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

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

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

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

Miyuki Takase vs. Natsu Sumire
Exhibition Match

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

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

Momoka Hanazono vs. Tae Honma

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Kaho Kobayashi

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

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

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

ASUKA and Yuu vs. SAKI and Saori Anou

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Full Details

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

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

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

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

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

Event: Ice Ribbon New Ice Ribbon #1101 ~ Yokohama Ribbon 2021
Date: February 23rd, 2021
Location: Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Announced Attendance: 150
Broadcast Information: Streamed Live on Nico Nico PPV

It has been awhile since I checked in with Ice Ribbon, so let’s see what they are up to. Like with all promotions, 2020 was challenging for Ice Ribbon but they pushed through to still put on a lot of events and grew their International fan base in the process as they made most of their shows easily accessible. They continued that momentum in 2021 and started to have PPVs more often, which this event was, on Nico Nico. There is only one title on the line on this show, with Tsukushi Haruka taking on Thekla in the main event, but all the major wrestlers in the promotion are present. Here is the full card:

• Akane Fujita, Risa Sera, and Yappy vs. Banny Oikawa, Hiragi Kurumi, and Tae Honma
• Hamuko Hoshi vs. Miku Aono vs. Mochi Miyagi
• Rina Yamashita and Yuuki Mashiro vs. Saori Anou and Suzu Suzuki
• Maika Ozaki, Maya Yukihi, and Ram Kaicho vs. Matsuya Uno, Totoro Satsuki, and Tsukasa Fujimoto
• IW-19 Championship: Tsukushi Haruka vs. Thekla

All wrestlers have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go to it. As this aired on PPV, all matches will be shown in full.

Akane Fujita, Risa Sera, and Yappy vs. Oikawa, Kurumi, and Honma

Team Yappy attacks before the match and triple team their opponents, as they all stack on Tae and Banny for a two count cover. Risa and Banny stay in as the legal wrestlers as Risa puts Banny in the Rocking Horse until Tae and Kurumi break it up. Double knee to the back by Risa and she covers Banny for two. Risa tags Akane, Akane throws Banny into the corner and hits a running shoulderblock. Elbow drop by Akane and she covers Banny for a two count. Akane tags Yappy but Banny throws Yappy into the corner, Banny charges Yappy but Yappy bumps her back and chokes her while sitting on the top turnbuckle. Yappy sits on Banny, but Banny kicks out of the cover. Irish whip by Yappy but Banny dropkicks her and makes the hot tag to Kurumi. Kurumi shoulderblocks Yappy, Akane and Risa come in to help but Kurumi throws them into each other. They try to knock over Kurumi but Kurumi hits a double lariat, she goes back to Yappy but Yappy blocks the powerbomb attempt and hits a back bodydrop. Leg drops by Yappy and she covers Kurumi for two. Yappy tags Risa, running elbow by Risa in the corner but Kurumi blocks the suplex attempt and the two trade elbows. Kurumi jumps on Risa’s back but Risa hits a Schwein for a two count cover. Risa picks up Kurumi but Kurumi throws her into the corner, body avalanche by Kurumi and she dropkicks Risa in the head.

Kurumi tags Tae, Banny comes in too and they double team Risa. Tae puts Risa in a kneelock but Risa gets to the ropes for the break, kicks to the leg by Tae and she dropkicks Risa in the knee. Risa gets away from her and puts Tae in an elevated crab hold, she flips Tae up and powerbombs her in the corner before hitting a running double knee strike. Reverse double knee drop by Risa out of the corner, Akane is tagged in and she joins Risa in shoulderblocking Tae. Akane slams Tae to the mat and covers her, but it gets two. Tae gets Akane down with a Fujiwara Armbar but Akane gets a foot on the ropes for the break, DDT by Tae and she covers Akane for a two count. Tae tags Banny, dropkick by Banny in the corner and she applies a modified armbar. Banny switches it to a cross armbreaker attempt but Akane gets into the ropes for the break. Banny goes up top but Risa hits her from the apron, giving Akane time to recover. Akane gets Banny on her shoulders but Banny slides off. Akane sits on her however, she goes for a cover but Tae dropkicks Akane to break it up. Armtrap crossface by Banny to Akane, but Yappy breaks it up. Banny goes off the ropes but Akane hits a shoulderblock, Yappy runs in with a seated senton before Risa hits a diving double knee drop off the second rope. Texas Cloverleaf by Akane, but Kurumi breaks it up with a superkick. Banny picks up Akane and kicks her in the head, Akane fires back with a shoulderblock however and covers Banny for two. Powerslam by Akane and she puts Banny in a cross-arm Camel Clutch, leading to the tap out! Risa Sera, Akane Fujita, and Yappy are the winners.

