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

The post Pro Wrestling WAVE “Catch The Wave Final” on 7/1/21 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

When COVID hit in 2020, one of the side effects was wrestling companies having to figure out new ways to stay in business. Without live crowds, the lack of gate clearly impacted profits, which led to promotions looking for other ways to bring in money. Different promotions went in different directions, but almost all found new ways to make their events available to fans to watch at home since they couldn’t go to the arena. With that in mind, I wanted to quickly give a run down of where you can watch Joshi wrestling this month.

First, I am going to start with the regular streaming services, either on Youtube or via a platform with a flat monthly fee. These were further covered in my recap from April 2021, so check that column out for a lot more details.

Joshi Wrestling Non-PPV Streaming Services

Promotion: PURE-J
Streaming Service: Filmuy
Cost: 1,040 yen
Website: https://filmuy.com/pure-j

Promotion: Actwres girl’Z
Service: Actwres girl’Z Nets
Cost: 1,000 yen
Website: https://actwresgirlz.net/app

Promotion: YMZ
Service: Filmuy
Cost: 999 yen
Website: https://filmuy.com/ymz

Promotion: Marvelous
Service: NicoNico
Cost: 990 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/marvelouspro

Promotion: Stardom
Service: Stardom World
Cost: 920 yen
Website: https://www.stardom-world.com

Promotion: Tokyo Joshi Pro
Service: Wrestle Universe
Cost: 900 yen
Website: https://www.ddtpro.com/universe

Promotion: Various
Service: NicoPro NicoNico
Cost: 550 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/nicopro

Promotion: Ice Ribbon
Service: NicoNico
Cost: 550 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/iceribbon

Promotion: Diana
Service: Youtube
Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/dianaofficial/

Promotion: Gatoh Move
Service: Youtube
Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/GatohMove

Promotion: Sendai Girls’ 
Service: Youtube
Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/sendaigirls

So those are all the services that fans are pretty familiar with, as they have been around for awhile. Now we will dive into which promotions are using the PPV model, and where their PPVs are airing as there are a lot of different options. Most of these services should be available to International fans and most I have used successfully, but it may depend on your credit card settings. Also, some services do have an easier process than others for Western fans.

Joshi Wrestling PPV Options

Promotion: SEAdLINNNG
Service: SEAdLINNNG LIVE
Cost (may vary): 3000 Yen
Website: https://seadlinnnglive.com
Upcoming or Available Event(s): July 11th

SEAdLINNNG gets a special mention as the only one with a dedicated website of their own for their PPVs. Just makes it easier to find what you are looking for. SEAdLINNNG offers a live streaming option for their PPVs, and the events are archived afterwards if you missed it live (or want to watch it again). The event will remain available to watch an unlimited number of time for seven days. They don’t have every event available as a PPV but offer one fairly regularly, so if you are a fan of SEAdLINNNG you don’t have to miss their shows. They tend to announce upcoming events on their Twitter account, @SLinnng, in English to make sure International fans are in the loop.

Promotion: Stardom
Service: Pia
Cost (may vary): 4400 Yen
Website: https://w.pia.jp/t/stardom-pls
Upcoming or Available Event(s): None

Stardom, like a couple other promotions we will get to, have both a monthly streaming service and also offer events on live PPV. Every show Stardom provides as a live PPV will be added later to Stardom World, you don’t have to buy their PPVs to watch the show. So if you can’t watch it live, may as well wait a few days and watch it on Stardom World as they only archive the PPV for a couple days after it airs on Pia. Stardom also recently started having English Commentary for their live PPVs, so we’ll see if that trend continues. The easiest way to find out when an event will be on PPV and to get the link to purchase is to follow their twitter account, @we_are_stardom.

Promotion: Ice Ribbon
Service: NicoNico
Cost (may vary): 1000 Yen to 3000 Yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/iceribbon
Upcoming or Available Event(s): 10th, 14th, 21st, and 28th
*I haven’t personally tested this service yet but I assume it works for International fans*

Ice Ribbon is the first promotion we’ll discuss that airs PPVs on NicoNico (or affiliated website). This is not to be confused with their regular streaming service, even though its the same channel. Their PPVs have two prices, one for those that are members of their monthly streaming service and one for those that aren’t, generally a 500 yen price difference.  They do have PPVs very regularly, so if you are anxious to watch a certain match and don’t want to wait a month for the event to appear on their regular streaming service, its worth keeping an eye on. The easiest way to find out when an event will be on PPV and to get the link to purchase is to follow their English twitter account, @IceRibbon_eng.

Promotion: Actwres girl’Z
Service: KIPz (also NicoPro)
Cost (may vary): 2000 Yen
Website: https://kipz.fun
Upcoming or Available Event(s): June 30th (event is still available for purchase at the time of posting)

Actwres girl’Z also pulls double duty, as they have a monthly flat fee streaming service plus sometimes air PPVs. These also air on NicoNico but for Western fans, I would recommend using KIPz. KIPz is more friendly to foreign fans and is better quality. Events are available for around two weeks if purchased through KIPz after the event has aired, so there is plenty of time to watch if you miss it live. Actwres girl’Z events are randomly shown on PPV, and I wouldn’t consider it a regular occurrence. The easiest way to find out when an event will be on PPV and to get the link to purchase is to follow the NicoPro English twitter account, @nicopro_english.

Promotion: Diana
Service: KIPz (also NicoPro)
Cost (may vary): 2000 Yen
Website: https://kipz.fun
Upcoming or Available Event(s): July 4th (event is still available for purchase at the time of posting)

Diana is another promotion that very occasionally utilizes KIPz to show PPVs, even though the bulk of their events available to watch online are put on Youtube for free. This is far from a regular occurrence and like AgZ, the easiest way to know when one is coming up is to keep an eye on the NicoPro English twitter account, @nicopro_english.

Promotion: Pro Wrestling WAVE
Service: Confetti Web
Cost (may vary): 2500 Yen to 3500 Yen
Website: https://www.confetti-web.com
Upcoming or Available Event(s): None

I recently learned about this one as I don’t keep an eye on WAVE very closely. WAVE airs PPVs on a service called Confetti Web. They also sell tickets to go see WAVE in-person on this site, so its important to only purchase events that list the venue as “Confetti Streaming Theater.” At the moment they don’t have any upcoming events, but most (if not all) of the Catch The WAVE events did air as single events on PPV. Typically, events are available for one week after their live streaming date. Confetti Web is a little more tricky to sign up for as it requires a Japanese address, however my US credit card was accepted as payment. I’m not sure the easiest way to know when things are coming to the Confetti Streaming Theater, although WAVE’s twitter would probably be the best place to watch, @p_w_wave.

Promotion: Marvelous
Service: Passmarket
Cost (may vary): 3000 Yen
Website: https://passmarket.yahoo.co.jp
Upcoming or Available Event(s): July 19th and August 8th

Marvelous has been using Passmarket sporadically over the last year, so it seems to be their preferred PPV provider. They have two upcoming events that online tickets are available for, including KAORU’s retirement show. Unknown if these shows will also be added to their NicoNico channel, and if so how much of a delay there will be. Events are available for one week after their air if you miss the live viewing. Again I am going to recommend Twitter as the easiest way to know about upcoming events (if you don’t have Twitter, just make an account to follow Joshi promotions and of course me), their English Twitter account @marvelousinter sends out information on what events are coming and they provide a link to order.

Promotion: OZ Academy
Service: Mahocast
Cost (may vary): 3000 Yen
Website: https://www.mahocast.com/at/live/1149
Upcoming or Available Event(s): July 11th

OZ Academy streams a fair number of their events on Mahocast. Since OZ Academy doesn’t have a monthly streaming service and doesn’t air as often as other promotions, this is the best way to keep up with their product if you are a fan. The events are available for two weeks after they air, so if you miss it live you can come back and watch it later. Their social media game is a little lackluster so I’d recommend just bookmarking the link I have above as that is the landing page for all their events.

Promotion: Sendai Girls’
Service: Zaiko
Cost (may vary): 3500 Yen
Website: https://sendaigirlspro.zaiko.io
Upcoming or Available Event(s): July 11th
*I haven’t personally tested this service yet but I assume it works for International fans*

Finally, Sendai Girls’ has another method of streaming their shows, this one called Zaiko. Sendai Girls’ has tried a lot of different streaming options in the last few years, so no promises that this one will stick, however they have been using this service for PPVs since last November. Events are available for three days after purchase, so if you miss it live, don’t dilly dally in watching it or you may lose access. Sendai Girls’ appear to have abandoned their English Twitter account, but they do mention upcoming events on their regular Twitter account, @senjo2006.

