuigiri by Kaho and she goes off the ropes, but Hiroyo levels her with a lariat. Hiroyo picks up Kaho and nails the Liger Bomb, cover by Hiroyo and she gets the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto is the winner!

While the match wasn’t long, it certainly hit all the right notes. Kaho hasn’t lost a beat as she really brought it to Hiroyo, she couldn’t match her strength so instead she focused on speed and wit. In the end, Hiroyo’s power was too much and she put away the smaller wrestler, but Kaho had several close nearfalls so it was certainly not a lopsided affair. Kaho using the Flair Flop as a possum move was great as it made me go from “well that was kind of goofy” to respecting her methodology. I loved that even though she was the higher ranked wrestler that Hiroyo still respected Kaho’s finisher (120% Schoolboy) by not kicking out of it, leaving it as a move that Kaho still had in her back pocket up to the end to get a flash win. Fast paced and entertaining from bell to bell, a typical Kaho match that may not end up being the match everyone remembers from the show but a really fun contribution to the event as we roll onto the big matches.  Recommended

ASUKA and Yuu vs. SAKI and Saori Anou

ASUKA and Anou start the match, they do a pose off as they compete for the crowd’s attention, but that doesn’t last long as ASUKA hits Anou with a hard elbow. Anou elbows her back and they trade shots, headbutt by ASUKA but Anou avoids her boot and hits one of her own. Anou throws ASUKA into the corner but ASUKA hops on the top turnbuckle, leading to Anou backing off. She tags in SAKI while Yuu also tags in, Yuu and SAKI lock up and Yuu pushes SAKI into the corner. SAKI responds to her kindness with elbows, hard shoulderblock by Yuu but SAKI avoids her senton and hits a boot. She tags Anou but stays in the ring, they try to double team Yuu but Yuu hits a double crossbody on both of them. Yuu tags ASUKA, ASUKA chokes Anou with her boot in the corner with some help from Makoto who is at ringside. Sliding kick by ASUKA to Anou, and she covers her for two. ASUKA charges Anou but Anou catches her leg and hits a dragon screw. Anou starts on ASUKA’s leg but Yuu breaks things up, ASUKA picks up Anou and tags Yuu in. Yuu picks up Anou and hits a running elbow in the corner, cross armbreaker attempt by Yuu as SAKI tries to help her partner but ASUKA holds her back. Anou makes it to the ropes anyway, elbow drop by Yuu but Anou bridges out of the cover. Yuu tags ASUKA, ASUKA kicks Anou around the ring before putting her in Paradise Lock and posing on her.

Yuu sits on Anou which actually gets Anou out of the Paradise Lock, annoying ASUKA. ASUKA charges Anou but Anou rolls away and hits a step-up enzuigiri, giving her time to tag SAKI. SAKI kicks ASUKA and hits a vertical suplex, SAKI knees ASUKA in the corner and hits a Reverse Splash for two. SAKI picks up ASUKA but ASUKA pokes her in the eyes and delivers a dropkick. She tags in Yuu, shoulderblock by Yuu but SAKI lands in her corner and tags Anou. Missile dropkick by Anou, she goes for a slam but Yuu blocks it. SAKI comes in to help but Yuu hits a vertical suplex on both of them, Yuu puts Anou in a crab hold but Anou gets to the ropes for the break. Senton by Yuu and she covers Anou for a two count. Yuu gets up on the second turnbuckle but SAKI grabs her from the apron, running elbow by Anou and she joins Yuu. Frankensteiner attempt by Anou but Yuu catches her, Anou recovers and hits the Frankensteiner anyway followed by a sliding kick for two. Anou tags SAKI, SAKI goes to suplex Yuu but she can’t get her up. SAKI gets Yuu to the mat and puts her in an armtrap crossface, but Yuu gets a boot on the ropes for the break. SAKI goes off the ropes but Yuu tosses her to the mat, SAKI charges Yuu but Yuu hits a jumping crossbody. Yuu charges SAKI and delivers a cannonball, cover by Yuu but SAKI gets a shoulder up.

Yuu picks up SAKI but Anou runs in and boots her in the face, SAKI drives Yuu’s head into the mat and both wrestlers tag out. ASUKA and Anou trade boots, Anou gets ASUKA’s back and drops her with a release German. Anou picks up ASUKA and hits a step-up enzuigiri, superkick by ASUKA and she hits a second one for a two count. SAKI comes in but ASUKA hits a springboard moonsault off the ropes onto both opponents, with both falling out of the ring. Yuu gets in the ring, she drops down and rolls out onto both SAKI and Anou. ASUKA goes up to the top turnbuckle and dives out with a moonsault, but SAKI and Anou both move out of the way. Anou and SAKI attempt to double team ASUKA but it backfires, and ASUKA hits Anou repeatedly with chairs. Anou regains the advantage as the brawl at ringside continues, ASUKA and Anou end up in the crowd while SAKI and Yuu follow. The referee eventually figures he has given them enough leeway returning to the ring and calls for the bell. The match is a Double Count Out.

While I am not a big fan of moderately random matches on shows like this not having a conclusive ending, this was still pretty good. I do think there are storyline reasons where count outs, draws, etc. are fine, but as a general rule if the match doesn’t have a *reason* for a non-ending I’d rather it have one, it just gives fans a more satisfying feeling. I am not sure if we’ll ever see a pay-off from this and if we don’t, what was the point? That aside, the action was solid but something was missing. There were multiple stories going on (ASUKA and Yuu not always getting along, Saori/ASUKA hating each other, random limb work?) but it didn’t really mesh into a cohesive tag match. The pieces were there, they just never really joined them together so the match didn’t have a lot of flow to it. Still a good match as these four couldn’t have a bad match if they tried, but a little disappointing as I feel it could have been even better.  Mildly Recommended

Maya Yukihi and Rina Yamashita vs. Miyuki Takase and Ryo Mizunami

Takase and Maya start the match and start off trading holds, snapmare by Maya and she kicks Takase in the back. Takase wants more so Maya kicks her again, more kicks by Maya but Takase ducks the PK. Irish whip by Maya and but Takase hits an armdrag, kick to the chest by Maya but Takase kips up and chops Maya in the chest. They end up in a stalemate and both tag out, bringing in Ryo and Rina. Ryo and Rina lock knuckles, headlock by Ryo and she gets Rina to the mat. Rina gets back up and reverses the hold, they try to knock each other over with shoulderblocks with Rina eventually sending Ryo down. Rina knocks Takase off the apron as Maya comes in the ring, and they both attack Ryo while she is tied up in the ropes. Rina tags in Maya, kicks by Maya but Ryo elbows her back and the two trade blows. Maya gets the better of things, Rina returns and they go for a suplex but Ryo blocks it. Ryo knocks over both of them and stacks her opponents in the corner, lots of chops by Ryo and she hits a lariat on Maya. Cover by Ryo, but it gets a two count. She tags Takase but Maya kicks Takase and hits a backbreaker. Bootscrapes by Maya and she kicks Takase in the back, they trade strikes until Takase gets Maya against the ropes.

Lariat by Takase but Maya ducks the next one and hits a kick combination. Trip by Maya and she delivers a sliding kick, she tags in Rina and Rina lariats Takase in the corner. Scoop slam by Rina, Takase gets back up and Rina hits a hard elbow. Takase chops her in return but Rina hits another elbow and goes for a Sleeper. Takase runs into the corner to get out of the hold, Rina goes off the ropes but Takase catches her with a DDT followed by a cutter. Irish whip by Takase out of the corner, reversed, but Takase rebounds off the turnbuckle with a missile dropkick for two. Takase goes for a suplex but Rina easily reverses it into one of her own, she goes off the ropes but Takase hits a powerslam for a two count. She tags in Ryo, Rina and Ryo both connect with strikes until Ryo drops Rina with an overhead suplex. Rina quickly comes back with a backdrop suplex, sliding lariat by Rina and she covers Takase for two. Lariat by Rina, and she covers Ryo for two. Rina picks up Ryo but Ryo slides away and both wrestlers lariat each other to the mat. Rina tags in Maya, Maya goes to the top turnbuckle and comes in the ring with a missile dropkick. Jumping knee by Maya and she kicks Ryo in the chest for a quick two count. Maya rolls Ryo to the mat and applies a submission hold, but Ryo gets a toe on the ropes to force a break. Maya goes off the ropes but Ryo avoids her boot and Takase levels Maya with a spear.

Dropkick by Takase and she assists Ryo with a side slam, Ryo gets on the second turnbuckle as Takase hits a Kamikaze. Diving legdrop by Ryo, but Rina breaks up the cover. All four wrestlers trade running strikes, Rina lariats Maya by accident but on the second attempt she successfully lariats Ryo and Takase (and knocks out Maya in the process). Maya recovers and hits a dual superkick to Ryo, Rina goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving body press. Running knee by Maya, but Takase breaks up the cover. Maya charges Ryo but Ryo moves, strike combination by Maya but Ryo hits a hard lariat. Maya pops up just to eat another lariat, Ryo charges Maya but Maya kicks her to the mat. Buzzsaw Kick by Maya, and she covers Ryo for two. Sliding knee by Maya, but again Takase breaks up the cover. Maya picks up Ryo but Ryo blocks the Tiger Driver, high kick by Maya but Ryo blocks it again. Uranage by Ryo and she hits a spear, picking up a two count. Ryo goes off the ropes and delivers a hard lariat, she drags Maya back to her feet and nails the Hot Limit for the three count! Ryo Mizunami and Miyuki Takase are the winners!

One can’t help but compare this match to the one that came before it, as both had Freelance tag teams and went about the same amount of time. This match was much better, and a number of things helped it. First, both of the teams wrestled like they were a real team, lots of team work and fluid setups that kept the match interesting. It also had a real ending, which I appreciate, and there was more of a sense of urgency with all four of them. It didn’t hurt that Maya really brought her A Game, she is really underappreciated as far as in-ring ability goes and she was firing on all cylinders here. Ryo was more grounded, which I liked, and both Rina and Miyuki looked great as well. Just four talented wrestlers beating the hell out of each other for twenty minutes, what is not to love? Easily the best match on the card and worth watching, its going to slot below other matches in 2022 that maybe had more of a backstory and emotion behind it but as far as in-ring action goes it doesn’t get much better than this.  Highly Recommended

The post NOMADS’ “Freelance Summit” on 5/20/22 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maria vs. Riko Kawahata

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

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

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

(c) Takumi Iroha vs. Yuu
AAAW Championship

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Event: SEAdLINNNG Shin-Kiba Night!
Date: February 21st, 2022
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 125
Broadcast: PPV Stream on seadlinnnglive.com

It has been awhile since I reviewed a SEAdLINNNG event, so let’s see what they are up to. A lot has changed in the last few months, as Nanae Takahashi has left the promotion but Yoshiko made her return from injury. The promotion currently only has three active contracted wrestlers, as Honori Hana retired last year to add to the loss of Nanae. So needless to say, they use a lot of Freelancers. This event has a big title match and a High Speed match that actually looks interesting, so there is some potential here for goodness. Here is the full card:

• Riko Kawahata vs. Yumiko Hotta
• Miyuki Takase vs. Rina Yamashita vs. Yoshiko
• Ayame Sasamura, Makoto, and Riko Kaiju vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto, Itsuki Aoki, and Yuki Mashiro
• SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship: Arisa Nakajima vs. Hanako Nakamori

All the wrestlers on the show have a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. As this streamed online, all matches will be shown in full.

Riko Kawahata vs. Yumiko Hotta

Riko attacks Hotta as soon as she gets into the ring before the bell rings, elbows by Riko but Hotta shrugs it off and hits a lariat. Riko jumps back up and hits more elbows, she goes to the top turnbuckle but Hotta throws her jacket at her to knock her to the floor. Hotta goes out after Riko, Riko goes to the apron and goes for a PK but Hotta catches her leg and tosses her back to the floor again. Riko keeps fighting back but Hotta hits a hard elbow, more elbows by Riko but Hotta throws her into the ring post. Kicks to the chest by Hotta and she slides Riko into the ring, Riko pushes Hotta away and hits more elbows but Hotta rocks her with one elbow in return. Dropkick by Riko and she kicks Hotta in the leg, more kicks by Riko and she finally knocks Hotta off her feet. Riko knees Hotta against the ropes before picking her up, but Hotta trips her and applies a single leg crab hold. Riko gets to the ropes for the break, Riko ducks Hotta’s elbow and applies a sleeper hold. Hotta flings Riko off of her and kicks Riko in the back before applying a sleeper hold of her own. Riko almost goes out but Hotta releases the hold and kicks Riko out of the ring so that the people at ringside can revive her.

Hotta gets her chain and throws it at Riko, she then chokes Riko with the chain before finally letting go. Riko ducks the next chain shot attempt and returns the favor, hitting Hotta with the chain and delivering a series of mounted elbows to her chest. She gets on the apron and dives off with a footstomp to Hotta’s midsection, she goes to the apron while Hotta gets up and rolls back in the ring. Riko goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, she goes up top again and hits a second one for a one count. Riko applies a figure four leglock but Hotta quickly gets to the ropes, high kicks by Riko and she re-applies the figure four. Hotta manages to get to the ropes for the break, PK by Riko and she goes to the top turnbuckle, but Hotta gets her feet up on the moonsault attempt. Riko applies a quick cradle for two, head kick by Riko but that gets a two count as well. Riko picks up Hotta and goes off the ropes, but Hotta catches her with a heel kick. Sleeper by Hotta but Riko gets a foot on the ropes, lariat by Hotta and she hits a second one for a two count. Hotta picks up Riko and nails the Pyramid Driver, and she picks up the three count! Yumiko Hotta is the winner.

If this is how Hotta treats people she likes, imagine if she doesn’t like you. Hotta hasn’t lost a singles match to a younger wrestler lower than her on the totem pole in an eternity and she isn’t about to start now, but she gave Riko quite a bit of offense here even as she mostly stayed in control. I loved how feisty Riko was at the start even as Hotta shrugged her off, and the “put someone to sleep but they wake up super angry” spot isn’t done often so the old-school spin was fun. Riko really took it to Hotta for the middle portion and showed a lot of fight, and even though she lost this was certainly not a one-sided affair. A really entertaining match and how trainer/trainee matches should be done as Hotta elevated Riko by both being vicious but taking it right back from her.  Recommended

Miyuki Takase vs. Rina Yamashita vs. Yoshiko

I am still adjusting to Yoshiko’s weight loss, she looks like a totally difference person. As expected, Miyuki is targeted by all three (two opponents + referee) to start the match as she is beaten down in the corner. Running boot by Rina but she bumps Yoshiko in the process, Yoshiko doesn’t like that so she goes after Rina. Irish whip by Yoshiko but Rina reverses it, boot by Yoshiko and she hits a slingshot headlock takedown followed by a spinning headscissors. Yoshiko goes for an Octopus Hold but Miyuki jumps on her back, applying one of her own as they are all stacked on top of each other. Taiyo gets them apart, dropkick by Miyuki to Rina out of the corner and she applies a Fujiwara Armbar. Yoshiko breaks it up and stomps Miyuki out of the way, she goes to Rina and they for the moment work together again. Double vertical suplex to Miyuki but Yoshiko quickly rolls up Rina for a two count. Rina is naturally annoyed by this betrayal and kicks her, Rina puts Yoshiko in the corner and hits a lariat.

