Championships Held: HCW World Women’s Championship, AJW Championship, and the Japanese Tag Team Championship
Tournaments Won: AJW Tag League The Best (2004)
Awards Won: None

Notable Matches:

• January 26th, 2003 vs. Mika Nishio  (title challenge)
• January 3rd, 2004 vs. Hikaru  (title win)
• August 29th, 2004 vs. Ofune  (title defense)
• December 26th, 2004 with Kumiko Maekawa vs. Kana and Yumiko Hotta  (tournament win)
• February 19th, 2005 with Kumiko Maekawa vs. Aja Kong and Amazing Kong  (title challenge)
• October 7th, 2007 vs. Jaime D  (title win)
• April 26th, 2009 vs. Hikaru

Signature Moves:

• Double Arm Suplex
• Fisherman Suplex Hold
• German Suplex Hold
• Saki Hanemaru (Wrist-Clutch Fisherman Buster)
• Saki Flower (Modified Hurricanrana)

Sample of Matches Reviewed on Joshi City:

• July 19th, 2004 – Mirai vs. Saki Maemura in AtoZ
• December 12th, 2004 – Momoe Nakanishi vs. Saki Maemura in AJW
• May 27th, 2007 – Saki Maemura vs. Toshie Uematsu in Pro Wrestling SUN
• April 4th, 2008 – Kana and Yumi Ohka vs. Hikaru and Saki Maemura in WAVE

In Action:

Fisherman Suplex Hold

German Suplex Hold

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The post Saki Maemura 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.

Time to review a new promotion! Major Girl’s Fighting AtoZ (short for “ARISON to Zenjo”) was a short-lived wrestling promotion that ran shows from 2003 to 2006. ARISON was a popular Joshi promotion that went out of business in 2003, it was taken over by Yumiko Hotta who changed the name to AtoZ. “Zenjo” was a nickname for AJW, which is where Hotta originally wrestled, hence the name. Anyway, Hotta led the promotion with Mariko Yoshida, and current Stardom boss Rossy Ogawa was involved backstage as well. The promotion did not have a lot of its own contracted wrestlers but did have a world title, and also was the starting place for many future stars including Arisa Nakajima and Kana/Asuka. Finding information on the shows is difficult as they were one of many smaller Joshi promotions at the time, but I’ll do the best I can to gather the information available.

I picked this event to review for two reasons. First, it is the earliest recorded match I could find in Kana’s career, as she just debuted the month prior in AtoZ. Second, this was a major show for the promotion as it had a number of big singles matches, a retirement road match, and what may be a classic main event. Here is the full card:

• Bullfighter Sora vs. Ofune
• Flesh Girl’s Fighting: Kana vs. Natsumi Mizushima
• Battle of J-Connection: Sachie Abe and Teruko Kagawa vs. The Bloody and Maru
• Rie Tamada Retirement Road 3rd: Rie Tamada, GAMI, and PIKO vs. Azumi Hyuga, Yoshiko Tamura, and Misae Genki
• Future Manifest: Mirai vs. Saki Maemura
• Revive Violence: Amazing Kong vs. Mima Shimoda
• Battle of A-Connection: Leona vs. Mariko Yoshida
• Battle of Z-Connection: Mika Nishio vs. Takako Inoue
• CLIMAX: Momoe Nakanishi and Nanae Takahashi vs. Yumiko Hotta and Kumiko Maekawa

They somehow squeezed all this into a two hour show, so I think it is safe to assume there will be clipping. Hopefully not in the matches I want to see the most.

Bullfighter Sora vs. Ofune

The match is Joined in Progress with Sora body blocking Ofune, but Ofune kicks out of the cover. Sora goes up top but Ofune shakes the ropes and Sora falls out of the ring. She returns after a moment, tornado DDT by Ofune but the cover gets two. Ofune chops Sora but Sora headbutts her, vertical suplex by Sora and she covers Ofune for another two count. Sora runs up the corner and goes for a diving elbow but Ofune moves, Ofune goes up top and hits a diving knee strike for two. Ofune picks up Sora but Sora hits a backdrop suplex, Ofune quickly rolls up Sora and she gets the three count! Ofune wins the match.

As I figured, pretty clipped, but at least the ending stretch was all shown in full instead of just doing random cuts. Ofune was a rather beloved wrestler the few years she was around so its always fun to see her, but not enough was shown to be memorable.

Kana vs. Natsumi Mizushima

Kana and Mizushima get right into it as the bell rings, trading elbows until Mizushima throws down Kana by the hair. Kana boots Mizushima and dropkicks her, snapmares by Kana and she starts working on Mizushima’s arm. Mizushima gets away and dropkicks Kana, knees by Mizushima but Kana hits mounted elbows. Mizushima returns fire and headbutts Kana before throwing her down by the hair, modified Camel Clutch by Mizushima  but Kana applies a backslide for two. Dropkick by Kana, she picks up Mizushima and dropkicks her into the corner before dropkicking her some more. Mizushima finally is tired of being dropkicked and headbutts Kana in the gut, she goes up top but Kana pulls her back into the ring. Hip attack by Kana and she hits another one, they trade chops until Mizushima hits a scoop slam. Mizushima gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving headbutt, cover by Mizushima but it gets a two count. Mizushima picks up Kana but Kana sneaks in a schoolboy for two, Irish whip by Kana but Mizushima applies a backslide. Mizushima goes up top but Kana joins her, Mizushima headbutts Kana back to the mat and hits a diving headbutt for the three count! Natsumi Mizushima is the winner.

They actually showed the bulk of this match as only a couple minutes were clipped. This was a really solid match considering both were rookies, both showed fire with their strikes and the action was pretty smooth. I won’t say the obnoxious “from watching this match it is no surprise both turned out to be big stars” as that would be silly, but I will say that both showed a natural ability early in their careers. A fun match.  Mildly Recommended

Sachie Abe and Teruko Kagawa vs. The Bloody and Maru

Bloody and Abe start the match for their teams and quickly end up in a strike battle, Abe elbows Bloody into the corner but Bloody kicks her in the head. Abe gets back in control and hits mounted elbows on Bloody, but Bloody hits a release German suplex. Abe dropkicks Bloody and throws her into the corner, Bloody jumps up onto the second turnbuckle but Abe joins her. Bloody stretches Abe on the top turnbuckle, she lets go after a moment and Abe hits a springboard elbow followed by a missile dropkick for a two count. Abe gets on the top turnbuckle but Bloody avoids the diving body press, Bloody boots Abe but Abe flips her out to the apron before kicking her out of the ring. Abe goes out after her while Kagawa gets on the top turnbuckle and dives out of the ring onto Bloody. Abe then goes up top and dives out onto Bloody and Maru, Bloody is slid back into the ring and Abe hits a diving victory roll for a two count. Snap dragon suplexes by Bloody to Abe, she kicks Abe in the head before tagging in Maru. This quickly backfires as Abe applies quick flash pins for two, Abe puts Maru in the Victory A Clutch and Maru has no choice but to submit! Abe and Kagawa are the winners.

