• Championships and Tournaments Won: This includes any championship won during 2021, or any championship that was held when 2021 began. The prestige of the championship or tournament will be taken into account.
• Match Quality: The most subjective criteria, extra consideration is given to wrestlers that had high quality matches throughout the year, especially if it was with a variety of opponents.
• Wrestler Popularity: Being able to connect with the crowd is important in wrestling, wrestlers that have success interacting with the crowd and getting reactions will get credit for that.
• Wrestler Status in a Promotion: Generally speaking, the Ace of one promotion will be ahead of the #3 wrestler in another promotion, since wrestling on top means bigger matches, longer matches, and more opportunities. There isn’t a direct correlation, but leading a promotion or being the ‘face’ of a promotion can help a wrestler’s rank as it increases the wrestler’s visibility and match importance.
• Match Frequency/Availability: How often a wrestler wrestled is taken into consideration. A wrestler with 100 matches is more likely to be on the list than a wrestler with 10 matches. Also, it is harder to ‘rate’ a wrestler if their matches rarely were distributed via TV or an online streaming service, so visibility is a factor.

One criteria I am not using is ‘drawing power.’ In the current wrestling landscape there are very few wrestlers that by themselves are draws (I could probably count them on one hand), usually it is more the benefit of a good storyline or a hot region that impacts the size of the crowd. While the larger Joshi promotions may have more wrestlers on the list due to the other criteria (visibility being a major one), the size of the crowds will not be taken in consideration. Also, it should be noted that this ranking is based only on a wrestler’s matches/participation in Japan. This is not a list of my personal favorite wrestlers or fun rookies that I enjoy watching, but rather my version of what a “real” ranking of Joshi wrestlers would look like based on their success and status in 2021.

2021 continued to be impacted by the pandemic, even as many promotions returned to a more normal schedule. The trend of “more Joshi” being available via streaming methods continued, which is great, but also made it harder to keep up with everything. I did my best to do so however, and attempted to come up with a Top 20 list that I feel best shows who in lead the Joshi landscape during these unusual times.

Onto the Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2021!

1. Syuri (Stardom)

Championships Held: SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship (365 days), Goddess of Stardom Championship (272 days), and the World of Stardom Championship (3 days)
Biggest Matches: with Giulia vs. Himeka and Maika on 4/4, vs. Utami Hayashishita on 6/12, vs. Momo Watanabe on 9/25, vs. Utami Hayashishita on 12/29
Best Match: vs. Utami Hayashishita in Stardom on June 12th, 2021

14 years after she debuted in professional wrestling, Syuri finally had the year that her fans always knew she was capable of. After years of being a Freelancer or focusing on her MMA career, Syuri finally got the chance to take over in Stardom and she did not disappoint. Syuri had a dominant year in both singles and tag matches, going 13-0-1 in title matches. She also won the Stardom FIVE STAR GP, the most prestigious annual tournament in Joshi. As far as match quality, she had one of the best matches of the year against Utami in June, and had five matches rated **** or higher by the Wrestling Observer (all singles matches). She capped off the year winning the World of Stardom Championship, as she goes into 2022 as the top wrestler in the promotion. A hell of a year for Syuri, and one that her fans have long been waiting for.

2. Utami Hayashishita (Stardom)

Championships Held: World of Stardom Championship (363 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Bea Priestly on 4/4, vs. Syuri on 6/12, vs. Tam Nakano on 9/25, vs. Takumi Iroha on 10/9, vs. Syuri on 12/29
Best Match: vs. Syuri in Stardom on June 12th, 2021

Even though Utami Hayashishita only held one title in 2021, it happened to be the top title in Stardom and she held it for virtually the entire year. In her title reign she had a number of high-end defenses, including wins over Bea Priestley, Takumi Iroha, Hazuki, and Maika. She only stumbled when facing Syuri, as she went 0-2-2 against her in singles matches, which is the reason Syuri ranking over her was an easy decision. At only 23 years old, Utami is poised to lead Stardom for many years to come if that is the path she decides to take in her career.

3. Miyu Yamashita (Tokyo Joshi Pro)

Championships Held: Tokyo Joshi Pro Princess Of Princess Championship (242 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Rika Tatsumi on 5/4, vs. Yuka Sakazaki on 6/6, vs. Sakisama on 6/26, vs. Mizuki on 7/31, vs. Maki Itoh on 10/9
Best Match: vs. Maki Itoh in Tokyo Joshi Pro on October 9th, 2021

What really puts Miyu Yamashita over the top isn’t just her success in Tokyo Joshi Pro, but her popularity and her ability to put on high-end matches against a variety of opponents. She had four successful title defenses in 2021, and over the course of the year she was 18-1 in singles matches, with her only loss being against Mizuki in the Tokyo Princess Cup. To show her level of popularity in Japan, she finished 4th in the Weekly Pro Magazine fan voting for Joshi MVP, the highest of any non-Stardom wrestler.

4. Tsukasa Fujimoto (Ice Ribbon)

Championships Held: ICExInfinity Championship (294 days) and the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (16 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Rina Yamashita on 2/20, with Tsukushi vs. Risa Sera and Suzu Suzuki on 2/21, vs. Maya Yukihi on 3/27, vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto on 8/9, vs. Tsukushi Haruka on 11/13
Best Match: vs. Tsukushi Haruka in Ice Ribbon on November 13th, 2021

With Ice Ribbon going through some turmoil in 2021, their long time Ace took back over as she won the ICExInfinity Championship for the first time since 2018 and held it for the bulk of the year. She was an extremely active champion, with 11 title defenses and wins over Hiroyo Matsumoto, Tsukushi Haruka, and Maya Yukihi along the way. She also had a brief run with the tag titles, although she had no successful defenses of the belt. Tsukasa Fujimoto was the undisputed leader of Ice Ribbon in 2021, showing that even at 38 years old she is one of the best in Joshi wrestling.

5. Tam Nakano (Stardom)

Championships Held: Wonder of Stardom Championship (301 days) and the Artist of Stardom Championship (276 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Giulia on 3/3, with Cosmic Angels vs. STARS on 3/7, vs. Natsupoi on 4/4, with Cosmic Angels vs. Queen’s Quest on 7/6, vs. Starlight Kid on 7/21, vs. Mayu Iwatani on 10/9, vs. Saya Kamitani on 11/27
Best Match: vs. Giulia in Stardom on March 3rd, 2021

Tam Nakano had a hell of a year in 2021. She entered the year as one of the Artist of Stardom champions, but her big moment came when she finally defeated Giulia in a Title vs. Hair match in March to win the Wonder of Stardom Championship. She held the title for almost the rest of the year, with successful defenses against Natsupoi, Starlight Kid, and Mina Shirakawa before losing the belt to Saya Kamitani. As the leader of the Cosmic Angels, Tam was frequently in major storylines and was a constant focus of the promotion. Easily the biggest year of her career, Tam showed in 2021 she has what it takes to lead a promotion.

6. Maya Yukihi (Freelancer)

Championships Held: OZ Academy Openweight Championship (137 days) and the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (257 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto on 3/27, with Maika Ozaki vs. Dropkicks on 4/11, vs. Kaori Yoneyama on 7/18, with Sera vs. Matsumoto and Fujimoto on 8/9, vs. Mayumi Ozaki vs. Saori Anou vs. Yumi Ohka on 8/18, with Sera vs. Saori Anou and Suzu Suzuki on 11/13, vs. Yuu on 12/30
Best Match: vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto in Ice Ribbon on March 27th, 2021

Maya Yukihi is a constant force in Joshi, as even though she is a Freelancer she has a regular home in both Ice Ribbon and OZ Academy. As a regular, that gives her more consistent opportunities in both promotions, and she took full advantage in 2021 as she found success in both places. In OZ Academy, she won the Openweight Championship in August and held it the rest of the year, with one successful defense against Yuu. Over in Ice Ribbon, her “nicer” persona won the tag titles twice, with nine successful defenses between her two reigns. Being one of the top wrestlers in two different promotions is quite a feat, and I expect that trend to continue in 2022.

7. Rina Yamashita (Freelancer)

Championships Held: Ice Ribbon FantastICE Championship (187 days), Daily Sports Tag Team Championship (241 days), King of FREEDOM Tag Team Championship (107 days), and the OZ Academy Tag Team Championship (2 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto on 2/20, vs. ASUKA on 3/17, vs. Risa Sera on 6/27, vs. Suzu Suzuki on 8/9, vs. with Nakamori vs. Cherry and Leon on 8/29, with Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Aoki and Kuragaki on 12/30
Best Match: vs. Suzu Suzuki in Ice Ribbon on August 9th, 2021

I love Rina Yamashita. She is capable of wrestling such a diverse style, and is so well-respected by promotions that she held titles in 2021 in FOUR different promotions. OZ Academy and Ice Ribbon were her primary homes in 2021, as she won the hardcore-friendly FantastICE Championship in Ice Ribbon and ended the year winning the OZ Academy Tag Championship with Hiroyo Matsumoto. She also held titles in PURE-J and FREEDOMS, showing her versatility. More wild and unpredictable than your average Joshi wrestler, Yamashita brings a sense of danger to all her matches and is captivating to watch. Yamashita may not ever find a permanent home but she is doing quite well for herself as one of the most popular Freelancers on the Joshi market.

8. Giulia (Stardom)

Championships Held: Wonder of Stardom Championship (62 days) and the Goddesses of Stardom Championship (272 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Starlight Kid on 2/13, vs. Tam Nakano on 3/3, with Syuri vs. Himeka and Maika on 4/4, with Syuri vs. Mayu and Starlight Kid on 5/15, vs. Mayu Iwatani on 8/1
Best Match: vs. Tam Nakano in Stardom on March 3rd, 2021

The only thing that held Giulia back in 2021 was an injury that kept her out for a few months, but she still stayed in the spotlight in Stardom as one of their most important wrestlers. She had a great match in March against Tam Nakano, in which she ended up losing her hair. Giulia had no issue rocking the “short hair” look however and never really missed a beat, as she held the tag titles with Syuri for the bulk of the year. As the leader of DDM she was the focus of multiple major storylines, and ended the year defeating Konami in Konami’s last match before going on a long-term break. Even a “down” year for Giulia is a damn good one, and she’ll look to rebound in 2022.

9. Mei Suruga (Gatoh Move)

Championships Held: Asia Dream Tag Championship (365 days) and the Princess Tag Team Championship (175 days)
Biggest Matches: with Akki vs. Emi Sakura and Fujita on 3/27, with Sakisama vs. Tenma and Aino on 4/17, with Sakisama vs. BeeStar on 5/4, vs. Minoru Fujita on 6/12, with Sakisama vs. Maki Itoh and Yamashita on 6/17, vs. Emi Sakura on 8/9/21, with Sakisama vs. Sugar Rabbits on 10/9
Best Match: vs. Emi Sakura in Gatoh Move on August 9th, 2021

When I was compiling the ranking, I really struggled with the rest of the list as almost every wrestler has a different justification for being ranked ahead of another. What put Mei over the the top for me (if I can be permitted to put kayfabe aside) is her run in Tokyo Joshi Pro. As Mei Saint-Michel, Mei won the tag titles with Sakisama and together they had two successful defenses during their 175 day run. It also helps that Mei’s matches are extremely accessible, which builds up her popularity and makes all her bigger matches available to watch. In Gatoh Move, Mei held the tag titles for the entire year, with nine successful defenses. Mei may have reached her ceiling if she remains primarily in Gatoh Move, but even though she is in a smaller promotion she still puts on great matches and has a wide fanbase that spans the globe.

10. Miyuki Takase (AgZ)

Championships Held: AgZ Championship (94 days) and the Diana Tag Team Championship (289 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. SAKI on 4/4, with Umesaki vs. 3A on 4/18, vs. Rin Kadokura on 7/1, vs. Leon on 12/13
Best Match: vs. Mio Momono in WAVE on June 1st, 2021

Miyuki Takase gained more visibility in 2021 due to wrestling in more promotions and AgZ regularly updating their streaming service, but she was hurt by missing a chunk of the year due to an injury. Miyuki only had 60 matches during the year but made the most of it, as she held titles in two different promotions. Miyuki’s epic run as AgZ Champion ended in 2021, but she continued to be the best wrestler in the promotion. In WAVE, she won the Catch the WAVE Tournament, which is still one of the most prestigious Joshi tournaments even though WAVE itself has dropped in popularity. In Diana, Miyuki had two runs with their tag team championship, although she had a lack of defenses due to missing so much time. As the year ended, AgZ folded their wrestling division so Miyuki officially became a Freelancer. Hopefully she can turn that into a successful 2022 as she is well regarded in several Joshi promotions from her work over the years.

11. Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls’) – Chihiro again fails to crack the Top 10 for the same reason as last year – visibility. Sendai Girls’ doesn’t run as many shows as other promotions, and not as many of their events “make air” as they don’t have a dedicated streaming service. Hopefully next year we will get to see more of Chihiro as the matches we have seen (vs. Mio Momono and vs. Takumi Iroha in particular) were great and she deserves more attention.

12. Arisa Nakajima (SEAdLINNNG) – The only thing holding back Arisa Nakajima is she continues to have a light schedule, with only 32 matches on the year. Seven of those matches were title matches however, so when Arisa did wrestle she wrestled with a purpose. Over the course of the year she held three titles (SEAdLINNNG singles, SEAdLINNNG tag, and PURE-J tag) and continued to put on high-end matches. I’d like to see more of Arisa, but she seems to be happy with her current situation and she has certainly earned the lighter workload after the long career she has had.

13. Starlight Kid (Stardom) – In regards to growth in 2021, few wrestlers had the success of Starlight Kid. Starlight Kid has been a great wrestler for years, but she stepped up her game in 2021 not only by winning the High Speed Championship but turning on her friends and joining Oedo Tai. Ever since she became more…. dark, she’s become one of the stars of the promotion as she was immediately thrust into several major storylines. She is still a little young and undersized to expect a climb to the top in 2022, but I’m not going to be the one to doubt her as she has shown she is capable of anything.

14. Maki Itoh (Tokyo Joshi Pro) – Like Starlight Kid, Maki Itoh is here on the list due to her growth in popularity. Arguably the most popular wrestler in Tokyo Joshi Pro, Itoh didn’t win any titles in 2021 but did win the Tokyo Princess Cup when she defeated Shoko Nakajima in the Finals. She challenged twice for the Princess of Princess Championship without success, so even though she didn’t win as many matches as she’d have liked, she stayed in the main event scene. Itoh’s career path is one of the harder ones to predict, but I don’t see her popularity waning anytime soon.

15. Leon (PURE-J) – Leon dominated PURE-J in 2021, holding both the Openweight Championship and the PURE-J Tag Team Championship. At 41 years old, Leon is still a very good wrestler but doesn’t put on the high end matches anymore that many others on this list do. Still, she provided the old school promotion with stability and due to their streaming services, virtually all of her big matches were available for fans to watch.

16. ASUKA/Veny (Freelancer) – ASUKA was everywhere in 2021, as they wrestled in over a dozen promotions over the course of the year. ASUKA’s main home was SEAdLINNNG, where they won both the singles and tag team championship. A very active Freelancer that puts on high end matches wherever they go, even though in some ways this was a down year for ASUKA I am sure they will rebound next year and find even more success.

17. Nagisa Nozaki (Pro Wrestling WAVE) – Nagisa continues to lead a promotion that no one watches, due to WAVE not having a regular streaming service and most of their events only being available via PPV. Nagisa won the Regina Di WAVE Championship in August and held it for the rest of the year, however she only had one successful defense in that time. She is a very solid wrestler, not spectacular but whenever her matches do become available they are generally entertaining. I hated to have a promotion with no representation and Nagisa is the best pick from WAVE, but if you haven’t seen any of her matches from 2021 I assure you that you are not alone.

18. Tsukushi Haruka (Ice Ribbon) – Now that Suzu Suzuki is gone from Ice Ribbon, Tsukushi becomes the wrestler most likely to take the role of Ace from Tsukasa Fujimoto. She started that process by winning the ICExInfinity Championship in November – she has held many titles in Ice Ribbon before but this time it feels more serious as Tsukushi is now an adult and has started using her last name. A spunky murder machine, Tsukushi is poised for a big 2022 if she can keep up her current momentum.

19. Rika Tatsumi (Tokyo Joshi Pro) – Rika started the year hot but cooled off a bit as it came to a close. She came into 2021 the Princess of Princess Champion but lost the title in May and did not even challenge for any other titles for the rest of the year. She is only ranked at all based on her being the top title holder for the first quarter, but by the end of the year she had been passed by several other Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers. Rika is going to have to re-find that magic in 2022 or she will likely drop off the list altogether.

20. Suzu Suzuki (Ice Ribbon/Prominence) – Suzu gets the final spot this year (there are a dozen wrestlers that could have a legitimate argument for being on this list that aren’t) mostly due to her love of being blown up. Suzu turned to hardcore wrestling in 2021, which apparently is her true love and she wrestled anyone she could find that didn’t mind some extra pain. Her love for deathmatches helped lead to her leaving Ice Ribbon and forming her own group, which needless to say was a major step for the young wrestler. It remains to be seen if her venture will be a success, but I respect her willingness to risk it all by giving up her comfy Ice Ribbon “future Ace” role for the less steady realm of Joshi hardcore wrestling.

The post Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2021 appeared first on Joshi City.