Chops by Rina as Miyuki joins in, but Rina chops Miyuki out of the ring. Rina scoop slams Yoshiko and puts Yoshiko in a crab hold. Miyuki joins her as she puts Yoshiko in a camel clutch, but Taiyo breaks it up. Miyuki kicks Taiyo out of the ring but Taiyo trips her and pulls Miyuki out to the floor. Rina and Yoshiko trade elbows, Yoshiko kicks Rina and delivers a running boot. Miyuki runs in with a senton but Yoshiko hits a senton as well on both of them. Taiyo puts Miyuki in the ropes but Rina attacks all three of them, she goes back to Miyuki and puts her in a leg submission. Yoshiko and Taiyo both return to the ring, Yoshiko elbows Rina and puts her in a stretch hold before letting go to hit a lariat. Yoshiko picks up Miyuki but Miyuki throws her into Taiyo and hits a cutter. Lariat by Miyuki to Rina in the corner, cradle by Miyuki but Rina reverses it. Lariat by Rina, she goes off the ropes but Miyuki is back up. Rina lariats her again but Miyuki recovers and cradles her for two. Kick by Rina and she gets Miyuki on her shoulders, but Miyuki slides off and Yoshiko hits Rina with a Codebreaker. Cradle by Miyuki to Yoshiko but Yoshiko gets out of it and applies La Magistral for the (quick) three count! Yoshiko is the winner.

I’m not the biggest fan of the “high speed” SEAdLINNNG gimmick but its been here since the beginning so clearly its something that Natsuki Taiyo really enjoys. Any combination of these two could have a banger match, so while this match was fine it was too chaotic and comedic to really let them show off their skills. If you enjoy these matches generally, you’ll probably like this one too, but to me its just a waste of three really talented wrestlers to play around with Taiyo, if Taiyo would just return to wrestling like she clearly misses the world would be a better place.

Ayame Sasamura, Makoto, and Kaiju vs. Matsumoto, Aoki, and Yuki Mashiro

Kaiju and Yuki start the match, they lock knuckles and trade wristlocks before going into a fast exchange which ends with a Yuki dropkick. She tags in Hiroyo, Hiroyo tosses around Kaiju by the hair and slaps her in the corner. Hiroyo lays Kaiju across the ropes in the corner and hits a running knee, cover by Hiroyo but it gets two. Hiroyo tags Yuki back in and she hits a dropkick, but Kaiju shrugs it off. Yuki hits a few more with more success, cover by Yuki but Kaiju kicks out. Yuki picks up Kaiju but Kaiju hits a dropkick of her own, three more dropkicks by Kaiju and she covers Yuki for two. She tags Makoto, Makoto drives Yuki into the turnbuckle and chokes her with her boot. Irish whip by Makoto and she delivers a big boot, but Yuki bridges out of the cover. Makoto picks up Yuki and goes for a slam, but Yuki blocks it and applies a submission hold. Makoto gets into the ropes for the break, kicks by Yuki but Makoto drop toeholds her into the second rope before kicking it. Sasamura and Kaiju both come in the ring as they mess with Yuki, putting her in a pretzel and posing on her. Double footstomp by Makoto and she tags in Sasamura, Yuki tries to fight back but Sasamura bops her in the back of the head.

Irish whip by Sasamura and with Kaiju they both hit elbows followed by a double kick to the head. Sasamura picks up Yuki, Yuki gets away but Makoto hits her form the apron. Yuki dropkicks Kaiju anyway and tags in Aoki, hard shoulderblock by Aoki and she elbows Sasamura in the corner. Bulldog by Aoki but Sasamura delivers a dropkick, Sasamura picks up Aoki and the two trade elbows. Back elbow by Aoki, she picks up Sasamura but Sasamura dropkicks her in the knee and hits a DDT. She rolls to her corner and tags Makoto, Makoto kicks Aoki in the corner before kicking her in the back, Makoto picks up Aoki and knees her in the midsection. Drop toehold by Aoki and she dropkicks Makoto, giving her time to tag Hiroyo. Body attack by Hiroyo to Makoto but Makoto boots her and the two trade blows. Eye poke by Makoto but Hiroyo levels her with a lariat, vertical suplex by Makoto but Hiroyo blocks the spear and hits a suplex of her own. Hiroyo picks up Makoto, knee by Makoto and she hits a heel drop. Head kick by Makoto, she goes off the ropes and delivers a spear for a two count. Makoto tags Kaiju, Kaiju goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody for two. Dropkick by Kaiju and she goes for a slam, but Hiroyo blocks it and hits one of her own. Sasamura runs in and helps Kaiju regain the advantage, roll-up by Kaiju but it gets two. Kaiju goes off the ropes but Hiroyo nails a back elbow for a two count.

Elbows by Kaiju but Hiroyo hits a hard lariat, she tags in Aoki and Aoki hits a running double knee to Kaiju’s back. Snap suplex with a bridge by Aoki to Kaiju, but it gets two. Aoki slams Kaiju in front of the corner but Sasamura elbows her from the apron, she climbs up with her with Kaiju and they both drive Aoki into the mat. Aoki elbows Kaiju but Kaiju elbows her back, Makoto boots Aoki and both Sasamura and Kaiju deliver sliding kicks to Aoki. Makoto goes for her cartwheel double kneedrop, but Yuki runs in and covers Aoki with her body to protect her. Once the ring clears, Kaiju hits a diving crossbody on Aoki but it gets two. Aoki slides behind Kaiju and drops her with a STP, she picks up Kaiju but Kaiju cradles her with a jackknife for two. Boot by Aoki but Sasamura distracts her from the floor, giving Kaiju a chance to roll-up Aoki for two. Kaiju goes for a suplex by Aoki blocks it, lariat by Aoki but her cover gets a two count. Yuki runs in and jumps on Aoki’s back to assist with a body press, but Kaiju moves out of the way and Sasamura returns as they both deliver dropkicks. Kaiju picks up Aoki and hits a Northern Lights Suplex Hold, but Hiroyo breaks it up. Kaiju and Sasamura go after Hiroyo but Hiroyo hits a backdrop suplex on both of them, Hiroyo goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a reverse double kneedrop on Kaiju. Aoki then gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a body press, but Makoto breaks it up. Aoki picks up Kaiju and nails the Daikoku Drop, cover by Aoki and she gets the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto, Itsuki Aoki, and Yuki Mashiro are the winners.

This was a pretty solid six wrestler tag leading to the main event to keep the show rolling. The match probably didn’t need six as Yuki did very little, this was the Aoki show and she really looked great. Itsuki Aoki is going to be a star if given the opportunity, she has the personality and the ability to hold your attention to whatever she is doing. Ayame and Riko looked good as well, while Makoto and Hiroyo did their spots but mostly gave the younger wrestlers the spotlight. Fast paced and entertaining, even though it didn’t have a lot of “meaning” it was still an impressive display by those involved. A good match in general but Aoki did her best to make it memorable.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Arisa Nakajima vs. Hanako Nakamori
SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Championship

They circle each other to start, they end up on the mat as they grapple for position with Hanako getting the early advantage. She goes for a cross armbreaker but Arisa blocks it, they end up back on their feet and trade holds. Irish whip by Hanako but Arisa boots her, Hanako returns the favor as they exchange boots to the face. Arisa knocks Hanako off her feet but Hanako snapmares Arisa and kicks her repeatedly in the back. PK by Hanako and she hits a leg drop for a two count. Hanako gets Arisa in the corner and chokes her with her knee, waistlock by Hanako but Arisa reverses it. Cradle by Arisa into a double footstomp, Arisa kicks at Hanako’s head before delivering a running boot. Snapmare by Arisa and she kicks Hanako in the back, dropkick by Arisa and she covers Hanako for two. Chinlock by Arisa, she lets go after a moment but Hanako throws her into the corner. Arisa avoids Hanako’s charge and slides out to the apron, but Hanako grabs her and slams her head repeatedly in the top turnbuckle. Hanako goes out to the apron but Arisa boots her down to the floor, she then gets a start on the apron and hits a missile dropkick down onto Hanako.

Arisa goes to the top turnbuckle and jumps off, but Hanako kicks her in the midsection while she is on the way down. Hanako slides Arisa back into the ring and applies an Octopus Hold in the ropes, she lets go and hits a running kick to Arisa’s back. Armbar by Hanako, she puts Arisa’s arm around the top rope and twists it. Arisa fires back with an elbow but Hanako trips her and applies an armbar, but Arisa gets to the ropes for the break. Hanako kicks Arisa in the chest while she is against the ropes, she charges Arisa but Arisa catches her kick and hits a Sling Blade. Arisa picks up Hanako and puts her in the ropes, she goes out to the apron and elbows Hanako repeatedly. Arisa kicks Hanako back and goes to the top turnbuckle, missile dropkick by Arisa and she covers Hanako for two. Waistlock by Arisa but Hanako elbows out of it, she goes off the ropes but Arisa avoids her and kicks Hanako in the back of the head. Knee by Arisa, and she covers Hanako for two. Ankle Hold by Arisa and she hits a release German, she goes to the top turnbuckle but Hanako elbows her before she can jump off. Hanako joins Arisa and hits a superplex, she goes to the top turnbuckle but Arisa also recovers in time and gets on the turnbuckle too. They trade elbows, Arisa knocks Hanako down in a Tree of Woe outside the ring before she jumps off with a footstomp.

Arisa returns to the top turnbuckle and dives down to the floor with a footstomp on Hanako, Arisa slides Hanako back in and hits another diving footstomp from the top. Cover by Arisa, but Hanako kicks out. Knees by Arisa and she kicks Hanako into the corner, running double knee by Arisa but Hanako blocks the suplex and kicks Arisa in the head. Hanako applies a seated armbar but Arisa gets a foot on the ropes, knees by Hanako but Arisa elbows her in the head. High kick by Hanako and she delivers a Shining Wizard, cover by Hanako but it gets a two count. Hanako scoops up Arisa and nails a tombstone piledriver, but that gets a two as well. Hanako goes to the top turnbuckle but Arisa rolls out of the way of the guillotine leg drop, Hanako still recovers first and hits a heel kick but Arisa returns with an elbow. The two trade shots until Arisa drops Hanako with a release German, but Hanako delivers a step-up kick. Unfazed, Arisa rocks Hanako with an elbow before they both knock each other to the mat. They both slowly get up, elbow combination by Arisa but Hanako ducks one and hits another kick. Hanako hits two Requiem Drivers but Arisa blocks the third and they trade flash covers for two. Head kick by Hanako and she hits a third Requiem Driver, but Arisa barely kicks out. Hanako drags Arisa up but Arisa blocks her next move attempt, Arisa blocks Hanako’s kicks and catches one to hit a Leg Capture German Suplex Hold for two. Arisa puts Hanako in a Dragon Sleeper, she lets go so she can hit a Dragon Suplex Hold but it only gets a two count. Hard elbow by Arisa and she nails the DxD Suplex for the three count! Arisa Nakajima wins and is still the champion.

Arisa Nakajima doesn’t wrestle as much as she used to, but when she does she certainly doesn’t hold back. Her style really hasn’t changed that much since her “prime” years in JWP – lots of suplexes, lots of jumping off the turnbuckles, and lots of hard elbows. Course, even though she debuted in 2006 she is only 32 years old, so she still can certainly bring it. Hanako was very game, I wouldn’t put her on Arisa’s level but these two know how to put a match together and have great chemistry. There were a few little things that weren’t needed, such as Hanako’s half-hearted arm work that went nowhere fast, but there was little filler here as Arisa only knows one speed. It felt like it ended at just the right time, so many promotions now think the main event has to have a super long ending sequence, while this one felt satisfying without being excessive. Hard hitting and captivating, not quite a MOTYC but not too far from it as Arisa Nakajima is still one of the best in the world and she showed it here. Very entertaining and a fitting main event in every aspect, worth tracking down for some old-school Joshi action.  Highly Recommended

The post SEAdLINNNG Shin-Kiba Night! on 2/21/22 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: PURE-J Fight Together
Date: April 11th, 2021
Location: Itabashi Green Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 110
Broadcast Information: Streamed on PURE-J Filmuy Channel

Excited to take a look at PURE-J for the April Streaming Service Evaluation, an often forgotten Joshi promotion. PURE-J has a pretty solid streaming service and uploads most of their shows, which is great as otherwise we wouldn’t get to watch them very often. This is actually a big event for the promotion, with a notable singles match for Hanako Nakamori and a championship title match. Here is the full card:

• Chie Ozora vs. Megumi Yabushita
• KAZUKI vs. Misa Matsui
• AKARI and Mari vs. Crea and Makoto
• Hanako Nakamori vs. Yumi Ohka
• PURE-J Openweight Championship: Kaori Yoneyama vs. Rydeen Hagane

All matches were shown in full. To visit a wrestler’s profile on Joshi City, you can click on their name above.

Chie Ozora vs. Megumi Yabushita

Chie goes for a dropkick right off the start but Yabushita swats her away, stomps by Yabushita and she hits a dropkick of her own for two. Chie goes off the ropes and connects with the dropkick this time, snapmare by Chie and she applies a sleeper hold. She lets go after a moment and switches to a bodyscissors, but Yabushita gets out of it and applies a cross-leg submission. Yabushita picks up Chie and hits a snapmare before flinging Chie around by the hair. Sleeper by Yabushita but Chie gets a toe on the ropes to force the break. Yabushita picks up Chie and hits a scoop slam, double kneedrop by Yabushita and she hits a couple more scoop slams for two. Chie fights back with an elbow and the two trade shots, Yabushita gets Chie down and puts her in an armbar. Chie again gets to the ropes for a break, Yabushita grabs Chie’s arm and applies an armbar hanging over the top rope. She lets go after a moment, Chie reverses a wristlock into one of her own but Yabushita reverses it back.

Chie regains the advantage and tries to walk the ropes while holding Yabushita’s arm, but she falls off (not on purpose). Back in the ring, Chie rolls Yabushita to the mat and applies an ankle hold, but Yabushita makes it to the ropes. Small package by Chie and she applies a kneelock, but Yabushita rights out of it and puts Chie in a crab hold. She switches it to a cross armbreaker attempt, but Chie gets to the ropes for the break. Chie gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Chie but it gets a two count. Chie charges Yabushita and goes over her back for a cradle, but Yabushita kicks out again. Rolling Cradle by Chie, but that gets two as well. Chie picks up Yabushita and hits a Fisherman Suplex Hold, but Yabushita gets a shoulder up. Chie goes off the ropes but Yabushita catches her with a judo toss, armbreaker by Yabushita but Chie gets to the ropes. Yabushita picks up Chie but Chie sneaks in a few more flash pins for two. Bridging suplex by Yabushita, she quickly puts Chie in a cross armbreaker and Chie submits! Megumi Yabushita is the winner.