While I love me some Bloody, the match was too short and random. I am assuming the end was clipped and Maru wasn’t literally pinned 30 seconds after getting into the ring, I’ll forgive the oddness of the layout if it wasn’t the wrestlers’ fault. Abe and Bloody both looked good with their high spots, but we didn’t get to see much from Kagawa and Maru. Just too clipped to be good.

Rie Tamada, GAMI, and PIKO vs. Azumi Hyuga, Yoshiko Tamura, and Misae Genki

Tamada and Hyuga are the first two in, after some shenanigans dealing with GAMI things settle down with Hyuga being triple beamed in a comedic way. For a ‘Retirement Road” match this one didn’t start overly serious. GAMI puts Tamura in a crab hold, they do the thing where someone at ringside grabs GAMI’s arm to provide extra pressure but they do it in a chain all the way into the crowd and up into the balcony. GAMI eventually lets go, PIKO goes for a dive out of the ring but Misae and Tamura catch her before sliding her back into the ring. Tamada and Hyuga end up in the ring, tornado DDT by Tamada and she tags in PIKO. PIKO applies an armbar before rolling up Hyuga, and we clip ahead to Tamada being in the ring with Misae. Release German by Tamada, and we clip ahead again to Tamada and GAMI double teaming Hyuga. PIKO comes in too and they triple team Misae in the corner, Frankensteiner by GAMI and PIKO hits a diving hurricanrana. German suplex hold by Tamada, but the cover gets broken up. Tamada goes for another suplex but Misae blocks it, Tamada goes off the rope but Misae catches her with a chokeslam. Tamura runs in and elbows Tamada, G-Driver by Misae and she covers Tamada for a two count. Misae picks up Tamada but Tamada ducks the discus lariat and hits a German suplex hold for two. GAMI tries to help but it backfires, another G-Driver by Misae and she gets the three count! Azumi Hyuga, Yoshiko Tamura, and Misae Genki are the winners.

Too odd of a match for my personal tastes, when matches try to be a hybrid of comedy and straight up wrestling it tends to not really work out. The clipping didn’t help of course, as if there was any type of structure to it we wouldn’t know from the way the match aired. I liked Misae Genki a lot and appreciated she took the match back to a more serious level, but I was hoping for a bit more in one of Rie Tamada’s last wrestling matches.

Mirai vs. Saki Maemura

They lock knuckles which the much taller Mirai easily gets the better of, Mirai takes down Maemura with a headlock but Maemura quickly reverses it. Mirai gets in the mount and rains down elbows while Maemura applies a bodyscissors, Mirai chokes Maemura to get her to release the hold before hitting a pair of jumping lariats. Back up they trade strikes, atomic drop by Mirai and she hits the Giant Swing on her smaller opponent. Bridging scoop suplex by Mirai, she goes up top but Maemura ducks the diving crossbody. Maemura dropkicks Mirai out of the ring, she gets out on the apron and hits a missile dropkick. She then goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving plancha, she slides Mirai back in before going back up top and hitting a missile dropkick. Diving body press by Maemura, but Mirai kicks out of the cover. Mirai elbows out of the German and chops Maemura, Maemura slaps her however and hits a release fisherman suplex. Hard chop to the chest by Mirai and she applies an Octopus Hold before rolling Maemura to the mat while keeping it applied, but Maemura gets a foot onto the ropes. Mirai quick re-applies it, she lets go after a moment and goes for a scoop slam, but Maemura reverses it into a roll-up. Mirai chops Maemura into the corner but Maemura ducks one and hits a release German suplex, fisherman suplex hold by Maemura and she picks up the three count! Saki Maemura wins the match.

This was a really fun match, I enjoy watching two young wrestlers that have passion for wrestling going non-stop with a variety of strikes and suplexes. Mirai used her height and size advantage well, winning a few exchanges with it, but Maemura was too slick to keep down and her high flying moves helped make the difference. A bit clipped but a good percentage of it was shown, no real complaints as it was an entertaining match bell to bell.  Mildly Recommended

Amazing Kong vs. Mima Shimoda

Shimoda attacks Kong before the match starts and the streamers fly, pink streamers are literally everywhere as Kong and Shimoda battle at ringside. Kong takes Shimoda into the crowd and throws her around before they return to the ring, she goes for a powerbomb but Shimoda reverses it with a back bodydrop. Kong fires back with a lariat, Shimoda drives Kong into the corner but Kong avoids he charge and nails a Buckle Bomb. Shimoda takes back over with kicks to the back of Kong’s head, Shimoda stomps down Kong in the corner and takes her out of the ring before assaulting her with chairs. Shimoda slides some chairs in the ring and brings Kong in with her, Shimoda throws Kong onto the chair pile and goes up top, hitting a diving footstomp onto Kong. Kong blocks the slam attempt and lands on top of Shimoda, and we get a good shot of Shimoda’s face which at some point got busted up all the hell. Shimoda goes up top but Kong pushes her out of the ring to the floor, Kong goes out after her and takes her up onto the balcony (Joshi promotions during this time period loved the balcony at Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium), she tries to throw Shimoda off of it but Shimoda hangs on by the railing.

Kong goes back down to the floor to try to pull Shimoda off the railing, but Shimoda kicks Kong away and with help drops down to the floor unscathed. Kong isn’t on the defense for long and she rolls Shimoda into the ring before going to get a table, she sets up the table at ringside before continuing to toss Shimoda around the floor. Kong brings Shimoda up onto the apron and tries to powerbomb her through the table, but she partially misses it and Shimoda barely touches it before going straight down to the floor. Somehow she isn’t injured, she gets on the apron but Kong lariats her from inside the ring. Double underhook facebuster by Kong, Kong get on the second turnbuckle but Shimoda avoids the body press. Lariat by Kong, she goes for a powerbomb but Shimoda reverses it with a hurricanrana. Kong hits another lariat, she goes up top but Shimoda hits her before she can jump off. Shimoda joins Kong and tosses her to the mat, somersault legdrop to the back of the head by Shimoda but Kong kicks out of the cover. Shimoda picks up Kong but Kong pushes her off, both wrestlers connect with punches but Kong connects better as Shimoda is knocked out. She barely makes the referee’s count, Kong promptly lariats her before hitting a Uraken. Powerbomb by Kong, she goes up top and she nails the diving body press for the three count cover! Your winner is Amazing Kong!