Full Details

Title: VISUALIST Women’s Pro Wrestling Mook
Release: May 19th, 2021
Pages: 98
Size: A4
Cost: ¥1,500
Where to Buy: Amazon Japan and Third Party Vendors

For many months leading up to its release, every week in Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine there was a featured picture of a Joshi wrestler under the “VISUALIST” heading. This led to the release of this mook (magazine + book = mook, basically its a thicker magazine), which is almost 100 pages of modeling-style pictures of some of the most popular Joshi wrestlers. Many different promotions are represented as wrestlers from Stardom, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Ice Ribbon, Actwres girl’Z, and more are featured.  The complete list of wrestlers in the mook is:

• Giulia (Stardom)
• Yuka Sakazaki (Tokyo Joshi Pro)
• Saori Anou (Freelancer)
• Maya Yukihi (Ice Ribbon)
• Tam Nakano (Stardom)
• Mizuki (Tokyo Joshi Pro)
• Nagisa Nozaki (WAVE)
• Saki Akai (DDT)
• Himeka (Stardom)
• Risa Sera (Ice Ribbon)
• Miku Aono (Actwres girl’Z)
• Yuki Kamifuku (Tokyo Joshi Pro)

For fans of the visual, as the name implies, this mook certainly delivers. Each wrestler gets one page of text, but all the other pages are purely pictures, giving fans a lot of bang for their buck. Many of the photos do veer towards the PG-13 side, but there is no nudity or implied nudity. Some of the wrestlers here are very familar with this style of photoshoot (Tam Nakano, Maya Yukihi, Yuki Kamifuku, etc.) but for others its a more rare look at a different side of them. Every wrestler has at least a couple different outfits/settings, giving the photos for each individual wrestler some variety. All in all, this is a very thorough mook and the best print media for professional modeling-style photos of Joshi wrestlers in recent memory just based on the length and variety of wrestlers. Here is a sample of pictures from the mook:

The post VISUALIST Women’s Pro Wrestling Mook Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Pro Wrestling WAVE “Catch The Wave Final”
Date: July 1st, 2021
Location: Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 180
Broadcast: Streamed on Confetti Web

After a long break, I have finally grabbed a Pro Wrestling WAVE event to review! There are a few reasons I don’t watch WAVE often. A big one is as WAVE has no TV deal or regular streaming service, not as many of their shows are readily available. WAVE has been streaming off and on this year on a service called Confetti Web, but its expensive, ranging from $20 to $35 a show. Which I consider expensive due to the other reason I don’t watch much WAVE, which is that their base roster is lackluster so they depend on having quality wrestlers from other places to prop up their shows. Plus, some of their matches tend to be a bit too goofy for my personal taste. Luckily, for Catch the WAVE they did bring in quality outsiders, and this is a full event with six matches. So it could be fun. Here is the full card:

• Tomoko Watanabe vs. Shizuku Tsukata
• Catch The WAVE 2021 Semi Final: Nagisa Nozaki vs. Miyuki Takase
• Catch The WAVE 2021 Semi Final: Kaori Yoneyama vs. Rin Kadokura
• Itsuki Aoki, YAKO, and Yuu vs. SAKI, Yappy, and Yumi Ohka
• Ami Miura, Mio Momono, and Momo Kohgo vs. Hibiscus Mii, Sakura Hirota, and Yuki Miyazaki
• Catch The WAVE 2021 Final: Rin Kadokura vs. Miyuki Takase

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

Tomoko Watanabe vs. Shizuku Tsukata
We kick off the show with a very traditional veteran vs. rookie match. Tomoko Watanabe is on the Legend tier of veterans, as she has had over a dozen title reigns in a 30 year career. She comes in from Marvelous to take on WAVE’s newest wrestler, as Shizuku just debuted in April. She isn’t a kid, which will help her not get completely squashed, but this will likely still be a one-sided affair. But hopefully the rookie will learn a thing or two in defeat.

Shizuku offers a handshake to start but instead throws Watanabe into the corner, dropkick by Shizuku but Watanabe dropkicks her back. Scoop slam by Watanabe and she hits an elbow drop off the side ropes for a two count. Shizuku gets back up and elbows Watanabe to the ropes, dropkick by Watanabe but Watanabe stays up. Shizuku goes for a scoop slam but Watanabe blocks it, camel clutch by Watanabe but she lets go after a moment so she can apply a single leg crab hold. Shizuku crawls to the ropes to force the break, Watanabe picks up Shizuku and hits a vertical suplex. Watanabe puts the crab hold back on but Watanabe gets a foot on the ropes, Watanabe drags Shizuku back to the middle of the ring and puts her in a stretch hold. She switches to a bodyscissors but Shizuku rolls out of it and hits a series of mounted elbows. Shizuku picks up Watanabe but still can’t slam her, scoop slam by Watanabe and she knees Shizuku in the midsection. Watanabe picks up Shizuku, Shizuku fights back with elbows but again Watanabe slams her.

Shizuku returns to her feet quickly and hits more elbows, but gets slammed for her trouble. Shizuku slowly gets up and hits a few elbows, Watanabe goes for a slam but Shizuku lands on top of her. Dropkicks by Shizuku but Watanabe swats one away and puts her in a single leg crab hold. Shizuku gets to the ropes for the break, Watanabe pulls her back but Shizuku cradles her for two. Shizuku goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick, but Watanabe boots her to the mat for a two count. Irish whip by Watanabe to the corner but Shizuku dropkicks her, cover by Shizuku but it gets two. Shizuku hops up to the second turnbuckle but Watanabe catches her crossbody attempt and slams her to the mat. Watanabe goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a bodypress, cover by Watanabe but it only gets two. Watanabe picks up Shizuku but Shizuku sneaks in a backslide for two, lariat by Watanabe and she puts Shizuku in a Sharpshooter. Shizuku doesn’t struggle for long before tapping out! Tomoko Watanabe is the winner.

This was a very “by the numbers” veteran vs. rookie match. Which isn’t necessarily bad, this has been the trusted formula since the beginning of wrestling to help bring along new wrestlers. Watanabe dominated, Shizuku got in some hope spots, but ultimately Watanabe was too much for the young wrestler and put her away. A simple but logical story. Too soon to tell what Shizuku’s future in wrestling will be, but not a bad way to start the event.

Nagisa Nozaki vs. Miyuki Takase
Catch The WAVE 2021 Semi Final
The next two matches will determine who will wrestle in the tournament finals later tonight. Even though Miyuki Takase is affiliated with Actwres girl’Z, she has always been connected with WAVE too as she has wrestled a lot in WAVE since her debut in 2017. In fact she has wrestled in WAVE more than Actwres girl’Z in her career and did some training there as well, so WAVE is her home away from home. She is against Nagisa Nozaki, who is one of the top wrestlers in this “new” version of WAVE and she held their top title for almost the entirety of 2020. Both Nagisa and Miyuki are talented and would fit in well in the Finals of the tournament.

They charge each other to start as they get right into it, Nagisa boots back Miyuki repeatedly but Miyuki catches one and dropkicks Nagisa in the knee. Miyuki charges Nagisa but Nagisa moves, and she dumps Miyuki out onto the apron. Nagisa goes for a big boot but Miyuki moves, with Nagisa’s leg getting caught over the top rope. Miyuki takes advantage of this and starts working on Nagisa’s leg, Nagisa falls out of the ring after a moment and Miyuki goes after her. Kick by Nagisa and she boots Miyuki in the head, she waits for Miyuki to get up and charges her but Miyuki delivers a powerslam. Miyuki slams Nagisa’s knee into the floor before sliding her back into the ring, Miyuki drags Nagisa’s leg to the ring post and slams her knee repeatedly into it. Back in, Miyuki keeps up the leg work, cover by Miyuki but it gets two. Miyuki picks up Nagisa but Nagisa boots her away, elbow by Miyuki but Nagisa slaps on the sleeper. Miyuki drives Nagisa into the corner to break up the hold, dropkick by Miyuki off the second turnbuckle and she hits a lariat in the corner. Second turnbuckle elbow strike by Miyuki, and she covers Nagisa for two. Miyuki goes to the top turnbuckle but Nagisa elbows her and joins her, hitting a superplex down to the mat. Somato by Nagisa, but it gets a two count. A sliding kick by Nagisa follows, but that gets a two as well so Nagisa slaps on a sleeper hold. Miyuki struggles back up but Nagisa hits a STO before re-applying the hold. Miyuki is too close to the ropes however and makes it there for the break, kick to the ribs by Nagisa and she goes to the top turnbuckle.

Miyuki grabs her before she can jump off and climbs up as well, headbutt by Miyuki and she powerslams Nagisa back to the mat for a two count. Miyuki puts Nagisa in a submission but Nagisa is by the ropes and grabs the bottom one for the break. Miyuki charges Nagisa and hits a lariat, another lariat by Miyuki and she covers Nagisa for two. Miyuki picks up Nagisa and hits the Kamikaze, diving guillotine leg drop by Miyuki off the second turnbuckle but Nagisa barely kicks out. Vertical suplex by Miyuki, she drags up Nagisa but Nagisa fights her off. Miyuki charges Nagisa but Nagisa boots her in the face, Ripcord Boot by Nagisa and she hits another, but Miyuki blocks the third attempt and delivers a lariat. Both wrestlers are down on the mat and slowly get up at the same time, trading elbows in the process. Miyuki charges Nagisa but Nagisa blocks the lariat and rolls Miyuki to the mat, applying the sleeper. Miyuki almost goes out but gets a foot on the ropes right before doing so, Nagisa picks up Miyuki and nails a series of sliding kicks. Nagisa drags up Miyuki and hits a final sliding kick, but Miyuki barely kicks out. Nagisa waits for Miyuki to get up but Miyuki catches her with a Samoan Driver, lariat by Miyuki and she covers Nagisa for two. Miyuki drags Nagisa near the corner, she goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a guillotine legdrop, but Nagisa kicks out. Miyuki goes off the ropes but Nagisa boots her in the head, getting a two count of her own. Nagisa goes off the ropes but eats a lariat, Nagisa strikes back with another jumping kick but Miyuki returns fire with a lariat. Twister vertical suplex by Miyuki, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails the guillotine legdrop, picking up the three count! Miyuki Takase wins and advances to the Catch The WAVE 2021 Finale!

This match wasn’t without its issues but it was still entertaining. They went heavy into the move spam overkill, which is a little excessive for the second match on the card. I don’t mind overkill in the right situations but the repetitive moves and nearfalls is better suited for the main event. I also wish Nagisa had done a bit more to sell the leg with Miyuki’s work on it, but she didn’t seem phased a bit. That being said, this was a really fast paced and counter-full match and they have good chemistry together, so the action was smooth. Nagisa got a lot of very convincing nearfalls (and her sleeper is a legitimate finisher), so it felt like a very even match throughout that either wrestler could win. I think these two could do better, but still a solid match overall and a fitting Semi Final match for the tournament.  Mildly Recommended

Kaori Yoneyama vs. Rin Kadokura
Catch The WAVE 2021 Semi Final
Now the second match of the Catch the WAVE Semi Finals. These two are in very different phases of their careers. Kaori Yoneyama, better known to some fans as Fukigen Death in Stardom, is a respected veteran but has settled more into the “trainer” role that some vets opt for as she seems more interested in helping the next wave of wrestlers than going around and winning big matches. Which certainly is her choice to make, as she has been wrestling for over 20 years. Rin Kadokura is a young and far less experienced wrestler from Marvelous – she has had some injury issues in her career but has shown a lot of promise. Rin winning would make more sense, but its hard to count out someone with Yoneyama’s credentials.

Yoneyama quickly goes for a few flash pins as the bell rings, Irish whip by Yoneyama but Rin blocks it and hits an elbow. Jumping lariat by Rin and she charges Yoneyama, but Yoneyama holds down the top rope and Rin tumbles down to the floor. Yoneyama goes out to the apron and attacks Rin with a jumping knee, she slides Rin back in and knees her in the back of the head. Yoneyama goes to the second turnbuckle and delivers a diving senton, but it gets a two count. She then goes all the way up but Rin recovers and joins her, Yoneyama knocks her back but Rin charges in again and this time hits the Frankensteiner. Rin goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving footstomp, but it gets a two count. Rin picks up Yoneyama but Yoneyama blocks the suplex, superkick by Rin but Yoneyama connects with a jumping back kick for two. Rin shrugs off Yoneyama, schoolboy by Rin and the two trade cradle attempts until Rin holds down Yoneyama for the three count! Rin Kadokura wins and advances to the Catch The WAVE Finale!

Too short to get excited about, I wouldn’t have minded if they went a bit longer even if they were going to go the flash pin route. As its a fluky win, it doesn’t really do much to boost Rin, and Yoneyama isn’t generally a wrestler that cares too much about being protected. “Surprise” type wins are normal in tournaments but usually more so in the points round. Nothing wrong with it, but if you were looking for a long exciting match between these two, they opted not to go in that direction and basically gave Rin a free pass to the finals.

Itsuki Aoki, YAKO, and Yuu vs. SAKI, Yappy, and Ohka
WAVE is giving Miyuki Takase and Rin Kadokura a break before they have to wrestle again, so we are going to have two tag matches now as filler. Only Yumi Ohka here is affiliated with Pro Wrestling WAVE, as everyone else is a Freelancer or part of another promotion. This is really just a collection of wrestlers in the Catch The WAVE Tournament that didn’t reach the Semi Finals that they decided to throw together in a tag match. Which is a perfectly fine way to fill out a card, but I’m not expecting top level chemistry with teams that were randomly assigned using wrestlers from various places.

Ohka runs over and boots Itsuki before the match even starts, running boot by Ohka to Itsuki and she leaves the ring so Yappy can take over. Yappy attacks Itsuki in the corner before sitting on her for a two count cover. Yappy gets Itsuki on her shoulders but Itsuki gets away and hits a running elbow followed by a face crusher. Body press by Itsuki and she tags in Yuu. Yuu picks up Yappy and chops her repeatedly, but Yappy ducks one and hits an elbow as the two trade shots. Yuu throws Yappy into the corner but Yappy butts her in the face when she charges in, hip attacks by Yappy and she hits a running one of the corner. Seated senton by Yappy and she covers Yuu for a two count. Yappy tags in SAKI, SAKI hits a series of boots to the head but Yuu catches one and hits a chop. Yuu goes for a senton but SAKI moves, Itsuki and YAKO come in however and all three take turns attacking SAKI. YAKO is tagged in once she returns to the apron, hip attack by YAKO but SAKI avoids her charge in the corner and hits a series of knees. Vertical suplex by SAKI but YAKO blocks her kick attempt and hits a DDT. Hip attack by YAKO but SAKI avoids the next one and with Ohka they take turns booting YAKO in the head. SAKI picks up YAKO, double Irish whip but YAKO hits a hip attack on both of them.

YAKO talks a bit but Itsuki and Yuu don’t like whatever she is saying and both attack her. YAKO is thrown into the corner, and all five of the other wrestlers in the match hit running strikes. SAKI ends it with a big boot on YAKO, she tags in Ohka who boots YAKO again for a two count cover. Ohka goes for a brainbuster but YAKO blocks it and hits a Stunner, she charges Ohka but Ohka drops her with the Snake Eyes. Running boot by Ohka and Yappy follows with a seated senton, backdrop suplex by Ohka and she covers YAKO for two. Ohka picks up YAKO but YAKO blocks the suplex, DDT by Ohka and she hits a heel drop. Big boot by Ohka, she covers YAKO but YAKO barely kicks out. Chokebomb by Ohka, but Yuu breaks up the cover with a low crossbody. Itsuki takes care of Yappy before turning to Ohka, running strike by Itsuki and Yuu follows with a cannonball. Diving body press by Itsuki to Ohka and she throws YAKO on top of Ohka for the cover. Yappy tries to break it up but YAKO moves, and she ends up hitting a body press on Ohka by mistake. SAKI tries to help but has the same issue, Yuu goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving body press onto Ohka. YAKO then goes all the way up and nails the swivel body press, and she gets the three count! Itsuki Aoki, YAKO, and Yuu are the winners.

This is one of those WAVE matches that just does little for me. Its a weird blend of goofy and serious, and admittedly since I don’t know Japanese I don’t know what caused the random YAKO attack in the middle but the whole situation is just too odd. YAKO took way too much offense while her teammates just watched, but then suddenly they wanted to win so they helped YAKO until she got the three count. These teams were random so they weren’t friends going in, but without a storyline I’d prefer just a solid six wrestler tag than one with sporadic shenanigans. The action was generally ok and a few of these wrestlers are quite good, but it was just meandering and didn’t really click as a cohesive match. Just midcard filler.

Ami Miura, Mio Momono, and Kohgo vs. Hibiscus Mii, Sakura Hirota, and Miyazaki
I am not really sure how we got this combination of wrestlers. While the last match had a small amount of shenanigans and silliness, I am assuming this one will have even more. Miyazaki is a long time vet that can wrestle serious, but tends to sprinkle in more playful moments. Hibiscus Mii is the same way, and everyone knows Sakura Hirota’s manner of business. The other team has more “traditional” wrestlers, with two wrestlers from Actwres girl’Z and the delightful Mio Momono. I wish this match was clipped, but its not, so lets see what they put together.

Mii apparently wrestles in regular clothing with a bag over her shoulder, so not a great start to my dream of this match not being completely goofy. Mii and Ami start the match and naturally Mii is in a chatty mood so it takes time to get to any action. They eventually get to it as Ami hits a shoulderblock, scoop slam by Ami and Mii’s bag finally falls off as Ami hits a second one. A third slam by Ami and Mii rolls out of the ring to re-group. Hirota takes her place, chops by Ami to Hirota but Hirota blocks the Irish whip and hits a face crusher. Ami and Hirota trade lariats and Oil Checks, dropkick by Ami but Hirota gets her deep with her fingers and the two rolls out of the ring together. Mii has her bag back on as she comes in with Miyazaki to double team Momo, Hirota eventually returns and she grabs Momo’s wrist to do the rope walk. Momo pushes her off before Hirota can even get her to the corner, kick by Momo and she is the one that gets Hirota by the wrist to do the rope walk. She gets to the middle of the ropes and goes for Hirota’s second rope bounce trick, but struggles to execute it. Hirota gets her back in the ring and tells her she did a good try (I assume), Hirota lays down and lets Momo do the Hirota Hop over her.

Momo goes for a second one but Hirota jumps up and kicks her, and they talk some more. Put me out of my misery please. Momo challenges Hirota to put her fingers up her butt but Ami cuts her off with a dropkick, Ami then drives Hirota’s face into Momo’s butt repeatedly. Ami stays in and they both dropkick Hirota, Ami picks up Hirota but Hirota does some goofy stuff as she runs around and slips on all the ropes. Hirota takes herself out of the match so Mii comes in, but she talks a bit when Ami tries to engage her. Ami finally hits a body avalanche in the corner, shoulderblock by Ami and she covers Mii for two. Ami tags in Mio, diving crossbody by Mio and she dropkicks Mii. Another dropkick by Mio and she elbows Mii repeatedly before putting her in a stretch hold. The seconds around the ring all beat on the mat, with the vibration eventually knocking over Mio, giving Mii a chance to tag in Miyazaki. Miyazaki is triple teamed in the corner, missile dropkick by Mio and she covers Miyazaki for two. Mio ducks under Miyazaki’s lariat and hits a spinning headscissors, dropkick by Mio and she knocks Hirota off the apron. Miyazaki kicks Mio and applies multiple cradles, but each on gets a two count.