A generally inoffensive opener. Not everyone in this match is a great wrestler… not naming names so that Ice Ribbon Twitter doesn’t come after me but at times the action dragged a little bit and there were some awkward moments. Risa Sera shined the brightest, which is no surprise since she is so good, and Tae looked solid when she was in the ring. Nothing memorable in the slightest but not the worst way to begin an event.

Hamuko Hoshi vs. Miku Aono vs. Mochi Miyagi

All three circle to start, Miku is singled out first by the friends Mochi and Hamuko as they double team her in the corner. Double Irish whip to Miku but Miku rolls away and does the Hamuko pose on the mat. Mochi and Hamuko get on the mat and pose as well, they trade schoolboy covers but no one gets the three count and they end up posing again. Mochi and Hamuko go back to double teaming Miku before turning attention to each other, they both try to shoulderblock each other over until Hamuko finally sends Mochi to the mat. Crab hold by Hamuko but Miku interrupts things and trades strikes with Mochi. Dropkick by Miku in the corner and she kicks Mochi in the back a few times. Crab hold by Miku but Hamuko breaks it up, Hamuko throws Miku into the corner and rubs her belly on her. Miku goes for a scoop slam by Hamuko blocks it, Miku eventually delivers the slam anyway and applies a leg submission hold. Mochi helps as she rakes at Hamuko’s face, they both release Hamuko before Mochi attacks Miku from behind and covers both of them for two.

Hamuko recovers and she and Mochi both hit body avalanches on Miku, Mochi slams Hamuko onto Miku and both wrestlers try to cover Miku with no luck. Hamuko and Mochi push each other which gives Miku time to cover and hit a lariat on both of them. High kick by Miku on Hamuko and she lariats Mochi for a two count. Suplex by Miku to Mochi, but Hamuko breaks it up. Miku and Hamuko wait for Mochi to get up and both hit lariats, they go for a double vertical suplex but Mochi blocks it and DDTs both of them. Mochi positions Miku and Hamuko near the corner and goes for a Reverse Splash, but Hamuko moves and Mochi only ends up hitting Miku. Footstomp by Mochi to Miku, but Hamuko breaks up the cover. Body avalanche by Hamuko to Mochi and she nails the Shining Onaka for a two count. Hamuko goes off the ropes but Mochi hits the Lou Thesz Press, also getting a two count. Miku runs in but she gets a Lou Thesz Press as well, Mochi goes back to Hamuko but Hamuko reverses the press into a cradle for two. Onna no Shuunen (modified cradle) by Hamuko to Mochi, and she picks up the three count! Hamuko Hoshi is the winner.

My issues with Hamuko have probably been stated enough – she’s a solid enough wrestler but the blurry line between comedy and non-comedy makes it hard for me to take her seriously. Mochi is a hair better but not by much, so the ceiling for their matches for me is “mindless fun.” This match didn’t even reach that level as with the three way match rules it was just random offense with some mixed in flash pins with little of substance. I wouldn’t necessarily say the match was “bad” but it definitely was meaningless.