Well I enjoyed the hell out of this match. Kong at the time was still pretty raw, she was a solid wrestler but was mostly a brawler as she wasn’t always super smooth with her moves. Shimoda being the underdog was fun as normally she is the one using weapons and being the heel, here she was outdone by Kong in both of those departments. These types of matches work well as a change of pace, lots of brawling and chair shots and general chaos. Kong almost killed Shimoda with the missed powerbomb and the balcony spots always add a degree of excitement since you never know what will happen. An entertaining crowd brawling match, with a convincing win by Amazing Kong.  Recommended

Leona vs. Mariko Yoshida

Yoshida quickly takes Leona to the mat but Leona repeatedly wiggles away from her, Yoshida generally stays in control but she can’t get a hold locked in. Yoshida finally gets a kneelock applied while also kicking Leona in the back, but Leona gets a hand in the ropes to force a break. Yoshida takes Leona back down and kicks her in the back, Irish whip by Yoshida but Leona reverses it before Yoshida flips Leona out to the apron. Diving armdrag by Leona, Yoshida falls out of the ring and Leona dropkicks her when Yoshida gets on the apron. Leona charges the ropes, she jumps straight to the top rope and springboards out onto Yoshida with a Plancha. Back in the ring, diving somersault senton by Leona but it gets a two count. We jump ahead to Yoshida being back in control, Air Raid Crash by Yoshida but Leona barely gets a shoulder up on the somewhat cocky cover. Yoshida goes to pick up Leona but Leona puts her in the Spider Twist, which is one of Yoshida’s finishing moves. Yoshida gets a toe on the ropes, back up Yoshida kicks Leona in the chest but Leona hits a spear for a two count. German suplex hold by Leona, she goes off the ropes but Yoshida boots her hard in the chest. Yoshida picks up Leona in a vertical suplex position before dropping her with a kneeling tombstone piledriver, picking up the three count! Mariko Yoshida wins!

Since I have not seen Yoshida finish a match with that move, I will assume that was her way of sticking it to Leona for trying to take her finishing move. Leona put up more of a fight than I was expecting, which made the match a lot more fun to watch as she is a really solid high speed wrestler. The match was too short/clipped to make it worth seeking out, but it was a fun back and forth match and Yoshida’s reaction when Leona put on the Spider Twist showed that she realized Leona wasn’t going to be as easy to beat as she may have originally thought. Overall entertaining, I just wish more was shown.  Mildly Recommended

Mika Nishio vs. Takako Inoue

Takako and Nishio circle to start, armdrag by Takako and she attacks Nishio in the corner. Kicks by Takako from the apron and she hits a double underhook suplex, picking up a two count. DDT by Takako but Nishio fires back with elbows, they trade slaps until Takako sends Nishio to the mat. Backdrop suplex by Takako but Nishio ducks the spinning backfist, Takako connects with the next one and goes for the Takako Panic, but Nishio ducks it and hits a jumping heel kick. Nishio picks up Takako but Takako blocks the suplex, another jumping heel kick by Nishio and she gets another two count. German suplex hold by Nishio and she picks up Takako, but Takako rolls her to the mat and covers her for two. Back up, tiger suplex hold by Nishio but Takako gets a shoulder up. She goes for another one and hits it, but again it gets a two count. Nishio goes off the ropes but Takako nails her with a spinning backfist, she hits a second one and covers Nishio for the three count! Takako Inoue is the winner.

A step down from the last few matches but still not a bad one. It was just a bit disjointed, the transitions were shaky at best as they seemed to mostly take turns hitting moves on each other with little rhyme or reason. Nishio must not have had a deep pool of moves as she kept going for the same two or three during the last half of the match, and without a ‘bigger’ finishing move it was hard to believe she would beat Takako. Some solid parts and its always good to see Takako, but overall a bit underwhelming.

Momoe Nakanishi and Nanae Takahashi vs. Yumiko Hotta and Kumiko Maekawa

Nanae and Momo have no time for streamers and attack Hotta and Maekawa before the match starts, as the battle spills out of the ring. Nanae and Momo control the action on the floor and into the crowd, eventually they bring Hotta back into the ring but Hotta hits a double face crusher on them. Hotta gets her chain but Momo dropkicks her in the knee, elbow drop by Nanae and they both attack Hotta in the corner. Momo stays in but Maekawa gives Hotta her chain again and she hits Momo in the head with it. More chain shots by Hotta, she wraps it around Momo’s neck and applies a choke with it while Maekawa kicks Momo in the chest. Maekawa is tagged in and she kicks Momo in the face, but Nanae comes in and they both dropkick Maekawa. Missile dropkick by Nanae but Maekawa kicks her into the corner and tags in Hotta. Nanae greets Hotta with elbows but Hotta applies a sleeper until Momo breaks it up. Well she tries anyway but Hotta keeps it locked in while Maekawa grabs Momo, Momo gets away from Maekawa and chokes Hotta with her own chain until she lets go of Nanae. Nanae elbows Hotta against the ropes but Hotta comes back with a spinning heel kick, she hits a second one before Maekawa chokes Nanae in the corner with the chain. Hotta Irish whips Nanae but instead of bouncing off the ropes she sails out of the ring with a tope suicida onto Maekawa. Momo comes in the ring with a missile dropkick, she goes up top again and dives out onto Maekawa while Nanae hits a backdrop suplex onto Hotta. Dropkick by Nanae to Hotta, she goes for the Reverse Splash but Hotta moves and kicks her in the head. Tiger Driver by Hotta, but Nanae kicks out at two. Maekawa comes in but Nanae gets away from her and they trade strikes, big boot by Maekawa but Nanae fires back with a shoulderblock. A superkick sends Nanae to the mat but she pops back up and hits a lariat for a two count cover. Hotta comes in and kicks Nanae, they both boot Nanae in the stomach but she avoids Maekawa’s rolling kick. Maekawa hits a high kick anyway, Nanae finally hits the Reverse Splash but Maekawa bridges out of the pin and kicks Nanae out of the ring. Momo lays out Maekawa on the floor, she slides her back in and Nanae hits a reverse double footstomp for a two count.