Mio goes up top but Mii grabs her from the apron, Momo and Ami both run in to help but Miyazaki lariats both of them. She then joins Mio up top but Mio hits a sunset flip powerbomb for a two count. Mio goes off the ropes but Miyazaki shrugs her off, elbows by Mio but Miyazaki goes for the Shy Hold. Mio blocks it and gets away, but Miyazaki threatens to put the hold on Ami or Momo so Mio ends up letting her put the hold on to protect them. Ami and Momo try to break it up but are held back, Mii gets a microphone and starts singing until Ami and Momo finally break it up. Miyazaki positions Mio and goes to the top turnbuckle, but Mio avoids the moonsault attempt. She goes for the JK Bomb but Miyazaki prevents her from fulling hitting the move, Mii and Hirota both try to help Miyazaki but botch their way into the ring. This gives Mio a chance to hit the JK Bomb on Miyazaki, and she gets the three count! Ami Miura, Mio Momono and Momo Kohgo are the winners!

I had to read a guide online just to get some of the comedy spots, which is way too much trouble for a comedy match. I don’t mind some comedy in my wrestling viewing but 17 minutes was just too much of it, and at the end of the day I’d rather see the Mio team in a more serious match as all three are fun to watch. I realize this is more catered to WAVE’s dedicated fanbase, which I can respect, but its not really my cup of tea. A few funny spots but too much “wrestling comedy” for me.

Rin Kadokura vs. Miyuki Takase
Catch The WAVE 2021 Final
Time for the tournament final! As I mentioned above, even though Miyuki is technically an outsider, she wrestles in WAVE as much as she does AgZ so to fans she is seen as one of their regulars. Rin is a true outsider, but equally skilled as Miyuki and ready for a big win. I like how even they made the Final as even though Miyuki does have an edge, Rin is equally qualified which should lead to a close and entertaining match.

They shake hands before the match but Rin charges Miyuki before the bell can ring and knocks her down in the corner. Cannonball by Rin, she quickly goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Suplex by Rin and she hits a footstomp, but Miyuki levels her with a lariat. Rin gets back up and they trade elbows, chops by Miyuki but Rin hits a jumping strike followed by the Murder Dropkick. Cover by Rin, but it gets two. Rin goes up top but Miyuki recovers and joins her, hitting a superplex back to the mat. Miyuki waits for Rin to get up but Rin catches her lariat attempt and goes for an armbreaker. Miyuki slams her way out of the hold, elbows and chops by Miyuki followed by two lariats for a quick cover. Miyuki gets Rin on her shoulders but Rin slides away, sliding kick by Rin but Miyuki catches her with a powerslam. Miyuki goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, Rin lands in the opposite corner and Miyuki connects with a lariat. Diving elbow strike by Miyuki, and she covers Rin for two. Miyuki picks up Rin and hits the Kamikaze, she then gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers the diving guillotine legdrop for two.

Miyuki picks up Rin but Rin hits a Northern Lights Suplex Hold for two. Rin goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she quickly goes to the second turnbuckle and nails a diving footstomp for another two count. DDT by Rin, she picks up Miyuki and hits a vertical suplex, but Miyuki hulks up and hits a suplex of her own. Rin comes back with another suplex and both wrestlers are down on the mat, Miyuki is up first and hits a fourth vertical suplex of this suplex battle. Rin is naturally up first and returns with a suplex but Miyuki hits another one too, Rin tries to return with a suplex but Miyuki reverses it into her own suplex, seemingly ending the vertical suplex exchange. Jumping DDT by Rin, she picks up Miyuki and hits a vertical suplex (I was wrong) for a close two count cover. Rin tries to get to the turnbuckle but Miyuki keeps grabbing her leg, she finally makes it but Miyuki recovers and joins her. Rin pushes Miyuki back to the mat but Miyuki elbows her and climbs back up, hitting a powerslam down to the mat for a two count.

Miyuki and Rin both slowly get up, they charge into each other and Miyuki hits a hard elbow. Another elbow by Miyuki and she hits a lariat for a two count. Rin gets up quickly but eats a double chop, tornado vertical suplex but Miyuki but Rin kicks out. Miyuki goes off the ropes but Rin catches her with a superkick, another superkick by Rin and she covers Miyuki for barely two. Rin gets Miyuki’s back and hits a crucifix slam, but Miyuki kicks out of the pin. Rin drags up Miyuki and gets on her back again, but Miyuki spins her off and hits a lariat. Rin fires back with a lariat but Miyuki delivers a Samoan Driver for two. Miyuki picks up Rin and hits a vertical suplex, she goes to the top turnbuckle and nails the diving guillotine legdrop for the three count! Miyuki Takase wins the match and the Catch The WAVE 2021 Tournament!

A very good match, but didn’t quite reach the level I was hoping for. Rin and Miyuki are both very talented wrestlers and when they were just trading strikes or bombs, the match was really entertaining. Their cardio is not an issue so they kept the pace up, and it was an even match from start to finish. The part I didn’t like was the trading vertical suplexes in the middle. I am generally a fan of the ‘trading moves’ spot but the vertical suplex is just a slower move to set up and deliver, and it just killed the pace of the match for a couple minutes. Nothing before or after really lined up to it so it felt disjointed and without a real purpose, except to hurt the match flow. If I took out those few minutes, everything else delivered. Overall an entertaining match that could have been even better with just a few small changes.  Recommended

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• Championships and Tournaments Won: This includes any championship won during 2020, or any championship that was held when 2020 began. The prestige of the championship or tournament will be taken into account.
• Match Quality: The most subjective criteria, extra consideration is given to wrestlers that had high quality matches throughout the year, especially if it was with a variety of opponents.
• Wrestler Popularity: Being able to connect with the crowd is important in wrestling, wrestlers that have success interacting with the crowd and getting reactions will get credit for that.
• Wrestler Status in a Promotion: Generally speaking, the Ace of one promotion will be ahead of the #3 wrestler in another promotion, since wrestling on top means bigger matches, longer matches, and more opportunities. There isn’t a direct correlation, but leading a promotion or being the ‘face’ of a promotion can help a wrestler’s rank as it increases the wrestler’s visibility and match importance.
• Match Frequency/Availability: How often a wrestler wrestled is taken into consideration. A wrestler with 100 matches is more likely to be on the list than a wrestler with 10 matches. Also, it is harder to ‘rate’ a wrestler if their matches rarely were distributed via TV or an online streaming service, so visibility is a factor.

One criteria I am not using is ‘drawing power.’ In the current wrestling landscape there are very few wrestlers that by themselves are draws (I could probably count them on one hand), usually it is more the benefit of a good storyline or a hot region that impacts the size of the crowd. While the larger Joshi promotions may have more wrestlers on the list due to the other criteria (visibility being a major one), the size of the crowds will not be taken in consideration. Also, it should be noted that this ranking is based only on a wrestler’s matches/participation in Japan. This is not a list of my personal favorite wrestlers or fun rookies that I enjoy watching, but rather my version of what a “real” ranking of Joshi wrestlers would look like based on their success and status in 2020.

2020 was a very unusual year, not just for Joshi wrestling but for the world as the pandemic raged from March to December. This lead to some promotions trying new things to stay active, with other promotions drastically cutting down on events. OZ Academy, for example, only had 15 events for the entire year while Ice Ribbon had 102, just showing the different paths that promotions took. Due to that, the wrestlers in promotions with more visibility will do better in the ranking, even if in a normal year that may not have been the case. That makes this year’s list perhaps even more subjective than usual, and the bigger promotions that ran frequent events (particularly Stardom and Ice Ribbon) may be over-represented compared to prior (and hopefully future) years.

Onto the Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2020!

1. Giulia (Stardom)

Championships Held: Wonder of Stardom Championship (159 days) and the Artist of Stardom Championship (280 days)
Biggest Matches: with Syuri and Maika vs. AZM, Watanabe, and Hayashishita on 2/8, vs. Tam Nakano on 7/26, vs. Tam Nakano on 10/3, vs. Konami on 11/15, vs. Syuri on 12/20
Best Match: vs. Tam Nakano in Stardom on October 3rd, 2020

There was no other wrestler I could have justified putting in this spot, 2020 was the Year of Giulia. She ticks all the boxes – a major championship, high end matches, popularity, recognition from Japanese media, major storylines – everything a wrestler could hope for was achieved by Giulia in 2020. Giulia also successfully led a new stable, Donna del Mondo, and had memorable feuds against Hana Kimura and Tam Nakano. All in all, a banner year for Giulia, and she will likely be a force to be reckoned with in Stardom for many years to come.

2. Yuka Sakazaki (Tokyo Joshi Pro)

Championship Held: Princess of Princess Championship (365 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Miyu Yamashita on 1/4, vs. Yuki Aino on 7/23, vs. Hyper Misao on 8/10, vs. Mizuki on 11/7
Best Match: vs. Mizuki in Tokyo Joshi Pro on November 7th, 2020

After years of being on the cusp of being the top wrestler in Tokyo Joshi Pro, Yuka Sakazaki finally ascended to the top in 2020 and once she was there she never left. Yuka won the Princess of Princess Championship in late 2019 and held it for the entire year, and even during the pandemic she was an active champion with four successful defenses. Two of those defenses were highly rated matches, against Miyu Yamashita and Mizuki. The fact she became known to more American fans from wrestling in AEW wasn’t considered for this ranking, but it still worth mentioning. A great year for Yuka, as she cemented her place in Tokyo Joshi Pro as she dominated in one of the top Joshi promotions.

3. Yoshiko (SEAdLINNNG)

Championships Held: SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship (172 days) and the SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Tag Team Championship (312 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Arisa Nakajima on 7/13, vs. Sareee on 9/24, with Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Best Friends on 10/3, vs. Aja Kong on 11/4, with Sareee vs. Best Friends on 11/27
Best Match: vs. Arisa Nakajima in SEAdLINNNG on July 13th, 2020

Most of the wrestlers in the Top 10 had a fair number of matches in 2020, all things considered. Yoshiko had less than the rest, as SEAdLINNNG did not run very often, but she did a lot with the opportunities she had. Yoshiko dominated SEAdLINNNG in 2020, as she held both the singles and tag team championship. Not only did Yoshiko hold the singles title the last half of the year but she did it against very stiff competition as she defeated Arisa Nakajima, Sareee, and Aja Kong. Teaming with Sareee, Yoshiko ended the year with her new partner beating Best Friends and MAX VOLTAGE, two of the top Joshi tag teams. On top of all that, she appeared in Stardom, as she plots to invade the promotion where she began her career. Even with the pandemic raging, it was a very successful year for Yoshiko.

4. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom)

Championships Held: World of Stardom Championship (320 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Momo Watanabe on 1/19, with Kagetsu vs. Jungle Kyona and Momo Watanabe on 1/26, vs. Takumi Iroha on 2/8, vs. Jungle Kyona on 7/24, vs. Syuri on 10/3, vs. Takumi Iroha on 10/18, vs. Utami Hayashishita on 11/15
Best Match: vs. Takumi Iroha in Stardom on February 8th, 2020

The Icon may have been overshadowed in 2020 by Giulia, but she still had a great year and stayed a focal part of Stardom. She held one of the top titles in the promotion for the vast majority of the year, and had four successful defenses. She also had a great mini-feud with Takumi Iroha, as they put on two of the best Joshi matches of the year. Beyond her title success, Mayu also led the STARS faction and dealt with various comings and goings in the stable, keeping her in the spotlight. A high-end and popular wrestler, Mayu will likely maintain her high status in 2021, even though she goes into the year with no titles.

5. Suzu Suzuki (Ice Ribbon)

Championship Held: ICExInfinity Championship (145 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto on 3/14, vs. Maya Yukihi on 6/13, vs. Maya Yukihi on 8/9, vs. Tsukushi on 9/20, vs. Saori Anou on 12/31
Best Match: vs. Maya Yukihi in Ice Ribbon on August 9th, 2020

For the past few years Ice Ribbon has been slow to elevate talented young wrestlers, but they did not make the same mistake with Suzu Suzuki as at age 17 she won the ICExInfinity Championship. When 2020 started she immediately signaled she was ready for a bigger spotlight, as she defeated Tsukasa Fujimoto on March 14th. Unlike other promotions, Ice Ribbon did not take as long of a pause as they continued running events from their Dojo, giving Suzu a chance to tally more wins. After failing to win the ICExInfinity Championship in June, she came back in August and defeated Maya Yukihi for the championship. She had three successful defenses before the year closed, as she was an active champion. Between her age and skill set, if Ice Ribbon keeps her on the path she will likely be an Ace for the promotion for many years to come.

6. Utami Hayashishita (Stardom)

Championships Held: SWA Undisputed World Women’s Championship (26 days), Artist Of Stardom Championship (39 days), Future Of Stardom Championship (47 days), Goddesses Of Stardom Championship (154 days), and the World Of Stardom Championship (47 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Arisa Hoshiki on 1/19, with Saya Kamitani vs. Jungle Kyona and Konami on 7/26, with Saya Kamitani vs. AZM and Momo Watanabe on 11/14, vs. Mayu Iwatani on 11/15, vs. Momo Watanabe on 12/20, with Saya Kamitani vs. Bea Priestley and Konami on 12/26
Best Match: vs. Mayu Iwatani in Stardom on November 15th, 2020

As is her tradition, Utami Hayashishita was a Title Collector in 2020. At some point during the year, Utami held five different championships, and ended the year with one of the top titles in Stardom. She also put on a series of high end matches, including memorable fights against Momo Watanabe and Mayu Iwatani. On top of that, she also won the FIVE STAR GP, one of the biggest Joshi tournaments every year. Just a couple years into her career, Utami continues to gain more and more steam which is a trend that will likely continue.

7. Mayu Yukihi (Ice Ribbon)

Championships Held: ICExInfinity Championship (222 days) and the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (one day)
Biggest Matches: vs. Hamuko Hoshi on 5/31, vs. Suzu Suzuki on 6/13, vs. Suzu Suzuki on 8/9, vs. Risa Sera on 10/31, with Maika Ozaki vs. Frank Sisters on 12/31
Best Match: vs. Suzu Suzuki in Ice Ribbon on August 9th, 2020

Even though Maya in 2020 was (perhaps temporarily) passed in the promotion by Suzu Suzuki, she still had a great year. Maya held the main singles title for the majority of 2020, with successful defenses over Akane Fujita, Hiragi Kurumi, Suzu Suzuki, and Hamuko Hoshi. After losing the title in August, Maya then failed to win the FantastICE Championship from Risa Sera but rebounded by winning the tag titles on the last day of the year. Maya may start 2021 focused on the tag scene but will no doubt be back trying to regain the ICExInfinity Championship before long.

8. Miyuki Takase (Actwres girl’Z)

Championships Held: Actwres girl’Z Championship (365 days) and the Diana Tag Team Championship (124 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Nagisa Nozaki on 3/15, vs. Nagisa Nozaki on 3/21, vs. Sareee on 10/5, vs. Andras Miyagi on 11/1, vs. Akane Fujita on 11/16
Best Match: vs. Sareee in Actwres girl’Z on October 5th, 2020

A sleeper pick to be this high, but I think well deserved. Even though Miyuki is based out of AgZ, she wrestled in many other promotions in 2020 to help build her visibility and put on quality matches against a variety of opponents. During the year she had five successful defenses of the AgZ Championship, including wins over Nagisa Nozaki and Andras Miyagi. In other promotions, she challenged for the Regina di WAVE Championship and successfully won the tag team titles in Diana. Miyuki is AgZ’s undisputed Ace, and since in the past they have had trouble hanging onto wrestlers with Miyuki’s popularity, it remains to be seen how much longer she will stay in the smaller promotion.

9. Tsukasa Fujimoto (Ice Ribbon)

Championships Held: International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (222 days) and the SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Championship (56 days)
Biggest Matches: with Tsukushi vs. Ram Kaicho and Rina Yamashita on 2/24, with Tsukushi vs. Hiragi Kurumi and Mochi Miyagi on 8/9, with Arisa Nakajima vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Yoshiko on 8/26, with Arisa Nakajima vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Yoshiko on 10/3, with Arisa Nakajima vs. Sareee and Yoshiko on 11/27
Best Match: with Arisa Nakajima vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Yoshiko in SEAdLINNNG on August 26th, 2020

Tsukasa Fujimoto stayed out of the main title scene in Ice Ribbon for 2020, but she still was very active and had a successful year. Most of her notable victories and big matches were in the tag division, as she teamed with Tsukushi in Ice Ribbon and Arisa Nakajima in SEAdLINNNG to find title success. Particularly in her run for SEAdLINNNG, Best Friends had a number of high end matches against Hiroyo Matsumoto and Yoshiko, with the feud ending when Best Friends took the belts. Even at 37 years old, Tsukasa hasn’t lost a step as she continues to be an important part of Ice Ribbon.

10. Nagisa Nozaki (Pro Wrestling WAVE)

Championship Held: Regina Di WAVE Championship (362 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Miyuki Takase on 3/15, vs. Miyuki Takase on 3/21, vs. Yuki Miyazaki on 7/7, vs. Sareee on 8/30, vs. Sakura Hirota on 9/6, vs. Sakura Hirota on 12/27
Best Match:  vs. Miyuki Takase in Actwres girl’Z on March 15th, 2020

Pro Wrestling WAVE flies under the radar more often than not, but Nagisa Nozaki’s dominance of the promotion deserves attention. Nagisa held the Regina di WAVE Championship for almost the entire year, and had wins over Miyuki Takase, Sakura Hirota, and Rina Shingaki in defense of it. Her matches with Miyuki Takase were highly rated, and she had a special attraction match with WWE-bound Sareee over the summer. Nagisa was very loyal to WAVE in 2020 which impacted her visibility, hopefully in 2021 she is able to branch out more to other promotions.