Rina Yamashita and Mashiro vs. Saori Anou and Suzu Suzuki

Rina and Suzu start the match, Suzu works a headlock but Rina Irish whips out of it and avoids Suzu’s dropkick. Headlock by Rina, Suzu gets out of it but Rina hits a hard shoulderblock. Rina poses which gives Suzu time to kick her from behind, and both wrestlers tag out. Saori and Mashiro circle each other, Mashiro asks for a knucklelock and gets it, which quickly backfires. Saori dances on Mashiro’s hands and throws her into the corner, Irish whip by Saori and she elbows Mashiro in the corner. Rina runs in and attacks Saori from behind, Rina jumps on Mashiro’s back but Mashiro collapses. Saori stumps on Rina and goes back to Mashiro, putting her in a chinlock. Stretch hold by Saori, Rina comes in but Suzu takes care of her. Saori lets go of Mashiro and tags Suzu, dropkick to the back by Suzu and she covers Mashiro for two. Suzu slams Mashiro repeatedly in the corner before driving her into the mat, she picks up Mashiro but Mashiro blocks the German suplex and dropkicks her in the back. This gives her time to tag in Rina, Suzu kicks Rina as Saori runs in but Rina suplexes both of them. Rina stomps on Suzu and goes for a suplex, but Suzu blocks it and elbows Rina in the chest. Rina elbows her back as they trade shots, Suzu goes for a high kick but Rina blocks it. Rina kicks Suzu in the head, cover by Rina but it gets a two count. Rina picks up Suzu but Suzu hits a jawbreaker and dropkicks Rina in the face for a two count. Irish whip by Suzu and she hits a spear, but that gets a two as well.

Suzu tags in Saori, Saori goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick. Saori charges Rina but Rina moves, Rina ducks the enzuigiri but Saori lands on her feet when Rina goes for a backdrop suplex. Anou boots Rina in the head before Suzu connects with a sliding dropkick from the apron, cover by Saori but it gets two. Rina kicks Saori but Saori delivers the enzuigiri, Rina fires back with a hard lariat however and both are down on the mat. Rina manages to tag Mashiro, Mashiro dropkicks Saori a few times and covers her for two. Mashiro gets on the second turnbuckle but Saori hits her before she can jump off, Rina grabs Saori from behind but Suzu then grabs Rina. They all end up on the mat except for Mashiro, Mashiro jumps down and picks up Saori, delivering a series of elbows. Boot by Saori, she picks up Mashiro but Mashiro blocks the Fisherman Suplex attempt. Rina cuts off Saori, giving Mashiro time to recover and apply an armlock. Suzu breaks it up, Mashiro gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving crossbody for two. Mashiro goes off the ropes but Saori catches her with a sidewalk slam, but Mashiro barely kicks out. Saori goes up top but Rina runs in and joins her, hitting a superplex. Rina picks up Mashiro but Suzu dropkicks Rina from behind, double Irish whip to Rina and she gets booted in the chest. Saori goes back to Mashiro and Mashiro quickly applies a few flash pins for a two count. Saori finally grabs Mashiro and delivers the Fisherman Suplex Hold, but Mashiro kicks out. Saori quickly applies the Potering, and she gets the three count!  Saori Anou and Suzu Suzuki are the winners.

It didn’t reach the heights I was hoping for, but a perfectly watchable midcard tag match. Really the main thing holding the match together was just the quality of the wrestlers themselves, as it was a bit disjointed at times and they didn’t seem to have a real structure planned. Part of that was Mashiro, who is obviously still a work in progress, but even when she wasn’t in the ring something really didn’t click. Some of the pairings were fun, particularly when Suzu squared off with Rina, and the ending was exciting. Still the best match on the card up to this point, but nothing they did really elevated it beyond just another midcard match.