Momo stays in and dropkicks Maekawa in the head, but Maekawa comes back with a high kick. Jumping kick by Maekawa, and she covers Momo for two. Rolling kick by Maekawa, but this time Nanae breaks up the cover. Drop down kick by Maekawa and she hits a running boot in the corner, she goes up top but Momo joins her, Nanae comes in and she superplexes Maekawa. Diving body press by Momo, Nanae picks up Maekawa and delivers a backdrop suplex. Lariat by Nanae, German suplex hold by Momo but Maekawa kicks out. Mom picks up Maekawa but Hotta runs in and slaps her, kick by Maekawa and she tags in Hotta. Hotta comes in with her chain and shoves down the referee, but Momo sneaks in a victory roll for two. Maekawa returns but Nanae does too and they dropkick Hotta and Maekawa. Momo goes up top and goes for a diving body press, but Hotta gets her feet up. Hotta picks up Momo but Momo slides away and hits a German suplex hold for a two count. Momo picks up Hotta again and dumps her out of the ring, but Maekawa runs in and hoots Momo out of the ring as well. Maekawa then kicks Nanae out of the ring and follows her out, as all four brawl on the floor. Maekawa grabs she chairs and throws them in the ring for Hotta, Momo is slid back in and Hotta puts her on the second turnbuckle. Hotta joins her and hits a German suplex down onto the pile of chairs, cover by Hotta but the referee is not interested in counting due to all the cheating. Nanae runs in and lariats Hotta, Momo and Hotta trade elbows until Hotta punches her in the face and hits a Liger Bomb for a two count. Hotta picks up Momo but Momo gets away, punch by Hotta as Maekawa runs in but Maekawa boots Hotta by accident. German suplex by Nanae to Hotta, Momo jackknifes over Hotta as she picks up a two count. Momo☆OK by Momo and she hits a second one, but Hotta kicks out of the cover. Momo☆Latch by Momo, but Hotta barely gets a shoulder up. Momo picks up Hotta she is hit by a fireball from Hotta’s help at ringside, Hotta picks up Momo and drops her with the Pyramid Driver. Momo comes back with another Momo☆OK but Hotta hits her with the chain. Pyramid Driver by Hotta, but Momo gets a shoulder up on the pin attempt. Hotta picks up Momo but Momo elbows her, Nanae tries to help but Hotta swats her away. A Momo☆Latch gets a two count, Hotta gets Momo up on her shoulder and she nails a Pyramid Driver EX for the three count! Hotta and Maekawa are the winners!

I don’t even know where to begin for a match like this. It had an old school feel, lots of being stubborn and generally not selling things nearly long enough considering what they were doing to each other. Hotta has a reputation as being a selfish worker, likely deserved, and its just odd watching her as its like a relic from the old days where wrestlers didn’t want to ever look weak. She wasn’t uncooperative, she just wasn’t putting a lot of effort into making her opponents look good. Momo and Nanae were the better team as they were putting a lot more effort into making the match entertaining, Maekawa was fine but was mostly just doing kicks and otherwise letting Hotta do the heavy lifting. I enjoyed parts of it, rolled my eyes during other parts and scratched my head more than once, just an oddly put together match. More good than bad for sure but not exactly a classic, watching Hotta is a bit of a chore in of itself unless she is in the ring with someone that doesn’t put up with her shit, which wasn’t really an option for Momo and Nanae. Maybe worth a watch but mostly for Momo and Nanae.  Mildly Recommended

The post AtoZ “1st Anniversary Mainstream” on 7/19/04 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

As I have mentioned in past reviews, I am bouncing around trying to watch as many different Joshi promotions as I can, which today happens to be Pro-Wrestling SUN. SUN was a sister promotion of ZERO1 from 2006 to 2009, featuring mostly Freelancers but they did have two of their own affiliated wrestlers – Hikaru and Saki Maemura. Nanae Takahashi and Natsuki Taiyo were regulars as well for much of the promotion’s early run and both were prominently featured on this show. Here is the full card:

• Saki Maemura vs. Toshie Uematsu
• World-1 Women’s Championship: Kyoko Kimura vs. Natsuki Taiyo
• Jaguar Yokota and El Blazer vs. Panther Crow and Steve Corino
• EWA World Women’s Championship: Hikaru vs. Cheerleader Melissa
• AWA World Women’s Championship: Nanae Takahashi vs. Wesna Busic vs. Amazing Kong

Now I should just warn up front, SUN didn’t really have much of a TV deal and not many of their events aired. This event was crammed down to a one hour show, so some of the matches will be heavily clipped, including one of the matches I was most looking forward to. Thus is life.

Saki Maemura vs. Toshie Uematsu

Maemura slaps Uematsu’s face before the match starts but then turns her back, allowing Uematsu to hit a dragon suplex hold. Uematsu gets a pair of scissors and tries to cut off Maemura’s outfit, but Maemura slides away and kicks the scissors out of her hand. Dragon suplex hold by Maemura, but Uematsu gets a shoulder up so she hits rolling German suplexes for another two. Uematsu bails out of the ring, Maemura goes up top but Uematsu spits water in her face and pushes her back into the ring. Missile dropkick by Uematsu and she hits a superkick, Uematsu goes up top but Maemura gets her feet up on the dive. Uematsu lands on her feet and goes for another top rope move but Maemura dropkicks her while she is on the way down. Another dropkick by Maemura and she hits a swinging neckbreaker. Fisherman suplex hold by Maemura, but it gets a two count. Maemura goes off the ropes and rolls up Uematsu for two, she then puts her onto the top turnbuckle but Uematsu blocks the Frankensteiner. Missile dropkick by Uematsu and she hits a German suplex hold, but Maemura kicks out. Dragon suplex hold by Uematsu but she lets go of the hold so she can nail a wrist-clutch Fisherman Buster for the three count!

A good way to kick off the event. This was clipped in half or so but everything they showed was on point, Maemura didn’t have a career of note but she was a very solid wrestler with good looking suplexes and showed quite a bit of fire. Uematsu was good too of course, and there was never a dull moment in what they decided to show us. A nice start, just too clipped to recommend.

(c) Natsuki Taiyo vs. Kyoko Kimura

Natsuki attacks Kyoko before the match starts and dropkicks her out of the ring, but Kyoko throws her into a row of chairs and stacks up chairs on the floor. She tries to suplex Natsuki on the chairs but Natsuki reverses it with a DDT. Back in the ring, Kyoko has managed to get a weapon and hits Natsuki with it, they leave the ring again and Kyoko beats Natsuki up into the crowd. A table is set up under the balcony, Kimura climbs on top of it as Natsuki is put on the table and dives down onto her opponent (table doesn’t break of course). Kimura gets a chain and wraps it around Natsuki’s neck before throwing her down the stairs. Natsuki is bleeding by now as Kyoko continues carrying her around the crowd, they finally get back in the ring and Kyoko rakes Natsuki’s face with a barbed wire stick. With the chain still wrapped around Natsuki’s neck, Kyoko hits her with it once but Natsuki ducks the next attempt. Kyoko knocks her to the mat anyway, she takes off the chain and slams Natsuki onto a stack of chairs before hitting her with one.