The post Where to Watch Joshi Wrestling Online – July 2021 Edition 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.

I’ll provide context before each match if there is anything noteworthy I can find, although of course not all matches in wrestling have a set purpose (especially with Freelancers like Kana). All the matches below took place in Pro Wrestling WAVE in 2008.

• March 20th, 2008 – Kana vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto
• April 4th, 2008 – Kana and Yumi Ohka vs. Hikaru and Saki Maemura
• May 4th, 2008 – Kana and Kuishinbo Kamen vs. Shuu Shibutani and Kanjuro Matsuyama
• May 13th, 2008 – Kana and Yumi Ohka vs. Shuu Shibutani and Yuu Yamagata
• May 25th, 2008 – Kana, Shuu Shibutani, and Sayuri Okino vs. Kyoko Kimura, Yumi Ohka, and Moeka Haruhi
• June 4th, 2008 – Kana and Shuu Shibutani vs. GAMI and Moeka Haruhi

Most of the Joshi wrestlers on the DVD have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names above to go straight to their profile for additional information.

Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Kana

The DVD starts with a match between two young wrestlers that would go on to have fantastic careers. Neither Hiroyo nor Kana were signed to WAVE, Kana wrestled there regularly but Hiroyo far less often with only three matches in the promotion during 2008. This is actually the first ever singles match between the two, they have only had two total as their paths just rarely crossed. Both have a similar level of experience, so it should be a pretty even match.

Kana and Hiroyo have no chill, so they immediately the other by the hair and pull each other around the ring. Hiroyo throws Kana into the corner and kicks her, but Kana grabs her hair and tosses her to the mat. Kana kicks Hiroyo in the corner but Hiroyo pushes her off and returns the favor, scoop slam by Hiroyo and she covers Kana for one. Mounted elbows by Hiroyo but Kana switches positions with her and elbows her back before putting her into a crab hold. Hiroyo gets out of it after a moment, Kana stomps Hiroyo into the corner and chokes her with her boot. Hiroyo tackles Kana and puts her in a stretch hold, she eventually lets her go and hits a scoop slam. Kana recovers and dropkicks Hiroyo in the corner, another dropkick by Kana and she covers Hiroyo for two. Crab hold by Kana but Hiroyo crawls to the ropes and gets the break, Kana picks up Hiroyo but Hiroyo hits a crossbody. Mounted elbows by Hiroyo, she picks up Kana and Kana goes for a shoulderblock, but Hiroyo doesn’t budge. Hiroyo shoulderblocks Kana to the mat in return, Kana gets back up and the two trade elbows. Hiroyo knocks Kana down with a hard elbow, but Kana jumps up on the second turnbuckle and delivers a hip attack. Irish whip by Kana and she hits another hip attack, cover by Kana but it gets a two count. Kana goes off the ropes but Hiroyo catches her with a backbreaker, she gets Kana up on her shoulders but Kana slides off and rolls up Hiroyo for two.

Cross-legged submission by Kana, she reverts it into a modified STF but Hiroyo gets to the ropes for the break. Stomps by Kana and she goes for a suplex, but Hiroyo elbows her off. Kana goes off the ropes but Hiroyo catches her with a sidewalk slam, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Lariat by Hiroyo into the corner, she gets Kana on her shoulders and drops her with a gutbuster. Kana quickly recovers and hits a release German, but Hiroyo gets back to her feet and elbows Kana to the mat. Hiroyo collapses too as both wrestlers are down, they both slowly get up and Kana hits a reverse DDT for two. Kana gets on the top turnbuckle but Hiroyo avoids the diving hip attack, big boot by Hiroyo and she gets on the second turnbuckle, but Kana joins her and nails an avalanche DDT. German suplex hold by Kana, but Hiroyo barely kicks out. Sliding hip attack by Kana, but again Hiroyo gets a shoulder up. Kana picks up Hiroyo but Hiroyo pushes her off, Kana applies an inside cradle but it gets two. Kana goes off the ropes but Hiroyo nails her with a back elbow, she picks up Kana but Kana blocks the backdrop suplex. Kana goes off the ropes but Hiroyo hits a lariat, but again Kana blocks the backdrop suplex. Hiroyo gets Kana up onto her shoulders and drops her with a gutbuster, getting a two count. Hiroyo drags Kana to her feet, elbows by Hiroyo and she nails the backdrop suplex for the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto is the winner.

Kana and Hiroyo Matsumoto were far from household names in the Joshi community in 2008 but just from this match you could tell that they were destined for greatness. They had no real reason to put as much effort into this match as they did, it was just a midcard match on a small non-televised event, but they were going at each other like they were in the main event of Korakuen Hall. Big strikes, killer suplexes, and just non-stop offensive from bell to bell – everything you could ask for from two professional wrestlers. Besides the fact I wish it had gotten more time of course, a really entertaining match between two young wrestlers that would grow into legends.  Recommended

Kana and Yumi Ohka vs. Hikaru and Saki Maemura

We skip ahead just a few weeks to see Kana in tag team action. This was actually the main event of the show, so I am sure they will all bring it. Hikaru and Saki Maemura may not be familiar names to newer Joshi fans as they retired awhile ago, but at the time both were respected young veterans with title reigns under their belts so they wouldn’t have been seen as big underdogs against Yumi Ohka and the far less experienced Kana.

Kana and Ohka attack before the match starts but Saki and Hikaru hit double dropkicks and the action spills out of the ring. Saki dives off the top turnbuckle with a plancha onto both opponents, Hikaru and Ohka trade elbows on the floor before Hikaru rams Ohka into a chair. Hikaru charges Ohka but Ohka hits a hip toss and slides Hikaru back into the ring. Ohka returns as well, Irish whip attempt by Ohka but Hikaru blocks it and they trade elbows. Irish whip by Hikaru and she hits a hip toss followed by a dropkick, giving her time to tag in Saki. Ohka throws Saki into the corner and nails her with a big boot, she tags in Kana and Kana stomps down Saki in the corner. Kana rams Saki repeatedly in the turnbuckles before throwing her down by the hair and hitting a dropkick. Irish whip by Kana and she delivers a hip attack, two more hip attacks by Kana but Saki kicks out of the cover. Kana tags Ohka, Irish whip by Ohka but Saki hits an armdrag followed by a dropkick. Saki tags Hikaru, double Irish whip to Ohka and they hit a double dropkick. Hikaru throws down Ohka by the hair, snapmare by Hikaru and she applies a sleeper hold. Back up, Hikaru throws Ohka into the corner and hits a front dropkick, snapmare by Hikaru and she tags Saki.

Saki rams Ohka into the mat before putting her in a Camel Clutch, she lets go as Hikaru returns, and Hikaru hits a scoop slam. Hikaru elbows Ohka but Ohka elbows her back as they trade shots, dropkick by Hikaru and she tags Saki. Double vertical suplex to Ohka, and Saki covers her for two. Saki charges Ohka but Ohka hits a hip toss and makes the hot tag to Kana, Kana throws Saki into the corner but Saki avoids the hip attack and slaps her. Kana boots Saki and connects with the hip attack, cover by Kana but it gets two. Saki fires back with elbow, she goes off the ropes but Kana hits another hip attack. Elbows by Kana, Ohka comes in the ring and they hit a double face crusher onto Saki. Double elbow drop to Saki, Kana gets on the top turnbuckle but Saki avoids the diving hip attack. They trade waistlocks, dropkick to the knee by Saki and she delivers a neckbreaker before tagging in Hikaru. Hikaru picks up Kana and hits a Samoan Drop, she goes up top but Ohka grabs her from the apron. Kana tosses Hikaru back to the floor, standing hip attacks by Kana but Hikaru ducks the next attempt and rolls her up for two. Kana hits a hip attack anyway, waistlock by Kana but Hikaru elbows her off and hits a dropkick. Hikaru picks up Kana and goes off the ropes, but Kana catches her with a hard elbow for two. Waistlock by Kana and she delivers a German suplex hold, but Hikaru gets a shoulder up. Kana tags in Ohka, boot by Ohka but Hikaru blocks the backdrop suplex attempt.