I’m surprised about how even this match was, which probably says more for Yabushita than it does for Chie. Yabushita is a pretty entry-level veteran so she doesn’t really lose anything by giving a rookie so much offense. Chie is still early in her career so no judgement here, but the botches always stick out and I’m just glad she wasn’t hurt when she slipped off the ropes. Otherwise she looked fine although she didn’t pop off the screen either. A decent opener in the sense that Chie got some experience and Yabushita was a good base for showing her around the ring in a competent manner.

KAZUKI vs. Misa Matsui

They lock up to start, Misa gets KAZUKI into the ropes but she gives a clean break. Misa steps on KAZUKI’s foot but KAZUKI kicks her in the stomach, Misa gets KAZUKI to the mat and delivers a sliding kick. Misa goes for a scoop slam but KAZUKI blocks it, hitting a scoop slam of her own for a two count. Crab hold by KAZUKI but Misa inches to the ropes to force the break. KAZUKI grabs Misa by the hair but Misa lands on her feet on the hair whip attempt, snapmare by Misa and she applies a bodyscissors. She lets go after a moment, knee to the stomach by KAZUKI and she throws Misa into the corner. Irish whip by KAZUKI and she hits a running knee, another Irish whip by KAZUKI but this time Misa flips over her and hits a dropkick. More dropkicks by Misa but KAZUKI stays up, elbows by Misa but KAZUKI blocks the suplex attempt. Knee by KAZUKI but Misa hits a jumping crossbody for two. Armbar by Misa but she lets go after a moment and stomps on KAZUKI. Misa goes off the ropes but KAZUKI knees her in the stomach, another knee to the stomach by KAZUKI (that’s kinda her thing) but Misa grabs her arm and goes for an armbar. KAZUKI gets to the ropes for a break, knee by KAZUKI and she hits another one.

KAZUKI picks up Misa and hits a double underhook slam onto her knee for a two count cover. KAZUKI picks up Misa and puts her in the corner across the ropes, she then gets on the top turnbuckle but Misa slides out to the apron. She tries to slam KAZUKI into the turnbuckle but KAZUKI blocks it, Misa returns the favor however and elbows KAZUKI. Misa gets on the top turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody for a two count. Fisherman suplex hold by Misa, but that gets a two as well. Misa goes up top but KAZUKI avoids her diving footstomp, Misa quickly applies an Octopus Hold but KAZUKI gets to the ropes. Misa charges KAZUKI and hits a low crossbody, she goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving footstomp for a two count. Waistlock by Misa but KAZUKI gets to the ropes, Misa charges KAZUKI but KAZUKI drops her with a Codebreaker. Running double knee by KAZUKI and she hits a reverse double kneedrop for a two count. KAZUKI picks up Misa but Misa slides away, backdrop suplex by KAZUKI and she covers Misa for two. KAZUKI picks up Misa but Misa slides off and goes for a sunset flip, but KAZUKI blocks it. Misa goes for a few more flash pins with no luck, Samoan Cutter by KAZUKI but Misa barely kicks out of the cover. KAZUKI goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving kneedrop, cover by KAZUKI but Misa bridges out of the pin. KAZUKI quickly goes all the way up to the top turnbuckle and hits another diving kneedrop, and this time she picks up the three count! KAZUKI is the winner.

I’ve mentioned before that I like when wrestlers focus on a certain aspect of offensive strategy but KAZUKI takes it a little too far. I am just imagining her waking up one day and saying “I am going to only knee people in the stomach, that’s my thing now.” In her defense, at least her finishing moves also focus on knees to the stomach, but I just wish she had more ‘set up’ moves than the common kitchen sink. It just gets a bit repetitive. Misa looked good here, hit all her spots well and has a nice variety of offense. I really enjoyed the match when Misa was on offense, and if KAZUKI would just change her offense up this would have been a sneaky good match. Its still solid though and a good showcase for Misa, she certainly has potential.  Mildly Recommended

AKARI and Mari vs. Crea and Makoto

AKARI and Crea start the match, they trade wristlocks until AKARI gets Crea to the mat. Crea gets away and they reach a stalemate, they lock knuckles and go into a quick exchange which ends with a AKARI dropkick. Mari comes in but so does Makoto and she helps Crea get the advantage. AKARI is thrown into the corner and double teamed, cover by Crea but it gets a two count. Crea tags Makoto, Makoto stomps on AKARI and she hits a springboard crossbody. Double kneedrop by Makoto, and she covers AKARI for two. Irish whip by Makoto but AKARI hits a dropkick, giving her time to tag in Mari. PK by Mari but Makoto kicks her back, dropkick by Makoto and she covers Mari for two. Makoto goes off the ropes and boots Mari, she grabs Mari but Mari throws her to the mat and applies a leglock. Crea breaks it up, boots by Mari to Makoto but Makoto drop toeholds her into the second rope. Stomps by Makoto and she tags Crea, she tries to shoulderblock Mari to the mat but Mari stays on her feet. Kick to the stomach by Mari but Crea ducks the high kick and finally shoulderblocks Mari to the mat. Crea puts Mari in a Sickle Hold but Makoto holds back AKARI, but AKARI gets free and breaks up the hold.

Crea picks up Mari but Mari kicks her in the leg, Crea elbows her back and the two trade shots. Crea hits a series of elbows but Mari returns with a series of kicks, she knocks Crea to the mat and follows with a PK for two. Mari picks up Crea and gets her on her shoulders, hitting a Samoan Drop for a close two count. Mari picks up Crea but Crea catches her kick and applies an ankle hold. Mari gets to the ropes for the break, dropkick to the back by Crea and she covers Mari for two. She tags Makoto, Makoto knees Mari in the stomach and boots her twice for a two count cover. Makoto throws Mari into the corner but Mari kicks her back and hits a facecrusher. Mari puts Makoto in a Rocking Horse, but she lets go after a moment and goes for a Gory Special. Makoto blocks that and hits a DDT, kick to the ribs by Makoto and she hits the handstand double kneedrop for two. Makoto picks up Mari but Mari blocks the double underhook, high kicks by Mari and she covers Makoto for a two count. Mari tags AKARI, AKARI throws Makoto into the corner and hits a running elbow. Makoto avoids the next one and knees AKARI, but AKARI slides out to the apron and with Mari’s help she hits a missile dropkick for a two count.

Northern Lights Suplex Hold by AKARI, but that gets a two as well. AKARI picks up Makoto but Makoto hits an armdrag, she applies an armbar but AKARI gets to the ropes for the break. Makoto picks up AKARI and hits a suplex, she goes to the corner and tags Crea. Crea goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Crea but AKARI kicks out. AKARI blocks the suplex and hits a Pump Kick, but Crea boots her back for a two count. Crea applies an armbar, but Mari breaks it up. Drop toehold by AKARI and she hits Crea with a Tiger Feint Kick, she quickly applies an armtrap crossface but Crea gets out of it and applies a crossface of her own. Mari breaks it up, Crea goes off the ropes but AKARI catches her with a cradle for two. La Magistral gets a two as well, Crea then tries her own flash pin but that also gets two. Makoto spears AKARI, Crea goes off the ropes and hits a bodyscissors takedown for a two count. Crea goes off the ropes again but this time AKARI catches her with a vertical suplex, AKARI applies Muy Bien and Crea quickly taps out! AKARI and Mari are the winners!

This match is peak PURE-J. Pretty well worked, technically sound wrestlers and a decent pace, but nothing particularly spectacular or memorable. I’ve always liked Mari, she has a good look and wrestles with a sense of urgency, she is kinda hiding in Actwres girl’Z but she’s a bundle of fun. The rest all looked fine, just a few minor hiccups but generally the match flowed well from bell to bell. I’m not as sold on Crea as I am on Mari but she didn’t do anything to stand out in a bad way, which sometimes is all you can ask for with less experienced wrestlers. A good match, no major complaints even if it never reached the next level.  Mildly Recommended

Hanako Nakamori vs. Yumi Ohka

They quickly get into it as Ohka hits a hip toss, but Nakamori fires back with a lariat and they end up with a stalemate. They lock knuckles but break cleanly, elbow by Ohka but Nakamori kicks her when she charges in. Elbow by Ohka and she hits a big boot in the corner, another boot by Ohka and she covers Nakamori for two. Ohka picks up Nakamori and slams her face into the mat, she stands on Nakamori’s back and does a little dance. Double kneedrop by Ohka, she picks up Nakamori and hits a scoop slam. Headscissors by Ohka but Nakamori gets to the ropes, Irish whip attempt by Ohka but Nakamori blocks it and kicks her in the back. Kick to the chest by Nakamori and she hits a legdrop, she puts Ohka in the ropes and goes out to the apron so she can kick her repeatedly in the chest. Running kick to the back by Nakamori and she covers Ohka for two. Nakamori picks up Ohka but Ohka stomps on her foot, knees by Ohka and she puts Nakamori in the ropes. Repeated kicks to the face from the apron by Ohka, she get back into the ring and does the same on the other side of the ring.

Irish whip by Ohka to the corner and she delivers a running boot, she tries another Irish whip but Nakamori reverses it and kicks her in the corner. Ohka comes back with another boot but Nakamori returns with a lariat, they trade waistlocks until Nakamori drops down and kicks Ohka in the head. Nakamori drops Ohka onto the second rope and boots her from the apron, Nakamori goes up top and hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Nakamori applies a modified armbar but Ohka gets to the ropes, Nakamori charges Ohka and boots her into the ropes. She charges Ohka again but Ohka drops her onto the top rope, boot by Ohka and she hits another one from the apron. Back in, running boot by Ohka and she covers Nakamori for two. Ohka picks up Nakamori but Nakamori blocks the suplex, kick combination by Nakamori and she ends with a PK. Nakamori goes up top but Ohka avoids her charge, cross-arm Backstabber by Ohka and she keeps the hold applied on the mat. She lets go after a moment, Ohka goes off the ropes and boots Nakamori in the face for a two count. Ohka goes up top but Nakamori recovers and joins her, but Ohka elbows her back to the mat. Nakamori gets back up and re-joins her, hitting a superplex but she is too hurt to make a cover.

Nakamori is up first and kicks Ohka, but Ohka kicks her back and they trade boots. Ohka wins the boots duel, she goes off the ropes but Nakamori hits an enzuigiri. Ohka quickly hits a backdrop suplex but Nakamori drops her with a fisherman buster. Ohka fires back with a brainbuster, and both wrestlers are down on the mat. They both slowly get back up, headbutt by Nakamori but Ohka boots her to the mat. Ohka picks up Nakamori but Nakamori delivers a strike combination, running kick by Nakamori and she covers Ohka for two. Nakamori goes up top and nails the Destiny Hammer, but Ohka barely kicks out of the cover. Nakamori drags up Ohka, she goes off the ropes but Ohka nails the Choke Bomb for two. Heel drop by Ohka, but Nakamori gets a leg on the ropes to break up the pin. Ohka goes off the ropes and boots Nakamori in the face, but Nakamori recovers and they trade flash pins. Buzzsaw Kick by Nakamori, but Ohka kicks out. Nakamori picks up Ohka but Ohka hits a release Dragon Suplex. Big boot by Ohka but the bell has rung as the time has expired. The match is a Draw.

Certainly an interesting match, I will give them that. They started a little slow as veterans tend to do but at a certain point one of them must have yelled ITS GO TIME as they went straight to no selling and bomb throwing like they were wrestling at Budokan. I’ll give them credit for not dogging it on a small non-televised event but if you like selling and what not this is not the match for you as no matter what move was being done to them it may as well have been a finger poke. They went back to a more reasonable speed at the end, either because they were legitimately tired or they knew time was coming and had to get to the right spot, which was actually nice as it would make sense that they wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace they had for a few minutes there. All in all I enjoyed it, the no selling was both ways so no one was being disrespected and they went out there with the goal of putting on something memorable. Which it was and will likely overshadow the main event. A very strike-heavy but entertaining match, all things considered.  Recommended

(c) Kaori Yoneyama vs. Rydeen Hagane
PURE-J Openweight Championship

Kaori applies a waistlock but Rydeen shakes her off, she tries again but Rydeen shoulderblocks her down. Rydeen goes for a body press but Kaori moves and hits a running senton. Kaori goes off the ropes but Rydeen catches her with a hip toss, lariat by Rydeen in the corner and she hits a second more. Short-range lariats by Rydeen and she applies a crab hold, but Kaori gets to the ropes for the break. Rydeen sits down on Kaori’s back before picking her up and clubbing Kaori in the back. Rydeen gets Kaori on her back but Kaori slides away and applies a waistlock, Rydeen drives Kaori into the corner to get her off but Kaori avoids her lariat attempt. Kaori twists Rydeen’s leg in the second rope and dropkicks it, elbow drops to the leg by Kaori and she twists on Rydeen’s knee. She lets go after a moment and hits a senton on Rydeen’s leg, but Rydeen elbows her and hits a sidewalk slam for two. Rydeen picks up Kaori but Kaori cradles her to the mat and applies a kneelock. Rydeen crawls to the ropes and forces the break, running knee to the back by Kaori and she hits a satellite DDT for two. Kaori picks up Rydeen and applies a waistlock, Rydeen gets out of it and drops Kaori with a Samoan Drop. Lariat by Rydeen and she hits a second one, cover by Rydeen but it gets two.

Rydeen goes for a powerbomb but Kaori gets out of it, superkick by Rydeen and she delivers a heel kick. Rydeen positions Kaori and goes to the second turnbuckle, hitting a reverse splash senton for a two count cover. Rydeen goes all the way up the next time but Kaori avoids the moonsault, Kaori rolls Rydeen to the mat and applies a cross kneelock. Rydeen barely gets a boot on the ropes to force a break, knee to the back of the head by Kaori and she hits one from the front. More running knees by Kaori and she covers Rydeen for a two count. Kaori picks up Rydeen but Rydeen reverses the sunset flip powerbomb. Rydeen goes back up top but Kaori recovers and grabs her leg from behind. Kaori manages to toss Rydeen back down to the mat, she goes to the top turnbuckle and nails the diving senton but Rydeen barely gets her shoulder up. Kaori returns to the top turnbuckle but Rydeen joins her, Kaori gets Rydeen’s back but Rydeen blocks the sunset flip powerbomb attempt by sitting down on Kaori. Rydeen picks up Kaori and tosses her with a backdrop suplex, lariat by Rydeen but Kaori applies a crucifix cover for two. Rydeen stomps Kaori’s run with a lariat, Samoan Driver by Rydeen but Kaori kicks out. Rydeen picks up Kaori and nails the Shouten Kai, cover by Rydeen and she gets the three count! Rydeen Hagane is the new champion!