Maika Ozaki, Yukihi, and Kaicho vs. Matsuya Uno, Satsuki, and Fujimoto

Maya and Tsukasa start the match, they trade wristlocks until Maya gets a headlock applied but Tsukasa Irish whips out of it. Back kick by Maya but Tsukasa hits an armdrag, Maya returns the favor and the two eventually reach a stalemate. Tsukasa dropkicks Maya in the corner and tags Totoro, Totoro goes for a slap but Maya blocks it and hits a drop toehold. Dropkick by Maya and she tags in Kaicho. Mounted elbows by Kaicho, Maya and Maika come in the ring and they triple team Totoro. Ram puts Totoro in a Camel Clutch with the help of Maika while Maya kicks Totoro in the face. Tsukasa eventually breaks things up, Kaicho goes off the ropes but Totoro catches her before dropping her to the mat. Totoro and her friends all stand on Kaicho’s back Totoro picks up Kaicho and slams her face into the mat. Totoro stands on Kaicho’s back before covering Kaicho for a two count. Totoro tags Matsuya and Matsuya puts Kaicho in a leglock, but Maya breaks it up. Matsuya grabs Kaicho and puts her in an abdominal stretch, but Kaicho gets into the ropes for the break. Kaicho chops Matsuya but Matsuya elbows her back and the two trade shots. Matsuya punches Kaicho into the corner, Irish whip by Matsuya but Kaicho kicks her back and hits a face crusher.

Kaicho can’t get to her corner as Matsuya puts her in an ankle hold, but Maika breaks it up. Dropkick by Kaicho and she finally makes it to her corner to tag Maya, kick to the chest by Maya and she puts Matsuya in an Anaconda Vice. Matsuya gets out of it and applies a Fujiwara Armbar, but Maya slides away. Matsuya re-applies the hold but Maya gets a foot on the ropes for the break, Matsuya goes off the ropes and hits a shoulder tackle but Maya trips her when she goes off the ropes again. Matsuya trips her back and applies an ankle hold, schoolboy by Matsuya but it gets two. Maya goes back to the ankle but Maika breaks it up, spear by Matsuya and she covers Maya for two. Matsuya tags Tsukasa, Tsukasa goes up top and hits a missile dropkick. Dropkick by Tsukasa in the corner and she covers Maya for two. Maya and Tsukasa jockey for position until Tsukasa applies an Octopus Hold but Maya gets into the ropes. Tsukasa goes off the ropes but Maya hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, running knee by Maya and she delivers a PK. Maya picks up Tsukasa but Tsukasa reverses the suplex attempt into guillotine choke. Maya muscles out of it and hits a vertical suplex anyway, cover by Maya but it gets a two count. Tsukasa trips Maya and hits a PK, senton by Totoro and Tsukasa goes for the Infinity but Maya blocks it. Kaicho runs in and hits a Codebreaker on Tsukasa, hard shoulderblock by Maika and Maya delivers an enzuigiri to Tsukasa for a two count.

Maya picks up Tsukasa but Tsukasa nails an elevated Infinity, leaving both on the mat. Both wrestlers tag out as Maika and Totoro come in, elbows by Totoro but Maika hits a body avalanche in the corner. Hard shoulderblock by Maika, she picks up Totoro and tries to get her on her shoulders, but Totoro blocks it. Totoro gets Maika up but Maika slides away, Kaicho runs in but Matsuya grabs her from the apron. Scoop slam by Totoro by Maika and Tsukasa hits a PK, body press by Totoro but Maika kicks out. Maika goes off the ropes but Maya runs in and boots her, Tiger Feint Kick by Kaicho and Maika gets Totoro up on her shoulders in an Argentine Backbreaker. Matsuya breaks it up, Maika gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton to Totoro for a two count. Maika goes off the ropes but Totoro grabs her, Maika gets away however and hits a lariat for a two count. Maika goes up to the top turnbuckle but both Tsukasa and Matsuya run in to interrupt her, Totoro gets Maika on her shoulders and hits the Kamikaze for a nearfall. Matsuya hits a spear on Maika, Totoro gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a diving senton, but Maika gets a shoulder up on the cover. Totoro goes all the way up while Matsuya and Tsukasa hold her arms, helping her hit a somersault senton but the pin is broken up. Totoro scoops up Maika and drops her with a modified Samoan Driver and she picks up the three count! Tsukasa Fujimoto, Matsuya Uno, and Totoro Satsuki are the winners!