Kyoko tries to hit Natsuki with the barbed wire stick but Natsuki ducks it and kicks a chair into her. Powerbomb by Natsuki into the stack of chairs, Kyoko crawls to the corner to get her chain however and she hits Natsuki in the head with it. More chairs are put on the mat as Kyoko picks up Natsuki and suplexes her onto the stack for a two count. Natsuki sneaks in a sunset flip by Kyoko gets out of it by hitting her with a chair, she slams her into the chair stack and puts a chair on her chest before going up top, but Natsuki gets up quickly and hits an avalanche armdrag onto a chair. La Magistral by Natsuki, but it gets a two. Natsuki goes off the ropes but Kyoko hits a chokebomb onto the chairs. Kyoko’s friend tries to help but it backfires, Natsuki goes for the Yoshi Tonic but Kyoko blocks it and drops Natsuki onto a chair. Kimura gets the chain and wraps it around Natsuki’s neck, Natsuki gets away and goes up top but Kyoko pulls on the chain to send her back to the mat. Big Boot by Kimura, but Natsuki kicks out of the cover. Kyoko picks up Natsuki and literally hangs her over the top rope, she struggles for a brief moment but quickly submits! Your winner and new champion: Kyoko Kimura!

This match seemed way too violent to be this early on the card. I mean the match was very good and was shown almost in full, it was non-stop violence from Kyoko with Natsuki just trying to survive. Some of the chain offense was just brutal, then the balcony dive, barbed wire…. it was something else. Natsuki is so small and looks like a child, plus she has great selling so you really get behind her to defeat Kyoko, and even though it didn’t happen the journey was still fun. I really liked the match, it just wasn’t what I was expecting, definitely worth watching if you don’t mind a little blood in your wrasslin. Recommended

Jaguar Yokota and El Blazer vs. Panther Crow and Steve Corino

Blazer and Corino start the match and trade chops, Blazer flips away from Corino and hits a headscissors, Corino calls out of the ring and Blazer does a fake dive as Corino bails from ringside. Corino returns as Yokota comes in the ring, Yokota won’t shake his hand so he tags in Panther. Wristlock by Panther but Yokota avoids her Space Rolling Something in the corner and slaps her. Panther hits the Space Rolling Elbow on her second try and hits a modified STO before covering Yokota for two. Panther puts Yokota on the top turnbuckle but Blazer knocks her down with a rope running dropkick. Corino scoop slams Yokota but Blazer knocks him out of the ring with a swandive dropkick. Yokota suplexes Panther off the top turnbuckle and then hits a Fisherman Buster for the three count! Yokota and El Blazer are the winners.

Believe it or not this match went 18 minutes and was clipped down to about…. three. Which may be for the best although I still would have liked to see more of it just to see El Blazer and Yokota interact more. More bizarre than anything else.

(c) Hikaru vs. Cheerleader Melissa

Hikaru spears Melissa as soon as the match begins and dropkicks her into the corner, she goes for another spear but Melissa knees her in the head and Hikaru rolls out of the ring. Melissa goes out after her and throws her into the chairs at ringside, but when she tries again it is reversed. Melissa slams Hikaru onto the table before rolling her back into the ring and hitting a Curb Stomp before raking at Hikaru’s face. Melissa’s friends (including Panther Crow) come in the ring and they all attack Hikaru in the corner, German suplex hold by Melissa but it gets a two count. Melissa goes up top but Hikaru slaps her and joins her so she can hit an avalanche Falcon Arrow. They trade elbows as they get up, Melissa goes off the ropes but Hikaru catches her with a lariat. Fisherman Driver by Hikaru, but the cover is broken up as Melissa gets more help. Butterfly Effect by Melissa, she covers Hikaru but Hikaru gets a foot on the ropes. She goes for another one but Hikaru flips out of it and hits a Backstabber. Quick roll-up by Hikaru and she gets the three count! Hikaru is still the champion.

This was pretty clipped up, what they showed us was good but not outstanding. A bit too much interference, which is mostly annoying because Melissa doesn’t need it, Hikaru’s comebacks were all fine but due to clipping it was hard to get emotionally invested in the match. A so-so match with not a lot shown and a quick ending that wasn’t overly satisfying.

Nanae Takahashi vs. Wesna Busic vs. Amazing Kong

Kong and Busic work together to start to double team Takahashi, kick by Busic and Kong knocks down Takahashi with a lariat. Kong hits Busic by accident, giving Takahashi a chance to hit her with a sidewalk slam. Dropkick by Takahashi to Busic and she puts Kong in a armtrap crossface, Busic tries to break it up for some reason but Takahashi puts her in a figure four while keeping Kong in the crossface. Back up, Takahashi goes for a springboard double armdrag but the Gaijin block it and kick her to the mat. Kong gets on the second turnbuckle but Takahashi avoids the diving, Busic slam Takahashi and applies a bridge but Kong knocks down the referee so he can’t make the count. Busic and Kong argue over who should pin Takahashi, Takahashi tosses Busic out to the apron and shoulderblocks Kong. Busic goes up top but Takahashi joins her, Kong grabs Takahashi from behind and powerbombs her to the mat. Takahashi goes off the ropes but Kong blocks the Shining Wizard, Busic is back and kicks Takahashi before hitting a swinging side slam in front of the corner. Cover by Busic, but Kong comes down onto both of them with a diving body press. Double underhook facebuster by Kong to Takahashi, but the cover gets two. Spinning backfist by Kong to Takahashi but Takahashi hits a cutter, Takahashi then back bodydrops Kong out of the ring before diving out onto Busic with a tope suicida. Kong comes in with a chair, she gives it to Busic but Busic hits Kong with it. Small Package by Busic to Kong for two, Takahashi then rolls up Kong and Busic joins in with a jackknife as they keep down Kong for the three count! Kong is eliminated from the match.