Ohka goes off the ropes but Hikaru dropkicks her, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Hikaru picks up Ohka and hits a backdrop suplex, but Ohka springs up and hits a backdrop suplex of her own. Hikaru returns the favor but Ohka hits another one as well for a two count. Ohka picks up Hikaru and applies a sleeper but Hikaru drives her back into the corner, Ohka gets on the second turnbuckle and applies a hanging armbar. Ohka stays on the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, she goes up top again and delivers a falling elbow drop for a two count. Ohka applies a cross-arm submission but Saki breaks it up, Kana tosses Saki out of the ring while Ohka drags up Hikaru, hitting the Chokebomb for two. Ohka goes up top again but Saki elbows her from the apron, this gives Hikaru time to recover and she joins Ohka. Avalanche Falcon Arrow by Hikaru, but Kana breaks up the cover. Ohka and Hikaru both slowly recover as they trade elbows, Hikaru nails Ohka with a Shining Wizard and makes the tag to Saki. Saki goes off the ropes but Ohka levels her with a big boot, Kana comes in but Hikaru grabs Kana and pulls her out of the ring. Ohka goes off the ropes but Saki ducks her boot, she goes off the ropes but Ohka hits the Chokebomb for two. Ohka picks up Saki and drops her with the brainbuster, but Saki barely kicks out. Ohka picks up Saki again but Saki blocks the suplex attempt, Kana goes up top but she missile dropkicks Ohka by accident. Saki drives Kana’s head into the mat while Hikaru gets Ohka on her shoulders, Saki goes up top and hits a diving lariat for a two count cover. Uranage by Hikaru to Ohka, Saki hits a German suplex hold but Ohka gets a shoulder up. Saki quickly picks up Ohka, she puts her in the Alcatraz suplex and she picks up the three count! Hikaru and Saki Maemura are the winners!

That’s two straight quality matches, this one was even better than the last. Its matches like this that I watch and just can’t understand why some wrestling fans just hand-wave Joshi as a whole. Besides being sexist, the match quality can be just off the charts. This was a non-televised show from a small promotion but they were just going all out, the action never stopped for a second as they were flying outside the ring, inside the ring, and everywhere else. Hikaru casually hit an Avalanche Falcon Arrow like it was just a thing to do and yet it never felt like they were being excessive, everything felt natural and flowed perfectly. I can’t really find any faults in the match, everyone was on their game and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Kana wasn’t the star here but she played her role well, and overall just a fantastic match between four very skilled wrestlers.  Highly Recommended

Kana and Kuishinbo Kamen vs. Shuu Shibutani and Kanjuro Matsuyama

We don’t need too much of an introduction for this one since its going to be a comedy match. Kamen and Matsuyama are both known more for their comedy wrestling than anything else, and it wasn’t unusual for Shuu to be paired to Matsuyama in some way. This was just the second match on the card, so it wasn’t really designed to be a show stealer but rather just a fun way to start off the event.

Shuu and Kana start the match, Kana pushes Shuu into the ropes and hits a series of hard elbows. Kana tosses down Shuu by the hair before hitting a dropkick, but Shuu comes back with a jumping elbow strike. Scoop slam by Shuu and she hits a a couple running sentons, cover by Shuu but it gets two. Irish whip by Shuu but Kana hits a hip attack, another hip attack by Kana and she gets a two count pinfall. Kana stomps Shuu but Shuu hits a DDT followed by a dropkick, she goes to her corner and tags in Matsuyama. Kamen tags in too, Matsuyama goes off the ropes but Kamen trips him. Lariats by Kamen in the corner but Matsuyama hits a lariat of his own, Kamen does some break dancing before doing the Osaka Hop. Kamen tags in Kana who seems unhappy to be paired against Matsuyama, Matsuyama grabs at Kana but Kana drops to the mat to protect herself. Kana gets back up and reluctantly locks knuckles, but Matsuyama lets go so he can hug Kana to the mat, which is broken up by his own tag partner. Matsuyama clubs Kana and hits a scoop slam, cover by Matsuyama but it gets two. Matsuyama goes back to Kana and hits another scoop slam, but lets go before the referee can count to three for reasons I can’t explain. Matsuyama argues with the referee but Kana schoolboys him from behind for two, leading to Matsuyama going back to complain to the referee. Kicks by Kana and she stomps on Matsuyama, Irish whip by Kana but Matsuyama reverses it. Matsuyama goes towards Kana but Kana kicks him back, standing hip attacks by Kana, she picks up Matsuyama and delivers the rope-walk armdrag.

She tags in Kamen as Shuu also comes in, hard elbow by Shuu but Kamen gets back up  and challenges her to it again. He backs up in pain with the delayed sell when she comes at him, Shuu springs up to the top turnbuckle and hits a twisting crossbody followed by a cradle for two. Shuu tags Matsuyama, who attacks Kamen with a fan until Kamen takes it from him and returns the favor. Matsuyama and Kamen do the slap routine until Matsuyama walks towards Kana, who slaps him in the face. Mounted slaps by Kana until Shuu breaks it up, Matsuyama picks up Kana but all four wrestlers end up running into each other. Matsuyama gets Kamen on his shoulders and hits a rolling fireman’s carry slam followed by an elbow drop. Matsuyama charges Kamen, Kamen drops him on the apron however and chops him to the floor. Kamen goes out to the apron and hits an Asai Moonsault, Kana and Shuu get in the ring and start trading elbows. Hip attack by Kana but Matsuyama connects with a strike, Kana holds Shuu for Kamen but Shuu boots Kamen out of the ring. Kana hits a reverse DDT anyway, running hip attack by Kana but it gets a two count cover. Kana goes off the ropes but Shuu recovers and hits the Complete Shot. She goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, cover by Shuu but it gets two. Tornado DDT by Shuu, she holds Kana for Matsuyama who has a streamer gun, but Kana moves and Matsuyama streamers Shuu by accident. Kana gets Shuu’s back and nails a German suplex hold, picking up the three count! Kana and Kuishinbo Kamen are the winners.

It is hard to recommend a match where one of the storylines is a male wrestler trying to grab the breasts of a female wrestler, but even without that there wasn’t too much here to get excited about. The segments with Kana and Shuu were really good but there weren’t very many, and while Kamen is pretty great he didn’t get much of a chance to shine. This was a very Matsuyama match, for better or worse (mostly worse). The only bright spot was the final German suplex looked fantastic with the streamers flying, but otherwise a skippable match.

Kana and Yumi Ohka vs. Shuu Shibutani and Yuu Yamagata

With under 100 people in attendance, to say this was a small show would be an understatement. Still, Kana was in the main event with some quality wrestlers, and knowing them they will not be taking it easy even on a non-televised show. No real storylines or anything important leading into it, just a hopefully entertaining way to close out the event.

Kana and Shuu begin the match and immediately charge each other to lock up, Irish whip by Shuu but Kana hits a hip attack. Armdrag by Shuu and she kicks Kana, Irish whip to the corner and Shuu hits a jumping elbow. Scoop slam by Kana and she throws down Shuu by the hair, dropkick by Kana but Yuu tags herself in and they double team Kana. Yuu kicks at Kana, Irish whip by Kana but Yuu reverses it and hits a dropkick. Yuu tags Shuu back in, Irish whip by Shuu and she hits a jumping crossbody for two. Irish whip by Shuu again but Kana reverses it, boot by Kana and she hits a face crusher. This gives her time to tag in Ohka, and Ohka tosses down Shuu by the hair. Kana comes back in and they double team Shuu, ending with a double elbow drop for two. Delayed scoop slam by Ohka to Shuu and she puts her in a crab hold, but she releases it after a moment and hits an elbow drop to Shuu’s back. Irish whip by Ohka and she hits a hip toss for a two count cover. Ohka tags Kana, Irish whip by Kana and she hits a hip attack followed by an elbow drop. Kana throws Shuu into the corner, Shuu goes for a crossbody but Kana ducks it and hits a series of standing hip attacks. Sliding hip attack by Kana, but Shuu kicks out of the pin.

Kana schoolboys Shuu before rolling it into a STF, but Shuu makes it to the ropes for the break. Kana picks up Shuu, Shuu fights back and the two trade elbows. Shuu snaps off a DDT and makes the tag to Yuu, Yuu boots both her opponents before hitting a dropkick on Ohka and slamming Kana on top of her. Yuu picks up Kana but Kana elbows her, Kana charges Yuu but Yuu shoves her to the mat and applies an armbar. After Kana gets out of the hold, Yuu picks her up but Kana blocks the suplex attempt and hits a reverse DDT. Dragon Sleeper by Kana but Yuu quickly gets out of it, hip attack by Kana and she tags in Ohka. Ohka boots Yuu but Yuu blocks the backdrop suplex attempt and the two trade punches and elbows. Ohka boots Yuu to the mat but Yuu gets back up, release German by Ohka but Yuu fires back with an enzuigiri and both wrestlers are down on the mat. Yuu recovers first and tags in Shuu, Shuu chops Ohka into the corner and delivers a jumping elbow followed by a Tornado DDT for two. Shuu goes to the apron but Ohka ducks her springboard move, Kana kicks Shuu from the apron to distract her but Ohka accidentally boots Kana when she charges in.