I have some mixed feelings about this match but definitely more good than bad. First the good – Totoro and Maika are both limited wrestlers but they stayed within their limits here and did what they do well, so they added to the match rather than taking away from it. Also, the segments with Maya and Tsukasa were really good as they have great chemistry. I didn’t love the inclusion of Matsuya, as she wrestles a completely different style and it didn’t mesh with everyone else. It felt like five of the wrestlers were on the same page while Matsuya was applying random submission holds that had no connection or meaning. Not that her style isn’t one that has a place in wrestling, of course it does, it just didn’t vibe here. Also, while I love Ram Kaicho, she seems to have lost some of her personality since wrestling regularly in Ice Ribbon, she’s talented but she feels more like ‘just another wrestler.’ No posing, flipping off anyone, etc. as she just blended in with everyone else. An enjoyable match overall, just with some flow issues due to Matsuya not fitting in.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Tsukushi Haruka vs. Thekla
IW-19 Championship

Thekla jumps off the top turnbuckle as the bell rings but Tsukushi greets her with a dropkick, Tsukushi works a headlock but Thekla Irish whips out of it and they go into a high speed exchange. Thekla hits an armdrag out of the corner but Tsukushi hits an armdrag of her own, Thekla goes off the ropes but Tsukushi avoids the dropkick as they eventually reach a stalemate. Thekla sits on the top turnbuckle but Tsukushi dropkicks her and throws her back to the mat. Tsukushi stomps on Thekla’s hand repeatedly and puts her in Camel Clutch, she lets go after a moment and ties up Thekla in the ropes. Dropkick to the back by Tsukushi and she covers Thekla for two. Tsukushi throws Thekla into the corner but Thekla avoids her charge and hits a hard dropkick. Monkey Flip by Thekla and she covers Tsukushi for two. Thekla stomps on Tsukushi and throws her face into the mat, eye rake by Thekla and she hits a few bootscrapes. Irish whip by Thekla but Tsukushi avoids her charge and slides to the apron, Thekla goes for a lariat but Tsukushi slides back in and elbows Thekla in the head. Knee to the midsection by Thekla and she kicks Tsukushi back, Thekla gets tied up in the ropes but she avoids Tsukushi’s dropkick and kicks her in the back for a two count. Thekla goes up top but Tsukushi joins her before she can jump off, she knocks Thekla off so she is hanging from the ropes over the apron and delivers a diving footstomp. Tsukushi quickly gets back into the ring and hits a running elbow on Thekla, cover by Tsukushi but it gets a two count.

Tsukushi goes up top but Thekla jumps up as well and suplexes Tsukushi down to the mat. Both wrestlers slowly get up, head kick by Thekla but Tsukushi fires back with a release German Suplex. They elbow each other as they slowly return to their feet, Tsukushi knocks Thekla to the mat first and kicks her when she tries to bridge up. Thekla quickly hits a series of vertical suplexes, but Tsukushi kicks out of the cover. Spear by Thekla, but Tsukushi barely kicks out of the cover. Thekla applies a bridging leglock, but Tsukushi gets into the ropes for the break. Thekla applies a double underhook but Tsukushi gets away, head kick by Thekla and she follows with a Buzzsaw Kick. Elbows by Thekla and she toys with Tsukushi, but Tsukushi elbows her hard and attacks Thekla while she is on the mat. Thekla gets to the ropes to try to escape but Tsukushi keeps on her, she drags Thekla back into the ring and drills her with a dropkick. Tsukushi goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Tsukushi but Thekla kicks out. Tsukushi goes up top again but Thekla avoids the diving footstomp and hits a chop block. Thekla now goes up top and hits a diving footstomp of her own, covering Tsukushi for two. Double underhook into a slam by Thekla, she goes up top but Tsukushi gets her knees up on the body press attempt. Tsukushi quickly cradles Thekla and then goes for a La Magistral, but her pin attempts are unsuccessful. Thekla goes for some flash pins as well with the same result, Tsukushi cradles Thekla to the mat and hits a series of footstomps. Double underhook facebuster by Tsukushi, she goes up top and nails a diving footstomp for a two count. Tsukushi drags up Thekla and delivers a Tiger Suplex Hold, and she picks up the three count! Tsukushi Haruka wins and retains the championship!