11. Risa Sera (Ice Ribbon) – Risa continued in 2020 to not have success at the very top of the card in Ice Ribbon, but she really increased her overall impact in the promotion with the birth of the FantastICE Championship. Risa won the title in August and had seven defenses, with all the matches having a fair amount of violence attached to them. Risa is making the most of her opportunities and goes into 2021 still the FantastICE Champion.

12. Mei Suruga (Gatoh Move) – It is hard to really describe Mei Suruga and the impact she has on her fans. Gatoh Move became a popular niche promotion in the West due to their ease to watch as they started regular Youtube shows during the pandemic. While most of the action is just fun casual viewing, Mei set herself apart by not only having a ton of charisma but being entertaining and talented to boot. She didn’t win any titles in 2020 until the last day, but her impact went beyond that and under the right circumstances she could become a real force in Joshi in a very short period of time.

13. Rika Tatsumi (Tokyo Joshi Pro) – While Yuka Sakazaki dominated Tokyo Joshi Pro, Rika Tatsumi had a good year as well. She was one half of the Princess Tag Team Champions for the bulk of the year and continued to be one of the most popular wrestlers in the promotion. Aside from losing in the Tokyo Princess Cup, Rika didn’t lose any singles matches in 2020, setting herself up for a big 2021.

14. Arisa Nakajima (SEAdLINNNG) – Arisa wasn’t super active in 2020, with only 27 total matches, but when she did wrestle she made sure to make it memorable. Six of her 27 matches were title matches, as she had two runs with the SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Championship with Tsukasa Fujimoto. She also came into the year with the Beyond The Sea Championship until losing it to Yoshiko in July. Arisa continues to wrestle at a very high level as she goes into her 15th year as a wrestler, which boosted her some in this ranking as she is still one of the best in the world.

15. Syuri (Stardom) – Syuri started the year as a Freelancer and had big matches against Chihiro Hashimoto, Saori Anou, and Tsukasa Fujimoto before joining Stardom full time later in the year. In Stardom, she won the Trios titles and challenged for the World of Stardom Championship before winning the SWA Undisputed Championship in November. With her unique offense and infectious smile, it will be fun to see where Syuri’s career in Stardom takes her.

16. Rina Yamashita (Freelancer) – In a year as crazy as 2020, I have to give some love to the Broken Dumptruck. Rina Yamashita stayed very active in 2020, with almost 100 matches, and held the PURE-J tag title for half the year. She had several other memorable title challenges, including against Arisa Nakajima and Risa Sera. Rina was everywhere in 2020 and was entertaining wherever she went, showing that not even a pandemic could stop her from leaving a lasting impression with fans.

17. Mizuki (Tokyo Joshi Pro) – Mizuki didn’t hold any titles in Joshi promotions during 2020, but she still had a solid year in Tokyo Joshi Pro. She won the Tokyo Princess Cup in the summer, defeating Shoko Nakajima in the Finals. She also had what many consider one of the best Joshi matches of the year against Yuka Sakazaki on November 7th. A popular wrestler with the Tokyo Joshi Pro fandom, Mizuki will look to build on a good 2020 to have an even better 2021.

18. Takumi Iroha (Marvelous) – Before her injury in October, Takumi was having a solid year. She didn’t hold any titles, but continued to lead Marvelous and had two really great matches against Stardom wrestler Mayu Iwatani. Takumi will be on the shelf for awhile, but hopefully she can fully recover and continue being one of the most entertaining wrestlers in Japan.

19. Tam Nakano (Stardom) – Tam Nakano didn’t have a lot of success in the title scene in 2020, but she still had a big impact in Stardom as she was regularly involved in the promotion’s biggest storylines. Between her feud with Giulia and her splitting away from STARS, Tam was hard not to notice as she was one of the most visible wrestlers in the promotion. Tam may never be the “Ace” of Stardom but she will be an important part of the promotion for the foreseeable future.

20. Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls’) – Chihiro is one of wrestlers hardest to place, due to the impact of COVID. Sendai Girls’ ran less shows than most other Joshi promotions, and even though Chihiro held the championship all year she only had one defense (which was back in March). Her ranking here isn’t a statement for her future in Joshi, and I expect her to rebound once the world returns to normal.

The post Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2020 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: Pro Wrestling WAVE Ikinari Friday Night
Date: January 17th, 2020
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

You can tell I am devoted to hitting each Joshi promotion in the month of January since I am reviewing this show. WAVE doesn’t “make tape” much so there aren’t a lot of options if I want to see what the promotion is up to. At least there are some quality Freelancers on this show, which is a big plus. To say that WAVE’s situation is dire would be an understatement as they are one of the smallest Joshi promotions with no real stars on their set roster to carry them and no young wrestlers with potential to lead them in the future. With that depressing introduction, here is the full card:

• Ayumi Hayashi and Yumi Ohka vs. Yuki Miyazaki and Yuu
• Haruka Umesaki vs. Sakura Hirota
• HIROe vs. Sareee
• Hibiki, Nagisa Nozaki, and Takumi Iroha vs. Miyuki Takase, Rina Shingaki, and Syuri

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

Ayumi Hayashi and Yumi Ohka vs. Yuki Miyazaki and Yuu

Ayumi and Ohka pump up the crowd to start the match while Yuu looks confused, they get Yuu to join in but then attack her and double team her. Yuu blocks the snapmare attempt by Ayumi and slams her to the mat, she tags in Miyazaki and Miyazaki tosses Ayumi around the ring. Yuu returns, she throws Ayumi into the corner and hits a running elbow strike followed by a monkey flip into an armbar. Ohka breaks that up, snapmare by Yuu and she hits a senton onto Ayumi’s arm. Yuu tags Miyazaki, vertical suplex by Miyazaki and she applies a chinlock. Miyazaki picks up Ayumi and bites on her arm, she wraps her arm in the ropes and twists on it before applying an armbar. Miyazaki tags in Yuu, Irish whip by Yuu and she delivers a spinning sidewalk slam. Running senton by Yuu, and she covers Ayumi for two. Yuu chops Ayumi repeatedly in the chest but Ayumi ducks one and elbows her back, she goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick, but Yuu doesn’t go down. More dropkicks by Ayumi have no impact, Yuu catches her crossbody attempt and tosses Ayumi down. Ohka comes in to help and they finally get Yuu off her feet, giving Ayumi time to tag Ohka.

Ohka boots Yuu and Miyazaki in the face and hits a double face crusher, Ohka throws Yuu to the corner and she hits a big boot. Ohka goes off the ropes and hits another boot, Ohka goes up top and she hits a diving crossbody for two. Yuu chops Ohka but Ohka boots her as they trade shots, with Ohka winning the battle as she boots Yuu to the mat. She goes for another one but Yuu catches her and hits a Buckle Bomb, cannonball by Yuu and she covers Ohka for two. Yuu picks up Ohka but Ohka kicks her away, she goes off the ropes but Yuu hits a judo toss. They both crawl to their corners but Yuu makes it first, lariat by Miyazaki but Ohka catches her with a German suplex. Ohka goes for a strike but Miyazaki ducks it, she sets her up for the Shy Hold but pushes her to the mat instead and jaws with Ayumi. Miyazaki goes after Ayumi but Ohka attacks her from behind, big boot by Ohka in the corner but Miyazaki fires back with a lariat. Ohka catches Miyazaki with a DDT and hits a heel drop, cover by Ohka but it gets two.

Ohka goes off the ropes but Miyazaki avoids her boot, Ayumi comes in and tries to help but Miyazaki kicks her away. Miyazaki gets Ayumi off of her and goes off the ropes, but Ohka hits a chokebomb and tags in Ayumi. Ayumi stomps on Miyazaki but Miyazaki shrugs it off, Ohka comes in but Miyazaki blocks their double team attempt and Yuu sends Ohka out of the ring. Miyazaki slams Ayumi to the mat, she sets her up and puts her in the Shy Hold. Ohka eventually comes in and breaks it up, they throw Miyazaki into the corner but Miyazaki avoids both of their attacks. Irish whip by Miyazaki to Ayumi and she hits a hard lariat, cover by Miyazaki but Ayumi gets a shoulder up. Miyazaki picks up Ayumi but Ayumi slides away and applies a flash pin for two. Ayumi goes for a cradle but Miyazaki blocks it, she goes off the ropes but Ayumi trips her and applies a jackknife cover for a two count. Ayumi goes up top but Miyazaki recovers and joins her, Ohka grabs Miyazaki from behind but Yuu pulls her away. Miyazaki kisses Ayumi while on the top turnbuckle and hits a superplex, cover by Miyazaki but Ohka breaks it up. Miyazaki goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers the moonsault, cover by Miyazaki and she gets the three count! Yuu and Yuki Miyazaki are the winners.

Yuu had an easy day, as she let Miyazaki do most of the heavy lifting. For a lot of this it felt like Ohka just trying to hold things other against two good wrestlers and a somewhat worthless partner, but Ayumi did enough here and there to at least attempt to pull her own weight. She was definitely the weak link and the focus of the match, and at times it felt like it was dragging. It picked up some by the end though, but I still wish Yuu was a bigger part of the match as I enjoy her more than I do Miyazaki. A decent opener but not enough here to recommend watching it.

Haruka Umesaki vs. Kyusei Haruka Umesaki (Sakura Hirota)

As soon as the bell rings, Haruka charges Hirota and delivers a dropkick, cover by Haruka and she picks up the three count! Haruka Umesaki wins the match!

Hirota gets on the microphone and while I don’t understand Japanese, it seems she wants to have the match re-started. She gets her wish as they get ready, the bell rings and this time Hirota charges Haruka and goes for her own dropkick. Haruka moves however and dropkicks Hirota, cover by Haruka and she gets the three count! Haruka Umesaki wins the match again!

Hirota asks for the mic and I assume appeals for another chance, and it is granted as the match is started yet again. They lock-up but let go so they can trade elbows, dropkick by Haruka and she cover Hirota, but this time Hirota kicks out. Mounted elbows by Haruka but Hirota returns the favor, they end up in the ropes and the referee gets them to break. After a bit of a delay they get back into it, headlock by Hirota and she takes Haruka to the mat. Haruka gets out of the hold, kick by Haruka but Hirota shoulderblocks her down. Hirota goes off the ropes, they both go for dropkicks but neither connects. Kick to the stomach by Haruka but Hirota ducks her crossbody attempt, Hirota then goes for a crossbody but Haruka kicks her in mid-air. Haruka charges Hirota and dropkicks her in the corner, but Hirota comes back with a face crusher. Hirota applies a stretch hold, she lets go after a moment and stomps on Haruka. Crab hold by Hirota but Haruka is too close to the ropes and makes it there for the break. Scoop slam by Hirota and she covers Haruka for two. Hirota knees Haruka in the back, Irish whip by Hirota but Haruka collapses to the mat. Hirota feels bad so she falls to the mat too, they both slowly get up and make the ten count. Running lariat by Haruka, she goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Hirota gets back up but Haruka scoop slams her, cover by Haruka but it gets a two count. Irish whip by Haruka and she applies a backslide, but Hirota gets out of it and cradles her for two. They trade flash pins with no luck, dropkick by Haruka and she applies a small package for two. La Magistral by Haruka but Hirota reverses it and holds down Haruka for the three count! Hirota wins the final match!

If I am going to watch a Hirota comedy match, this type of match is definitely my preference. Haruka was laughing at various times just with the ridiculousness of it all, and it was short enough that it never got old. A cute match, with it going in a slightly different direction than most Hirota matches which I appreciate.

HIROe vs. Sareee

HIROe and Sareee circle each other before tying up, Sareee gets HIROe in the ropes and she goes for an elbow, but HIROe moves and kicks her. Irish whip by HIROe but Sareee hits a jumping crossbody, HIROe bridges out of the pin and delivers a dropkick. Sareee bridges out of the pin as well and hits a hard elbow, Sareee grabs HIROe by the hair and flings her to the mat. Dropkick by Sareee but HIROe recovers and grabs Sareee by the hair, throwing her into the corner. HIROe picks up Sareee and the two trade elbows, which unsurprisingly Sareee gets the better of. Irish whip by Sareee and she dropkicks HIROe, scoop slam by Sareee and she puts HIROe in an Indian Deathlock. HIROe almost makes it to the ropes but Sareee pulls her back to the middle of the ring and puts her in the Muta Lock. She lets go after a moment and stomps on HIROe, Irish whip by Sareee but HIROe hits a dropkick. HIROe picks up Sareee and hits another dropkick, HIROe applies a crab hold but Sareee gets to the ropes. HIROe picks up Sareee but Sareee throws her into the corner and delivers a dropkick. Sareee tries to throw HIROe into the corner but HIROe reverses it and hits a running shoulder tackle. Vertical suplex by HIROe, and she covers Sareee for two. HIROe picks up Sareee and hits a Codebreaker, she goes off the ropes and dropkicks Sareee through the ropes and onto the apron. HIROe pulls her back in but Sareee blocks the suplex attempt and delivers a fisherman suplex hold for two.

Sareee goes for another suplex but HIROe blocks it, hard elbow by Sareee but HIROe elbows her back. Sareee goes off the ropes but HIROe levels her with a spear, cover by HIROe but it gets two. HIROe goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, Northern Lights Suplex by HIROe but Sareee kicks out of the cover. HIROe picks up Sareee but Sareee gets behind her back and drops her with a release German. HIROe comes back with a German suplex hold, she picks up Sareee and hits a backdrop suplex. She gets on the top turnbuckle but Sareee recovers and grabs her from behind, hitting a German suplex from the corner. HIROe and Sareee trade elbows, dropkick by Sareee and she dropkicks HIROe again as the slumps against the ropes. STF by Sareee but HIROe gets to the ropes, Sareee picks her up but HIROe blocks the uranage. Sareee tries again but HIROe cradles her for two, Sareee goes for her own roll-up but she also gets a two count. Sareee goes off the ropes but HIROe delivers the Kasadora for two. She goes for another flash pin with no luck, she goes off the ropes and hits the spear, but that gets a two as well. HIROe picks up Sareee but Sareee pushes her off and drops her with a German suplex hold. Sareee picks up HIROe and nails a uranage, and she picks up the three count! Sareee is the winner.

This was a good sprint-style match, but not much more than that. Considering HIROe’s placement in Joshi I thought Sareee was quite generous, maybe too much so as they wrestled as equals for much of the match even though they clearly are not. Any selling of note went out the window but that was the style both were going for and since it went both ways I don’t mind it, but at times it really was just a series of moves without a real story behind them. I’m glad that Sareee didn’t win with one of her flash pin attempts as that would have been a flat way to end the match, and HIROe came out of it looking pretty good which I guess was the goal. A fine midcard match, but nothing really elevated it above that beyond Sareee just being her usual entertaining self.  Mildly Recommended

Hibiki, Nozaki, and Takumi Iroha vs. Takase, Rina Shingaki, and Syuri

Nozaki and Takase start the match, Takase elbows Nozaki but Nozaki elbows her back as they immediately get into it. Takase dropkicks Nozaki but Nozaki immediately boots her back, side headlock takedown by Nozaki but Takase quickly gets out of it and they reach a stalemate. Hibiki and Syuri tag in, headlock by Syuri and she gets Hibiki to the mat. Hibiki gets back up and Irish whips out of it, but Syuri knocks her over with a hard shoulderblock. Hibiki gets back up and delivers a shoulderblock of her own, she goes off the ropes but Syuri hits an armdrag. Snapmare by Syuri and she kicks Hibiki in the back, neck crank by Syuri and she tags Rina. Rina twists Hibiki’s arm in the ropes while Takase and Syuri help from the apron, Rina tags in Takase and she chops Hibiki in the corner. Syuri comes in next, she chokes Hibiki in the corner before stomping her in the back. She tags Rina back in, double knee to the arm by Rina and she applies a Fujiwara Armbar. Hibiki gets to the ropes for the break, Irish whip by Rina but Hibiki hits a hard shoulderblock, giving her time to tag in Iroha. Iroha strikes all of her opponents, she goes off the ropes but Syuri kicks her from the apron. Takase gets in the ring but Iroha throws Takase into Rina and kicks both of them. They for a suplex but it is blocked, Syuri and Nozaki come in the ring and Nozaki and Iroha suplex all three of their opponents.

Iroha gets back to Rina, she goes for a slam but Rina block it and applies an armbar. Iroha slams Rina into the corner to break it up, but Rina avoids her charge and delivers a dropkick. She tags in Takase, Iroha knocks Takase to the mat and connects with a series of kicks followed by a leg sweep and a PK. Dropkick by Iroha and she covers Takase for two. Iroha picks up Takase and hits a snap vertical suplex, she picks up Takase but Takase blocks the powerbomb. Syuri comes in and kicks Iroha, they throw her into the corner and along with Rina all three hit running strikes in the corner. Cover by Takase, but it gets a two count. Takase goes off the ropes and she hits a lariat, but Iroha kicks out of the cover. Takase gets Iroha up but Iroha slides away, superkick by Iroha and she tags in Hibiki. Hibiki goes off the ropes and hits a shoulderblock, running senton by Hibiki and she covers Takase for two. Hibiki picks up Takase and the two trade elbows, headbutts by Hibiki and she hits a spear for a two count. Hibiki throws Takase into the corner but Takase rebounds out of it with a missile dropkick, lariat by Takase in the corner and she catches Hibiki with a powerslam. Takase tags Syuri, kicks by Syuri to Hibiki into the corner and she hits a jumping knee. Another knee by Syuri and she covers Hibiki for two. Syuri applies a cross armbreaker but it gets broken up, Syuri goes off the ropes but Hibiki drives her into the corner. Running shoulder tackles by Hibiki and she covers Syuri for two. Hibiki goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she picks up Syuri and she hits a spear.