Takahashi charges Busic in the corner but she jumps out to the apron and Busic hits a lariat. Busic then pulls Takahashi out to the apron with her, she picks her up and drops Takahashi with a back to belly piledriver. Busic gets Takahashi back into the ring and hits a Styles Clash, cover by Busic but it gets a two. Busic goes for another back to belly piledriver but Takahashi blocks it and rolls up Busic for two. Busic goes up top and goes for a cannonball, but Takahashi catches her and hits a powerbomb. Shining Wizard by Takahashi and she hits a jumping kick to the head, Takahashi goes off the ropes but Busic catches her with a Death Valley Bomb. Big boot by Busic but Takahashi fires back with a lariat. Heel kick by Busic but Takahashi palm thrusts her into the corner. Takahashi puts Busic on the top turnbuckle, she gets her in the Muscle Buster position and drops Busic with a Nanaracka*100 for the three count! Takahashi is your new champion!

Three way matches are generally not great, they need a really tight structure or they tend to suffer from illogical moments or wrestlers ‘disappearing’ for awhile when it isn’t their turn. This match didn’t have a lot of disappearing but it did lack logical in times, since it was elimination rules it didn’t make a lot of sense for Kong and Busic to be breaking up each other’s pins and the main story of the match was them bickering. Which is ok for a cute opening match but seems a bit below the main event title match of an event. The match got better when it was just Busic and Takahashi, however that only lasted a couple minutes. Overall a disappointing main event, any combination of these three in a singles match would have been a lot better.

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Let’s jump back to some AJW, but not to classic AJW but rather ‘towards the end of its life’ AJW. By 2004, AJW wasn’t doing well. The heyday of arenas full of tens of thousands of people was long gone, as AJW lost its regular TV slot in 2002 and had struggled to keep their head above water with the lost revenue. The promotion still had quality wrestlers for sure, but none that really captured the hearts of fans like The Crush Gals, Manami Toyota, Jaguar Yokota, and all the stars that at one time made AJW one of the most successful promotions in the world. I picked this show intentionally as it had a big title match plus three matches with young wrestlers versus veterans which tend to be pretty entertaining. Plus we have two Tag League the Best Tournament matches and baby Kana! Here is the full card:

• Rising Generation 1: Takako Inoue vs. Haruka Matsuo
• Tag League the Best First Round: Yumiko Hotta and Kana vs. Tomoko Watanabe and Emi Tojo
• Tag League the Best First Round: The Bloody and Fang Suzuki vs. Dump Matsumoto and Sasori
• Rising Generation 2: Momoe Nakanishi vs. Saki Maemura
• Rising Generation 3: Lioness Asuka vs. Hikaru
• Kumiko Maekawa vs. Amazing Kong
• WWWA World Championship: Ayako Hamada vs. Nanae Takahashi

I am sure some of this event will be clipped, but we’ll see which matches are as we get into it.

Takako Inoue vs. Haruka Matsuo

They jockey to start, Haruka avoids Takako’s boot and she hits a springboard armdrag off the ropes. Stomps by Haruka and she applies a seated armbar, but Takako gets into the ropes. Dropkicks by Haruka but Takako shrugs them off and plants the youngster with a DDT. Double underhook suplex by Takako and she applies a leg submission, but Haruka makes it into the ropes. Haruka goes for a crossbody by Takako catches her on the first attempt and ducks the second one before leveling Haruka with a high kick. Avalanche chokeslam of sorts by Takako, but Haruka barely kicks out of the cover. Haruka avoids Takako’s dive off the top turnbuckle and hits a hurricanrana, dropkick by Haruka and she hits a missile dropkick. She hits another missile dropkick, cover by Haruka but it gets two as does the Northern Lights Suplex. High kick by Takako, she picks up Haruka and hits a snap backdrop suplex hold for a two count. Spinning backfist by Takako, but again Haruka gets a shoulder up. Haruka slaps Takako and applies a wing clutch hold for a two count, she goes up top and delivers a diving body press before hitting a German suplex hold for two. Takako’s Night Night by Takako, she goes up top and hits the Takako Panic for the three count! Your winner is Takako Inoue!

One of the benefits of this series being young wrestlers but not rookies is that we get real match. Takako looked great here as she was on point with all her offense but still gave Haruka enough that both came out looking fine. Not a very long match and it might have been clipped a bit, but a fun way to kick off the show.  Mildly Recommended

Yumiko Hotta and Kana vs. Tomoko Watanabe and Emi Tojo

Kana and Watanabe start the match as Kana quickly hits a trio of dropkicks, but Watanabe dropkicks her back and hits a scoop slam. Rebound elbow drop by Watanabe, Tojo runs in and hits a body press before Watanabe covers her for two. Watanabe works over Kana on the mat, and we clip ahead to Kana kicking Watanabe in the corner. That doesn’t last long as Watanabe fights back, Tojo comes in and Kana is double teamed in the corner. Watanabe suplexes Tojo onto Kana, Tojo stays in and applies a headlock to Kana but Kana fires off some elbows and hits a dropkick. The young pair jockey for position on the mat until Tojo hits a quick suplex. Tojo tags in Watanabe, sunset flip by Kana but Watanabe grabs the ropes. Hotta comes in and hits a heel kick on Watanabe, Watanabe hits a back bodydrop but Kana dropkicks Watanabe. Watanabe knocks them both back with a springboard double elbow but Hotta grabs her and hits a Tiger Driver for a two count. Hotta tags Kana by slapping her, missile dropkick by Kana but Watanabe kicks her in the chest. Dropkick by Kana but Watanabe fires back with a lariat for a two count. Watanabe tags Tojo, knees by Tojo in the corner and she hits a dropkick. Scoop slam by Tojo but Kana dropkicks her, back bodydrop by Tojo but Kana dropkicks her again and covers her for two. Tojo and Kana trade elbows, Kana goes off the ropes and she hits three hip attacks for a two count. Tojo and Kana trade slaps, roll-up by Kana but Watanabe comes in and Kana is double teamed. Tojo gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, but Kana makes the tag to Hotta. Dropkicks by Tojo to Hotta but Hotta hits a double face crusher, Tojo blocks the Tiger Driver and Watanabe comes in to kick Hotta in the chest. Tojo goes for a sunset flip by Hotta sits on her chest to block it, Hotta picks up Tojo but Watanabe knocks her over. Shining Wizard by Tojo to Hotta, but it only gets a two count. Tojo goes off the ropes but Watanabe hits a palm thrust, Hotta knocks Watanabe to the mat and then hits a Tiger driver on Tojo for the three count! Hotta and Kana win the match and move on in the tournament.

Good, but not great. It was fun to see Kana in her first year, still a bit rough around the edges and not at all like what she is today, but with some glimpses of skill and fire like you want to see in wrestlers early in their career. The match was just a bit too random and had no flow whatsoever, most of it was just them taking turns hitting moves on each other without a sense that either team had a strategy. The clipping may be slightly to blame but the match was probably like that in full as well. The action was generally solid so no complaints there, it just lacked something special to make it a memorable match or to feel like an important tournament match.