A lot of little things to look at here. First, its interesting that this was the 4th longest match on a five match card, not that any of the matches on the show were long but clearly they thought a shorter and more compact match was the way to go here. Yoneyama did everything she could to help get Rydeen over which she was in the perfect place to do, her losing does nothing to her legacy and by beating an outsider it gives Rydeen a handful of fresh challenges so she can prove she’s the best in PURE-J. Rydeen hit all her power spots well, and it helped that Yoneyama is small so the moves looked more impressive. Yoneyama’s leg work was good but Rydeen did nothing to sell it when a move wasn’t being applied, it was a logical story to tell so I’m not faulting it but I wouldn’t have minded if Rydeen struggled a bit doing… anything in the latter half of the match due to the knee work. Overall a perfectly fine match, Rydeen got to show off her power moves and won decisively which is all one can hope for. Hopefully she can have a meaningful run after waiting so long to win the title and prove it wasn’t just a fluke win over a veteran outsider.  Recommended

The post PURE-J Fight Together on 4/11/21 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: PURE-J Fight Together 2021
Date: February 7th, 2021
Location: Itabashi Green Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 85
Broadcast Information: Streamed on PURE-J’s Streaming Service

Sometimes I like to take a step back and review a smaller show that may not be talked about that much around Joshi circles online, and this is one of those times. PURE-J, to put it nicely, is at the lowest level of Joshi promotions. They already were struggling, then lost Manami Katsu and Mari Manji to make the situation worse. What they lack in quality wrestlers they try to make up for with solid fundamentals and bringing in wrestlers from other promotions to help. This event does have a title match, as AKARI faces Momo Tani in the finale of a tournament to crown a new Princess of Pro Wrestling Champion after it was vacated by Suzu Suzuki. Here is the full card:

• Misa Matsui vs. Rydeen Hagane
• KAZUKI vs. Makoto
• Chie Ozora and Leon vs. Hanako Nakamori and Madeline
• Princess Of Pro Wrestling Championship: AKARI vs. Momo Tani

As this streamed on PURE-J’s own streaming service, matches will be shown in full. All wrestlers have a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it.

Misa Matsui vs. Rydeen Hagane

They tie-up to start, Rydeen pushes Misa towards the ropes but Misa hits a series of elbows. Dropkick by Misa and she tries to toss Rydeen by the hair, but Rydeen blocks it and hits an elbow. Rydeen throws Misa by the hair into the corner and stomps her down, scoop slam by Rydeen and she hits a running body press for two. Rydeen picks up Misa and slaps her in the back repeatedly, Irish whip by Rydeen but Misa avoids her charge and hits a dropkick. She goes for a crossbody but Rydeen catches her and slams Misa to the mat, Misa avoids the body press however and hits a double footstomp on Rydeen’s back. Hard elbow by Rydeen but Misa jumps out to the apron, she goes to the top turnbuckle but jumps off when Rydeen charges in and puts Rydeen in a Fujiwara Armbar. She switches it to a cross armbreaker attempt, but Rydeen mostly blocks it and slams Misa into the corner to break the hold. Lariat by Rydeen and she hits a second one, she goes for a powerbomb but Misa wiggles away. Backbreaker by Rydeen and she puts Misa in a crab hold, but Misa gets to the ropes for the break. Rydeen charges Misa and hits a body avalanche to Rydeen’s back, but Misa returns fire with a dropkick.

She goes for another crossbody, Rydeen catches her but Misa hits a DDT. Dropkick by Misa and she covers Rydeen for two. Misa picks up Rydeen and applies an Octopus Hold, but Rydeen muscles out of it. She goes for a lariat but Misa ducks it and promptly re-applies the Octopus Hold, but Rydeen gets to the ropes to force the break. Misa goes off the ropes and dropkicks Rydeen in the back, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody. Misa goes all the way up top and drops Rydeen with a missile dropkick, but Rydeen barely kicks out of the cover. Misa picks up Rydeen but can’t get her over with a suplex, elbows by Misa but Rydeen delivers a superkick. Rydeen charges Misa and hits a lariat, cover by Rydeen but Misa gets a shoulder up. Rydeen positions Misa and hits a twisting Reverse Splash out of the corner, but Misa kicks out of that as well. Rydeen drags up Misa, Misa slides away from the suplex attempt however and cradles Rydeen for two. Rydeen fires back with a sliding lariat, she picks up Misa but Misa sneaks in another flash pin for a two count. After another failed flash pin, Misa goes off the ropes but Rydeen hits a lariat. Rydeen picks up Misa and delivers a Uranage for the three count! Rydeen Hagane wins the match.

You know, this was a pretty solid match. Rydeen may never be a superstar but she is very serviceable and stays within her limitations, in the right situation she rarely has a bad match. Misa showed a lot of spunk and fire, actually controlling more of the match than I was expecting but she did it with speed which was the way to go. The match fell apart a little bit at the end as Misa was holding her own enough that I didn’t think going the ‘flash pin’ method repeatedly was necessary, but overall a good way to open up the show.  Mildly Recommended

KAZUKI vs. Makoto

KAZUKI knees Makoto to the mat to start and applies a wristlock, but Makoto rolls out of it and reverses it. They trade holds until Makoto hits an armdrag and applies an armbar, but KAZUKI rolls to the ropes for the break. Snapmare by Makoto and she dropkicks KAZUKI in the back, she picks up KAZUKI but KAZUKI knees her in the stomach. Double kneedrop by KAZUKI, she snapmares Makoto and applies a sleeper hold. She lets go after a moment so she can throw down Makoto by the hair, knees by KAZUKI in the corner and she applies a single leg crab hold. Makoto gets to the ropes to break the hold, KAZUKI picks her up and throws Makoto into the corner. Irish whip by KAZUKI to the corner but Makoto avoids her charge, she gets on the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving crossbody. Double kneedrop by Makoto, and she covers KAZUKI for two. Makoto picks up KAZUKI but KAZUKI knees her and the two trade blows. KAZUKI catches a kick and throws Makoto into the corner, knees by KAZUKI and she puts Makoto across the middle rope.

KAZUKI climbs to the top turnbuckle and hits a double kneedrop to Makoto’s stomach, KAZUKI picks up Makoto but Makoto slides away and dropkicks KAZUKI in the knee. Schoolboy by Makoto and she puts KAZUKI in a kneelock, but KAZUKI gets to the ropes. Double underhook suplex by Makoto and she knees KAZUKI in the ribs for a two count. Makoto tries to get KAZUKI on her shoulders but KAZUKI knees her, spear by Makoto and she covers KAZUKI for two. Makoto waits for KAZUKI to get up and charges, but KAZUKI knees Makoto in the stomach. Running double knee by KAZUKI, she hits a reverse double kneedrop off the second turnbuckle but Makoto kicks out of the cover. KAZUKI goes all the way up top and nails a diving single kneedrop, but Makoto gets a shoulder up. KAZUKI picks up Makoto but Makoto blocks the suplex attempt and hits a back bodydrop. Makoto kicks KAZUKI in the head, cradle by Makoto but it gets a two count. Makoto goes off the ropes but KAZUKI catches her in a sunset flip and they trade flash pins. KAZUKI monkey flips Makoto to the mat and cradles her for the three count pinfall! KAZUKI is the winner.

So we are 2/2 on matches ending with a flourish of flash pins. Its not that I don’t see the use in flash pins, they can come in quite handy, but its a kinda lazy way to do the end stretch of a match that up to that point was more based on power moves and strikes than speed and cunning. This was a tiny step down from the last match but still pretty good, my main issue is just the lack of cohesion between their offensive tactics. I would have loved if KAZUKI had won with some sort of back or gut impact move, but that didn’t happen, and Makoto was all over the place. This was just two vets going through a ten minute match they can probably do in their sleep, and while it was perfectly watchable it wasn’t overly inspired either.

Chie Ozora and Leon vs. Hanako Nakamori and Madeline

Madeline and Chie start the match, both go for dropkicks but neither connect. They trade strikes, Irish whip by Chie but Madeline hits a crossbody. Chie bridges out of the pin and delivers a dropkick, cover by Chie but it gets two. They trade mounted elbows, arm drag by Madeline and she tags in Nakamori. Snapmare by Nakamori and she kicks Chie in the back, she throws Chie into the corner and delivers a series of kicks. Chie avoids her charge however and goes for a schoolboy, giving her time to tag in Leon. Leon and Nakamori tie-up but break cleanly, they trade holds but neither gets a clear advantage. Leon avoids Nakamori’s kick and hits a footstomp on her back, running elbow by Leon in the corner but Nakamori returns the favor with a kick in the other corner. Madeline comes in the ring and they double team Leon, armdrag by Leon to Nakamori and she delivers a dropkick. Leon tags Chie, dropkicks by Chie but Nakamori shrugs them off and boots Chie around the ring. Running boot by Nakamori and she covers Chie for two. Madeline returns but Leon does as well and both Chie and Leon hit dropkicks. Leon throws Nakamori into the corner, dropkick by Chie and Leon hits one as well. Leon leaves, Chie slams Nakamori and covers her for two. Irish whip by Chie but Nakamori blocks it and hits a neckbreaker. Leg drop by Nakamori, she picks up Chie and tags in Madeline. Madeline applies a hanging armbar over the top rope but is forced to break it after a moment, Irish whip by Madeline but Chie hits a dropkick and tags Leon.

Scoop slam by Leon, she goes off the ropes and hits a somersault senton for two. Leon puts Madeline in a stretch hold but releases her so she can deliver a series of chops. Irish whip attempt by Leon but Madeline reverses it and hits a front flip into a high kick in the corner. Leon isn’t amused and spears Madeline, she goes for a double underhook but Madeline gets out of it. Leon elbows Madeline to the mat as Madeline tries to fight back, Madeline goes for a crossbody but Leon catches her and slams her to the mat. Drop toehold by Madeline and she runs on Leon’s back, Madeline goes off the ropes but Leon hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Leon puts Madeline in a crab hold but Nakamori breaks it up, Leon and Nakamori get into it until Madeline schoolboys Leon from behind for two. Leon drives Madeline into the corner but Madeline sneaks in a sunset flip which gives her time to tag Nakamori. Nakamori boots Leon and delivers a kick combination, she gets Leon on her shoulders and tosses her off before delivering a kick to the chest. Shining Wizard by Nakamori, but Leon gets a shoulder up. Nakamori picks up Leon but Leon hits a DDT, Nakamori fires back with a kick however and the two trade blows. Leon catches Nakamori with a capture suplex, spear to the back by Leon and she puts Nakamori in a stretch hold. She lets go and goes to the top turnbuckle, hitting a missile dropkick to Nakamori’s back for a two count. Leon goes for a capture buster but Nakamori blocks it and hits an enzuigiri, tilt-a-whirl slam by Leon and she goes to the top turnbuckle, hitting a Frog Splash for two. Leon picks up Nakamori but Nakamori fights her off, high kick by Nakamori and both wrestlers are down on the mat. They slowly get up and trade elbows, Leon goes off the ropes but Nakamori avoids her charge and kicks Leon in the chest. Madeline runs in as things break down.

High kick by Nakamori but Leon levels her with a spear, and she makes the tag to Chie. Jumping shoulder tackles by Chie to Nakamori and she covers her for two. Chie goes off the ropes but Nakamori kicks her in the chest, Nakamori drops Chie on the second rope and hoots her from the apron. Nakamori goes up top but Chie recovers and joins her, Nakamori pushes Chie back down however but Leon runs in and hits a spear on Nakamori after she jumps off. Chie goes off the ropes but Nakamori boots her in the face, high kick by Nakamori and she covers Chie, but Leon breaks it up. Nakamori tags Madeline, dropkicks by Madeline to Chie and she covers her for two. Madeline applies a Fujiwara Armbar but Chie rolls out of it, stomps by Madeline and she goes for a powerbomb, but Chie blocks it. Leon elbows Madeline and Chie puts Madeline in a kneelock, but Nakamori breaks it up. Chie picks up Madeline but Madeline pushes her off, and the two trade strikes. Jumping shoulder tackle by Chie and she covers Madeline, but it gets two. Chie goes off the ropes but Nakamori kicks her, both Madeline and Nakamori kick Chie again before Madeline delivers a suplex for two. Nakamori and Leon trade high kicks while Chie and Madeline keep at it, Irish whip by Madeline but Chie hits a sunset flip for two. They go back and forth with flash pins until Nakamori breaks the exchange up, Leon comes in and spears both Madeline and Nakamori. Fisherman Suplex Hold by Chie to Madeline, but Nakamori breaks it up. She goes for another one but Madeline reverses it into a small package for two. Madeline quickly puts Chie in another cradle pin, and this time she gets the three count! Hanako Nakamori and Madeline are the winners!

This is why you don’t have every match end with trading cradle pins, it just loses some of its excitement at some point. They got plenty of time here and all four wrestlers got a chance to shine (or at least a chance to show what they had), which in these matches is about all you can hope for. I wouldn’t say this was the most well structured match and there were some slow moments, but that is to be expected with some less experienced wrestlers involved. Leon and Nakamori’s exchanges were quality however as they have good chemistry, and when the vets were in control the match clicked. As was the case with the last match I’d have preferred a more definitive ending, but overall it was a pretty entertaining mid-card tag match.  Mildly Recommended

AKARI vs. Momo Tani
Princess Of Pro Wrestling Championship

They circle each other to start before trading holds, Irish whip by Momo but AKARI hits a hard shoulderblock. Dropkick by AKARI but Momo hits an armdrag, Momo throws down AKARI by the hair a few times and stomps AKARI down in the corner. Momo flings AKARI around the ring some more before covering her for a quick two count. Momo applies a crab hold but AKARI crawls to the ropes to force the break. Momo goes off the ropes and knees AKARI in the back, but AKARI returns with a dropkick and hits a scoop slam for two. AKARI applies an armtrap facelock but Momo gets to the ropes, AKARI chops Momo in the corner and hits a running elbow. Momo avoids her next charge and hits a running knee, but AKARI gets on the turnbuckle and chokes Momo. AKARI applies a Tarantula over the second rope, she lets go after a moment and hits a missile dropkick for a two count. AKARI goes for a suplex but Momo pushes her away, running knee by Momo and she slams AKARI’s head into the mat. Double kneedrops to the back by Momo, she goes off the ropes and hits a running double knee strike. Momo applies a stretch hold but AKARI gets out of it, boot by Momo but AKARI hits a drop toehold.

AKARI keeps Momo’s legs trapped in a submission but Momo gets to the ropes, back up they trade elbows until Momo hits a swinging neckbreaker. Running double kneedrop by Momo, but her cover gets two. Momo gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a jumping knee strike, she goes off the ropes but AKARI drop toeholds her into the second rope and hits a Tiger Feint Kick. Northern Lights Suplex Hold by AKARI, but Momo gets a shoulder up. AKARI rolls Momo to the mat and applies a kneelock, but Momo gets into the ropes. Codebreaker by Momo but AKARI hits a pump kick, AKARI charges Momo but Momo catches her with a flash pin for two. Running double knee by Momo in the corner and she hits a reverse double kneedrop, but AKARI kicks out at two. Diving double kneedrop by Momo, but that gets a two as well. Momo goes up top again but AKARI elbows her and tosses her back to the mat. AKARI rolls Momo to the mat and applies La Magistral, they trade flash pins but neither gets the two count. Vertical suplex by AKARI but Momo hits a Backstabber, Somato by Momo but AKARI reverses the cover. Momo goes off the ropes but AKARI catches her with a lariat, AKARI takes Momo to the mat and puts her in the Muy Bien. Momo struggles for a moment but is forced to submit! AKARI wins the match and the Princess of Pro Wrestling Championship!