Hibiki tags Nozaki, big boot by Nozaki in the corner and she boots her again. Nozaki goes off the ropes and delivers a running bootscrape, she goes out to the apron but Syuri kicks her down to the floor. Running knee by Syuri off the apron, she slides Nozaki back in and hits a double underhook suplex for two. Nozaki and Syuri trade elbows until Nozaki delivers a big boot, but Syuri catches her with a release German. Nozaki gets back up and boots Syuri, they trade strikes until Syuri knocks Nozaki to the mat with a head kick. Syuri tags Rina and she dropkicks Nozaki into the corner, another dropkick by Rina and she kicks Nozaki in the arm. Nozaki drop toeholds Rina into the ropes but Rina avoids her boot and kicks Nozaki in the arm. Rina applies a Fujiwara Armbar but Hibiki breaks it up, Rina goes up top but Nozaki recovers and joins her. Nozaki applies a guillotine choke until the referee gets her to stop, she then hits a superplex on Rina for a two count cover. Nozaki applies a sleeper but Rina gets out of it, Rina picks her up but Iroha comes in and suplexes her. Diving senton by Hibiki on Rina and Nozaki boots Rina in the head for a two count. Somato by Nozaki, but that gets a two count as well. Nozaki picks up Rina but Takase runs in and lariats her, jackknife cover by Rina but Nozaki kicks out. Iroha comes in and kicks Nozaki in the head, cover by Rina but Nozaki barely kicks out. Rina applies a quick cradle but that gets broken up, Rina grabs Nozaki but Nozaki gets away. Big boot by Nozaki, but Syuri breaks up the pin. Codebreaker by Syuri to Nozaki as all six wrestlers are in the ring, it clears after a moment and Nozaki drops Rina with a running knee strike. Nozaki waits for Rina to get up and nails a Noa Lancer High to the face, cover by Nozaki and she gets the three count! Hibiki, Nagisa Nozaki, and Takumi Iroha are the winners!

My biggest takeaway from this match is that Hibiki hasn’t lost a step during her hiatus from wrestling, she is still really good. I enjoyed this, even if each wrestler seemed to be doing their own thing instead of working together as as unit. Rina was working over arms, Syuri was all about the head kicks, Nagisa liked sleepers, Hibiki weakened up wrestler’s midsections, it was just all over the place in regards to strategies. This is the main difference between random tag teams and faction teams, the chemistry wasn’t really there. Luckily, all six are quality wrestlers on their own and the few with flaws could be hidden with all the action, so it was a fun match to watch. Nozaki has improved since last time I saw her and Syuri is always a treasure. While they didn’t really put on a cohesive six wrestler tag, for a small WAVE event it was a fitting conclusion that highlighted all six of the wrestlers well.  Recommended

The post Pro Wrestling WAVE Ikinari Friday Night on 1/17/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Sometimes, Pro Wrestling WAVE is really on top of uploading events to the WAVE Network, and the last few months they seem to have really put a focus on making the service worth the money. They have already added several events from the last two months, but we are going to skip ahead to the most recent event as it has a handful of matches I really want to see. I will only be reviewing the Joshi matches, here is the line-up:

• Hiroe Nagahama and Miyuki Takase vs. Mikoto Shindo and Tsukushi
• Himeka Arita vs. Nagisa Nozaki
• Rin Kadokura and Takumi Iroha vs. Sakura Hirota and Yuki Miyazaki
• 20 Minute Iron Woman Match: ASUKA vs. Hikaru Shida
• WAVE Tag Team Championship: Mio Momono and Yumi Ohka vs. Misaki Ohata and Ryo Mizunami

Since this aired on the WAVE Network there shouldn’t be any clipping. As always, all the wrestlers have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it.

Hiroe Nagahama and Miyuki Takase vs. Mikoto Shindo and Tsukushi

Hiroe and Mikoto start the match, Hiroe pushes Mikoto into the ropes but Mikoto fires back with elbows. Hiroe avoids the dropkick and hits a few of her own, vertical suplex by Hiroe and she covers Mikoto for two. Hiroe tags Miyuki, stomps by Miyuki but Mikoto dropkicks her from behind and tags Tsukushi. Tsukushi bites Miyuki and throws her down by the hair, Irish whip by Tsukushi but Miyuki delivers a dropkick. Hiroe comes in to help as Tsukushi is double teamed in the corner, cover by Miyuki but Tsukushi kicks out. Miyuki applies a bodyscissors and rolls Tsukushi around the ring before ending in a cradle, Miyuki goes to pick up Tsukushi but Tsukushi kicks her and hits a spinning headscissors. Dropkick by Tsukushi in the corner and she hits a drop toehold as Mikoto comes in. Mikoto and Tsukushi take turns running onto Miyuki, Tsukushi sets up Miyuki in the ropes and pulls back on her nose. Tsukushi goes off the ropes and dropkicks Miyuki in the back, cover by Tsukushi but it gets two. Tsukushi tags Mikoto, dropkicks by Mikoto and she covers Miyuki for a two count. Mikoto goes for a scoop slam but Miyuki blocks it and hits one of her own, Mikoto quickly gets back up and elbows Miyuki but again her scoop slam attempt is reversed. Mikoto finally connects with the scoop slam, but Miyuki kicks out of her cover attempts. Mikoto goes for a dropkick but Miyuki blocks it and hits a scoop slam, leg drop by Miyuki and she gets on the second turnbuckle to hit a diving forearm smash. Miyuki tags Hiroe, dropkick by Hiroe and she hits a vertical suplex. Crab hold by Hiroe but Tsukushi breaks it up, Hiroe goes up top but Tsukushi smacks her from the apron.

This gives Mikoto time to recover as she tosses Hiroe back to the mat, dropkicks by Mikoto and she hits a scoop slam. Mikoto goes off the ropes  and applies a backslide, but that gets a two as well. Hiroe goes for a lariat but Mikoto cradles her, Mikoto goes off the ropes and dropkicks Hiroe before tagging in Tsukushi. Tsukushi goes up top and hits a diving bodypress onto Hiroe, she goes for a second one but Hiroe joins her. Tsukushi gets on Hiroe’s back and applies a stretch hold while they are on the turnbuckles, Tsukushi then goes for a powerbomb but Hiroe blocks it until Mikoto hits Hiroe from the apron. Hiroe still prevents Tsukushi from taking her over, vertical suplex by Hiroe but Tsukushi fires back with an elbow and they trade shots. Spear by Hiroe, but Tsukushi barely gets a shoulder up on the cover. Miyuki comes in and slams Tsukushi in front of the corner, diving leg drop by Miyuki and Hiroe follows with the Northern Lights Suplex, but Mikoto breaks it up. Hiroe goes off the ropes but Mikoto catches her with a dropkick, Tsukushi follows with a dropkick of her own and delivers a missile dropkick for two. Mikoto comes in again but Hiroe spears both of them, Hiroe goes for a backdrop suplex but Tsukushi rolls her up for two. A hurricanrana by Tsukushi is reversed as Hiroe and Tsukushi trade flash pins, Tsukushi throws in some footstomps between covers but she only gets a two each time. Denden Mushi by Tsukushi, and she picks up the three count! Mikoto Shindo and Tsukushi are the winners!

This was a pretty simply laid out match but easy enough to watch. Mikoto just debuted a couple months ago so her offense is really basic, and since the match was built around her everyone else followed suit. Tsukushi threw in some fun tricks, she’s really unique and a pleasure to watch, but other than a few of her spots there wasn’t a whole lot to it. Perfectly fine for an opener but nothing overly memorable or special about it.

Himeka Arita vs. Nagisa Nozaki

The taller Himeka asks for a Test of Strength and Nagisa agrees, which Himeka gets the better of. Nagisa applies a headlock but Himeka Irish whips out of it and shoulderblocks Nagisa down. She goes off the ropes but Nagisa hits a drop toehold and goes for a submission, with Himeka quickly getting into the ropes. Stomps by Nagisa but Himeka hits a scoop slam, crab hold by Himeka but Nagisa gets into the ropes for the break. Himeka stomps on Nagisa’s back but Nagisa blocks the Irish whip and hits a boot. She goes for another one but Himeka moves, Nagisa lands out on the apron and she snaps Himeka’s neck on the top rope. Nagisa slaps Himeka in the chest repeatedly but Himeka blocks the suplex attempt, big boot by Nagisa in the corner and she sets up Himeka before booting her in the head again. Nagisa goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, cover by Nagisa but it gets two. Nagisa picks up Himeka and puts her in a sleeper, but Himeka twists out of it. Nagisa kicks Himeka into the corner but Himeka avoids the boot attempt and hits a body avalanche. Shoulderblock by Himeka, she picks up Nagisa but Nagisa boots her and the two trade blows. Himeka eventually knocks down Nagisa with a shoulderblock for two, she picks her back up but Nagisa slides away and hits a series of knees. Boot by Nagisa and she hits a double underhook suplex, she goes off the ropes and hits a sliding kick for two. Nagisa knees Himeka and goes off the ropes, but Himeka swats away the boot attempt and schoolboys her for two. Running knee by Himeka, but that gets a two as well. She next tries a jumping knee, but has the same result. Himeka gets Nagisa on her shoulders but Nagisa applies a sleeper, she reverts it into a Dragon Sleeper and Himeka taps out! Nagisa Nozaki is the winner!

If you are using the “big boot” as your part of a strike exchange, I’m probably not going to take it too seriously. Anyway this match was bizarre as I was not expecting Himeka to be the dominate fighter as while she is a big bigger than Nagisa, she isn’t really enough bigger to act like its a major advantage. I get that she ‘wrestles big’ but I wasn’t expecting it to this extent. Nagisa is an average wrestler and Himeka was actually more impressive than the veteran, to say Nagisa’s offense is repetitive would be an understatement. While it is good to see Himeka progressing, this match didn’t do a whole lot for me.

Rin Kadokura and Takumi Iroha vs. Sakura Hirota and Yuki Miyazaki

Rin and Sakura start but Sakura immediately tags in Yuki before they both roll out of the ring. We are off to a great start. Rin and Takumi go out after them and they battle around the floor, mostly out of the camera’s view since show was shot with one hard side camera. Its manned, but they still can’t really move aside from going side to side. Sakura gets Takumi by the wrist and walks the guard rail before hitting an armdrag. More things happen we can’t really see until Yuki and Rin finally make it back to the ring, with Yuki quickly putting Rin in a Compromising Position until Takumi breaks it up. Rin elbows Yuki in the chest but Yuki swats her dropkick aside. She wants her to tag in Takumi but she won’t, scoop slam by Yuki and she throws Rin into the corner so Takumi will tag. Takumi does so, high kick by Takumi and she dropkicks Yuki. Takumi goes for a suplex but Yuki reverses it, back up Takumi punches Yuki in the head and delivers a kick combination, but Yuki ducks one and drives Takumi’s head repeatedly into her backside. She takes Takumi out of the ring as Sakura gets in it, Sakura goes for a dive but catches the second rope and bounces back into the ring. Yuki and Takumi return, kick by Takumi but Yuki delivers a sliding kick and tags in Sakura. Sakura puts Takumi into a couple submission holds while Yuki dropkicks her, she goes for the Shining Wizard but Takumi blocks it and hits a roaring elbow. Takumi goes for a suplex but Sakura lands on her feet and hits an Oil Check, she goes off the ropes but Takumi kicks her in the stomach. Sakura goes for a hurricanrana but Takumi catches her and delivers a powerbomb for a two count.

Takumi goes off the ropes but Yuki trips her from the floor and pulls Takumi out of the ring, Sakura goes for another dive but again she catches the second rope  and lands back in the ring. She tries again and has the same result, this time landing out on the floor. They battle out of our view but return after a moment, both Sakura and Yuki have green on their face so I assume they got misted along the way. Rin goes up top and hits a missile dropkick onto Sakura followed directly by a Takumi German suplex, catapult leg drop by Rin and Takumi hits a buzzsaw kick, but Sakura gets a shoulder up on the cover. Takumi picks up Sakura but Sakura cradles her for two, Irish whip by Sakura but Takumi delivers a heel kick. Jackknife cover by Rin (she silently tagged in), but it gets two. Rin dropkicks Sakura while she is against the ropes, she goes up top but Yuki pushes Sakura out of the way and eats the missile dropkick instead. Yuki and Sakura hug, Rin kicks Yuki as Takumi returns but Yuki lariats both of them. Yuki flings Sakura onto Rin and Takumi, but Rin blocks their next attempt. Takumi gets up and with Rin they superkick Yuki into the corner, she slams Sakura near the corner as well and hits a cannonball onto Yuki while Takumi nails the senton bomb off the top onto Sakura. Cover by Rin, but Yuki breaks it up. Takumi high kicks Sakura, Rin goes off the ropes but Sakura falls on top of her for two. Yuki picks up Rin and kisses her, she then throws both her opponents in different corners and with Sakura takes turns delivering running kisses. Don’t ask, I don’t know. Sakura and Yuki then both hit such vicious Oil Checks that Takumi and Rin spray red mist, Shining Wizard by Sakura but Rin barely kicks out. Sakura goes off the ropes but Rin spins and falls on top of her, picking up the three count! Rin Kadokura and Takumi Iroha win!

Even if Sakura Hirota and Yuki Miyazaki were my cup of tea (they aren’t), we still missed about 25% off the match which happened off camera so regardless its a disappointment. The few parts they really started to wrestle it was fine, and its always a pleasure to watch Rin Kadokura and Takumi Iroha, but between the action we couldn’t see and the tired comedy its not a match I can really recommend watching.

ASUKA vs. Hikaru Shida
20 Minute Iron Woman Match

They get into a fast paced exchange right off the bat but reach a stalemate, ASUKA gets Hikaru to the mat as they jockey for position until ASUKA applies a stretch hold. Hikaru struggles back up but ASUKA maintains a side headlock, Hikaru finally gets out of it but ASUKA stomps her when she pancakes. Armdrag by Hikaru and she charges ASUKA, but ASUKA holds down the ropes and Hikaru falls out of the ring. ASUKA goes to do a dive but flips back into the ring instead and does a little dance, Hikaru returns but ASUKA slams her to the mat. Another slam by ASUKA and a third, she goes off the ropes but Hikaru catches her with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Hikaru stomps on ASUKA near the ropes before picking her up and hitting a backbreaker, cover by Hikaru but it gets two. Hikaru picks up ASUKA but ASUKA elbows her and the two trade shots until Hikaru hits a vertical suplex. Hikaru goes off the ropes but ASUKA ducks the knee and hits a rebound crossbody off the ropes. ASUKA picks up Hikaru but Hikaru knees her, ASUKA backflips from Hikaru and delivers the Space Rolling Elbow. ASUKA jumps up to the top turnbuckle but Hikaru pushes her off, sending ASUKA crashing to the floor. Hikaru goes after her and takes her around the ring (luckily on the same side as the camera), they both get up on a table as Hikaru goes for a suplex, but ASUKA blocks it and boots Hikaru off the table to the floor. ASUKA then tosses chairs over and over down onto Hikaru (so we assume, we can see ASUKA tossing the chairs but not Hikaru’s body from our view), she eventually gets down but keeps throwing chairs at Hikaru. Hikaru recovers and goes for a suplex on the floor but ASUKA reverses it, she rolls Hikaru back into the ring and hits a superkick for a two count. ASUKA picks up Hikaru and hits a German suplex hold, but Hikaru gets a shoulder up. ASUKA goes up top but Hikaru hits her from behind and suplexes ASUKA to the mat. Hikaru grabs ASUKA but ASUKA knocks her back, ASUKA goes for a chokeslam but Hikaru blocks it and knees ASUKA in the back. Falcon Arrow by Hikaru, she goes off the ropes but ASUKA superkicks her and delivers the chokeslam for two. ASUKA goes up top but Hikaru avoids the moonsault and hits a running knee for two. They trade cradles with no result, Hikaru goes off the ropes and she nails the Tamashi no Three Count for the three count! Hikaru Shida is up 1-0 at 12:24 in the match.

The break is very brief as Hikaru goes back after ASUKA but ASUKA elbows her and the two trade shots. Hikaru goes for a suplex but ASUKA lands on her feet, Hikaru blocks the chokeslam attempt but ASUKA hits a superkick. Hikaru ducks ASUKA’s boot and bails out of the ring, ASUKA goes after her but Hikaru quickly rolls back in. Hikaru kicks ASUKA as she returns and knees her in the leg while it is in the ropes before applying the Stretch Muffler. ASUKA gets to the ropes for the break, Hikaru picks her up and hits a knee breaker to set up the Stretch Muffler again. Again ASUKA gets to the ropes (we are at about 16:30 now) so Hikaru applies a sleeper, ASUKA tosses her off and elbows Hikaru but Hikaru grabs her arm and applies a short armbar. ASUKA gets a foot on the ropes to break it, Hikaru drives ASUKA into the ropes with her knee, she picks up ASUKA but ASUKA catches her with a flying knee. ASUKA goes off the ropes and hits a springboard bodypress, she then follows that with a quebrada but again Hikaru rolls out of the ring before ASUKA can cover. ASUKA goes out to the apron and boots Hikaru while she is still on the floor, another boot by ASUKA and she goes up top before nailing a moonsault down to the floor. ASUKA rolls Hikaru back in and goes up top, hitting a missile dropkick. Cover by ASUKA, but it gets two. Hikaru gets away and hits an enzuigiri, eye poke by Hikaru and she cradles ASUKA for two. Hikaru goes off the ropes but ASUKA slides behind her and hits a snap German, superkick by ASUKA and she covers Hikaru for a two count. ASUKA boots Hikaru and quickly covers her again as time is running low, but Hikaru kicks out. ASUKA quickly goes up top and she nails the moonsault, cover by ASUKA and she gets the three count! The score is now tied 1-1 at 19:24.

ASUKA goes up top again as Hikaru hasn’t moved and goes for another moonsault, but Hikaru gets her knees up. Hikaru knees ASUKA in the face and covers her, but ASUKA gets a shoulder up. The bell rings before either wrestler can do anything else, as the time limit has expired. The match is a Draw.