Tornado DDT off the ropes by Shuu, and she covers Ohka for a two count. Shuu picks up Ohka but Ohka throws her into the corner and Kana runs in with a hip attack. Big boot by Ohka, she puts Shuu on the top turnbuckle, Ohka joins her but Shuu pushes her off. Ohka charges back with a big boot and joins her again, hitting a superplex down to the mat. Ohka jumps up to the top turnbuckle and hits a falling elbow drop, cover by Ohka but Yuu breaks it up. Ohka applies a cross-arm submission but Yuu breaks it up again by tossing Kana onto Ohka. Yuu kicks Ohka in the head, cradle by Shuu but it gets two. Shuu goes off the ropes but Ohka boots her in the head and hits a backdrop suplex for two. Ohka gets Shuu on her shoulders while Kana gets on the top turnbuckle, but Shuu avoids the diving attack and Yuu knocks Kana out of the ring with a missile dropkick. Northern Lights Suplex by Shuu, but Ohka kicks out. Shuu goes up top but Ohka avoids her diving senton, Ohka holds Shuu for Kana but Kana accidentally hits Ohka with the diving hip attack. Hurricanrana by Shuu to Ohka, and she keeps her down for the three count! Shuu Shibutani and Yuu Yamagata win the match.

Comparing it to other matches on this DVD, this was a good match but not at the level of the first two matches we watched. It started a bit clunky as it felt like they were feeling each other out and trying to get into a rhythm, but once it got going about halfway through it was entertaining the rest of the way. Shuu was the star here, she was so smooth in everything she did and helped hold the match together. Kana wasn’t asked to do as much as the main story on their side was how Ohka and Kana kept on having miscommunications and accidentally hitting each other. A pretty good match overall, it just didn’t reach the highs we have seen thus far.  Mildly Recommended

Kana, Shibutani, and Sayuri Okino vs. Kyoko Kimura, Ohka, and Moeka Haruhi

Another main event slot for Kana, as she wrestles in a multi-wrestler match to close out the show. In the last match, Shuu and Kana were on opposite teams so that just shows how random these teams are, there is rarely any method to the madness. There is one slight exception in this match however, as Kana and Kyoko Kimura are known enemies so they should have some fun interactions here. We also get an appearance by Sayuri Okino from LLPW in what would turn out to be her final year in wrestling.

All six immediately go at it, with Kyoko and Kana naturally pairing up. Shuu ends up isolated in the ring and gets triple teamed, but eventually things calm down with Shuu facing off with Moeka. Dropkicks by Moeka but Shuu connects with a DDT and a dropkick of her own for a two count. She tags in Kana, Irish whip by Kana and she hits a hip attack. Another hip attack by Kana and she covers Moeka for two. Kana sets up Moeka in the ropes and she hip attacks her in the back, Kana tags in Okino and Okino hits Moeka with a chain. Okino wraps the chain around Moeka’s neck and chokes her with it, Kana and Shuu come into the ring as they triple team Moeka. Fisherman suplex hold by Okino, but Moeka kicks out. Okino doesn’t appreciate this so she gets a stick and hits Moeka repeatedly with it, Irish whip by Okino and she hits Moeka with it again. She finally gets rid of the stick and goes for a scoop slam, but Moeka blocks it and tags in Ohka. Kimura comes in too as they both boot their opponents, suplexes by Kimura and Ohka before Ohka hits an elbow drop on Okino for two. Ohka goes off the ropes but Okino catches her with a DDT onto her chain. Okino then hits Ohka with the chain but she lands in her corner and tags in Kimura. Okino hits Kimura with the chain but Kimura grabs the other end of it as they struggle for control. Backdrop suplex by Kimura, she goes up top but Okino joins her, hitting an avalanche armdrag. Okino boots Kimura but Kimura kicks her back as they trade strikes, with Okino eventually winning the battle. Okino tags in Kana, elbows by Kana but Kimura boots her back when she charges in. More boots by Kimura and she kicks Kana repeatedly, hip attack by Kana and she hits a hard elbow. Kana eventually elbows Kimura off her feet, standing hip attacks by Kana but Kimura catches one a drops Kana face-first into the mat. Headbutt by Kimura, and she covers Kana for two. Kimura tags in Ohka, Ohka boots Kana in the corner before hitting a second boot for a two count cover.

Ohka goes for a suplex but Kana elbows out of it, so Ohka boots her in the face again. Okino hits Ohka from the apron, giving Kana time to recover and hit a reverse DDT. She tags in Shuu, Shuu throws Ohka into the corner and hits a jumping elbow strike. Tornado DDT by Shuu and she covers Ohka for two. Ohka knees Shuu in the midsection and connects with a backdrop suplex, but Shuu gets her hand on the ropes when she goes for the cover. Okino hits Ohka with her stick from the apron, Shuu cradles Ohka but Ohka kicks out. Shuu goes off the ropes but Ohka catches her with the chokebomb, she tags in Moeka and Moeka hits a diving crossbody onto Shuu. Moeka applies an armlock but Shuu wiggles to the ropes to force the break. Kimura goes up top and hits a footstomp onto Shuu’s arm, Moeka applies an armlock again while Ohka hits Shuu with an elbow drop, but the hold is eventually broken up. Kana comes in and throws Moeka into the corner, Okino hits Moeka with her stick before Kana hits a hip attack. Elbow by Shuu to Moeka but Kimura kicks Shuu from behind, armbreaker by Kimura to Shuu and Moeka puts Shuu in a hanging armbar. That gets broken up too, Moeka goes up top but Shuu recovers and joins her. Ohka suplexes Shuu to the mat but Okino hits a suplex on her, Kimura runs in but Okino suplexes her as well. Meanwhile, Kana has joined Moeka on the top turnbuckle and hits a DDT to the mat, Okino grabs Moeka and drops her with a uranage. Shuu gets on the top turnbuckle and nails the diving senton, cover by Shuu and she gets the three count! Kana, Shuu Shibutani, and Sayuri Okino win the match!

Having Okino and Moeka added something fresh to this match than we’ve seen on the DVD up to this point, between Okino’s constant use of weapons and Moeka’s submissions. The styles here varied dramatically, which at times led to some non-fluid moments but I enjoyed the chaos of it all even if everything didn’t work perfectly. I was hoping for more Kimura/Kana interactions but it was pretty minimal here, as the focus was elsewhere. I loved the ending, with Moeka just eating a series of moves before getting pinned without a real hope spot, sometimes a definite ending really works and I thought it did here. Overall a fun match, nothing that will blow anyone away but an enjoyable watch.  Mildly Recommended

Kana and Shuu Shibutani vs. GAMI and Moeka Haruhi

The final match of the DVD is from WAVE’s small event on June 4th. This was actually the opening match but from looking at the match time, it didn’t really matter as they still got plenty of time. This is the first we have seen of GAMI on this DVD, she was the owner of Pro Wrestling WAVE but mostly took a back seat at this stage of her career, wrestling in a lot of comedy matches and letting others take the spotlight. This shouldn’t be a comedy match though, at least not in its entirety, as everyone else in the match primarily wrestles a serious style. With the time given, hopefully they end the DVD with a bang and put on a good show.

Shuu and Moeka begin the match and lock knuckles, but GAMI runs in the ring and hits Shuu in the back of the head. They both shoulderblock Shuu before knocking her out of the ring, and the teams brawl on the floor. Kana hits a diving hip attack off the apron to the floor at one point, Shuu goes to the top turnbuckle and dives out onto both of her opponents. Shuu brings Moeka back into the ring and hits a scoop slam, another slam by Shuu and she dropkicks Moeka. She tags in Kana, Kana stomps Moeka and tosses her down by the hair. Dropkick by Kana and she stomps Moeka around the ring. Kana tags Shuu back in, dropkick by Shuu and she hits a scoop slam. Running sentons by Shuu and she applies a chinlock, but Moeka wiggles to the ropes to get the break. Shuu clubs Moeka and tags Kana, Kana Irish whips Moeka and she delivers a dropkick for a two count. Crab hold by Kana but GAMI breaks it up, Kana stomps on Moeka’s leg and tags Shuu. GAMI comes in again to help Moeka and they double team Shuu, Irish whip by Moeka and she hits a dropkick. Irish whip by Moeka but Shuu avoids the dropkick, GAMI runs in and hits a lariat and Moeka dropkicks Shuu in the corner. Shuu avoids GAMI’s lariat as Kana runs in with a hip attack, double dropkick to Moeka and Shuu slams Moeka.