A solid match, nothing that will blow you away but entertaining. Tsukushi has been an underrated talent for many years, as due to her age and the fact she was generally stuck in the midcard she didn’t get a ton of notice. She’s been great for awhile though and continues to be, I can’t call her a murder child anymore as she is an adult now but she hasn’t lost her aggression. The match was pretty non-stop as Tsukushi only has one speed, and Thekla was able to keep up. This is the first long singles matches I’ve seen with Thekla, she isn’t as crisp as Tsukushi but has a quality move arsenal and didn’t do anything to slow the match down or hold it back. The match was about 15 minutes and felt like it ended at the right time, no need to stretch something out just because its the main event. A good outing and first defense by Tsukushi, hopefully she continues to impress this year and gets more chances in big matches.  Recommended

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• Championships and Tournaments Won: This includes any championship won during 2019, or any championship that was held when 2019 began. The prestige of the championship or tournament will be taken into account.
• Match Quality: The most subjective criteria, extra consideration is given to wrestlers that had high quality matches throughout the year, especially if it was with a variety of opponents.
• Wrestler Popularity: Being able to connect with the crowd is important in wrestling, wrestlers that have success interacting with the crowd and getting reactions will get credit for that.
• Wrestler Status in a Promotion: Generally speaking, the Ace of one promotion will be ahead of the #3 wrestler in another promotion, since wrestling on top means bigger matches, longer matches, and more opportunities. There isn’t a direct correlation, but leading a promotion or being the ‘face’ of a promotion can help a wrestler’s rank as it increases the wrestler’s visibility and match importance.
• Match Frequency/Availability: How often a wrestler wrestled is taken into consideration. A wrestler with 100 matches is more likely to be on the list than a wrestler with 10 matches. Also, it is harder to ‘rate’ a wrestler if their matches rarely were distributed via TV or an online streaming service, so visibility is a factor.

One criteria I am not using is ‘drawing power.’ In the current wrestling landscape there are very few wrestlers that by themselves are draws (I could probably count them on one hand), usually it is more the benefit of a good storyline or a hot region that impacts the size of the crowd. While the larger Joshi promotions may have more wrestlers on the list due to the other criteria (visibility being a major one), the size of the crowds will not be taken in consideration. Also, it should be noted that this ranking is based only on a wrestler’s matches/participation in Japan. This is not a list of my personal favorite wrestlers or fun rookies that I enjoy watching, but rather my version of what a “real” ranking of Joshi wrestlers would look like based on their success and status in 2019.

Before we get into it, a couple very established veterans that normally would make this kind of list I wasn’t able to justify including this year – Tsukasa Fujimoto and Meiko Satomura. I realize this opens the list to easy criticism but keep in mind this list isn’t a “best wrestler” list and isn’t influenced by past success – it is based solely on what happened in 2019. Both Fujimoto and Satomura largely took a back seat in their respective promotions last year, allowing the younger wrestlers to take the lead. Which is great! But it makes it harder to rank them with only twenty spots available. So before anyone asks, I didn’t forget them, they just didn’t have enough in regards to in-ring accomplishments or visibility in Japan during the year to make the Top 20. So save any vitriol for a more worthwhile cause.

Without further ado and procrastinating, onto the Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2019!