This was a really entertaining match for a number of reasons. First, both ASUKA and Hikaru are talented wrestlers with solid chemistry, so the action was crisp and varied throughout the twenty minutes. I loved that they wrestled different, especially Hikaru, with the rules in place. If you are up 1-0 with five minutes left, you should be doing long submission holds and leaving the ring when you need a breather, its a simple story but a necessary one or the match stipulation doesn’t mean anything. The sense of urgency in the last few minutes from ASUKA was palpable and she conveyed well how badly she needed a pinfall in a very short amount of time. I wouldn’t mind seeing these two in a title match/longer time limit situation as I feel they have even more they could show, but this was a really good match that had the elements needed for an “Iron Woman” match. Recommended

(c) Mio Momono and Yumi Ohka vs. Misaki Ohata and Ryo Mizunami
WAVE Tag Team Championship

Yumi and Misaki kick things off, Misaki catches Yumi when she goes for a crossbody but Misaki drops her with a DDT. Dropkick by Misaki but Mio runs in to help Yumi, Yumi picks up Mio and slams her down onto Misaki. Double Irish whip to Misaki but Misaki pushes them both into the corner. Misaki elbows Yumi, Mio comes over but she dropkicks Yumi by accident. Yumi boots Misaki into the corner and lawn darts Mio at her, she tags in Mio and Mio hits repeated dropkicks. Misaki eventually avoids one and tags in Ryo, double Irish whip to Mio and Avid Rival run through a double team combination. Ryo chops Mio into the corner and hits a running elbow, she goes for a second one but Yumi runs in to cut her off. Ryo knocks Yumi back and hits the elbow anyway, cover to Mio but it gets a two count. Ryo goes for a uranage, Mio blocks it but Ryo drops her with a release German. Leg lariat by Ryo, but it gets a two count. Mio fights back but Ryo catches her with a powerslam, she tags in Misaki and Misaki delivers a low crossbody while Mio is against the ropes. Misaki goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Misaki but Mio gets a shoulder up. Misaki picks up Mio but Mio slides away, Mio quickly regains control however and hits a sliding kick. Irish whip by Misaki but Mio elbows her, they take turns stomping each other’s foot before Mio knocks over Misaki with a dropkick. Armdrag by Mio and she applies an armbar, but Ryo breaks it up. Ryo stays in but Mio outsmarts both of them, dropkicking them both and tagging in Yumi. Yumi boots Misaki in the head but Misaki comes back with an elbow and they trade shots, heel drop by Yumi and she covers Misaki for two.

Yumi picks up Misaki and goes for a DDT but Misaki reverses it into a bridging suplex for two. Backstabber by Misaki, Mio comes in and they both attack Misaki while she is against the ropes. Backdrop suplex by Yumi, but it gets two. Brainbuster by Yumi, but Ryo breaks up the cover. Yumi goes off the ropes but Ryo runs in and they hit the 3D, Ryo helps Misaki run up the ropes and flings her onto Yumi for a two count. Misaki tags Ryo and they both elbow Yumi while she is against the ropes. Ryo picks up Yumi and hits a series of elbows, lariat by Ryo and Misaki comes in to hit a standing crucifix bomb. Uranage by Ryo to Yumi, she goes off the ropes and hits a hard lariat, but Mio breaks up the cover. Ryo gets Mio on her shoulders but Mio slides off and footstomps Ryo in the stomach, Yumi helps Mio hit another footstomp followed by an assisted senton, Yumi covers Ryo but Ryo gets a shoulder up. Yumi goes for a suplex, Ryo blocks it but Yumi delivers a chokebomb instead. Mio comes back and goes for the Yoshi Tonic, but Misaki grabs her from behind and hits a German suplex. Misaki picks up Yumi and with Ryo hits a German suplex/lariat combination, Ryo goes up top and delivers the guillotine leg drop, but the cover is broken up. Ryo picks up Yumi but Yumi gets away from her and hits a big boot. Ryo fires back with a lariat, she waits for Yumi to get up and hits another lariat, but Mio breaks up the cover. Mio gets Ryo in the Yoshi Tonic while Yumi boots Misaki, big boot by Yumi to Ryo but Misaki breaks up the pin. Mio hits an assisted Asai Moonsault onto Misaki before rolling her out of the ring, Yumi picks up Ryo but Ryo drops her with a dragon suplex. Ryo goes off the ropes but Yumi boots her in the head, she goes off the ropes and delivers a final big boot for the three count! BOSS to Mammy are still the champions!

Avid Rival seem hell bent to go out with a bang, as even though they lost they still put on a great show. The best thing about both of these teams is how well they work together, with not only constantly helping each other but doing so in an incredibly smooth and believable way. At times it was chaotic but it was a good chaos as there was constant excitement from bell to bell. Yumi Ohka sometimes drags down matches for me if she is the focus due to her limited offense but she didn’t here, as Mio did most the heavy lifting and Yumi played her part very well when needed. Overall my only complaint is that it went only 14 minutes which is short for a main event, a thoroughly entertaining match between two of the best tag teams on the current Joshi scene.  Recommended

The post WAVE Weekday WAVE Vol. 119 ~Thanks 2~ on 10/22/18 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Pro Wrestling WAVE’s online streaming service can be hit or miss, but they have been on a roll this summer as they have been very timely with their updates. WAVE is in a rough situation right now, there is no other way to say it. They recently lost Ayako Hamada to a drug scandal, Misaki Ohata is retiring at the end of the year, Fairy Nihonbashi is leaving, and on top of all of that the promotion is temporarily closing at the end of the year to “restructure” behind the scenes before re-launching. They already have among the lowest Korakuen Hall attendance averages among all Joshi promotions (this event did a great number for them), and closing for a few months likely won’t help that. But even with all these issues going on, this is a very solid card up and down as they celebrate their anniversary with two big singles match and two title matches. Here is the full card (I am only reviewing the Joshi matches):

• Aoki Itsuki and Mikoto Shindo vs. Hiroe Nagahama and Miyuki Takase
• Cherry and Fairy Nihonbashi vs. Himeka Arita and Sakura Hirota
• Hiragi Kurumi vs. Rina Yamashita
• Misaki Ohata vs. Ryo Mizunami
• WAVE Tag Team Championship: Nagisa Nozaki and Yuki Miyazaki vs. Mio Momono and Yumi Ohka
• Regina Di WAVE Championship: Takumi Iroha vs. ASUKA

As this aired on the WAVE Network, matches will be unclipped. All wrestlers on the card have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name to go straight to it.

Aoki Itsuki and Mikoto Shindo vs. Hiroe Nagahama and Miyuki Takase

Mikoto and Hiroe kick things off, they lock up as Hiroe gets Mikoto in the ropes, but she gives a clean break. Mikoto quickly locks back up with her, this time Mikoto gets Hiroe in the ropes and hits a series of elbows. Back in the middle of the ring, Hiroe tosses Mikoto into the corner and throws her down by the hair. Miyuki helps (even though Hiroe doesn’t need it), snaomare by Hiroe and she puts Mikoto in a bodyscissors. She picks her up after a moment and puts Mikoto into the corner, Irish whip to Mikoto and Hiroe hits a dropkick. Miyuki follows with an assisted elbow strike, Aoki tries to help but immediately gets kicked out of the ring by Miyuki. Mikoto dropkicks Hiroe and quickly rolls her up for two, another dropkick by Mikoto and she makes the hot tag to Aoki. Shoulderblocks by Aoki, she picks up Hiroe and hits a bridging vertical suplex for two. Aoki goes off the ropes but Miyuki kicks her from the apron, she gets in the ring and with Hiroe they hit a double dropkick. More dropkicks by Hiroe, she picks up Aoki and hits a vertical suplex for two. Aoki blocks the suplex attempt but Hiroe delivers a spear before tagging in Miyuki. Miyuki picks up Aoki but Aoki blocks the slam attempt and punches Miyuki in the stomach.

Miyuki comes back with a dropkick, legdrop by Miyuki and she covers Aoki for two. Back up, they trade strikes until Aoki chops Miyuki to the mat. Aoki goes off the ropes by Miyuki hits a lariat, Miyuki gets Aoki on her shoulders and hits a rolling fireman’s carry slam, but Aoki avoids the diving legdrop. Hiroe comes in and spears Aoki, Miyuki picks up Aoki but Aoki lariats both of them. Short-arm lariats by Aoki, but Miyuki kicks out of the cover. Aoki tags Mikoto, dropkicks by Mikoto to Miyuki and she covers her for two. Scoop slam by Mikoto but Miyuki continues to kick out of Mikoto’s covers, Miyuki elbows Mikoto but Mikoto elbows her back. Mikoto elbows Miyuki into the corner but Miyuki connects with a dropkick out of the corner, she gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a diving elbow smash for a two count. Miyuki picks up Mikoto while Hiroe gets on the top turnbuckle, but Aoki knocks Hiroe off and Mikoto cradles Miyuki for two. A schoolboy by Mikoto gets two as well, she tries a few more flash pins but none get the three count. Powerslam by Miyuki to Mikoto, she picks her up and hits a vertical suplex but Aoki breaks up the cover. Miyuki waits for Mikoto to get up and hits a lariat, cover by Miyuki and she gets the three count Your winners are Hiroe Nagahama and Miyuki Takase!

Considering the experience levels of those involved, this was a really solid opener. It wasn’t complicated but it didn’t need to be and everyone played their roles well without any awkwardness. The mid-match strike exchange was probably a tad too long and ultimately meaningless since the “loser” was immediately back on offense, but beyond that it never felt like it dragged. Mikoto is a firecracker as I assumed, and if she sticks with it/continues training under Chigusa Nagayo she could be something special down the road. A good way to start the show and get the crowd into it without trying to overshadow the action to come.

Cherry and Fairy Nihonbashi vs. Himeka Arita and Sakura Hirota

Its hard to do play by play on silly comedy matches but I will try my best. Fairy and Himeka begin but Fairy starts doing Fairy things so no action actually takes place. Himeka is not in the mood and puts Fairy in a Argentine Backbreaker, but her own teammate breaks it up as this is not proper Fairy procedure. Hard shoulderblock by Himeka but Fairy gets her wand, she tries to use it on Himeka but Himeka doesn’t budge. It finally works, Fairy dances around and she covers Himeka for two. Fairy goes to tag out but Himeka hits her from behind and scoop slams her, Sakura comes in but Himeka slams her on top of Fairy. Himeka tags Sakura as she makes it back to the corner, Irish whip by Sakura and everyone comes in to deliver running strikes on Fairy in the corner. Including her own partner. Sakura then tries but Fairy hits her in the head with her wand, they go through the whole thing again but it has the same end result for Sakura. Sakura gets Fairy’s arm and goes to walk the ropes, but Fairy gets away and tries to wand Sakura off the top turnbuckle. Sakura walks the ropes instead and almost makes it to the next turnbuckle, but falls off. With her its hard to tell when her crash and burns are planned.

Anyway Cherry is finally tagged in and they both chop Sakura in the chest, double Irish whip but it is reversed and Cherry ends up going into the ropes. She lariats both of them, including her own partner, but Cherry makes her feel better by giving Fairy her wand. She uses it on Sakura, Cherry covers Sakura with the wand but it gets a two count. Cherry chokes Sakura into the corner but Sakura is still under Fairy’s spell so she isn’t moving too well. Headstand by Sakura on the turnbuckle which sucks everyone towards her, until Fairy hits Sakura low with the wand. Face crusher by Sakura to Cherry but Cherry slams her into the mat as they go back and forth with face crushers. Sakura tags in Himeka while Fairy is also tagged in, shoulderblock by Himeka and she his a second one. Fairy goes for a wand shot but Himeka moves and hits a jumping knee, but Cherry breaks up the cover. Fairy hits Himeka in the head with the wand, Cherry then tries to hit Himeka also but she hits Fairy by accident. Sakura comes in but she ends up kissing Fairy before Cherry accidentally hits Fairy again. Fairy tries to hit Cherry with the wand but it rebounds back and she hits herself, Himeka puts Fairy in the Argentine Backbreaker and Fairy submits! Himeka Arita and Sakura Hirota are the winners.

This was exactly as advertised. Maybe a new wrinkle or two but it was basically a Sakura Hirota and Fairy Nihonbashi comedy match combined into one. If you like it, more power to you, but its old hat to me and I’m happy to move onto the next match which is much more up my alley.

Hiragi Kurumi vs. Rina Yamashita

They start off trading tie-ups with neither getting the clear advantage, they try to shoulderblock each other over until Kurumi ultimately wins the battle. Rina rolls out of the ring but Kurumi goes out after her and scoop slams Rina onto the floor. Rina gets some of the cold spray and sprays Kurumi with it, she takes Kurumi around the ring and throws her into some chairs at ringside. Rina sits Kurumi in a chair, she goes all the way up into the bleachers before charging at Kurumi, but Kurumi had plenty of time to recover and greets Rina with a lariat. Kurumi slides Rina back into the ring and hits a body avalanche in the corner, cover by Kurumi but it gets two. Crab hold by Kurumi but Rina gets to the ropes for the break, scoop slam by Kurumi and she hits a somersault senton for a two count. Kurumi tries to knock Rina over but Rina stays up, Rina goes off the ropes and she hits a hard shoulderblock. Rina picks up Kurumi and eventually hits a scoop slam, cover by Rina but it gets two. Rina picks up Kurumi and throws her into the corner, lariat by Rina and she hits a second one before kneeing Kurumi in the back of the head for a two count. Kicks by Rina, she picks up Kurumi and hits a backdrop suplex for another two.

Sleeper by Rina but Kurumi hiptosses out of it, they trade elbows until Kurumi dropkicks Rina to the mat. Cannonball by Kurumi, she gets back up but Rina manages to re-apply the sleeper. Kurumi struggles but eventually makes it to the ropes, Rina goes off the ropes and hits a kick to the head, but Kurumi ducks the lariat and delivers a release German. Rina returns to her feet but Kurumi connects with a second German, which keeps Rina on the mat. They both slowly get up and trade lariats, with Kurumi winning the battle as she knocks Rina down. Kurumi picks up Rina but Rina wiggles away, she goes for the sleeper but Kurumi quickly grabs the ropes. Rina goes off the ropes but Kurumi floors her with a lariat for a two count. Kurumi drags Rina to the corner, she goes up top but Rina recovers and joins her. Superplex by Rina, she slowly covers Kurumi but Kurumi gets a shoulder up. Rina picks up Kurumi and nails the sliding lariat, but again Kurumi kicks out. Rina charges Kurumi but Kurumi catches her with a cradle belly to belly piledriver. Kurumi picks up Rina and goes off the ropes, but Rina catches her with a lariat. Rina goes to pick up Kurumi, Kurumi hits a back bodydrop but Rina turns it into a cradle for two. Lariat by Kurumi, she picks up Rina and hits a second belly to belly piledriver, but the bell rings before she can make a cover as the time has expired. The match is a Draw!

Even though it felt like they were going for the draw with the slower portions early in the match, I still enjoyed it. I was surprised how much Kurumi was shown as an equal to Rina, even getting the better of her on several occasions, but Rina has always been good at giving her opponents a lot to make the matches more competitive. Kurumi flies under the radar a bit since Ice Ribbon isn’t as popular among Western fans but at only 18 she is already great at the “hoss” style and will continue to get better. Some unique spots and numerous ‘strength’ battles makes this one worth watching, and hopefully they will get a chance to do it again sooner than later.  Recommended

Misaki Ohata vs. Ryo Mizunami

They tie-up to start, Ohata gets Mizunami into the ropes but she gives her friend a clean break. Wristlock by Ohata but Mizunami reverses it, armdrag by Ohata and they trade positions on the mat. Mizunami works a headlock and hits a hard shoulderblock, she goes for a leg drop but Ohata moves out of the way and hits a dropkick. Mizunami stomps on Ohata’s foot but Ohata hits a jawbreaker and stomps on her foot back, she goes off the ropes but Mizunami catches Ohata with a powerslam. Mizunami chops Ohata into the corner and hits a jumping elbow smash, but Ohata dropkicks her when she messes around too much and hits an elbow in the corner. Ohata mimics Mizunami before hitting another elbow, Ohata goes up top and she hits a diving crossbody for two. Stunner by Ohata and she hits a tornado DDT, low crossbody by Ohata and she nails a sliding kick for a two count cover. German suplex hold by Ohata, but Mizunami kicks out. Back up they trade strikes until Mizunami hits an overhead belly to belly suplex, lariat by Mizunami and she hits a German suplex. Jumping leg lariat by Mizunami, but her cover gets a two count. Mizunami picks up Ohata and hits an elbow combination, Ohata fires back with slaps but Mizunami hits a lariat.

Ohata charges Mizunami but Mizunami hits a lariat, another lariat by Mizunami and she covers Ohata for two. Mizunami picks up Ohata but Ohata quickly hits the Blue Dahlia, she follows with the Fisherman Buster but Mizunami gets a shoulder up on the pin attempt. Ohata goes off the ropes but Mizunami gets Ohata onto her shoulders and slams her to the mat. They headbutt each other on their knees before trading elbows, Ohata finally chops Mizunami to the mat and she hits a hard elbow for a two count. Ohata goes for the Sky Blue Suplex but Mizunami rolls out of it, Ohata kicks Mizunami in the head and hits a second Blue Dahlia, but she again only gets two. Sky Blue Suplex Hold by Ohata, but Mizunami barely gets her shoulder up. Ohata goes for a second one but Mizunami blocks it and hits a uranage, Mizunami goes for the Hot Limit but Ohata blocks it as she goes for a series of flash pins. Ohata goes off the ropes but Mizunami hits a pair of lariats, dragon suplex hold by Mizunami but it gets two. Mizunami picks up Ohata and she nails the Hot Limit, cover by Mizunami but Ohata kicks out at one. Mizunami picks up Ohata and delivers a second one, a third Hot Limit by Mizunami and she picks up the three count! Ryo Mizunami is the winner!