They then go to GAMI and try to suplex her onto Moeka, but Moeka moves and goes for a double crossbody. She gets caught however and thrown at GAMI, Moeka elbows Shuu but Shuu hits a DDT followed by a dropkick. Shuu goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, cover by Shuu but Moeka bridges out of the pin. Kana comes in but Moeka avoids their attack, double vertical suplex by Moeka and she dropkicks Shuu. She finally tags in GAMI, GAMI cleans house before hitting a jawbreaker on Shuu. GAMI goes off the ropes but gets tripped from the floor, Shuu dropkicks GAMI before hitting a jumping elbow in the corner. Shuu goes off the ropes and hits a jumping DDT, tornado DDT by Shuu off the ropes and she covers GAMI for two. Shuu goes up top and nails the diving senton, but GAMI reverses the cover into one of her own for a two count. Shuu goes off the ropes but GAMI catches her with a powerbomb, Kana hits GAMI with a hip attack but GAMI drops Shuu with a German suplex hold for two. GAMI picks up Shuu and goes for a pump handle slam, but Shuu reverses it into a DDT and tags in Kana. Kana comes in the ring with a missile dropkick, but GAMI falls in her corner and tags Moeka. Moeka dropkicks Kana and elbows her into the corner, Irish whip by Moeka and she hits a dropkick. Kana comes back with a hip attack and a face crusher, another hip attack by Kana and she covers Moeka for two.

Back up they trade elbows, Moeka goes off the ropes and she catches Kana’s arm with a Fujiwara Armbar. Kana gets to the ropes for the break, Moeka goes for a step-up armbar but Kana blocks it. Dropkick by Moeka and GAMI snaps Kana’s arm over the top rope, step-up armbar by Moeka while GAMI holds back Shuu but Kana gets to the ropes again for the break. Moeka goes off the ropes but Kana catches her with a German suplex hold for two. Kana gets on the second turnbuckle but GAMI grabs her from the apron, Moeka recovers and joins Kana before hitting a Frankensteiner for two. Moeka tags in GAMI, she grabs Kana and hits a pump handle shoulder breaker. Seated armbar by GAMI but Shuu breaks it up, GAMI throws Shuu out of the ring and puts Kana on the top turnbuckle, but Kana gets away and elbows GAMI. They end up on the top turnbuckle again and Kana hits an Avalanche DDT, Moeka flies in the ring with a swandive missile dropkick and Kana delivers the Billiken for a two count. Kana goes off the ropes but GAMI catches the hip attack and hits a release German, Kana gets back up but GAMI puts her in a double armbar. GAMI switches it to an armtrap crossface, she lets go after a moment and hits a pump-handle slam for a two count. GAMI goes up top but Kana avoids the diving elbow drop, Kana goes off the ropes but GAMI catches her with a lariat. GAMI picks up Kana but Shuu hits her with a missile dropkick, GAMI lariats Shuu and Kana before covering Kana for two. GAMI picks up Kana but Okino comes in the ring and hits her with her stick, Billiken by Kana and she covers GAMI for the three count! Kana and Shuu Shibutani win!

This was definitely different feeling than the other matches we saw on this DVD, as GAMI added a new element since we haven’t seen much from “power” wrestlers so far. While I appreciate that they got a lot of time, it probably was a bit too long as it lagged in a few parts, cutting a few minutes off of it probably would have helped. GAMI was annoying at times as seasoned veterans sometimes are as she had stints where she was mowing over people in an invincible manner, but in the end she took the pinfall so its hard to get too mad about it. Shuu and Kana taking turns trying to take down GAMI worked as the main dynamic of the match and Kana looked really good here, it just felt disjointed at times since Moeka and GAMI had totally different game plans. Almost as if at times we were watching two different matches. Even with those flaws I enjoyed it as a complete package though, a solid way to close out the DVD.  Mildly Recommended

The post Kana Special #4 DVD 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

The post Pro Wrestling WAVE “Topaz” on 11/26/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Pro Wrestling WAVE recently held an eight woman tournament to find a new #1 Contender for the Regina Di WAVE Championship. WAVE has uploaded the first round of the tournament on the WAVE Network, so in an attempt to stay current with a promotion for a change, I will go ahead and watch the first round now and then update this review when the rest of the tournament airs in a few days. Here are the first round matches:

• ASUKA vs. SAKI
• Hiroe Nagahama vs. Mio Momono
• Rina Yamashita vs. Satsuki Totoro
• Miyuki Takase vs. Nagisa Nozaki

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

ASUKA vs. SAKI

They tie-up to start, ASUKA pushes SAKI in the ropes but nicely gives a clean break. SAKI gets ASUKA into the ropes next but she elbows her before backing off, ASUKA elbows her back and the two trade blows. SAKI goes for a suplex but ASUKA blocks it, SAKI throws ASUKA into the ropes before rolling her up and connecting a series of boots. Elbows by SAKI, ASUKA goes for a dropkick but SAKI avoids it and delivers an elbow to her back. Reverse splash off the ropes by SAKI, but her cover gets two. Irish whip by SAKI to the corner but ASUKA comes out of it with a moonsault over SAKI before delivering a dropkick. SAKI falls out of the ring but ASUKA goes after her, ASUKA throws SAKI into the ring post and returns to the ring. ASUKA gets a running start and dives out onto SAKI with a tope con hilo, she slides SAKI back into the ring and hits a missile dropkick for a two count cover. ASUKA picks up SAKI but SAKI spins her away and hits an atomic drop. Running boot by SAKI, she picks up ASUKA but ASUKA pushes her off and hits a boot. SAKI slams ASUKA face-first into the mat, she puts her in a hanging submission before letting her go and hitting a reverse splash for a two count. ASUKA knocks SAKI back with a superkick, gutwrench suplex by ASUKA but SAKI comes back with a vertical suplex. Moonsault off the ropes by ASUKA and she chokeslams SAKI near the ropes, she goes up top and she nails the moonsault for the three count! ASUKA wins the match and continues in the tournament.

A decent enough watch but nothing more than that. It had enough time considering what they were going for, but there wasn’t much of a structure to it as it was mostly just trading spots with some iffy transitions spread throughout. SAKI is an average wrestler, while ASUKA is good but not really at the level yet to carry someone with lesser skills. Nothing offensive but generally skippable, aside from some good moves by ASUKA.

Hiroe Nagahama vs. Mio Momono

Hiroe immediately dropkicks as the match starts, Mio dropkicks her back but Hiroe hits another dropkick and tosses down Mio by the hair. Mio returns the favor and dropkicks Hiroe into the corner before she puts her in a bodyscissors, but Hiroe quickly gets out of it and stretches Mio. Hiroe puts Mio in a crab hold, but Mio gets into the ropes for the break. Stomps by Hiroe and she hits a snap vertical suplex, another suplex by Hiroe and she covers Mio for two. Dropkick to the knee by Mio and she dropkicks Hiroe against the ropes, Hiroe gets back up and the two trade elbows. Dropkick by Mio and she hits a series of jumping crossbodies, but Hiroe kicks out of the eventual cover. Ankle hold by Mio but Hiroe gets to the ropes, Mio pulls Hiroe to the middle of the ring and immediately re-applies the hold. Hiroe manages to get to the ropes again, Mio goes up top but Hiroe elbows her before she jumps off and joins her. Mio headbutts Hiroe back down and goes for a diving crossbody but Hiroe ducks it, Hiroe hits a crossbody of her own and follows up with a vertical suplex for two. Hiroe picks up Mio but Mio hits a series of elbows, she goes off the ropes but Hiroe hits a Northern Lights Suplex Hold for two. She hits another one for another two count, Hiroe goes up top and she delivers a missile dropkick. Hiroe goes for a backdrop suplex but Mio lands on her feet, quick cradle by Mio but she gets a two count. Mio goes for a Rolling Clutch but Hiroe blocks it and they trade flash pins, Hiroe goes off the ropes and she applies the Cassandra for two. Mio jumps on Hiroe’s back and she delivers the JK Bomb (Code Red), and she picks up the three count! Mio Momono wins and advances in the tournament.