A fitting main event for a smaller show, although on a “normal” Joshi event this would be sitting firmly in the midcard. Pretty well-worked and I really like Momo’s double knee based offense. She is very consistent with it which I appreciate and she had enough different ways to attack that it never got stale or felt overused. AKARI continues to get better each time I see her and they had good chemistry even though they are from different promotions. It was a little short to give too high of a recommendation to but there was nothing really wrong here at all, and hopefully its the start of making the Princess of Pro Wrestling Championship a little more meaningful again.  Recommended

The post PURE-J Fight Together 2021 on 2/7/21 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: SEAdLINNNG 2021 Opening Match
Date: January 11th, 2021
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 467
Broadcast Information: Aired on Samurai TV! on 1/17/21

As I finally begin my 2021 Joshi viewing, lets start with SEAdLINNNG. I don’t watch near as much SEAdLINNNG as I should, which is something I hope to fix in 2021 as they pretty consistently put on quality shows. Their ‘home’ roster is very small but solid, featuring Arisa Nakajima, Nanae Takahashi, and Yoshiko. The best Freelancers also tend to swing by SEAdLINNNG, such as Rina Yamashita and ASUKA, giving them generally pretty complete events. This show has a big main event, as Best Friends take on Yoshiko and Sareee! Here is the full card:

• AKARI vs. Chikayo Nagashima vs. Ibuki Hoshi vs. Kaho Kobayashi vs. Leon vs. Tsukushi Haruka
• Aja Kong, Honori Hana, and Rina Yamashita vs. ASUKA, Makoto, and Riko Kaiju
• Chikayo Nagashima vs. Tsukushi Haruka
• Itsuki Aoki and Ryo Mizunami vs. Miyuki Takase and Nanae Takahashi
• Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Sareee and Yoshiko

All wrestlers on the event have a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. Let’s get to the fun.

AKARI vs. Nagashima vs. Ibuki Hoshi vs. Kobayashi vs. Leon vs. Tsukushi Haruka

They start with a melee as they pair up with each other, with wrestlers from the same promotion generally working together. Everyone gets made at Natsuki and attack her in the corner before singling out AKARI, but Leon helps her promotion-mate out. Leon gets attacked for her trouble as they try to throw her out of the ring, but she lands on the apron. While that is going on, Nagashima and Ibuki go into an exchange as they are left alone in the ring, they trade holds but neither can get an advantage. AKARI and Kaho run in and dropkick them so they can go at it, hard shoulderblock by AKARI but Kaho kips up. Armdrag by AKARI but Kaho returns the favor, both go for dropkicks but they both miss. Leon and Tsukushi trip them from the floor so they can take their turn, armdrag by Tsukushi but Leon cartwheels out of the next one. Tilt-a-whirl headscissors by Tsukushi, she goes off the ropes but Leon catches her with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Ibuki  and Tsukushi take turns hitting Leon but AKARI runs in and dropkicks both of them. Leon and AKARI both apply submission holds but Kaho and Nagashima schoolboy them for two counts. Armdrag by Kaho to Nagashima and she applies an armbar, but Nagashima gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Kaho goes after Natsuki but Nagashima interrupts them, hurricanrana but Kaho but Nagashima rolls through it and they trade cradles. Tsukushi returns and they Irish whip Nagashima, making her go back and forth off the ropes before Kaho hits a dropkick. Tsukushi quickly cradles Kaho, but it only gets a two count. AKARI and Leon come in but they accidentally collide into each other, drop toehold by Tsukushi to Ibuki and she cradles her for the three count! Tsukushi wins and advances to the next match.

After a brief reset the remaining five get back into it, all five go for random cradles but none get a three count. AKARI wraps up Kaho in a submission, Ibuki tries to break it up but fails. Nagashima finally is able to free Kaho, AKARI and Leon double team Nagashima but Nagashima fights them off tries to kick Leon out of the ring. Nagashima is cradled from behind before she succeeds, senton by Kaho to Nagashima as all four wrestlers stomp out Nagashima. Nagashima fights them off with elbows before hitting a double lariat on Kaho and Natsuki (poor Natsuki), Leon dropkicks Nagashima on the apron and comes off the top but accidentally hits a missile dropkick on AKARI. Leon throws Kaho into the corner but Kaho drops her onto the apron when she charges in, Leon knocks Kaho back but Kaho avoids the Frog Splash. Kaho kicks Nagashima but Ibuki shoulderblocks her to the mat, diving crossbody by Ibuki to Kaho but AKARI dropkicks her. AKARI gets Kaho up but Kaho flips away from her, schoolboy by Kaho but Nagashima breaks it up with a footstomp. AKARI goes for a series of pins with no success on Nagashima, Nagashima reverses one into a cradle of her own and she gets the three count! Chikayo Nagashima wins and advances to the next match later tonight!

While I always viewed the High Speed matches as harmless fun, at best, sometimes I think “less is more” and this show may lean too far on the “more” side. Natsuki Taiyo has gone from occasionally getting involved in these matches to being almost an active participant, and there wasn’t a ton of substance to this match beyond the wrestlers from the same promotion tending to work together. If this was just the opener, no harm done, but since we have another High Speed match now later, it feels like a little too much of a gimmick that is cute but nothing more. Even on the High Speed match scale, this wasn’t their best effort.

Aja Kong, Honori Hana, and Rina Yamashita vs. ASUKA, Makoto, and Riko Kaiju

Rina and Makoto start the match, they trade wristlocks until Rina shoulderblocks Makoto to the mat. Makoto bridges out of the pin and hits a crossbody off the ropes, leading to Rina tagging in Kong while Riko also tags in. Riko tries to elbow Kong but it has no impact, Kong moves out of the way of Riko’s dropkick and kicks her in the ribs. Riko has had enough and tags in ASUKA, ASUKA slowly gets in the ring and lures Kong into a false sense of security before schoolboying her for two. Her teammates come in as they all stomp on Kong, but Kong fights them all off. We clip ahead to Makoto and Rina back in the ring, knee by Rina but Makoto delivers a Pump Kick. She tags in ASUKA, boots by both ASUKA and Makoto to Rina and ASUKA covers her for two. ASUKA picks up Rina but Rina gets her back, she goes for a suplex but ASUKA lands on her feet and connects with an elbow. Rina fires back with a hard lariat and tags in Kong, Kong goes for a suplex but ASUKA blocks it and hits a moonsault off the ropes for a two count. ASUKA grabs Kong but Kong ducks down and kicks her in the head. Kong goes for a lariat but ASUKA ducks it, punch by Kong and she plants ASUKA with a backdrop suplex for two. They trade strikes until ASUKA lands two kicks and nails a German suplex for a two count.

ASUKA goes to the top turnbuckle but Kong gets her feet up on the moonsault attempt, both wrestlers struggle to crawl to their corners as they tag in Honori and Riko. Honori shoulderblocks Riko to the mat, she picks her up but Riko fights back and they trade elbows. Irish whip by Riko but Honori ducks the lariat and hits a shoulderblock. Dropkick by Riko, she elbows Honori into the corner but Honori reverses the Irish whip and hits a running elbow. ASUKA kicks Honori from the apron and gets in the ring, Makoto comes in too as all three boot Honori in the head. Riko goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but Rina breaks up the cover. Superkick by Rina to Riko, Kong comes in and hits a lariat. Honori gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Honori but ASUKA breaks it up. Heel kick by ASUKA to Rina and she goes for Kong, but Kong blocks the suplex attempt. Makoto comes in to help but Kong suplexes both of them, spear by Honori to Riko but Riko gets the shoulder up. Honori goes for a couple flash pins with no luck, she picks up Riko and hits a scoop slam for two. Riko throws Honori into the corner but Honori avoids her charge, she goes for a cradle but Riko reverses it into a triangle choke. She struggles for a moment but has to tap out! ASUKA, Makoto, and Riko Kaiju are the winners.

This was a perfectly acceptable midcard match. While most of it was just your standard fare, they mixed in some fun moments such as ASUKA suplexing Kong to at least make you pay attention when the big hitters were in the match. I still am not sold on Honori and maybe SEAdLINNNG isn’t either, since she took the pin to the newer wrestler. Something just isn’t really clicking with her. But the veterans all looked good and it wasn’t long enough to get stale. Nothing special but nothing bad either.

Chikayo Nagashima vs. Tsukushi Haruka

They get right into it with a kick from Tsukushi, Irish whip by Nagashima and she hits an armdrag. Tsukushi gets a few quick pin attempts with no luck, Tsukushi flies in to Nagashima but Nagashima catches her with a backdrop suplex. Rolling cradle by Nagashima, but it gets a two count. Nagashima picks up Tsukushi and knees her, she goes off the ropes but Tsukushi avoids her charge. They take turns running the ropes with Taiyo helping, but Tsukushi rolls out of the ring to try to catch her breath. Tsukushi returns but is met with a boot, scoop slam by Nagashima and she gets on the second turnbuckle, but Tsukushi recovers and knocks her out to the apron. Nagashima elbows Tsukushi and goes to the top turnbuckle, but again Tsukushi recovers and tosses Nagashima to the mat. Now it is Tsukushi that goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick, she runs off the ropes before applying a cover but it only gets a two count. Footstomp by Tsukushi and she goes to Taiyo for help, but Taiyo powerbombs her. Not sure why. Nagashima picks up Tsukushi but Tsukushi cradles her, Taiyo kicks Tsukushi instead of counting and Nagashima hits a lariat for a two count. Nagashima goes for a suplex but Tsukushi gets out of it, elbows by Tsukushi and she goes after Taiyo. Taiyo avoids her for a bit until Tsukushi catches her and elbows Taiyo off the apron. Nagashima charges Tsukushi but Tsukushi holds down the top rope, leading to Nagashima landing on the apron. Tsukushi tries to kick of Nagashima but Taiyo helps her hang on, finally Tsukushi is able to kick them both off the apron and the match is over! Tsukushi wins by Over The Top.

I assume there were some elements to this match that I didn’t get just parachuting in, with Taiyo helping Nagashima when she normally helps Tsukushi, but for a midcard nothing match it wasn’t worth my trouble scrolling through websites to try to figure it out. Or it was just random anyway, who knows. I am sure some will love it but for me its just midcard filler, just too random and short to get excited about.

Itsuki Aoki and Ryo Mizunami vs. Miyuki Takase and Nanae Takahashi

Miyuki and Itsuki start off, they lock-up and exchange holds until Miyuki gets Itsuki to the mat with a headlock. Itsuki gets out of it and the two return to their feet, quickly going into an elbow exchange. Hard shoulderblock by Itsuki, she goes off the ropes but Miyuki catches her with a dropkick. They tag out as Nanae and Ryo come in, they lock knuckles and go into a Test of Strength but break cleanly. Waistlock by Ryo but Nanae gets away and gets Ryo to the mat, kicks to the leg by Nanae and she puts Ryo in a necklock. Nanae tags Miyuki, Ryo quickly gets in control however and tags in Itsuki. Itsuki sets up Miyuki in the ropes and hits a body avalanche, double knee strike to the back by Itsuki and she covers Miyuki for two. She tags in Ryo, Ryo chops Miyuki into the corner and invites Itsuki to hold Miyuki so she can dance her way into a running lariat. Ryo picks up Miyuki but Miyuki fights back with elbows, Irish whip by Ryo to the corner but Miyuki rebounds out with a missile dropkick. Nanae runs in and they both chop Ryo in the corner, lariat by Miyuki but Ryo fights them both off with shoulderblocks and a double spear.

Elbows by Ryo to Miyuki but Miyuki hits a headbutt and applies a modified armbar on the mat. Itsuki tries to break it up but Nanae cuts her off, Miyuki keeps the hold on but Ryo eventually makes it to the ropes. Dropkick off the second rope by Miyuki and she hits a lariat followed by a cutter for a two count. Miyuki tags Nanae, lariat by Nanae in the corner but Ryo blocks the backdrop suplex attempt. Chops by Nanae but Ryo returns fire, jumping kick by Nanae and she covers Ryo for two. Lariat by Nanae but Ryo headbutts her, Ryo goes for a suplex but Nanae elbows her off. Overhead belly to belly suplex by Ryo and she hits a spear on Nanae for a two count. Ryo goes off the ropes but Nanae avoids her charge and hits a release German. Ryo quickly gets up and levels Nanae with a lariat, but Nanae returns the favor and both wrestlers end up down on the mat. Ryo gets to her corner and tags Itsuki, Itsuki throws Nanae in the corner and hits an elbow followed by a face crusher. Nanae chops Itsuki but Itsuki hits a lariat in the corner, she goes to the apron but Miyuki grabs her before she can do anything. This gives Nanae time to recover, she joins Itsuki and hits a superplex for a two count. Miyuki comes into the ring and hits a Kamikaze in front of the corner, Nanae goes for a body splash but Itsuki rolls out of the way.

STO by Itsuki but Nanae gets back to her feet quickly only to get hit with a side slam from Ryo. Ryo and Itsuki both grab Nanae and slam her to the mat, Miyuki runs in but she gets thrown on top of Nanae. Itsuki goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving footstomp, cover by Itsuki but Nanae gets a shoulder up. Bridging vertical suplex by Itsuki, but that gets a two count as well. Itsuki gets Nanae on her shoulders but Nanae wiggles off, Miyuki comes in but Nanae kicks her in the face by accident. Spear by Itsuki to Nanae, and she covers her for two. Backdrop suplex by Nanae, she goes off the ropes but Itsuki catches her with a lariat for another two count. Itsuki goes off the ropes but Nanae hits a hard lariat of her own, Nanae picks up Itsuki but Ryo runs in. Nanae lariats Ryo while Miyuki comes in and hits a spear onto Itsuki. Nanae goes back to Itsuki and drops her with a reverse piledriver, but Ryo breaks up the cover. Lariat by Nanae to Itsuki, and she covers her for the three count! Nanae Takahashi and Miyuki Takase are the winners!

Even though this won’t end up on anyone’s MOTY list, it was a solid match. The best thing I can say about it is that even though it was 18+ minutes, the match never slowed down or had any moments that dragged, they just kept the action going from bell to bell. Nanae Takahashi is an acquired taste – she still has an old school 90s mindset and no-sells quite a bit, and long term selling isn’t really her thing. That is not to say she doesn’t sell at all, she does, but its on her own terms. I’d have liked for one of the younger wrestlers to get the pin rather than Nanae, but again that’s part of the deal too. Anyway, a good fast paced match with four quality wrestlers, even if the structure may not have been perfect.  Mildly Recommended

Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Sareee and Yoshiko

Sareee and Arisa start the match, they go into a Test of Strength with Sareee ending up with a wristlock. Arisa gets out of it and applies a side headlock, Sareee tries to Irish whip out of it but Arisa keeps a hold of her hair. Irish whip by Arisa but Sareee blocks it and hits an elbow, with Arisa quickly returning the favor. Dropkick by Sareee, she goes off the ropes but Tsukasa runs in and Best Friends dropkick Sareee. Yoshiko also comes in and lariats both opponents, sending them out of the ring. Sareee goes to the top turnbuckle and dives out of the ring onto Arisa and Tsukasa, Sareee slides Arisa back into the ring and delivers a dropkick. Scoop slam by Sareee, and she covers Arisa for two. Sareee tags Yoshiko, Yoshiko grabs Arisa by the hair and tosses her to the mat. Bootscrapes by Yoshiko and she delivers a running boot to Arisa’s face, she picks up Arisa but Arisa kicks her in the stomach. Arisa goes off the ropes but Yoshiko catches her with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, Sareee runs in and hops on Yoshiko’s back while Yoshiko hits a splash. Sareee goes back to the apron so that Yoshiko can tag her in, kicks by Sareee to Arisa but Arisa blocks the suplex attempt as the two trade footstomps. Stomps by Sareee and she puts Arisa in a crab hold, she lets go after a moment and stomps more on Arisa. Dropkick by Sareee and she tags Yoshiko, kicks by Yoshiko to Arisa and she hits a running knee. Cover by Yoshiko, but it gets a two count. Yoshiko picks up Arisa, strike combination by Yoshiko but Arisa catches her with a bridging powerslam for two.