This match was good but something felt a bit off. Its like they were going for that epic feel but it was just a midcard match with under 15 minutes of action so there were built-in limitations. Both were going through their finishers which I have no issue with but there wasn’t a lot of build-up to it, for Ohata to kick out of the Hot Limit and Mizunami to kick out of the Blue Sky Suplex Hold it just would have been nice for them to have a slower lead-up to that. Still, these two have great chemistry obviously so everything they did was smooth and hard hitting, and the match certainly never dragged. Hopefully this match is just a primer for a bigger match between them before Ohata retires, but still an enjoyable match.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Nagisa Nozaki and Yuki Miyazaki vs. Mio Momono and Yumi Ohka
WAVE Tag Team Championship 

Yuki and Mio begin for their teams, they lock knuckles but Mio spins away and hits a series of elbows. She goes for a crossbody but Yuki catches her and hits a slam, she goes to put Mio in an unfortunate situation but Ohka breaks it up. Ohka slams Mio on top of Yuki, Mio tags in Ohka and Ohka delivers a hip toss slam for two. Ohka picks up Yuki but Yuki hits a sliding kick and tags Nagisa. Yuki stays in and helps Nagisa for a moment double team Ohka, Nagisa chops Ohka in the corner before putting her in a sleeper. Ohka quickly gets to the ropes to break it up, Nagisa charges Ohka but Ohka moves out of the way and hits a big boot. Another boot by Ohka and she tags in Mio, Mio stomps down Nagisa in the corner but Nagisa fires back with a big boot, cover by Nagisa but Mio bridges out of it. Nagisa pulls down Mio by the hair, Mio goes for a dropkick but Nagisa swats her away and applies the sleeper. Mio drives back into the corner to break it up, Ohka comes in and she stomps on Nagisa’s foot repeatedly. Nagisa tries to boot Mio but she boots Ohka by accident, Mio then accidentally dropkicks Ohka but she recovers and boots Nagisa into the corner. Ohka launches Mio at Nagisa for a dropkick, cover by Mio but it gets two. Mio applies an ankle hold but Nagisa quickly gets to the ropes, Mio keeps the hold applied anyway until Yuki knocks her off. Dropkick by Mio, and she covers Nagisa for two. Mio goes off the ropes but Nagisa drops her with a big boot, Somato by Nagisa and she tags in Yuki.

Yuki dropkicks Mio, she picks her up but Mio slides away and dropkicks Yuki in the knee. Yuki and Mio trade flash pins, they get back up but Mio ducks Yuki’s lariat attempt and hits a spinning headscissors. Dropkick by Mio and she rolls Yuki to the mat before hitting a footstomp to the chest. Mio goes for the Yoshi Tonic but Yuki blocks it, Ohka comes in and hits a chokebomb on Yuki before she gets tagged in and drops Yuki with a cross-arm DDT. Ohka goes for a suplex but Yuki blocks it and kicks her in the head, Yuki picks up Ohka but Ohka wiggles away. Ohka knocks Nagisa off the apron and boots Yuki in the head, cover by Ohka but it gets two. Ohka goes off the ropes but Nagisa trips her and pulls her out of the ring, meanwhile on the other side Mio pulls Yuki to the floor as both teams brawl. Mio goes up top and dives out onto both opponents, they return to the ring but Sakura Hirota gets in the ring too and helps Yuki with Ohka. That quickly backfires, Ohka drops Yuki with a backdrop suplex and she covers her for a two count. Mio comes in and stands on Ohka’s shoulders for an assisted senton, cover by Ohka but Nagisa breaks it up. Mio and Ohka try to suplex Yuki but Yuki reverses it, Yuki suplexes Ohka into the turnbuckles and she goes up top, but Ohka avoids the moonsault. Samoan Driver by Yuki, but Ohka kicks out. Yuki tags Nagisa, boot by Nagisa to Ohka and she drives her into the corner. Nagisa sets up Ohka in the corner and hits a boot, another boot by Nagisa and she covers Ohka for two.

Nagisa goes for the sleeper but Ohka quickly gets out of it and they trade boots until Ohka knocks Nagisa to the mat. Ohka calls for Mio, they pick up Nagisa and Ohka hits a brainbuster while Mio distracts Yuki. Mio goes up top and hits a diving crossbody onto Yuki, Ohka then goes up but Nagisa recovers and joins her. Mio grabs Nagisa from behind but Yuki tosses her aside, Yuki then helps Nagisa superplex Ohka but Mio breaks up Nagisa’s cover. Mio goes up top but Yuki joins her and gives her a kiss, which knocks Mio to the mat. Yuki wraps up Mio near the corner but Ohka breaks it up, Nagisa rolls up Ohka from behind and puts her in a grounded dragon sleeper, but Mio breaks it up. Double Irish whip to Mio but Mio tosses both opponents down and dropkicks Nagisa in the head. Yuki kisses Mio again and goes for a wheelbarrow slam, but Mio blocks. Boot by Nagisa to Ohka, but it gets two. Nagisa goes off the ropes but Ohka hits a big boot of her own, Nagisa boots her back and hits another one, but Mio breaks up the pin. Nagisa goes for a sleeper but Ohka kicks his way out of it, Mio comes in and hits the Yoshi Tonic on Nagisa and Ohka hits a boot. Ohka goes off the ropes and hits a final big boot, and she picks up the three count! Yumi Ohka and Mio Momono are the new champions!

While I am beyond excited for Mio Momono getting her first title as she is a lot of fun to watch, I can’t say that this match did a lot for me. Yuki Miyazaki is best in small doses, if at all, as while she does provide a veteran presence and can help keep things together, her offense is pretty bland and her segments tend to drag. Ohka is better but still is mostly just big boots, and Nagisa wasn’t able to do what she does best here (set up submissions) as the match wasn’t about her wrestling preferences. So a 20 minute match with the only highlights being Mio-related feels like an eternity, the wrestlers worked together well but the structure was just all over the place with Yuki’s occasional comedy. Not a match I would recommend unless you love all parties involved but still a big moment in Mio Momono’s young career.

(c) Takumi Iroha vs. ASUKA
Regina Di WAVE Championship

They tie-up to start, Takumi pushes ASUKA into the ropes and she gives a clean break. They go into a Test of Strength and go to the mat, they jockey for position but end up in a stalemate and return to their feet. Knees by ASUKA and she kicks Takumi in the arm, ASUKA goes for a boot but Takumi moves out of the way and kicks ASUKA down in the corner. Dropkick by Takumi and she hits a dragon screw leg whip as she starts working over ASUKA’s leg. Scoop slam by Takumi and she hits a body press, covering ASUKA for two. Takumi goes back to ASUKA’s leg as she goes for the Stretch Muffler, but ASUKA gets into the ropes before she can get it fully applied. More kicks to the leg by Takumi but ASUKA absorbs the blows and kicks her back. Takumi gets the better of it at first but ASUKA knocks Takumi out of the ring, she goes up top and dives down onto Takumi with a missile dropkick. ASUKA slides Takumi back into the ring, she goes up top again and hits another missile dropkick. Another missile dropkick by ASUKA, she picks up Takumi and goes for a suplex, but Takumi blocks it. Superkick by ASUKA and she hits a running shooting star press. She then goes for a Lionsault but Takumi gets her knees up, jumping heel kick by Takumi but ASUKA blocks the suplex attempt. ASUKA goes for a boot but Takumi catches her leg and hits a dragon screw, figure four leglock by Takumi but ASUKA eventually gets to the ropes for the break. Takumi goes up top but ASUKA smacks her before she can jump off  and slams Takumi down to the mat. Dropkick by ASUKA and she hits the big boot in the corner, gutwrench suplex by ASUKA and she covers Takumi for two. ASUKA picks up Takumi but Takumi blocks the chokeslam and hits a kick combination.

Release German by Takumi, she goes up top but ASUKA recovers and joins her. They trade elbows while on the top turnbuckle, Takumi jumps over ASUKA and powerbombs her to the mat for two. Takumi positions ASUKA and goes up top, diving body press by Takumi and she quickly goes up top again to delivers a somersault senton, but ASUKA barely bridges up. Takumi goes for the Running Three but ASUKA slides away and hits a snap German. Kick to the head by ASUKA, she picks up Takumi and hits a German suplex hold for two. ASUKA picks up Takumi and delivers a chokeslam, she goes up top but Takumi joins her. Takumi brings ASUKA back down with a superplex, but ASUKA kicks out of the pinfall. Takumi and ASUKA trade elbows back on their feet, slaps by ASUKA and she superkicks Takumi for a one count cover. ASUKA goes off the ropes but Takumi catches her with a high kick, kick combination by Takumi and she nails a high kick for a two count. Liger Bomb by Takumi, but ASUKA kicks out of that as well. Takumi goes for an elbow but ASUKA catches her with one first, chokeslam by ASUKA near the corner but her cover gets two. ASUKA goes up to the top turnbuckle, Takumi grabs her ankles so ASUKA hops back off to hit a series of elbows. ASUKA goes up again and delivers the moonsault, but Takumi barely gets a shoulder up. ASUKA positions Takumi and goes up top again, and this time nails the Shooting Star Press! Cover by ASUKA, and she picks up the three count! ASUKA is the new champion!

Minor quibbles aside, this was a great match. They waited until just the right time with ASUKA to give her the top belt in WAVE, as over the last three years her offensive arsenal has grown significantly and she has grown into an excellent wrestler. I would have just cut out the leg work and just kept it as a strike/suplex type battle it then turned into, Takumi doesn’t really have any finishers to target the leg and ASUKA blew it off immediately anyway so it didn’t serve a real long term purpose. Beyond that though everything worked well, and I loved the ending with Takumi grabbing at ASUKA’s leg so she just elbows Takumi a bunch of times until she stays down for good. The high spots were kept to a reasonable amount so they always felt meaningful, and it was an even back and forth with both respecting the other with their exchanges so it felt like a real struggle. This is a match worth tracking down (or subscribing to the WAVE Network for a month) as it not only is a big deal for a transgender wrestler to hold a top Joshi title, but even without the historical meaning it was a great match as well.  Highly Recommended

The post Pro Wrestling WAVE “Anivarsario WAVE” on 8/19/18 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Catch The WAVE 2018 Tournament
March 11th, 2018 to May 4th, 2018

Crazy Block:

• ASUKA (Pro Wrestling WAVE) – 19 years old, two year veteran. A rising star in the promotion, she is the first transgender Joshi wrestler.
• Miyuki Takase (Actwres girl’z) – Age unknown, one year veteran. Regular participant in WAVE, also wrestles in PURE-J and her home promotion Actwres girl’Z.
• Nagisa Nozaki (Pro Wrestling WAVE) – 27 years old, 11 year veteran. Took layoff from 2013 to 2017. Current WAVE Tag Team Champion.
• Rina Yamashita (Pro Wrestling WAVE) – 29 years old, 4 year veteran. Former Regina di WAVE Champion and the winner of the Catch The WAVE 2017 Tournament.
• Ryo Mizunami (Pro Wrestling WAVE) – 29 years old, 13 year veteran. Former Regina di WAVE Champion and the winner of the Catch The WAVE 2016 Tournament.
• Yumi Ohka (Pro Wrestling WAVE) – 38 years old, 16 year veteran. Former Regina di WAVE Champion and the winner of the Catch The WAVE 2015 Tournament.

Violence Block:

• Arisa Nakajima (SEAdLINagisaG) – 28 years old, 12 year veteran. Former Ace of JWP with 13 title reigns in her career, one of the top Joshi wrestlers in Japan.
• Ayako Hamada (Pro Wrestling WAVE) – 37 years old, 19 year veteran. With over 20 title reigns, the most accomplished wrestler in the tournament.
• Hikaru Shida (Freelancer) – 29 years old, 9 year veteran. Top Joshi Freelancer with 14 title reigns, winner of the Catch The WAVE 2014 Tournament.
• Hiroe Nagahama (Pro Wrestling WAVE) – 22 years old, three year veteran. Promising young wrestler in WAVE, former WAVE Tag Team Champion.
• Mio Momono (Marvelous) – 19 years old, two year veteran. Talented young wrestler from Marvelous, also wrestles in WAVE, Sendai Girls’, and SEAdLINagisaG.
• Misaki Ohata (Pro Wrestling WAVE) – 29 years old, 11 year veteran. Current Regina di WAVE Champion and the winner of the Catch The WAVE 2013 Tournament.

Let’s get started!

It is time for the opening night of the Catch The WAVE 2018 Tournament! The first night has all all 12 wrestlers participating, here are the matches:

• Miyuki Takase vs. Yumi Ohka
• Hikaru Shida vs. Mio Momono
• ASUKA vs. Rina Yamashita
• Arisa Nakajima vs. Ayako Hamada
• Ryo Mizunami vs. Nagisa Nozaki
• Hiroe Nagahama vs. Misaki Ohata

All wrestlers in the tournament have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name to go straight to it. As this event was uploaded to the WAVE Network, all matches will be shown in full.

Miyuki Takase vs. Yumi Ohka

This match was basically what it needed to be. Yumi Ohka mostly just throws boots, which she threw plenty of here, and Miyuki isn’t really good enough yet to get Yumi to do anything outside of her box. Miyuki going for flash pins was the way to go, and really in a tournament setting anything can happen. Perfectly watchable but not overly exciting.

Hikaru Shida vs. Mio Momono

Simple but fun. Mio is a bundle of energy but remains pretty smooth in the process so its not pure chaos, and Hikaru Shida is good at playing the solid base. Mio won the only way she was going to, with a flash pin, as Hikaru just has too much offense for Mio to withstand under normal circumstances. Nothing memorable but an enjoyable casual watch.  Mildly Recommended

ASUKA vs. Rina Yamashita

For a midcard tournament match, this was pretty damn entertaining. ASUKA improves each time I see her as she has added a few new moves to her repertoire and Rina is always improving as well. With a good combination of hard strikes and flashiness, it stayed entertaining and they didn’t waste any time from bell to bell. These two should make WAVE worth watching for years to come, a really good match that is worth seeking out.  Recommended

Arisa Nakajima vs. Ayako Hamada

This was good but oddly structured, with the 15 minute time limit probably playing a factor. There wasn’t really a “middle” portion of the match as it went pretty quickly from opening-style action to big bombs and nearfalls with not enough padding between. But I can’t fault either one of them for lack of energy or urgency, they were on point but didn’t go into excess. Sometime in this match, Arisa got a concussion but nothing was too out of the ordinary so I’m not sure when it happened. A very solid effort, they just felt a bit restricted by the time limit from doing the type of match that they wanted to.  Mildly Recommended

Ryo Mizunami vs. Nagisa Nozaki

It is interesting that WAVE is pushing Nagisa so hard, as while she brings something different to the table, she isn’t as skilled as most of the wrestlers in the promotion. Even before her long layoff she wasn’t a high end wrestler, and since returning she still has a ways to go to reach the tier that WAVE seems to want her to be. The match wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either with a couple miscommunications, lots of repeated spots, and a sudden ending. Ryo is good but needs the right opponent to really bring the best out of her, and she has little chemistry with Nagisa. I like what they are trying to do with Nagisa, I just hope it connects at some point as the quality of her matches is generally average.

Hiroe Nagahama vs. Misaki Ohata

Northern Lights Suplex Hold by Hiroe, but that gets a two count as well. Hiroe picks up Misaki but Misaki gets away and snaps Hiroe over her knee, low crossbody by Misaki and she goes up top, hitting a missile dropkick. Three more missile dropkicks by Misaki, she positions Hiroe and goes up top again, this time hitting a diving bodypress for a two count. Misaki picks up Hiroe but Hiroe blocks the suplex attempt so Misaki drops Hiroe face-first into the mat instead and applies an inverted crab hold. Hiroe gets to the ropes to break the hold, Misaki stomps on Hiroe’s back but Hiroe gets up and elbows Misaki. They trade elbows until Hiroe goes for a few quick pins, none of which have any luck. Misaki goes off the ropes but Hiroe hits a spear, cradle by Hiroe but Misaki reverses it into her own two count. Spinning backfist by Misaki and she delivers a German suplex hold, she quickly picks up Hiroe and nails the Fisherman Buster, but Hiroe kicks out at two. Misaki goes for the Blue Sky Suplex Hold but Hiroe blocks it, sliding kick by Misaki and she covers Hiroe for a two count. Hiroe blocks the Blue Sky Suplex Hold again, she floats over Misaki and covers her with a jackknife hold for the three count! Hiroe Nagahama wins the match and gets two points in the tournament.

I wouldn’t call this a fantastic must-see match but it told its story well and I like both wrestlers a lot. One of the benefits of WAVE vs. WAVE matches is they have such solid chemistry – they know each other’s moves well and how to reverse them smoothly so everything looks tight. They had a lot of repeated moves here, which as a viewer is a bit dull even if there was a reason for it as they tried to one-up each other. Good enough, although it didn’t feel worthy of the main event slot and it wasn’t as good as the ASUKA/Rina Yamashita match.  Mildly Recommended

The post Pro Wrestling WAVE “Catch The WAVE” 2018 on 3/11/18 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

It is pretty rare for Pro Wrestling WAVE to upload a full event to their WAVE Network, so when they do I feel obligated to review it. This is a big show for WAVE, with multiple title matches, a hardcore match, and an appearance by Chihiro Hashimoto! I will only be reviewing the Joshi matches, here is the card:

• Hiroe Nagahama, Mika Iida, and Moeka Haruhi vs. Miyuki Takase, SAKI, and Tae Honma
• Fairy Nihonbashi and Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru vs. Miki Tanaka and Sakura Hirota
• ASUKA vs. Chihiro Hashimoto
• Hardcore Match: Ayako Hamada and Yuki Miyazaki vs. Ryo Mizunami and Rina Yamashita
• WAVE Tag Team Championship: Rin Kadokura and Takumi Iroha vs. Mio Momono and Yumi Ohka
• Regina Di WAVE Championship: Misaki Ohata vs. Nagisa Nozaki

All the wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name to go straight to it.