Even though this was a bit basic, I still really enjoyed it. Mio and Hiroe are both examples of wrestlers that give me continued hope for the future of Joshi, as both have the passion that is needed to succeed. Not saying either will be the next Manami Toyota, but they are fun to watch and only getting better. A fast paced match but with some sound submissions as well, an entertaining match between two growing stars.  Recommended

Rina Yamashita vs. Satsuki Totoro

They start with trading wristlocks and headlocks, they both go for shoulderblocks with Rina eventually knocking Satsuki to the mat. Rina picks up Satsuki and eventually manages to hit the scoop slam, Rina stomps Satsuki against the ropes before putting her in a Scorpion Deathlock. Satsuki gets to the ropes for the break, Rina elbows Satsuki into the corner and hits a series of lariats, cover by Rina but Satsuki gets a shoulder up. Satsuki finally knocks down Rina with a hard shoulderblock but Rina avoids her senton attempt, Rina picks up Satsuki but Satsuki hits a scoop slam. Senton by Satsuki, and she covers Rina for two. Crab hold by Satsuki but Rina reaches the ropes, stomps by Satsuki and she hits a body avalanche in the corner for a two count cover. Satsuki picks up Rina but Rina slides away and puts Satsuki in the sleeper, which Satsuki promptly gets out of by jumping backwards onto Rina. Elbows by Satsuki but Rina elbows her, Satsuki elbows her back but Rina drops her with a brainbuster. Lariat by Rina and she knees Satsuki in the back, another knee by Rina and she kicks Satsuki in the head. Back bodydrop by Satsuki and she hits a rolling fireman’s carry, diving senton by Satsuki and she covers Rina for a two count. Satsuki goes off the ropes and hits a jumping crossbody, she goes off the ropes again but Rina catches her with a lariat. Rina waits for Satsuki to get up and she hits a final lariat, picking up the three count! Rina Yamashita is your winner and advances in the tournament.

Another fairly simple match, but Satsuki has improved since I last saw her, or Rina was just able to work with her better than others have. It was hard to buy Satsuki as having any chance of winning but they tried anyway, with the rookie having several near falls. Hard hitting and generally well done, nothing really stuck out as awkward and overall no big complaints aside from the general simplicity of it and Satsuki doesn’t really show the fire that we saw in the last match.  Mildly Recommended

Miyuki Takase vs. Nagisa Nozaki

Miyuki asks for a handshake but Nagisa isn’t interested, quick dropkicks by Miyuki but Nagisa chops her to the mat. Nagisa slaps Miyuki’s chest repeatedly in the corner before applying a crab hold, but Miyuki gets to the ropes for the break. Running boot by Nagisa but Miyuki sneaks in a rolling bodyscissors hold, Miyuki goes for a suplex but Nagisa blocks it. Miyuki goes off the ropes but Nagisa swats aside the dropkick and boots Miyuki while she is in the ropes. Nagisa goes out to the apron and kicks Miyuki with her heel, cover by Nagisa but it gets a two count. Miyuki chops Nagisa and they trade strikes, which Nagisa gets the better of. Miyuki gets back up and scoop slams Nagisa, covering her for two. Miyuki tries to get Nagisa on her shoulders but Nagisa blocks it, big boot by Nagisa in the corner and she hits a half hatch suplex. Nagisa goes off the ropes but Miyuki ducks the boot and goes for a few flash pins with no luck. Dropkick by Miyuki, she headbutts Nagisa and hits a missile dropkick off the second turnbuckle. Diving elbow smash by Miyuki, and she covers Nagisa for a two count. Miyuki finally gets Nagisa on her shoulders, running fireman’s carry roll by Miyuki but Nagisa gets a shoulder up on the pin attempt. Miyuki gets on the second turnbuckle but Nagisa avoids the diving leg drop and quickly puts Miyuki in a sleeper. Miyuki struggles for just a moment but quickly goes out, and the referee calls for the bell! Nagisa Nozaki wins the match and advances in the tournament.

A step down from the last few matches, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t particularly interesting either. I’m intrigued about the direction they are going with Nagisa, as she is winning matches suddenly with sleepers to set up that she can win any match at any time. Sadly, Miyuki isn’t very good yet and Nagisa isn’t an elite wrestler either, so much of this just felt directionless. With short matches, long strike exchanges feel a bit out of place and it didn’t really pick up until the last few minutes. A little bland, but the right wrestler certainly won as Nagisa brings a unique style to the tournament.

The rest of the tournament is set to air on 11/21, so I will finish reviewing the tournament on Thanksgiving and post my final thoughts on all the matches.

The post Pro Wrestling WAVE NEXT 2017 Tournament Review appeared first on Joshi City.

*I am slowing bringing my Joshi Reviews from Puroresu Central over to Joshi City so I can have all my Joshi reviews in one place. Some features of my current reviews on this site may be missing as my style has changed over the years, however I will have it match the Joshi City review format as closely as I can. The original review date can be found at the bottom of the review, I will try not to make any major changes to the text unless I see something that needs clarifying or correcting.*

After a few long months we are returning to Oz! That might be a bad pun. Anyway this is an Oz Academy super show of sorts as it is a joint show with Pro Wrestling WAVE and Zuban (Zuban is the parent company of Pro Wrestling WAVE). So we get some matches from the Catch the Wave Tournament and other random matches as well as wrestlers from both promotions collide. Here is the full card:

• Kagetsu and Kaho Kobayashi vs. Kana and Konami
• Manami Toyota, AKINO, and Rina Yamashita vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki, Hikaru Shida, and Sawako Shimono 
• CATCH THE WAVE 2015 Round 3: Cherry vs. Ryo Mizunami
• Aja Kong and Mei Lee vs. Dynamite Kansai and Fairy Nipponbashi
• Chikayo Nagashima and Ayako Hamada vs. Sonoko Kato and Yuu Yamagata
• CATCH THE WAVE 2015 Round 3: “Kyusei” Sakura Hirota vs. Misaki Ohata
• Mayumi Ozaki, Miyako Matsumoto, Mio Shirai, and Yumi Ohka vs. Moeka Haruhi, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Hiroe Nagahama, and Mika Iida

Most of the Joshi wrestlers above profiles on the website, you can click on their names to go straight to it.

Kagetsu and Kaho Kobayashi vs. Kana and Konami

Konami and Kagetsu start off the match and they trade holds on the mat, Kagetsu gets the better of it and she throws Konami into the corner because she wants Kana.  Kana tags in, Kana gets Kagetsu to the mat but Kagetsu applies a side headlock.  Kana Irish whips out of it but fails at the shoulderblock.  They trade elbows but Kana hits a hip attack.  Kana picks up Kagetsu, Irish whip, but Kagetsu hits a dropkick.  Kagetsu tags in Kobayashi, dropkick by Kobayashi and she hits another one, but Kana stays up.  Kobayashi dropkicks Kana in the knee and then in the head, but Kana elbows her and kicks Kobayashi in the back.  Kana tags in Konami, and Kagetsu kicks Kobayashi in the corner.  Snapmare by Konami and she kicks Kobayashi, but Kobayashi hits a scoop slam.  Crab hold by Kobayashi but Konami makes it to the ropes.  Kobayashi tags in Kagetsu, Kagetsu knocks Kana off the apron and they both kick Konami.  Face crusher by Kobayashi and Kagetsu dropkicks Konami in the face.  Senton by Kobayashi and Kagetsu drops Kobayashi onto Konami.  Double elbow drop to Konami, Kagetsu picks up Konami and drives her into the corner before hitting a jumping elbow.  Konami fights back with kicks and she hits a schoolboy for two.  Konami tags in Kana and she hits a missile dropkick on Kagetsu. Kana kicks Kagetsu in the chest repeatedly, Irish whip to the corner and she hits a hip attack. 