This gives her time to tag in Tsukasa, dropkick by Tsukasa to Yoshiko as Sareee runs in, but Tsukasa fights them both off. Tsukasa stacks them in the corner and hits a dropkick, kicks to the back by Tsukasa to Yoshiko but Yoshiko ducks the PK. Arisa runs in and boots Yoshiko instead, German suplex by Arisa to Yoshiko and Tsukasa applies a jackknife cover for two. Tsukasa goes for the Infinity but Yoshiko blocks it, Yoshiko gets Tsukasa on her shoulders and hits a Samoan Drop while Sareee hits a neckbreaker. Sareee gets on the second turnbuckle while Yoshiko hits a running senton, following with a diving footstomp. Reverse Splash by Yoshiko, but it gets a two count. Yoshiko tags Sareee, dropkick by Sareee to Tsukasa but Tsukasa flips away from her and kicks her in the chest. Sareee and Tsukasa trade elbows until Sareee catches Tsukasa with a fisherman suplex hold for two. Sickle Hold by Sareee to Tsukasa while Yoshiko keeps Arisa busy, Sareee lets go after a moment and stomps on Tsukasa. Sareee goes for a suplex but Tsukasa lands on her feet and kicks Sareee in the back. Tsukasa gets Sareee on her shoulders but Yoshiko comes in and saves her, Yoshiko throws Sareee at Tsukasa but Tsukasa dropkicks both of them. PK by Tsukasa to Sareee and she tags Arisa, Arisa goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick. German suplexes by Arisa to Sareee, but the last one she holds only gets two.

Arisa goes up top but Yoshiko grabs her from the apron, Sareee joins Arisa but Tsukasa runs in and dropkicks Sareee from behind. Arisa plants Yoshiko with a DDT on the apron, while Tsukasa goes up top with Sareee and hits a footstomp while Sareee is in the Tree of Woe. Arisa goes back up and hits a diving footstomp, but Sareee gets a shoulder up on the cover. Arisa knees Sareee while she picks her up, Arisa and Sareee trade elbows, lariat by Arisa but Sareee nails a dropkick. Sareee hits two more dropkicks before Yoshiko hits one as well from the apron, Sareee goes up top and hits a diving footstomp onto Arisa for a two count. Yoshiko rolls in and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Tsukasa runs over and kicks her off before she can do anything. Running double knee by Arisa to Sareee and she hits a trapped German for two. Yoshiko lariats Tsukasa but Tsukasa drops her with the Infinity, and all four wrestlers are down on the mat. Sareee and Arisa trade elbows as they get back up, German suplex hold by Sareee but Arisa kicks out. Sareee drops Arisa with a pair of Uranages, but again she can only get a two. Yoshiko comes in and holds Arisa while Sareee goes up top and hits a missile dropkick. Sareee then picks up Arisa so that Yoshiko can hit a diving lariat, cover by Sareee but Tsukasa breaks it up. Sareee grabs Arisa but Arisa elbows her off, Yoshiko tries to help but she lariats Sareee by accident. Arisa catches Sareee with a half and half suplex hold for two. Arisa picks up Sareee and hits her with elbows, Tsukasa handles Yoshiko while Arisa hits a German suplex. Leg clutch suplex by Arisa, but that gets a two count as well. Arisa drags Sareee to her feet and plants her with the DxD Suplex Hold, and she picks up the three count! Best Friends win!

I wouldn’t have minded if they had gone a few more more minutes, but this was a great match. Understandably since it was her Anniversary match, Arisa Nakajima did the bulk of the work for her team while Sareee did the same for hers, with Yoshiko and Tsukasa being pushed back to support roles. For a sub-20 minute match, they squeezed a lot into it, and even though I called the last match non-stop action this one took it to another level. What is impressive is not just the constant violence but how smooth it all was, with not a miscommunication or awkward moment in sight as there was just always something going on. And of course the hits were snug and the suplexes tight, as there was no weak link in this match when it comes to execution. I wouldn’t quite put it at the MOTYC level as it felt like they had more to give (especially since two partners still felt fresh), but still a very entertaining match.  Highly Recommended

The post SEAdLINNNG 2021 Opening Match on 1/11/21 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 3 Details:

Official Title: Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 3
Release: January 30th, 2013
Pages: ~80
Cost: ¥1,200
Where to Buy: Third Party Vendors (eBay, Mercari, Buyee, etc.)

The third volume of Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa featured the following wrestlers:

• Yuzuki Aikawa
• Kana
• Makoto
• Bambi
• Kairi Hojo
• Nagisa Nozaki

Volume 3 of the series brings back Aikawa from Volume 2, with the other five wrestlers being different from the previous magazine. This would be Aikawa’s last year as the feature as she retired just a few months after this magazine came out, which would open things up for new wrestlers to appear on the cover. Like in past years, we get a good mixture here of stars (at the time) and newer wrestlers, with the most interesting addition to current fans being Kairi Hojo, later known in the WWE as Kairi Sane.

The pictures themselves are as you’d imagine as this is a gravure photoshoot after all. As in past years, Aikawa from Stardom has the most pictures as she is the star. Makoto and Nagisa Nozaki both wrestled in WNC at the time so this was good publicity for the smaller promotion, although Nagisa would leave wrestling soon after this magazine came out (she returned years later and still wrestles today). Bambi still wrestles as well, currently with 2AW but then out of K-DOJO. Kana of course needs no introduction as one of the most popular female wrestlers in the world, and in 2013 she was fairly popular as well. All and all a quality group of wrestlers as all are still active today except for Aikawa (giving Kairi a pass since her career is a bit in flux), which is impressive considering the magazine is seven years old and Joshi wrestlers tend to have short careers. Here is a sample of pictures from the magazine:

The post Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 3 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: SEAdLINNNG Heart is Near ~ Close To You
Date: July 13th, 2020
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 401

In my quest to find a recent Joshi event to review that isn’t Stardom, this show caught my eye. The lead-up to the main looks a bit pedestrian, but the main event has potential to be pretty damn great. Here is the full card:

• Riko Kaiju vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto
• Ayame Sasamura vs. Kaho Kobayashi vs. Tsukushi
• ASUKA and Makoto vs. Honori Hana and Yumiko Hotta
• Hiroyo Matsumoto, Rina Yamashita, and Yuu vs. Itsuki Aoki, Miyuki Takase, and Ryo Mizunami
• SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship: Arisa Nakajima vs. Yoshiko

This aired on Samurai TV! so its a two hour show, but SEAdLINNNG is pretty good about not clipping more than necessary so I suspect most matches will be shown in full (or close to it). All wrestlers on the show have profiles on Joshi City, including the debuting Riko Kaiju, you can click on their names above to go straight to it.

Riko Kaiju vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

Riko dropkicks Tsukasa as soon as the match starts and goes for a quick cover, but it only gets a two count. Side headlock by Tsukasa and she hits an armdrag, she gets Riko to the mat but Riko escapes and they reach a stalemate. They lock knuckles and trade wristlocks , snapmare by Tsukasa and she kicks Riko in the back. Camel clutch by Tsukasa, she lets go after a moment and knocks Riko against the ropes. Tsukasa throws down Riko by the hair and applies a crab hold, but Riko gets to the ropes for the break. Tsukasa chops Riko in the corner, Irish whip by Tsukasa but Riko jumps on the second turnbuckle and hits a crossbody for two. Riko dropkicks Tsukasa but Tsukasa blocks the scoop slam and puts Tsukasa in an Octopus Hold. Riko gets into the ropes for the break, Tsukasa wraps up Riko in the ropes and delivers a dropkick. Cover by Tsukasa, but it gets two. Tsukasa gets on the second turnbuckle but Riko avoids her dropkick and cradles Tsukasa for two. Riko tries a few more flash pins with no luck, elbow by Riko but Tsukasa elbows her back and they trade shots. Riko goes off the ropes and dropkicks Tsukasa, but Tsukasa rebounds off the ropes and dropkicks Riko to the mat. Tsukasa throws Riko into the corner and hits another dropkick, Riko lands in a seated position and Tsukasa dropkicks Riko full in the chest. Bodyslam by Tsukasa and she puts Riko in an armtrap crossface, but Riko gets to the ropes for the break. Kick by Riko and she applies a sunset flip, but it gets two. Riko goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick, she hits two more but Tsukasa stays on her feet. Finally on the fifth dropkick she gets Tsukasa to one knee, she hits three more kicks but Tsukasa doesn’t go all the way to the mat. Finally Riko knocks her over, cover by Riko but it gets a two count. Kick to the stomach by Tsukasa and she kicks Riko repeatedly in the back, PK by Tsukasa and she covers Riko for two. Elbows by Tsukasa and she dropkicks Riko for two. Tsukasa goes up top and nails a missile dropkick, cover by Tsukasa and she gets the three count! Tsukasa Fujimoto is the winner!

Considering the dynamics, I am surprised that this match lasted as long as it did. Its hard to know in advance how much the veteran wrestler will give a wrestler debuting, but Tsukasa was rather generous here, perhaps almost too much so. It was far from a 50/50 match but Riko was in control for a few parts here and there for longer than just a hope spot, and she had several (flash pin) nearfalls. Tsukasa was pretty gentle with the rookie, aside from a dropkick in the corner that looked particularly hurt-y, and won with a move other than a submission hold which is a little unusual in a debuting match. A fun watch as the young Riko seems to show some early promise, just not the structure that I was really expecting.

Ayame Sasamura vs. Kaho Kobayashi vs. Tsukushi

Tsukushi is double teamed off the bat but she avoids both opponents as they get into a high speed exchange, but they end up in a stalemate. They both go after Tsukushi again, dropkick by Kaho and Ayame hits a running elbow. Double Irish whip to Tsukushi as the double teaming continues and they put Tsukushi in a double armbar. They put Tsukushi in the ropes so they can both pose around her while pulling on her nose, dropkick to the back by Kaho and Ayame hits a dropkick as well. Kaho and Ayame sit on Tsukushi with submission holds, but Taiyo has seen enough with his boring action and kicks both of them. Kaho dropkicks Taiyo, she throws Tsukushi and Taiyo into the corner but Taiyo rebounds out with a crossbody. Catapult dropkick by Tsukushi to Ayame, but Ayame and Kaho avoids their next attack as Ayame schoolboys Kaho for two. She apologizes to Kaho which gives Tsukushi time to dropkick Kaho, Ayame flies out of the ring while Kaho recovers and trades elbows with Tsukushi. Dropkick by Kaho, she picks up Tsukushi but Tsukushi blocks the fisherman suplex. Cradle by Tsukushi, but Ayame quickly breaks it up. Ayame picks up Tsukushi and hits a delayed vertical suplex, she goes off the ropes twice and covers Tsukushi for two. Kaho goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Tsukushi, she goes up top again but Ayame quickly schoolboys Tsukushi for two. Kaho fusses at Ayame, Tsukushi goes for a crossbody on both of them and Taiyo pushes them over when Tsukushi is initially caught. All three trade flash pins with no luck, Kaho chops both Tsukushi and Ayame (and Taiyo) before dropkicking both opponents. She goes off the ropes but eats a triple dropkick, Ayame goes for cradles on Tsukushi but only gets two counts. La Magistral by Tsukushi on Ayame, and she gets the three count! Tsukushi wins!

The best part of these matches is just seeing Natsuki Taiyo getting involved, she’s the best. The formula for this one was a little bit different from usual as the goal was to double team Tsukushi, partially because her and Taiyo are somewhat in cahoots so its already lopsided against her opponents. Some good exchanges but overall it was pretty simple even for a High Speed Match, they really didn’t do anything in-ring different or memorable. A decent enough watch but not enough to really differentiate itself from what you’d expect and Tsukushi wasn’t as evil in the match as I was hoping she’d be.

ASUKA and Makoto vs. Honori Hana and Yumiko Hotta

We join this one in progress as Makoto attacks Honori in the corner, she grabs Honori by the hair and tosses her to the mat. Boot by Makoto and she sits on Honori for a two count. Makoto applies a kneelock, Honori tries to get out of it but Makoto bites her. Makoto tags ASUKA, punches by ASUKA but Honori elbows her back. ASUKA knocks Honori to the mat and stomps on her head, Irish whip by ASUKA but Honori reverses it and hits a dropkick. Honori tags Hotta, Hotta throws ASUKA into the corner and Honori returns as both hit running strikes on ASUKA in the corner. Another dropkick by Honori and a third while Hotta encourages her, she finally leaves the ring and Hotta picks up ASUKA, but ASUKA rakes her in the eyes. Springboard moonsault by ASUKA and she stomps on Hotta, Makoto comes in to stomp on Hotta too, ASUKA goes for a boot but Hotta catches it. Honori tries to help but Hotta elbows her by mistake, Makoto is still around but Hotta hits a face crusher on both of them. Hotta and Honori put an opponent in a camel clutch and pose, they let go after a moment and Hotta tags Honori. Honori dropkicks ASUKA a few times but ASUKA stays up and dropkicks Honori in return. ASUKA tags Makoto, scoop slam by Makoto and she covers Honori for two. Makoto picks up Honori but Hotta lariats her, cover by Honori to Makoto but it gets a two count. Makoto chops Honori in the chest and delivers a boot, handstand double kneedrop by Makoto and she covers Honori for a two count. Makoto waits for Honori to get up and nails the Blazing Kick, and she picks up the three count! ASUKA and Makoto are the winners!

This was clipped in half but what they showed was fine. I liked Hotta basically being Honori’s cheerleader, since she was the head trainer in Actwres girl’Z it makes sense that she’d be comfortable in the mentoring role. Of course, Honori had to lose, but she showed some fire even though her dropkicks still need work. Not enough made TV to get a real feel of the match, but an effective midcard tag match.