Hiroe Nagahama, Mika Iida, and Moeka Haruhi vs. Miyuki Takase, SAKI, and Tae Honma

Mika and SAKI start the match and trade elbows, SAKI gets Mika to the mat first but Mika comes back with a side Russian leg sweep. Dropkick by Mika and she tags in Moeka, Hiroe comes in too and they both dropkick SAKI. Everyone poses on SAKI before Moeka gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a crossbody for two. SAKI sneaks in an atomic drop and tags in Tae, Tae pushes Moeka into her corner so Miyuki and SAKI can help attack her. Elbows by Tae but Moeka elbows her back and hits a running footstomp, she tags Mika back in and Mika hits a series of uppercuts. Tae avoids an elbow and applies a short armbar, but Mika quickly gets out of it. Irish whip by Mika but Tae hits a DDT, she picks up Mika but Mika rolls her to the mat and applies an ankle hold. Tae reverses it into an ankle hold of her own but Mika reverses it back, Miyuki eventually breaks things up and Tae drags Mika to the mat with a cross armbreaker takedown. That gets broken up as well, Tae tags in Miyuki and Miyuki dropkicks Mika a few times in the chest. Uppercut by Mika and she nails a sliding uppercut before making the tag to Hiroe. Dropkick by Hiroe and she hits a vertical suplex for a two count cover. Back up they trade strikes, Miyuki wins the exchange and Tae and SAKI both come in as they triple team Hiroe. Headbutt by Miyuki, she gets Hiroe on her shoulders and hits a rolling fireman’s carry for a two count. Miyuki gets on the second turnbuckle but Hiroe rolls out of the way of her dive, Moeka runs in and she hits a double wrist-clutch suplex. Dropkick by Mika to Moeka, and Hiroe follows with a missile dropkick for a two count. Hiroe picks up Miyuki and delivers a spear, but Miyuki barely kicks out of the cover. Backdrop suplex hold by Hiroe, and this time she gets the three count! Hiroe Nagahama, Mika Iida, and Moeka Haruhi win!

As much as a pleasure it is to see Hiroe Nagahama slowly grow into a solid wrestler, this match was a bit rough around the edges. Tae and Miyuki are still early enough in their careers that they could be great wrestlers one day, but they aren’t yet, and Moeka still has issues on some of the fundamentals. It was too short to be offensive, but a pretty skippable opener even though it was more painfully average than bad.

Fairy Nihonbashi and Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru vs. Miki Tanaka and Sakura Hirota

Now before the match starts, they switch teams, so it ends up being Ranmaru and Miki vs. Fairy and Sakura. I’m not sure how they officially handled this for their official results, but since it is a comedy match it doesn’t really matter. They end up switching again as Miki and and Fairy stand on the same side, but that also ends up backfiring and all four stare at each other again. They are taking “goofy” to a whole new level, I have no doubt this appeals to some people but I am not one of them. The teams go back to how we started, Fairy does Fairy things and Miki follows suit with a fairy dance of her own. Ranmaru comes in, shoulderblock by Miki to Ranmaru and Ranmaru does some slow motion comedy ala Kikutaro/Kamen. Fairy comes in with her wand and tries to toss Miki with it but Miki doesn’t go over. Sakura tags in and Fairy promptly throws her around with the wand, Sakura grabs Fairy’s arm and goes to walk the ropes, but Fairy breaks away and tries to wand her off the turnbuckle. Sakura ends up crotching herself on the top rope, she tags in Miki and Miki hits a few shoulderblocks onto Fairy. Ranmaru comes in but gets knocked to the mat as well, Sakura returns and Miki catapults her onto Ranmaru and Fairy. Miki and Sakura are thrown into each other, Miki chops all three of them in the head before pushing all three opponents to the mat. Miki covers all three with a single foot, and she picks up the three count! Miki Tanaka and Sakura Hirota win the match.

Even by Fairy and Sakura standards this seemed subpar, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to watch this match.

ASUKA vs. Chihiro Hashimoto

They tie-up to start and jockey for position, but neither can get a clear advantage. They go at it again, both wrestlers end up on the mat switching positions until Chihiro applies a guillotine. ASUKA gets out of it and Chihiro goes for a fireman’s carry, but ASUKA lands on her feet. ASUKA goes for one on Chihiro but Chihiro returns the favor, Chihiro goes for a stretch hold but ASUKA gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Fireman’s carry takeover by ASUKA and she applies an armbar, but Chihiro gets to the ropes. Back up, waistlock by Chihiro and she applies a modified abdominal stretch, but ASUKA gets the break. Gutwrench suplex by Chihiro and she covers ASUKA, getting a two count. She goes for a second but ASUKA reverses it into a suplex of her own, she goes up top and she delivers a missile dropkick followed by the Space Rolling Elbow. Dropkick by ASUKA, and she covers Chihiro for two. Chihiro drives ASUKA into the corner and hits a few shoulderblocks, scoop slam by Chihiro and she delivers a couple sentons for a two count cover. Chihiro picks up ASUKA but ASUKA slides away and hits a superkick, dropkick by ASUKA and Chihiro rolls out of the ring. ASUKA goes off the ropes and sails out onto Chihiro with a tope con hilo, ASUKA slides Chihiro back in and hits a series of elbows. Boot by ASUKA but Chihiro flips her to the mat and applies a cross armbreaker, but the bell rings as the ten minute time limit has expired. The match is a Draw. They continue to fight after the bell until they are finally separated, ASUKA wants five more minutes and it is granted, so the match re-starts!

Chihiro immediately tackles ASUKA and hits a rolling fireman’s carry, she gets on the second turnbuckle but ASUKA avoids the senton and dropkicks Chihiro into the corner. ASUKA goes for a moonsault out of the corner but Chihiro moves, ASUKA lands on her feet and she hits a dropkick followed by a springboard moonsault for a two count. ASUKA and Chihiro trade elbows, body block by Chihiro and she goes for a German suplex, but ASUKA lands on her feet and hits a suplex for two. ASUKA goes off the ropes but Chihiro hits a spear, she gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers the somersault senton for a two count. Chihiro scoops up ASUKA but ASUKA slides away, lariat by Chihiro but the cover gets two. Chihiro goes off the ropes but ASUKA dropkicks her, she goes off the ropes again but Chihiro lariats her and hits the waterwheel drop, but ASUKA barely gets a shoulder up. Chihiro goes up top and nails a diving somersault senton, but ASUKA applies a quick crucifix pin for two. Chihiro drags up ASUKA but ASUKA blocks the suplex and rolls up Chihiro for a two count. Boot by ASUKA and she slams Chihiro in front of the corner, she goes up top but Chihiro rolls out of the way of the moonsault attempt. Short range lariats by Chihiro but she can’t get the three count, another lariat by Chihiro but the bell rings before she can attempt another cover. The match is officially a Draw.

This match started slow and they made it too obvious they were going for a Draw, but once it picked up it really got going. The best part of the match was the five minute overrun, as they went from feeling each other out earlier in the match to just throwing bombs and trying everything to win. Both are still developing as wrestlers but they are getting there quickly, and in this case I don’t mind the Draw as it is a good starting point if they battle again later on. A quality midcard match, it had its flaws but overall it was entertaining.  Recommended

Ayako Hamada and Yuki Miyazaki vs. Ryo Mizunami and Rina Yamashita
Hardcore Match

In the ring with the wrestlers is already a table and various other weapons, so they won’t be wasting any time. There appears to not be tag rules as immediately start battling on the floor, throwing various weapons at each other. Miyazaki puts a ladder in the ring while Hamada takes Mizunami up into the crowd and tosses her into a wall. Miyazaki sets up a table at ringside, she drags Yamashita onto the table with her and drills her with a piledriver through it. Mizunami fights back against Hamada but gets kicked in the head for her troubles, she sets up Mizunami on a chair and goes for a lariat, but Mizunami moves and drop toeholds Hamada onto it. Yamashita has regained the advantage on her end and gets the push cart, Mizunami grabs a tire and hits Hamada with it. They finally all end up back at ringside, Mizunami hits Hamada with a trash can lid but Hamada boots her in the face. They all get in the ring with Hamada and Miyazaki in control, they both sit their opponents into a chair before delivering dropkicks. Yamashita is bleeding pretty good at this point while Miyazaki throws a chair at Mizunami’s head, Hamada lays the ladder over the top rope, she tries to throw Mizunami into it but Mizunami slams on the breaks. Hamada gets a chair while Mizunami gets the trash can lid, Hamada throws the chair at Mizunami’s head again and throws Mizunami face-first into the ladder. Mizunami gets hit in the head again with a chair as she is bleeding also, she gets tossed out of the ring while Hamada stays in with Yamashita, but Yamashita throws Hamada into a chair. Miyazaki returns and DDTs Yamashita, she gets the ladder and pins Yamashita into the corner with it but slips when she tries to run up the ladder. She hits Yamashita anyway before setting up and climbing the ladder, but Yamashita recovers and joins her, hitting a superplex down to the mat. Knee to the back of the head by Yamashita, she gets a board and cracks Miyazaki repeatedly in the head with it.

Yamashita goes up top while Mizunami feeds her a trash can, Yamashita puts on the trash can but Miyazaki moves when she goes for a dive. Miyazaki goes up top and tries to hit Yamashita with a sign, but she hits Hamada by accident. Mizunami finally gets back into the ring and helps double team Hamada, elbows by Mizunami to Hamada and Yamashita delivers a superkick. Lariat by Mizunami and she covers Hamada, but it gets a two count. Mizunami and Yamashita set up a table and a ladder in opposite corners, Hamada charges Mizunami but Mizunami suplexes her onto the ladder. Miyazaki returns with a chair and knocks down both her opponents, Miyazaki picks up Yamashita but Yamashita suplexes her onto a chair. Mizunami goes up top and tries to catapult the ladder into Miyazaki, which misses. Yamashita hits a backdrop suplex anyway for a two count, Mizunami puts the table across the corner and goes up top while Yamashita feeds her Miyazaki, but Miyazaki recovers and elbows Mizunami. Miyazaki gets Mizunami on her shoulders while standing on the table and hits an avalanche Samoan Driver, but Yamashita breaks up the cover. Miyazaki goes up top but Mizunami avoids the moonsault, Miyazaki blocks her lariat attempts with a chair until Mizunami punches through it, nailing Miyazaki in the head. She goes for a dragon suplex but Hamada runs in and breaks it up, lariat by Mizunami to Miyazaki and Yamashita follows with one of her own. Dragon suplex by Mizunami, but Hamada breaks it up. Mizunami picks up Miyazaki but Hamada tosses Yamashita into her, Miyazaki picks up Mizunami but Hamada kicks Miyazaki in the head by accident. Lariat by Yamashita to Miyazaki, Mizunami picks her up but Miyazaki sneaks in a kiss/cradle for two. Gedo Clutch by Miyazaki, and she picks up the three count! Ayako Hamada and Yuki Miyazaki are the winners.

While I do appreciate some variety on my wrestling cards, this one really didn’t hit the mark. It had some good spots in it, but also had some very noticeable mistakes and wrestlers would just disappear for long chunks of time. The ending was also really anti-climatic for a hardcore match, while it was a typical way for Miyazaki to win, I wouldn’t have minded something a bit more memorable to fit the match stipulation. It wasn’t necessarily bad, just random carnage with little purpose.

(c) Rin Kadokura and Takumi Iroha vs. Mio Momono and Yumi Ohka
WAVE Tag Team Championship

Takumi and Mio start the match, Takumi takes Mio to the mat and applies a side headlock before pushing her into the ropes. Rin comes in and they both elbow Mio, drop toehold/dropkick combination by NEW-TRA and Takumi hits a scoop slam. Snap vertical by Takumi, and she covers Mio for two. Takumi tags in Rin, Rin twists up Mio in the ropes and delivers a dropkick to the back. Another dropkick by Rin, Takumi comes in but Mio avoids a double dropkick and sends both her opponents to the mat. This gives her time to tag in Ohka, Ohka boots Rin a few times in the face but Rin snaps off a DDT before dropkicking Ohka. Ohka comes back and boots Rin again in the corner, Ohka tags in Mio and Mio scoop slams Rin. Rin blocks the next one and hits a slam of her own, but Mio grabs her and hits another scoop slam before applying a short armbar. Cross armbreaker by Mio but Takumi breaks it up, Mio tags in Ohka and Ohka puts Rin in a camel clutch. Mio runs in and dropkicks Rin, cover by Ohka but it gets two. Ohka tags Mio back in, assisted dropkick to Rin and Ohka slams Mio onto Rin for a two count cover. The beatdown of Rin continues until Mio accidentally dropkicks Ohka (twice), cannonball by Rin to Ohka and she covers the veteran for two. Rin tags Takumi, shoulderblock by Takumi to Ohka but Mio comes in to try to help. She doesn’t and Takumi handles both of them, kicks and elbows by Takumi to Ohka until a superkick sends Ohka to the mat.

Takumi picks up Ohka but Ohka switches positions with her and hits a DDT. Heel drop by Ohka and she boots Takumi in the face for two. Ohka tags in Mio, Mio goes up top and she hits a diving crossbody onto Takumi. Running crossbody by Mio, but Takumi kicks out of the cover. Takumi gets Mio on her shoulders and hits a helicopter slam, she goes for a powerbomb but Mio gets out of it. Superkick by Takumi and she goes for another powerbomb, but Mio slides down her back with a cradle for two. Mio goes off the ropes and applies the bodyscissors cradle, but Rin breaks it up. Mio charges Takumi and goes for the Code Red, but Takumi blocks it and drops Mio with the B Driver. Takumi tags in Rin, jumping DDT by Rin and she delivers a missile dropkick for a two count. Ohka comes in and boots Rin, Mio goes for another Code Red but Rin blocks it and slams Mio onto Ohka. Takumi comes in and they hit a catapult Fameasser, cover by Rin but Mio gets a shoulder up. Rin goes off the ropes and cradles Mio, but Ohka breaks it up. Hurricanrana by Rin, but that gets broken up as well. Mio sneaks in a cradle of her own for two, Takumi tries to kick Mio but she hits Rin by accident. Chokebomb by Ohka to Rin, Mio applies a jackknife but Takumi breaks it up. Ohka gets Rin up and hits a delayed vertical suplex, Code Red by Mio but Takumi breaks it up again. Mio jumps on Ohka’s shoulders but Rin avoids it when Ohka tosses Mio down onto her, Mio goes off the ropes but Rin pops her up so that Takumi can hit a superkick. Rin grabs Mio and delivers a standing crucifix bomb for the three count! Rin Kadokura and Takumi Ohka are still the champions!

A decent match but I think they over-played the Mio/Ohka miscommunications to the point it was almost comical. Not all the spots were timed well so it looked like Mio was intentionally hitting her own partner, and there was just a lack of chemistry in general between Mio and Ohka. NEW-TRA looked good as they tend to however, and when they were in control the match was solid. Rin continues to improve and I think she has quite a future if she keeps at it as her moveset is really fun. Certainly more good than bad, the Mio/Ohka dynamic just took me out of the match a few times with how over-the-top or awkward some of their interactions were.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Misaki Ohata vs. Nagisa Nozaki
Regina Di WAVE Championship

Nozaki asks for a handshake but pulls in Ohata in the process to go for a choke, Ohata rolls out of it however and goes for a lariat, but Nozaki ducks it and goes for the choke again. Ohata bounces off the ropes to break out of the hold and hits a hard elbow, cover by Ohata but Nozaki applies the sleeper. Ohata manages to slide out of the ring to get out of it, Ohata snaps Nozaki’s neck over the top rope as she gets back in the ring but Nozaki applies a choke while Ohata is still on the apron. The referee forces her to break the hold, back in the ring Nozaki slaps Ohata in the chest but Ohata chokes her before slamming Nozaki’s head into the mat. Nozaki takes back over and puts Ohata in an abdominal stretch, single leg crab hold by Nozaki but Ohata gets to the ropes for the break. Kicks by Nozaki and she puts Ohata in a modified camel clutch, she lets go after biting Ohata’s arm but Ohata blocks her elbow attempt and stomps on Nozaki’s foot. Nozaki avoids Ohata’s dropkick attempts and applies a sleeper, but Ohata quickly gets into the ropes. Running boot by Nozaki, she goes onto the apron and tries to kick Ohata in the back of the head, but Ohata catches her leg and applies an ankle hold through the ropes. The referee eventually gets her to let go and she knocks Nozaki down to the floor, Ohata goes up top and dives down onto Nozaki with a plancha suicida. Back in the ring, Ohata goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, picking up a two count cover.

Ohata gets on the second turnbuckle but Nozaki recovers and joins her, Ohata slides under her and delivers a powerbomb for two. Ohata quickly goes back up top and hits a diving body press, but Nozaki kicks out of the cover again. Stunner by Ohata and she hits a low crossbody against the ropes, she charges Nozaki again but Nozaki hits her with a big boot. Another boot by Nozaki and she snaps off an underhook suplex for a two count. Nozaki goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she goes for a suplex but Ohata pushes her off and the two trade strikes. Nozaki finally wins the battle with a big boot, she kicks Ohata in the back of the head before applying a roll into the sleeper hold. Ohata appears to go limp, Nozaki covers her but Ohata gets a shoulder up. Somato by Nozaki, but that gets a two count as well. She goes for the sleeper again but Ohata kicks her in the head and hits a release German, Nozaki pops up but Ohata drops her with a second release German suplex. Back fist by Ohata but Nozaki blocks the suplex attempt and slaps on the sleeper. Ohata rolls out of it this time and holds down Nozaki for a two count, boot to the face by Nozaki but Ohata kicks out of the cover. Nozaki goes off the ropes but Ohata avoids the boot and hits a back fist, Fisherman Buster by Ohata and she covers Nozaki for two. Ohata picks up Nozaki but Nozaki slides away, Ohata catches her with the Schwein however before nailing the Sky Blue Suplex Hold for the three count! Misaki Ohata is still the champion.

First, the good stuff. Misaki Ohata is a treat to watch and I’m happy she finally got a run of big matches in WAVE as she has deserved it for awhile. She has a variety of ways to beat down an opponent and her arsenal keeps her matches interesting. The pair have pretty good chemistry and there weren’t any noticeable miscommunications or issues. Now the not so good stuff – while I think it is cool that Nagisa Nozaki came back to Joshi, she really isn’t good enough for this level of match. Her offense is extremely one dimensional as the bulk of her moves are either boots or sleeper attempts. I hate when wrestlers release their submission holds for no reason, she beat Mizunami with the sleeper so why would she let go of it against Ohata? It just got a bit repetitive with her continually going for the same move, and because of that the match felt a bit too long (even though it wasn’t a long match). Overall I enjoyed it as it was pretty well-worked and exciting, I just hope that Nozaki grows her arsenal a bit before she has more high level matches.  Mildly Recommended

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