The Bloody and Fang Suzuki vs. Dump Matsumoto and Sasori

Matsumoto attacks Bloody before the match starts and the action immediately spills outside of the ring, with Matsumoto’s friends helping as well. Matsumoto and Bloody finally get in the ring with Matsumoto’s masked friend doing a bulk of the work, Suzuki comes in but Matsumoto quickly knocks her back out. Sasori comes in and trades elbows with Bloody, Matsumoto hits Bloody with kendo stick but Suzuki hits Sasori with a chair. Bloody tags Suzuki and Suzuki hits Sasori with a chair, but the masked friend returns and takes it from her. She then hits Suzuki with the chair as Suzuki is triple teamed in the corner. Sasori bites Bloody in the head and hits a hard elbow, cover by Sasori but it gets two. Matsumoto comes in and hits Bloody with the kendo stick, Bloody sneaks in a sunset flip but it only gets two. Sasori suplexes Bloody, the masked woman comes in and she hits a suplex to Suzuki. Matsumoto hits everyone with a paint can, including the referee (well especially the referee), but Suzuki comes in with a chair and hits Sasori in the head. Bloody gets Sasori in the corner and chokes her, snap backdrop suplex by Suzuki and Bloody hits a diving senton off the rope. Bloody is pulled outside the ring and attacked, at some point in all this the referee wakes and DQs Matsumoto and Sasori. Bloody and Suzuki move on in the tournament.

So this was an experience. I knew that it would be a brawl but it was one of those types where Matsumoto never even left the ring and just interfered whenever she felt like it. At least they did get DQed, unlike the old days, but it still wasn’t really a match in the traditional sense of the word. None of these four by 2004 were great wrestlers in the traditional sense of the word but the brawl just wasn’t heated enough to make up for it. Interesting perhaps, but still not something I could really recommended.

Momoe Nakanishi vs. Saki Maemura

Momoe and Saki get right into it with no wasted time, quick dropkick by Momoe and the pair trade elbows back and forth until Saki throws down Momoe by her hair. She does it again and hits a few snapmares before applying a sleeper, bodyscissors by Saki but Momoe gets out of it and delivers with a dropkick. Momoe goes up top and hits a missile dropkick but Saki hits a rebound crossbody out of the corner for two. Saki goes up top but Momoe hits her and joins her. Saki slides off and dropkicks Momoe, release German by Saki and she hits a missile dropkick. Saki dropkicks Momoe out of the ring, she then goes up top and hits a diving crossbody down to the floor. Saki slides Momoe back in but Momoe hits a dropkick, Saki falls out of the ring and Momoe goes for a moonsault, but Saki moves out of the way. Dropkick by Saki from the apron, she slides Momoe back in and hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Fisherman suplex by Saki, but Momoe gets a shoulder up again. Saki goes up top but Momoe gets her feet up on the diving body press attempt, quick roll-up by Saki gets a two. She tries another one with the same result, double underhook suplex by Momoe but it gets a two. Momoe goes up top and hits a missile dropkick but Saki comes back with a German suplex hold. German suplex hold by Momoe but Saki blocks the dragon suplex attempt and the two trade pick pins. Saki goes off the ropes but Momoe catches her with a Momo☆OK, a second Momo☆OK by Momoe and she picks up the three count!  Momoe Nakanishi is the winner.

A very high speed match and a hell of a sprint, both hit a million dropkicks and were flying around everywhere. It still had some big moves, with a dive by Saki and a dropkick off the apron, but most of it was focused between the ropes. There wasn’t a lot in terms of things like long term selling as they were going too fast to worry about such things, but for a shorter match it worked fine. A good display by both and overall enjoyable.  Mildly Recommended

Lioness Asuka vs. Hikaru

Asuka shows immediately that she has not mellowed with age, as she attacks Hikaru during the handshake and then sprays green mist in her face. Snapmares and kicks by Asuka, she gets her table and catapults it into Hikaru’s face. Asuka’s posse helps (as if she needed it) as Hikaru falls outside of the ring to be tended to by her corners. Asuka goes out to get her and rams her head into the table, Asuka charges Hikaru and lariats her against the table before rolling her back into the ring. Hikaru is then attacked with chairs as Hikaru is now bleeding, Blue Thunder Driver by Asuka but the referee won’t count it due to all the cheating. Asuka doesn’t care and starts choking Hikaru, knee drops by Asuka but Hikaru finally fights back with elbows. She bounces off the ropes but is tripped from ringside, Asuka grabs Hikaru and puts her in the Tree of Woe. Sliding dropkicks to Hikaru and Asuka puts her in a modified Camel Clutch. Hikaru manages to hit a big spear, knees by Asuka and she kicks Hikaru in the head. The table is propped up in the corner but Hikaru knocks Asuka back and hits a missile dropkick. Hikaru charges Asuka but Asuka moves so Hikaru runs into the table. Asuka puts the table onto Hikaru, she gets on the top turnbuckle and she hits a diving footstomp onto the table. Liger Bomb by Asuka, but Hikaru gets a shoulder up. Asuka gets Hikaru on her shoulders but she slides away and goes up top. Asuka joins her but Hikaru knocks her back down and and hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Asuka elbows Hikaru but Hikaru hits a spear, Hikaru picks up Asuka and she hits a Samoan Drop for a two count. Spinebuster by Hikaru, she picks up Asuka as Asuka’s friend comes in, but the friend hits Asuka with the chair by accident. Fisherman Driver by Hikaru, but Asuka gets a toe on the ropes. Hikaru goes to pick up Asuka but Asuka throws a fireball at her face, Hikaru rolls out of the ring and Asuka throws her into the stands. Asuka goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving footstomp through the table (and obviously Hikaru), she slides Hikaru back in and she nails the Towerhacker Bomb, but Hikaru gets a shoulder up. Asuka goes for the LSD II, but Hikaru blocks it and rolls up Asuka for two. Heel kick by Asuka and she hits a second one, but Hikaru kicks out. Hikaru slaps Asuka but Asuka slaps her back and hits the LSD III for the three count! Lioness Asuka wins!