Hiroyo Matsumoto, Yamashita, and Yuu vs. Aoki, Takase, and Mizunami

We start this one slightly in progress, with Yuu in the ring with Ryo. Ryo chops Yuu into the corner with some theatrics, lariat by Ryo and she covers Yuu for two. Ryo goes for a scoop slam but Yuu blocks it, hitting a slam of her own. Body press by Yuu, and she covers Ryo for two. Yuu tags Hiroyo, Rina comes in also and they both elbow Ryo to the mat. Rina jumps on Hiroyo’s back while Hiroyo hits a double knee drop, Yuu then comes in to have a turn so she hops on Hiroyo’s back for a second double kneedrop. Cover by Hiroyo, but it gets two. She tags in Rina, Rina clubs on Ryo and lariats her in the corner. Knee to the back by Rina but Ryo recovers and elbows Rina as the two trade strikes. Bodyslam by Ryo and she tags in Aoki, stomps by Aoki to Rina  and she hits a pair of running elbows in the corner. Face crusher by Aoki and she hits a falling body press for two. Aoki picks up Rina and slams her in front of the corner, she goes for a footstomp but Rina moves out of the way and delivers a sliding kick. Rina goes off the ropes but Aoki catches her with a Samoan Drop, picking up two.

She makes the tag to Miyuki but Hiroyo and Yuu run in and all three attack Miyuki in the corner. Miyuki’s teammates help her swing the match back in her favor, chop by Miyuki but Rina kicks her in the head. Rina tags Hiroyo, Hiroyo gets Miyuki on her shoulders and throws her out of the ring onto everyone else. Hiroyo brings Miyuki back in with a delayed vertical suplex, she gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers the reverse double kneedrop for a two count. Hiroyo picks up Miyuki but Miyuki elbows her, Hiroyo elbows her back and goes for a powerbomb, but Miyuki blocks it and plants her with a DDT. Miyuki picks up Hiroyo but Hiroyo goes off the ropes, Miyuki does as well and hits a satellite DDT. Missile dropkick off the second but Miyuki and she makes the hot tag to Ryo, lariat by Ryo but Hiroyo ducks the kick attempt. Lariat by Ryo, and she covers Hiroyo for two. Ryo applies the rolling Anaconda Vice, but it gets broken up. Ryo goes up top but Hiroyo recovers and joins her, superplex by Hiroyo and she makes the tag to Yuu. Yuu chops Ryo repeatedly and hits a swinging sidewalk slam, running senton by Yuu and she covers Ryo for two.

Yuu picks up Ryo but Ryo blocks the powerbomb, Aoki runs in and elbows Yuu but Yuu drops her with a lariat. Miyuki comes in but Yuu knocks her down as well, she goes back to Ryo but Ryo gets her back. Miyuki and Aoki go for a double shoulderblock but floor Ryo by accident, Hiroyo lariats both of them while Yuu goes to the second turnbuckle. Rina and Yuu lift Yuu and help her hit a diving body press, but Ryo kicks out of the cover. Yuu picks up Ryo and goes for the powerbomb, but Ryo reverses it with a back bodydrop. Lariat by Ryo, but her cover gets two. Ryo picks up Yuu but Yuu elbows her and dropkicks Ryo into the corner. Cannonball by Yuu but Ryo barely gets a shoulder up. Yuu goes to the second turnbuckle but Ryo avoids her diving senton, lariat to the back by Ryo but Yuu blocks the Uranage attempt. Chops by Yuu but Ryo chops her back and plans her with the Uranage for two. Ryo waits for Yuu to get up and hits the spear, cover by Ryo but Yuu kicks out. Ryo goes up top and nails the Diving Guillotine Leg Drop, and she picks up the three count! MAX VOLTAGE are the winners!

All six of these wrestlers are good, but matches like this are always conflicting for me. Six wrestlers is too many for a ~15 minute match for everyone to shine, in this case Aoki was the odd woman out as she didn’t do a whole lot in the match. There wasn’t really a story behind the match, which isn’t a deal breaker but it makes it harder to really get invested. It was also a little odd that the last several minutes were really just Ryo and Yuu one on one, you expect some Joshi Chaos in the home stretch but it wasn’t there. That all being said, the action itself was solid from bell to bell and it stayed moving, so it never felt like it was dragging. A good match with six quality wrestlers, but nothing memorable which is a shame since in a slightly different circumstance this combination of wrestlers could put on a banger.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Arisa Nakajima vs. Yoshiko
SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship

They start slow as they trade holds, Yoshiko pushes Arisa into the ropes and chops her hard in the chest. Arisa doesn’t like that and slaps her, the two trade strikes until Yoshiko shoulderblocks Arisa to the mat. Kicks by Yoshiko and she pushes Arisa into the ropes, snapmare by Yoshiko and she applies a chinlock. Arisa gets into the ropes for the break, Yoshiko throws down Arisa by the hair and hits a few facewashes, but Arisa avoids the running boot and knees Yoshiko repeatedly in the head. Yoshiko tosses Arisa to the mat but Arisa hits an armdrag, another armdrag by Arisa and Yoshiko falls out of the ring. Arisa goes up top but Yoshiko quickly gets back in the ring and knocks Arisa onto the apron. Elbows by Arisa and she gets back into the ring with a cradle into a footstomp, running boot by Arisa and Yoshiko falls out of the ring again. Arisa goes to the apron and hits a missile dropkick down to the floor, she then gets on the top turnbuckle and dives down onto Yoshiko with a plancha. Arisa throws Yoshiko back in and throws her down by the hair, double underhook by Arisa but Yoshiko blocks her move attempt and hits a back bodydrop. Arisa reverses it into a sunset flip and applies a submission hold, she lets go after a moment and starts working on Yoshiko’s arm. Yoshiko eventually fights back with elbows but Arisa slaps her, she goes off the ropes and goes for a cradle, but Yoshiko reverses it.

Arisa rolls out of the ring and Yoshiko goes out after her, hitting a running senton on the floor. Yoshiko throws Arisa into the guardrail a couple times before returning to the ring, Arisa slowly follows and Yoshiko kicks her in the back. Kicks by Yoshiko and she puts Arisa in a sleeper, but Arisa gets a foot in the ropes. More kicks by Yoshiko but Arisa snaps off a hurricanrana for two. She puts Yoshiko in an ankle hold, but Yoshiko wiggles to the ropes to force the break. Waistlock by Arisa but Yoshiko gets out of it, the two trade strikes until Arisa hits the Sling Blade. Arisa goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she goes up top again and she hits a second one for a two count. Arisa positions Yoshiko and goes up top again, but Yoshiko recovers and joins her as the two trade elbows. Arisa pushes Yoshiko into the Tree of Woe and hits a quick footstomp, Arisa returns to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving footstomp for a two count. Arisa goes up again and considers the moonsault, but Yoshiko elbows her from behind before she can jump off. Yoshiko goes up too and grabs Arisa around the waist, hitting a German suplex down to the mat. Yoshiko gets Arisa on her shoulders and slams her to the mat, cover by Yoshiko but it gets two. Senton by Yoshiko, she hits a Reverse Splash followed quickly by a senton off the second turnbuckle for a two count. Yoshiko goes to the second turnbuckle again and hits a senton, but once again it gets two.

Yoshiko goes all the way up next time but Arisa rolls out of the way of the diving senton, Arisa goes up top but Yoshiko gets her feet up on the moonsault attempt. Both wrestlers slowly get up and trade elbows, release dragon suplex by Arisa and she boots Yoshiko in the face. Another dragon suplex by Arisa and she kicks Yoshiko in the head again, La Magistral by Arisa but it gets a two count. She goes for another flash pin with no luck, she picks up Yoshiko but Yoshiko blocks the suplex attempt. Arisa hits a trapped German suplex hold anyway, but it gets two. Arisa picks up Yoshiko and delivers the dragon suplex hold, but Yoshiko gets a shoulder up. Arisa quickly goes up top and nails the moonsault, but again Yoshiko kicks out. Arisa drags up Yoshiko and hits a series of elbows, Yoshiko elbows her back and levels Arisa with a lariat. Yoshiko goes up top and nails the diving senton, cover by Yoshiko but Arisa bridges out of the pin. Yoshiko goes off the ropes and hits another hard lariat, a third lariat by Yoshiko but Arisa returns to her feet. Release German by Yoshiko but Arisa fires back with a half and half suplex, but she is slow to the cover and Yoshiko kicks out. Arisa picks up Yoshiko but Yoshiko blocks the next suplex attempt, Arisa goes for a hurricanrana but Yoshiko catches her with a powerbomb for two. Sliding lariat by Yoshiko, she goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton. Yoshiko then goes all the way up top and hits a diving senton, cover by Yoshiko and she picks up the three count! Yoshiko is the new champion!

This was a pretty amazing match. I loved the whole dynamic, where Yoshiko started off with her usual bully act but Arisa is a bully too and gave it right back to her, leading to an entertaining opening stretch with both trying to get in control. The submission holds were sold in the moment but not long term, which was fine since that wasn’t really their focus point of the match, and once they got into the home stretch they were just throwing bombs. The German suplex off the ropes by Yoshiko looked great, and both just had that “I’m not backing down” aura that made it feel like a real clash. No real obvious flaws, just a hard hitting and intense match from bell to bell with very little downtime. A must see match, one of my favorites so far in 2020.  Highly Recommended

The post SEAdLINNNG Close To You on 7/13/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 1 Details:

Official Title: Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 1
Release: February 1st, 2012
Pages: 84
Cost: ¥1,200
Where to Buy: Third Party Vendors (eBay, Mercari, Buyee, etc.)

The first volume of Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa featured the following wrestlers:

• Yoko Bito
• Kana
• Mio Shirai
• Hikaru Shida
• Makoto
• Yuzuki Aikawa

Its interesting to see that eight years later, these are still some of the most popular wrestlers on the current or recently-current scene, with the only exception being Aikawa as she retired back in 2013. For the ‘gravure’ section, approximately 40 pages were devoted to the six above wrestlers, with each getting several pictures to themselves. As the photos were taken separately there are no group pictures, as at the time all were in different promotions aside from Yuzuki and Yoko who were both wrestling out of Stardom.

The rest of the magazine includes other Joshi content, including a section highlighting Bull Nakano’s retirement event and an article about Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki. While the target audience will be those that enjoy the modeling photoshoots, there is plenty of other content in this edition as well that may interest a wide variety of fans. The bulk of the pictures are in color (including all the gravure pictures), however some other pages are in black and white. Considering the popularity of some of the wrestlers involved, this is a quality magazine even for modern Joshi fans. Here is a sample of pictures from the magazine:

The post Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 1 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: SEAdLINNNG Delivered To You!
Date: June 13th, 2020
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 0

More new wrestling! As promotions start ramping back up again, I am going to try to keep up the best I can as I’m excited to finally have Joshi back. This is a big card for SEAdLINNNG, as we get ASUKA challenging Arisa Nakajima for the championship in the main event. Here is the full card:

• Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Honori Hana
• Makoto and Yuu vs. Misa Matsui and Miyuki Takase
• Aoki Itsuki and Ryo Mizunami vs. Kaho Kobayashi and Yoshiko
• Battle Royal with Hiroyo Matsumoto, Ryo Mizunami, Makoto, Yoshiko, Kaho Kobayashi, Yuu, Miyuki Takase, Aoki Itsuki, Misa Matsui, and Honori Hana
• SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship: Arisa Nakajima vs. ASUKA

This aired on Samurai TV and was live so matches should be shown in full. All wrestlers have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it.

Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Honori Hana

Tie-up to start, Hiroyo pushes Honori into the ropes but Honori knocks her back with elbows. Side headlock by Hiroyo but Honori whips out of it, she goes for a dropkick but Hiroyo just bulldozers over her. Chinlock by Hiroyo, she lets go after a moment and picks up Honori, biting on her arm. Scoop slam by Hiroyo and she hits an elbow drop for a two count. Hiroyo throws Honori into the corner but Honori dropkicks her, Hiroyo doesn’t go down however and stomps on Honori. Elbows by Honori and she dropkicks Hiroyo into the corner, she goes for a scoop slam but Hiroyo blocks it. Scoop slam by Hiroyo, and she covers Honori for two. Hiroyo goes for the crab hold but Honori quickly gets into the ropes, back up Honori elbows Hiroyo but Hiroyo elbows her hard back. Honori goes off the ropes but a shoulderblock doesn’t work, she tries a few more times until Hiroyo knocks her over with her own shoulderblock. Crab hold by Hiroyo but Honori inches to the ropes and makes it for the break. Hiroyo picks up Honori and throws her into the corner, chop by Hiroyo but Honori avoids her charge and cradles Hiroyo for two. Backslide by Honori, but that gets a two as well. Honori goes off the ropes but Hiroyo hits a lariat, she picks up Honori but Honori blocks the backdrop suplex and cradles Hiroyo for two. Irish whip by Hiroyo but Honori dropkicks her, Hiroyo stays up but a second sends her to her knees. Scoop slam by Honori, and she covers Hiroyo for a two count. Honori goes off the ropes but Hiroyo catches her with a sidewalk slam, she puts Honori in a crab hold, Honori tries to get to the ropes but can’t make it, eventually tapping out! Hiroyo Matsumoto is the winner.

This was a ‘by the numbers’ veteran vs. rookie match, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. I wouldn’t have minded a change here and there to the formula, but there is a reason its been this way for decades as it works. Hiroyo soundly stopped Honori’s offense at the start but slowly as the match built up, Honori finally was able to knock Hiroyo off her feet and even get a nearfall or two in the process. Its early in Honori’s career, her dropkicks still need work and she has a ways to go, but the basics seem to be there. A good way to kick off the show.

Makoto and Yuu vs. Misa Matsui and Miyuki Takase

Misa and Miyuki attack before the match starts, double dropkicks by team AgZ but they both eat a shoulderblock for their trouble. Yuu and Miyuki stay in the ring, shoulderblock by Yuu and she puts Miyuki in a front headlock. She tags in Makoto, Makoto twists on Miyuki’s hair before throwing her down by it. Makoto rakes Miyuki’s head across the top rope and boots her in the head a few times, but Miyuki catches her with a powerslam and tags in Misa. Misa picks up Makoto but Makoto scoop slams her, footstomp by Makoto and she covers Misa for two. Makoto tags in Yuu, Irish whip by Yuu and she hits a spinning sidewalk slam on Misa. Running senton by Yuu, but Miyuki breaks up her cover. Yuu picks up Misa and chops her in the chest, body press by Yuu but again Miyuki breaks up the pin. Misa sneaks in a small package but it only gets two, scoop slam by Yuu but Misa avoids the senton this time and hits a dropkick. She hits another dropkick as Yuu doesn’t go down, dropkick to the knee by Misa and she finally knocks Yuu over. She tags in Miyuki, dropkick by Miyuki and she clubs Yuu against the ropes. Irish whip by Miyuki but Yuu elbows her in the face, they trade strikes until Yuu chops Miyuki to the mat. Miyuki returns to her feet but Yuu chops her down again, cover by Yuu but it gets a two count. Yuu chops Miyuki in the corner, Irish whip by Yuu but Miyuki rebounds out of the corner with a dropkick.