Elbows by Kana and she applies a cross armbreaker, but Kobayashi breaks it up.  Kagetsu hits a high kick to Kana and she goes for a suplex, but Kana blocks it and spins her down into a short armbar.  Front necklock by Kana but Kagetsu suplexes out of it.  Kagetsu tags in Kobayashi and they trade elbows, Kobayashi grabs Kana but Kana gets the cross armbreaker applied.  Kagetsu quickly breaks it up and she rolls up Kana for a two count.  Fisherman suplex hold by Kobayashi, but Kana kicks out.  Kobayashi goes off the ropes but Kana hits a back kick followed by a sliding kick before tagging in Konami.  Konami kicks Kobayashi in the chest and she nails a high kick, she wraps up Kobayashi in a submission hold but Kagetsu breaks it up.  Konami applies an Octopus Hold to Kobayashi while Kana takes care of Kagetsu, but Kagetsu gets away from Kana and breaks it up.  Kana and Konami Irish whip Kobayashi but Kobayashi gets away and Kagetsu hits a swandive crossbody on both of them.  Senton by Kobayashi, she goes up top but Konami avoids the missile dropkick.  Schoolboy by Konami, but it gets two, as does the backslide.  Kick by Konami, she goes off the ropes but Kobayashi catches her with the 120% School Boy for the three count! Kagetsu and Kaho Kobayashi win!

This is one of the best openers I have seen in a good while.  First of all this was serious Kana, not face paint Kana, and while I enjoy her no matter what it is always nice to see her ass kicking side.  Lots of smart submissions and hard strikes here and the young wrestlers really held their own.  The only thing that hurt it was the one hard camera as the action was on point throughout, great way to start the show.  Recommended

Manami Toyota, AKINO, and Yamashita vs. Kuragaki, Hikaru Shida, and Sawako Shimono

Yamashita and Shimono start off but AKINO promptly come in to help and Shimono is double teamed.  Yamashita clubs Shimono and she hits a running double chop for a one count.  Back up they trade shots, lariat by Shimono but Yamashita returns the favor.  Judo throw by Shimono and she hits a seated senton for two.  Shimono tags in Shida and Shida hits a hip attack.  Irish whip by Shida but Yamashita blocks the next hip attack, hurricanrana by Shida and this time she connects with the hip attack.  Knees by Shida but Yamashita boots her for a two.  Yamashita tags in Toyota, Toyota wraps up Shida in the ropes but Shimono intercepts her.  Toyota puts her in the ropes also, but Kuragaki intercepts her this time.  Toyota hits a crossbody on all three of them as AKINO and Yamashita come in the ring, and all three hit dropkicks.  Shida hits an enzuigiri on Toyota but Toyota catches the hip attack.  Shida hits a vertical suplex and she tags in Kuragaki.  Jawbreaker by Kuragaki and she throws Toyota to the mat.  Toyota is triple teamed in the corner and Kuragaki hits a hard lariat.  Toyota rolls Kuragaki around the mat and she covers her for two.  Toyota goes up top and kills both herself and Kuragaki with a moonsault and she tags in AKINO. 

Missile dropkick by AKINO, she picks up Kuragaki but Kuragaki hits a backdrop suplex.  AKINO hits one of her own and she hits a bulldog.  Superkick by Kuragaki but AKINO hits a kick combination.  Lariats by Kuragaki but AKINO delivers a high kick.  Big lariat by Kuragaki and she tags in Shimono.  Shida runs in too as Shimono hits shoulderblocks on AKINO, Shimono picks up AKINO and she hits a Samoan Drop for two.  AKINO kicks Shimono in the head and she hits a backdrop suplex.  Cover, but it gets two.  AKINO goes for a PK but Shimono ducks it, AKINO applies a stretch hold but Shida hits her with a kendo stick.  Yamashita knocks Shimono into Shida, Toyota boots AKINO and Shimono applies a schoolboy for a two count.  Shimono positions AKINO, she goes up top but AKINO joins her.  Kuragaki throws AKINO back to the mat and Shimono hits a seated senton for two.  Shimono picks up AKINO but AKINO delivers a high kick.  Another kick by AKINO but Kuragaki breaks up the cover, the ring finally clears out, Shida hits AKINO from the floor with the kendo stick but AKINO snaps off a hurricanrana on Shimono for the three count! Manami Toyota, AKINO, and Rina Yamashita win the match.

This match way exceeded my expectations.  The middle section with Kuragaki and AKINO was just awesome.  Everyone looked good, it was fast paced, and it felt important.  Could have used more time and it took a bit of time to get going but still an entertaining tag match.  Recommended

Cherry vs. Ryo Mizunami

This match is part of the CATCH THE WAVE 2015 Tournament.  Mizunami hits a spear right off the bat, she then hits a leg lariat but it gets a two count.  Mizunami picks up Cherry and she hits a lariat, but Cherry fights back and hits a STO.  Mizunami hits a back bodydrop followed by a pair of leg drops but Cherry avoids the third. Dragon sleeper by Cherry and she hits a Final Cut for two.  Cherry goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick, she picks up Mizunami and she hits an armdrag. Northern Lights Suplex hold by Cherry but it gets a two count.  Elbows by Mizunami and she hits a spear for a two count.  Cherry goes off the ropes and she kicks Mizunami in the head, powerslam by Mizunami but Cherry rolls her up for a two count.  Mizunami gets Cherry up on her shoulders and she hits the Argentine Facebuster, but Cherry rebounds and hits a series of chops.  Lariat by Mizunami and she hits a dragon suplex hold for two.  Diving Guillotine Leg Drop by Mizunami and she picks up the three count! Ryo Mizunami wins the match.

I won’t say this was a great match but a sprint was the right way to go.  Cherry doesn’t do much for me and if this was 15 minutes it wouldn’t have worked.  Mizunami is really good though and her moves were really on point. Too short to get excited about but still solid.

Aja Kong and Mei Lee vs. Dynamite Kansai and Fairy Nipponbashi

Kong and Nipponbashi start off but Kansai comes in the ring too and dancing around the ring. She gets Lee to dance too and it is Kong’s turn, but she leaves. They get her to come back but she won’t dance so Kansai kicks her.  Crossbody by Kong to Kansai and she pounds on Nipponbashi.  Kong tags in Lee so she can dance around with Nipponbashi.  Scoop slam by Nipponbashi and she hits a second one.  Nipponbashi tags in Kansai, and Lee and Kansai share a dance (this is not an overly serious match), but Lee punches her in the chest and tags in Kong.  Kong kicks at Kansai but Kansai takes off her mask and powers up.  Kansai and Kong trade lariats until Kansai knocks Kong off her feet.  Kansai picks up Kong and she delivers a high kick, but Nipponbashi gets her to put the mask back on.  Kansai covers Kong with the wand, but it gets two.  Kansai tags in Nipponbashi, Nipponbashi has the wand but Kong hits her and tags in Lee.  Nipponbashi throws around Lee with the wand so Lee tags Kong back in.  Nipponbashi tries the wand on Kong but Kong just shrugs.  Lee comes in, and she flies across the ring via wand wave.  It still doesn’t work on Kong but after a talking to, Kong finally is knocked over by the wand.  Kansai comes in and they all comfort Kong, and Nipponbashi gives Kong the wand to use.  Kong tries to use the wand but it doesn’t work for her, so she gets a metal box and hits them all in the head with it.  Kong hits a brainbuster on Nipponbashi, and she gets the three count! Aja Kong and Mei Lee win the match.

Ok so this was silly but Kong helped make this match by not playing along, finally doing it, and getting annoyed when no one else returned the favor.  So while it isn’t my thing it had a good story anyway, if you are a fan of Fairy’s comedy you’ll enjoy it.

Chikayo Nagashima and Ayako Hamada vs. Sonoko Kato and Yuu Yamagata

Nagashima and Kato start off and they lock knuckles, kicks by Kato and she hits a shoulderblock.  Kato kicks Nagashima in the back, Yamagata comes in the ring and Nagashima is double teamed.  Kato tags in Yamagata, Yamagata elbows Nagashima and she kicks Nagashima in the head.  Yamagata throws Nagashima into the corner but Nagashima applies an armbar over the top rope.  Nagashima tags in Hamada, Hamada headbutts Yamagata and she locks knuckles with her before stomping on Yamagata’s hands.  Hamada picks up Yamagata but Yamagata chops her.  They go back and forth  until Hamada knocks Yamagata into the corner, Yamagata ducks the rolling chop as Kato runs in but Hamada knocks Kato back.  Hamada grabs Yamagata’s arm, she walks the ropes and flips both Yamagata and Kato to the mat.  Nagashima runs in and hits a double face crusher, enzuigiri by Hamada but Yamagata hits a headscissors.  Yamagata tags in Kato, kicks by Kato to Hamada and she knocks her to the mat.  Nagashima grabs Kato from the apron to help, Kato ducks Hamada’s heel kick and Yamagata hits a jawbreaker on Hamada.  Cannonball by Kato to Hamada, she goes up top and Kato hits a cannonball off the top turnbuckle for a two.  Kato picks up Hamada, kick by Kato but Hamada punches her back.  Hamada wins the kick battle, she picks up Kato and hits a sit-down powerbomb for a two count.  Hamada tags in Nagashima, Nagashima goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick.  Cover, but it gets two.  Nagashima picks up Kato and knees her, she goes off the ropes but Kato catches her with a release German suplex.