I love Asuka, here she was just a few months from retiring due neck injuries but she was holding nothing back to put on a good show. Diving footstomps through tables, fireballs, it was fun to watch. Asuka has a reputation as being a selfish worker, mostly deserved, but she wasn’t here as Hikaru kicked out of some of her bigger moves and had several close nearfalls against the Joshi legend. It was constant action with no wasted time, from the first misting to the final LSD something was always happening. A really solid match and to me just further cements Asuka’s place as one of the top Joshi wrestlers of all time.  Recommended

Kumiko Maekawa vs. Amazing Kong

Maekawa and Kong lock knuckles, chops by Kong and she lariats Maekawa to the mat. Maekawa gets back up and puts Kong in a seated armbar, but Kong gets a foot onto the ropes to break the hold. Kicks by Maekawa but she lets up Kong while smiling, Kong avoids the next kick however and she tosses Maekawa out of the ring. She goes out after her but Maekawa rolls in real quick, Maekawa kicks Kong as she gets on the apron and exits the ring to throw Kong into the guard rail. Maekawa battles Kong around the ring but Kong regains the advantage and throws Maekawa into the railing. Vertical suplex by Kong on the floor and she goes for a powerbomb, but Maekawa slides away and drop toeholds Kong onto some chairs. Maekawa slides Kong back in and hits a heel drop in the corner, Calf Branding by Maekawa and she covers Kong for two.

Kong fires back with a lariat and hits a double underhook facebuster, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving bodypress for a two count. Kong goes for a powerbomb but Maekawa gets out of it and hits a leg sweep. She goes off the ropes but Kong hits a lariat, Maekawa kips up however and delivers a heel kick for two. Kong finally hits the powerbomb, but the cover only gets a two count. Heel Drop by Maekawa, but Kong barely kicks out. Maekawa picks up Kong but she blocks the next Heel Drop attempt, quick roll-up by Maekawa but Kong kicks out. Kong returns the favor with her own roll-up for two, she picks up Maekawa but Maekawa blocks the spinning backfist. Kong finally hits one but Maekawa comes back with a high kick as they trade strikes back and forth. Back kick by Maekawa and she hits a rolling heel kick, she goes for a boot in the corner but Kong avoids it and applies a backslide for two. Sit-down Powerbomb by Kong, she picks up Maekawa and clubs her in the face. Kong goes up to the second turnbuckle and hits a diving legdrop, she gets on the second turnbuckle again but Maekawa avoids the diving bodypress. Kicks to the head by Maekawa but Kong sneaks in an inside cradle for two. Heel Drop by Maekawa, but Kong kicks out of the pin. Another Heel Drop by Maekawa, and this time she gets the three count! Maekawa is the winner.

Definitely an interesting match. It was odd seeing the monster Kong being the one going for sneaky pins while Maekawa was content in kicking the hell out of her. I love Maekawa’s Heel Drops, she gets so much elevation on her kick, I’ve never seen anything like it. Only issue it that she was so dominating that I never really brought into Kong winning as even though she hit her powerbomb you knew it would take more than that. Lots of hard strikes and solid action, it just had too much meandering brawling and not enough emotion.

(c) Ayako Hamada vs. Nanae Takahashi

They shake hands but Hamada grabs Takahashi and hits a quick powerbomb. Superkick by Hamada and a heel kick, and she delivers the AP Cross for a two count. Back up Hamada hits another heel kick, but Takahashi ducks the next one and hits a backdrop suplex. Another backdrop suplex by Takahashi and she hits a lariat before delivering a Nana☆Racka for two. Dropkick by Takahashi but Hamada returns fire. Hamada and Takahashi trade elbows as they return to their feet, Hamada charges Takahashi but Takahashi dumps her out of the ring. Plancha suicida by Takahashi, she rolls Hamada back in the ring but Hamada avoids the reverse splash. Hamada goes for a moonsault but Takahashi gets her feet up and hits a release German suplex. Takahashi goes up top but Hamada smacks her and joins her, hitting an Avalanche Frankensteiner down to the floor. Both wrestlers are hurt but Hamada is up first and slides Takahashi back in the ring, missile dropkick by Hamada and she hits a sit-down powerbomb for two. Takahashi rolls out of the ring, still in a good amount of pain, but Hamada goes out after her and hits her with a set of chairs. Vertical suplex by Hamada and she climbs up onto the stage, and she hits a moonsault down onto Takahashi. They battle up onto the balcony, Hamada tries to throw her off but Takahashi blocks it and slides her over the edge.

Hamada hangs for a moment before falling down to the floor, Takahashi then climbs to the other side of the railing and jumps down onto Hamada. So far this match is just a series of big spots but I love it. Takahashi tosses Hamada around the ring before they get up on the apron, Hamada gets a chair but tosses it at Takahashi and pretends like Takahashi hit her. The referee fusses at her, giving Hamada time to roll the ring, she then dropkicks Takahashi off the apron and goes for a moonsault, but Takahashi side steps it and puts Hamada on the apron. Takahashi then grabs Hamada and hits a vertical suplex off the apron down to the floor, she puts her back in the ring and hits a backdrop suplex for two. Big lariat by Takahashi, footstomp by Takahashi and she hits a Nana☆Racka for two. Hamada goes for a kick but Takahashi catches it and suplexes her to the mat. Lariat by Takahashi but Hamada sneaks in an inside cradle for a two count. Another lariat by Takahashi but Hamada springs back up just to eat another one. La Magistral by Hamada, but Takahashi gets a shoulder up. Enzuigiri by Hamada but Takahashi slides away from the powerbomb attempt. Dropkick by Hamada, she picks up Takahashi and hits the Pyramid Driver for a two count. AP Cross by Hamada, but Takahashi barely gets a shoulder up. Hamada kicks Takahashi in the head and she puts Takahashi in a backslide for two. Running slap by Hamada and she hits two heel kicks, AP Cross by Hamada but Takahashi kicks out. Lariat by Takahashi and she hits a Nana☆Racka, but it only gets a one. Takahashi charges Hamada but Hamada catches her and hits a AP Cross Diamond for two. Takahashi comes back with a jumping knee, Takahashi goes up top but Hamada joins her, she goes for a cutter but Takahashi blocks it and slides off. Hamada kicks Takahashi back but Takahashi punches her back and gets her in the Muscle Buster position. Nana Racka II by Takahashi, and she picks up the three count! Takahashi is the new champion!

Well that was one hell of a spotfest, just twenty minutes of them doing big moves until finally someone did a move strong enough to keep the other down. Which in a way is the problem with a match like this, the Nana Racka II is a great move but after everything that had been done it seemed almost anti-climatic. But they did two very similar bumps to the Kobashi/Akiyama match, which I doubt was a coincidence as that was the ‘big match’ of the year that had happened six months prior. It was certainly exciting as they kept ramping up the violence and there was never a dull moment, definitely worth tracking down for the “oh shit” moments if nothing else, and Hamada was on another level back in 2004.  Recommended

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