Lariat by Miyuki but Yuu stays up, she tries again with the same result but Miyuki finally knocks her off her feet and gets a two count cover. Miyuki goes off the ropes but Yuu drops her with a hip toss, she tags in Makoto and Makoto boots Miyuki in the corner. Face crusher by Makoto and she hits a running kneedrop for a two count. Makoto picks up Miyuki but Miyuki spins away, they both struggle to hit suplexes until Miyuki gets Makoto over. Miyuki tags Misa, Misa goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody for two. Dropkick by Misa and she goes for Makoto’s arm, but Makoto quickly gets to the ropes. Makoto chops Misa in the chest but Misa puts her in an Octopus Hold until Yuu breaks it up. Misa goes off the ropes and hits a trio of low crossbodies, she picks up Makoto and goes for a suplex but Makoto blocks it. Elbows by Misa, she goes off the ropes but Makoto drop toeholds her into the bottom rope. Big boot by Makoto and she delivers the cartwheel double kneedrop for a two count. Makoto waits for Misa to get up but Miyuki cuts her off with a dropkick, Miyuki gets Makoto on her shoulders and hits the Kamikaze. Misa goes up top and hits the diving footstomp, cover by Misa but Yuu breaks it up. Miyuki gets rid of Yuu, Misa picks up Makoto but Makoto catches her with a double underhook suplex. Yuu returns and dropkicks Misa into the corner, big boot by Makoto and Yuu runs in with the Cannonball. Spear by Makoto to Misa, and she picks up the three count! Makoto and Yuu are the winners.

This was really fun. One of the advantages of Misa being new but over a year into her career is while she was the weak link, she wasn’t so weak that she couldn’t get in her licks as well. Yuu is always a breath of fresh air in these matches, there aren’t a lot of younger “hoss” Joshi wrestlers and it just opens up so many more options for a match’s direction. Makoto is a pro and hit all her spots well, and both teams showed good chemistry which is impressive since they aren’t regular opponents and they just had a lay-off due to the pandemic. I also loved the ending, just move-move-move-dead, not every match needs a bunch of hope spots and 2.9 nearfalls. All four delivered, a fast paced and hard hitting match that may have not been high end but delivered as much as one could hope for from a midcard match.  Mildly Recommended

Aoki Itsuki and Ryo Mizunami vs. Kaho Kobayashi and Yoshiko

Ryo and Kaho start the match, Ryo pushes Kaho into the ropes but she gives a clean break. Kaho gets Ryo to the mat and applies a front headlock, Ryo gets out of it and puts Kaho in a wristlock before elbowing her in the arm. Ryo applies a side headlock, Kaho reverses it but Ryo Irish whips out of the hold. Dropkick by Kaho, but Ryo stays on her feet and knocks over Kaho with a hard shoulderblock. Ryo tags Aoki and they both shoulderblock Kaho, legdrop by Ryo and Aoki hits a double kneedrop for a two count. Aoki gets Kaho in the ropes and hits a body avalanche, she then jumps down onto Kaho’s back but Kaho retorts with a dropkick and tags in Yoshiko. Yoshiko picks up Aoki and throws her down by the hair, facewashes by Yoshiko and she delivers a running boot. Cover by Yoshiko, but it gets a two count. She tags Kaho back in, Kaho puts Aoki in the ropes and rakes on her face. Dropkick to the back by Kaho and she covers Aoki for a two count. Kaho tags Yoshiko and she stands on Aoki’s back, Irish whip by Yoshiko to the corner but Aoki avoids her charge, she tries to tag in Ryo but Yoshiko cuts her off. Back bodydrop by Aoki and she makes the tag, leg lariat by Ryo to Yoshiko and she shoulderblocks Kaho. Kaho tries to keep helping but Ryo delivers a double spear, she picks up Yoshiko and chops her into the corner.

Kaho again tries to help but ends up getting chopped in the same corner for her trouble, she leaves the ring and Ryo goes back to chopping Yoshiko. Aoki holds Yoshiko so Ryo can fire herself up before she finally hits a lariat on Yoshiko for a two count cover. Ryo and Yoshiko both go for lariats with both staying up, Irish whip by Ryo but Yoshiko finally wins the lariat battle as she sends Ryo to the mat. She tags in Kaho, Kaho goes up top and hits a missile dropkick on Ryo, cover by Kaho but it gets a two count. Kaho spins Ryo around but Ryo gets her on her shoulders, Kaho slides off an hits an enzuigiri, but Ryo levels her with a lariat and tags Aoki. Aoki hits a running elbow on Kaho in the corner before hitting a face crusher, body press by Aoki and she covers Kaho for two. Aoki slams Kaho in front of the corner and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Kaho avoids the footstomp attempt. Kaho gets Aoki to the mat and wraps her up in a modified armbar, Yoshiko blocks Ryo from helping but Aoki wiggles to the ropes to get the break. Kaho picks up Aoki and keeps working on her arm, dropkick by Kaho and she covers Aoki for two. Kaho goes for the fisherman suplex but Aoki blocks it, she goes off the ropes but Ryo finally gets free of Yoshiko and lariats Kaho.

Aoki grabs Kaho and hits a bridging vertical suplex, but it gets a two count. Ryo gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a guillotine leg drop, Aoki then gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a diving footstomp for two. Aoki gets Kaho on her shoulders but Kaho slides off, Kaho kicks Aoki in the leg and drops her with a DDT. Yoshiko comes off the second turnbuckle with a diving senton, Kaho then goes all the way up and with Yoshiko’s help hits a somersault senton but Ryo breaks up the cover. Elbows by Kaho and she goes for a cradle, but Aoki blocks it and covers her for two. Elbows by Aoki but Kaho blocks the suplex attempt, Yoshiko elbows Aoki and then Ryo lariats Aoki by accident. Jackknife by Kaho, but Ryo breaks it up. Kaho goes off the ropes but Aoki catches her with a lariat, dropkick to the face by Kaho and she hits a enzuigiri. Fisherman suplex hold by Kaho, but Aoki barely gets the shoulder up. Another Fisherman suplex by Kaho, but this time she wraps up Aoki’s legs and keeps her down for the three count! Kaho Kobayashi and Yoshiko win!

I can’t decide if I like or love the ending. It was a little awkward but I see what they were going for, that it took a ‘better’ version of Kaho’s normal finisher to pick up the win. Anyway this was pretty great, while I expect good performances from the other three I was really impressed with Aoki. I haven’t seen her wrestle in awhile, and while she didn’t control the match, her personality really came through and she held her own with wrestlers with far more experience than she has. I know Yoshiko isn’t incredibly popular with Western fans but she’s so good in the ring, and there was a lot of ‘power’ based wrestling here which I really enjoy. Kaho is one of the best sellers in Joshi and only has one pace, so she kept everyone else moving fast as well. It didn’t feel like a 20 minute match as the time flew by, as the match never slowed down. Really good match between three quality veterans and an up-and-comer starting to show what she can do.  Recommended

Battle Royal
with Hiroyo Matsumoto, Ryo Mizunami, Makoto, Yoshiko, Kaho Kobayashi, Yuu, Miyuki Takase, Aoki Itsuki, Misa Matsui, and Honori Hana

They all brawl to start, as is usually the case lots of randomness as the bulk of the wrestlers get stacked in the corner so that Kaho can be launched at all of them. Hiroyo and Yoshiko try to launch Yuu but they can’t toss her, leading to her landing on them. The wrestlers take turns stomping each other until they all suddenly leave the ring, brawling on the floor. Hiroyo and Kaho get back into the ring and trade strikes, backdrop suplex by Hiroyo and she puts Kaho in a headscissors. You know what that means, as all the wrestlers slowly return to the ring to stretch out the headscissors chain, as it stretches across the ring and under the ropes. Aoki is the last one so she grabs Kaho’s legs to turn them over, which doesn’t fully work since not everyone is even in the ring. Things get back to normal as Aoki and Misa trade elbows, a battle which Aoki wins with little effort. Ryo and Miyuki get involved as they stack both of them in the corner, but they get distracted and start dancing. Finally Miyuki tries to attack Misa but Misa had gone into an invisible box, sending Miyuki flying. Everyone covers Miyuki, and she is held down for the three count! Miyuki Takase is eliminated.

Ryo moves the invisible box and tosses it out of the ring, but is kicked for her trouble. She spears both Aoki and Misa, the other wrestlers join in to cover them and both are held down for the three count. Misa Mitsui and Aoki Itsuki are eliminated. Kaho and Yoshiko go after Makoto but she drives them across the second rope, she gets everyone else on the second rope and kicks it into their chest, but her attempt to cover everyone for the pin doesn’t work. Yuu elbows Makoto in the corner then tosses Ryo, Yuu dropkicks Makoto while also hitting a senton on Ryo before getting on the second turnbuckle, hitting a diving body press on Makoto. Everyone else helps her with the cover, and she gets the three count! Makoto is eliminated. She does the same to Ryo and everyone again helps with the cover, keeping her down for three as well. Ryo Mizunami is eliminated. Yuu slams Honori in front of the corner to repeat the process to her as well, but Hiroyo and Yoshiko run over and knock her over the top rope to the ring! Yuu is eliminated. Natsuko Taiyo suddenly decides to get involved and hits a missile dropkick onto Hiroyo, Kaho and Yoshiko trade pins but nether are held down for there. Hiroyo goes after Natsuki but Yoshiko grabs her from behind, Natsuki helps Yoshiko attack Hiroyo and they both attack her in the ropes, but Natsuki is knocked over the top rope to the floor. But technically not eliminated since she wasn’t in the match in the first place.

She returns (she is the referee after all) while the four remaining wrestlers brawl, Hiroyo and Honori shoulderblock Yoshiko but Honori schoolboys Hiroyo for a two count. Hiroyo bullies Honori but Natsuki kicks her from behind, Kaho runs over but Hiroyo picks her up and press slams her out of the ring. Kaho Kobayashi is eliminated. Honori dropkicks Hiroyo with Natsuki’s help, cover by Honori but it gets a two count. Honori goes for a roll-up but Hiroyo sits down to block it, pinning Honori’s shoulders to the mat and getting a quick three count from Natsuki. Honori Hana is eliminated. We are left with just the tag team partners, Yoshiko and Hiroyo Matsumoto. They immediately go for lariats on each other with Hiroyo winning the battle. Hiroyo gets on the second turnbuckle to go to the Reverse Splash, but Yoshiko knocks her out to the apron. Yoshiko struggles to knock Hiroyo off the apron to the floor but ends up on the apron herself, with all the eliminated wrestlers trying to pull them off. Natsuki dropkicks Hiroyo and Yoshiko gets free, she gets back in the ring while Hiroyo continues to struggle and gives her a final dropkick to loosen her grip. Hiroyo flops out to the floor, and is eliminated. Yoshiko is the winner!

A typical Battle Royal, with more style than substance. I like Natsuki Taiyo getting so involved because its a silly match anyway, and she’s still just as good as she was before she retired. A few cute moments, like them tricking Yuu, but overall not a whole lot to it. It acted as a nice buffer before the title match and to stretch out the card since they had to fill two hours, but if you are on a time crunch it can be skipped.

(c) Arisa Nakajima vs. ASUKA
SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Championship

They trade holds to start as they jockey for position, ASUKA applies a headscissors but Arisa gets out of it and both wrestlers return to their feet. ASUKA gets Arisa back to the mat and rolls her around with a guillotine, but Arisa gets a foot on the ropes for the break. ASUKA kicks at Arisa but Arisa slaps her and the two trade strikes, headbutt by ASUKA and she chokes Arisa in the corner. ASUKA toys with Arisa in the corner before grabbing her by the hair and flinging her into the opposite corner. Single leg takedown by Arisa and she goes for a cross armbreaker, but ASUKA blocks it and applies an ankle hold. She lets go after a moment, headbutt by ASUKA and she slams Arisa’s head into the mat. Camel Clutch by ASUKA, she releases the hold and tosses Arisa out of the ring. She gets back in but is met with boots, Irish whip by ASUKA but Arisa catches her with a DDT. Dropkick by Arisa, she picks up ASUKA but ASUKA boots her in the midsection. Irish whip by Arisa to the corner but ASUKA avoids her charge, ASUKA ends up on the apron but Arisa goes to the top turnbuckle and slams her head down onto the apron. Arisa picks up ASUKA and slides her back into the ring, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick.

She goes up top again and hits another one followed by a third to the knee, Arisa picks up ASUKA and cradles her before applying a Stretch Muffler. ASUKA gets out of it and applies an armbar but Arisa reverses the hold back instead of reaching for the ropes. ASUKA struggles back to her feet and gets away, knees by Arisa and she hits a release German suplex. Running boot by Arisa, she picks up ASUKA and rolls her to the mat while applying a knee lock. ASUKA gets to the ropes for the break, Arisa kicks her leg and goes off the ropes, but ASUKA catches her with a jumping kick to the face. ASUKA picks up Arisa and drops her with a release German followed by a second one, running kick by ASUKA and she covers Arisa for two. ASUKA positions Arisa and goes up top, but Arisa recovers and joins her, suplexing ASUKA off the top turnbuckle. Arisa goes for a cradle but ASUKA reverses it, Arisa avoids ASUKA’s footstomp attempt however and applies an ankle hold. ASUKA kicks Arisa off and slaps her, but Arisa delivers a trapped German suplex for a two count. Arisa picks up ASUKA but ASUKA hits a hard elbow followed by a boot to the face for two. Kick to the chest by ASUKA but Arisa fires back with a kick of her own, Arisa goes off the ropes but ASUKA catches her with a spinning heel kick.

Mounted elbows by ASUKA, she gets on the top turnbuckle and goes for the moonsault, but Arisa rolls out of the way and cradles her for two. Running kick by Arisa, she goes to the top turnbuckle but ASUKA recovers and joins her. They trade elbows while up top until Arisa snaps ASUKA’s neck over the top rope, she goes back up top and delivers a diving footstomp for a two count cover. Dragon suplex hold by Arisa, but that gets a two count as well. Arisa drags ASUKA up, she wraps ASUKA’s leg around her but ASUKA hits a Stunner to get out of the suplex hold. Powerbomb by ASUKA, she picks up Arisa and nails a Liger Bomb for a two count cover. ASUKA goes up top and delivers the moonsault, but Arisa barely gets the shoulder up. ASUKA picks up Arisa but Arisa reverses the side slam into a DDT, elbows by Arisa and a hard elbow sends ASUKA to the mat for two. Arisa wraps ASUKA’s leg around her waist and nails the modified German suplex, but ASUKA gets a shoulder up. Arisa picks up ASUKA and goes for the half and half suplex, ASUKA blocks it but Arisa keeps her momentum going and cradles ASUKA for the three count! Arisa Nakajima wins and retains the championship.

There is a lot to unwrap here but just as a first reaction, this was a great match. ASUKA is no longer in the ‘learning” or “developing” phase, she knows what she is doing and has grown into being a high end wrestler at just 21 years old. Not only are her moves on point but her selling has improved as well, and she had no issues here keeping up Arisa and the structure of the match. I liked the leg work a lot, I wish it had played into the end a bit as it kinda got dropped but I did like the ending with the veteran Arisa taking the blocked move and turning it into a complicated cradle. Its the kind of craftiness you’d expect from a 14 year vet and while it may not have been a ‘killer move’ ending it fit well with her general experience and intelligence. Like the other matches on the card, it felt like it went the right amount of time, not feeling short but not over-staying its welcome with move spamming. All and all a really entertaining match, I could nitpick things and maybe it won’t end up the MOTY, but a damn fine effort from both in one of the biggest Joshi matches post-peak pandemic so far.  Highly Recommended

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