Kato goes for a kick but Nagashima catches it and hits a quick leg whip.  Hamada runs in to help but she accidentally hits an enzuigiri on Nagashima.  Yamagata comes in and boots Nagashima, then Kato hits a rolling kick for two.  Kato goes to the second turnbuckle but Hamada rolls in and smacks her.  Nagashima climbs up with Kato and she hits a Frankensteiner.  Hamada goes up top and she hits a moonsault on Kato, Nagashima picks up Kato and she hits an uranage but the pin is broken up.  Nagashima goes off the ropes but Kato catches her with a powerbomb.  Head kick by Kato, cover, but it gets two.  Kato hits a dragon suplex hold by Nagashima, but the pin is broken up.  Yamagata is tagged in and she elbows Nagashima in the corner.  Yamagata goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick on Nagashima.  Nagashima catches Yamagata with an uranage, but Yamagata kicks out.  Nagashima picks up Yamagata, Hamada and Kato both run in, and Hamada helps Nagashima hit a tornado DDT.  Nagashima picks up Yamagata and she hits a fisherman buster, but Kato breaks it up.  Nagashima goes off the ropes and she hits a hurricanrana, but Kato breaks it up.  Head kick by Yamagata, she picks up Nagashima and she hits the Schwein, but Hamada breaks it up.  Enzuigiri by Yamagata to Nagashima but Nagashima rolls her up for two.  Kato goes up top and hits a diving leg drop on Nagashima, Yamagata picks up Nagashima and she delivers the La Ayakita for the three count! The winners are Sonoko Kato and Yuu Yamagata.

This started slow but really picked up by the end.  Lots of fun back and forths and the end was just chaos but in a good way.  It could have used some tightening up but all four of these women can go, definitely a fun watch.  Mildly Recommended

“Kyusei” Sakura Hirota vs. Misaki Ohata

This match is part of the CATCH THE WAVE 2015 Tournament.  Hirota and Ohata shake hands to start, they go to the mat but neither can get an advantage.  Back up they lock knuckles and Ohata flings Hirota to the mat.  Ohata boots Hirota in the corner but Hirota applies a grounded necklock.  Crab hold by Ohata and she gives Hirota a curb stomp for a two count.  Irish whip by Ohata but Hirota hits a back splash off the ropes, wristlock by Hirota but Ohata shrugs her off.  Small package by Hirota but it gets two.  Face crusher by Hirota, she grabs Ohata’s arm and walks the ropes and hits a springboard armdrag.  Ohata goes off the ropes and hits a crossbody, back elbow by Ohata and she hits a running crossbody in the corner.  Ohata goes up top and she hits a diving crossbody.  Waistlock by Ohata but Hirota rolls her up for a two count.  Ohata elbows Hirota but Hirota hits a lariat.  Hirota and Ohata trade elbows but Hirota applies a small package for two.  Irish whip by Hirota and she hits a rebound elbow strike.  Hirota kicks Ohata, she picks her up and Ohata hits a series of elbows.  Release German by Ohata and she hits a second one.  Another one by Ohata, she goes for a crucifix roll-up but Hirota blocks it.  Hirota goes to the ropes and hits a quebrada, but it only gets a two count.  Hirota goes up top and does a handstand but Ohata powerbombs her.  Ohata gets Hirota’s back and hits a crucifix bomb, but it gets a two count.  Ohata grabs Hirota and hits a fisherman buster, but Hirota barely gets a shoulder up.  Hirota trips Ohata and she hits an Oil Check, La Magistral by Hirota but it gets two.  Ohata picks up Hirota but Hirota hits a one arm suplex hold for two.  Hirota goes off the ropes, Ohata goes for a fisherman buster but Hirota cuts it back and rolls up Hirota for the three count! Sakura Hirota wins!

This is probably the best Hirota singles match I’ve seen, Ohata is great.  Hirota still had her silly moments and I don’t think she is a good wrestler, but Ohata controlled this one very well.  I liked the ending, cutbacks are a good way for underdogs to win and Hirota got in enough offense that it didn’t seem fluky.  Solid match, better than I expected.  Mildly Recommended

Mayumi Ozaki, Miyako Matsumoto, Mio Shirai, and Yumi Ohka 
vs. Moeka Haruhi, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Hiroe Nagahama, and Mika Iida

Matsumoto and Iida start off and they trade some introductory holds until Iida hits a dropkick.  Armdrag by Iida but all her teammates come in to help.  The action spills outside the ring, chairs are thrown around but it’s hard to see with the lighting.  Iida and Matsumoto return to the ring and Iida hits a missile dropkick for two.  Iida tags in Nagahama but Matsumoto beats down Nagahama and hits a scoop slam.  Iida tags in Shirai, and Nagahama is quadruple teamed in the corner.  Shirai grabs Nagahama and hits a vertical suplex for a two count.  Shirai applies a crab hold but it is broken up, Ohka gets in the ring and they take turns booting Nagahama.  Big boot by Ohka, cover, but Haruhi breaks it up.  Ohka tags in Matsumoto but Nagahama rolls up Matsumoto for a two count.  Dropkick by Nagahama and she tags in Fujimoto.  Fujimoto dropkicks all her opponents, snapmare to Matsumoto and she kicks her in the back.  Fujimoto tags in Haruhi and Haruhi applies a camel clutch to Matsumoto.  Haruhi tags in Iida, and Iida throws Matsumoto down by her hair.  Iida scoop slams Matsumoto and he does it a second time for a two count.  Iida tags in Nagahama, Nagahama slams Matsumoto and she delivers a dropkick.  Nagahama tags Haruhi and Haruhi throws down Matsumoto by her hair.  Iida is tagged in but Matsumoto gets away with help from interference and tags in Shirai.  Shirai boots Iida and covers her for two.  Short armbar by Shirai but Iida hits a reverse STO.  Dropkick by Iida but Ozaki chokes her with her whip.  Shirai goes for a kick but Iida catches her leg and applies an ankle hold. 

Shirai gets to the ropes, Iida hits a capture suplex hold but it gets two.  Iida tags in Fujimoto and she dropkicks Shirai in the corner.  Fujimoto picks up Shirai but Shirai elbows her and they trade shots.  Dropkick by Fujimoto but Shirai boots her back and applies a necklock over the top rope.  Shirai goes for a missile dropkick but Fujimoto moves out of the way.  Kicks to the back by Fujimoto and she hits a PK for a two count.  Fujimoto applies a crossface but it is quickly broken up.  Shirai gets a stick and bops people with it, cover by Shirai but it gets two.  Shirai tags in Ohka, Ohka stomps on Fujimoto but Fujimoto hits a dropkick.  Fujimoto applies a cross-arm submission but Ohka gets out of it.  Ohka swings Fujimoto around the ring, and Fujimoto is triple teamed against the ropes.  Diving Crossbody by Ohka, cover, but Fujimoto kicks out.  Ohka hits a heel drop but the pin is broken up.  Fujimoto fights back and tags in Haruhi, and Haruhi hits a diving crossbody on Ohka for a two count.  Haruhi hits a hurricanrana out of the corner and then she applies a headscissors into an armbar, but it is broken up.  Big boot by Ohka and she hits a backdrop suplex.  Ohka picks up Haruhi and she hits a brainbuster for another two.  Fujimoto runs in and hits a Shining Wizard, then Iida dropkicks Ohka against the ropes.  Haruhi hits a diving footstomp (lots of random stuff is happening, I’m keeping up the best I can), chaos ensues but things settle down with Haruhi and Ohka still in the ring.  Haruhi goes off the ropes but Ohka catches her with a chokebomb for two.  Big boot by Ohka, cover, and she gets the three count! Ozaki Army wins!

This was a bit crazy but it had to be as not all of these wrestlers are particularly great.  So it helped hide the flaws, even though the match did go so long that some of those flaws started peeking through anyway.  This could have been condensed but it is a very typical Oz main event, this is just the kind of match they enjoy.  Wrestling-wise it was pretty average but it kept my attention.

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