1. Sareee (Diana)

Championships Held: Diana World Championship (233 days) and the Sendai Girls’ World Championship (127 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Chihiro Hashimoto on 1/6, vs. Aja Kong on 2/11, vs. Meiko Satomura on 4/16, vs. Aja Kong on 5/12, vs. Chihiro Hashimoto on 6/18, vs. DASH Chisako on 7/7, and vs. Chihiro Hashimoto on 10/13
Best Match: vs. Chihiro Hashimoto in Sendai Girls’ on June 8th, 2019

To say it is difficult to be the top Joshi wrestler of the year when your home promotion literally had zero events available to watch would be an understatement, but Sareee managed to pull it off. What set Sareee apart from others wasn’t just her title success in Sendai Girls’, but the high quality of her matches throughout the year in a variety of promotions. Her matches against Meiko Satomura and against Chihiro Hashimoto (in June) were two of the best Joshi matches of the year, as she went from relative unknown to many newer Joshi fans to one of the most popular wrestlers on the scene. Depending on where her career goes in 2020 she may just be a “one year wonder” in regards to being this high on fans’ Wrestler of the Year list, but what a year it was.

2. Maya Yukihi (Ice Ribbon)

Championships Held: ICExInfinity Championship (322 days), International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (161 days), OZ Academy Tag Team Championship (105 days), and the Triangle Ribbon Championship (52 days)
Biggest Matches: with Risa Sera vs. Kyuri and Ozaki on 3/17, vs. Tsukushi on 3/31, with Saori Anou vs. Beast Friend on 5/12, vs. Giulia on 5/25, vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto on 8/3, vs. Risa Sera on 9/14, and with Risa Sera vs. Giulia and Tequila Saya on 9/23
Best Match: vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto in Ice Ribbon on August 3rd, 2019

It is hard not to respect a wrestler with as many title wins in one year as Maya Yukihi had, as it just shows an enormous amount of faith that the promotion has in her. Few wrestlers dominated their promotion in 2019 as Maya did, not just with her success with the ICExInfinity Championship but with her constant main event presence in some capacity. The focus remained so strongly on her that it was difficult for any other Ice Ribbon wrestlers to really get noticed in 2019. She also continued to have success in OZ Academy as well with her more ‘evil’ side, as she changed her personality depending on which promotion she was in. While consistent match quality wouldn’t land her in the Top 5 for the year, her success just can’t be ignored as she seems poised to be the Ice Ribbon Ace for the foreseeable future.

3. Arisa Hoshiki (Stardom)

Championships Held: Wonder of Stardom Championship (229 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Konami on 4/29, vs. Tam Nakano on 6/16, vs. Hazuki on 7/24, vs. Jungle Kyona on 8/10, vs. Kagetsu on 10/14, with Tam Nakano vs. Bea Priestley and Jamie Hayter on 11/15, and vs. Konami on 12/24
Best Match: vs. Tam Nakano in Stardom on June 16th, 2019

Sometimes, the number of titles a wrestler held doesn’t tell the whole story. 2019 in Stardom was all about Arisa Hoshiki’s rise from “surprise return wrestler” to being one of the top wrestlers in the promotion. She won the Cinderella Tournament in April and went on to win the Wonder of Stardom Championship. She held the title for the rest of the year with eight defenses, making her one of the most active champions on the Joshi scene. She also was involved in one of the more memorable Joshi storylines of 2019, as she slowly converted her enemy Tam Nakano into her friend over a seven month period, ending in a touching scene after they won the Stardom Goddesses of Tag League together. On top of that, her in-ring quality greatly improved as the year progressed as by the end she was putting together some high end matches. Arisa will have some stiff competition from Mayu in 2020, so we’ll see if she can keep up her momentum.

4. Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls’)

Championships Held: Sendai Girls’ World Championship (229 days), Sendai Girls’ Tag Team Championship (146 days), and the KO-D Six Man Tag Team Championship (95 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Sareee on 1/6, with Mika Iwata vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Sareee on 2/3, vs. Sareee on 6/8, vs. Yoshiko on 7/7, and vs. Sareee on 10/13
Best Match: vs. Sareee in Sendai Girls’ on June 8th, 2019

For the third straight year, Chihiro Hashimoto was the main force in Sendai Girls’, as their smaller roster doesn’t give them a lot of options. Just four years into her career she is already on her fifth title reign, as Meiko Satomura takes a lesser role and no other younger wrestler is ready to step up. She had a great series of matches against Sareee in 2019, and just for variety sake also had success in DDT as well. Combined with her tag title run, its hard to deny that Chihiro had a great year and further cemented her place as one of the best young wrestlers on the Joshi scene, but hopefully Sendai Girls’ can find a way to mix it up a bit in 2020.

5. Takumi Iroha (Marvelous)

Championships Held: SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship (112 days) and the Regina Di WAVE Championship (167 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Nanae Takahashi on 5/29, vs. Nagisa Nozaki vs. Ryo Mizunami on 7/15, vs. Arisa Nakajima on 9/18, vs. Ryo Mizunami on 10/5, vs. Chigusa Nagayo on 12/8, and vs. Nagisa Nozaki on 12/29
Best Match: vs. Nanae Takahashi in SEAdLINNNG on May 29th, 2019

Another solid year by the young Ace of Marvelous – Takumi Iroha. Even though Marvelous doesn’t really have its own titles, Takumi still won two titles anyway in 2019 as she visited other promotions. She won the SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Championship from Nanae Takahashi in May and won the Regina Di WAVE Championship against Nagisa Nozaki and Ryo Mizunami in July. She capped off her year by defeating Chigusa Nagayo in a singles match, the first time she has faced off against her mentor in a one vs. one match. Takumi’s future is hard to determine due to her situation in Marvelous, but she will continue to be their Ace as well as traveling to other promotions to take their belts.

6. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom)

Championships Held: ROH Women of Honor Word Championship (55 days), Artist of Stardom Championship, (162 days) and the World of Stardom Championship (57 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Konami on 2/24, with Saki Kashima and Tam Nakano vs. Hana Kimura, Jungle Kyona, and Konami on 6/23, vs. Tam Nakano on 9/7, vs. Momo Watanabe on 9/22, vs. Bea Priestley on 11/4, and vs. Kagetsu on 12/24
Best Match: vs. Kagetsu in Stardom on December 24th, 2019

Mayu Iwatani won the Tokyo Sports Award Women’s Award in 2019, which was well deserved but that doesn’t mean she had the best year. This ranking is influenced by my own personal biases, not Joshi politics. Still, she did have a great year. She started the year as part of the Artist of Stardom Championship, a title she held for almost half the year total. Even though technically I am not considering matches outside of Japan, I still have to mention that she had a title match at Madison Square Garden, a massive achievement in any wrestler’s career. She ended the year hot, as she won the World of Stardom Championship in November and still held the belt as the year concluded. When considering how she closed the year and the number of high end matches she had, Mayu is easily a Top 10 wrestler for the year, and judging from how it ended I imagine she will be even higher next year.

7. Arisa Nakajima (SEAdLINNNG)

Championships Held: SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Championship (104 days) and the SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Tag Team Championship (115 days)
Biggest Matches: with Sae vs. Himeka Arita and Miyuki Takase on 3/20, vs. Nanae Takahashi on 4/28, vs. Takumi Iroha on 9/18, and vs. Nanae Takahashi on 11/2
Best Match: vs. Nanae Takahashi in SEAdLINNNG on November 2nd, 2019

After a quiet 2018, Arisa Nakajima came back with a bang in 2019 as she took over SEAdLINNNG. Arisa had two tag title reigns during the year, although both were short, and won the Beyond The Sea Championship in September before holding it for the rest of the year. She also had one of the best Joshi matches of 2019 against Nanae Takahashi in November 2nd. Arisa only had 45 matches in 2019 which hurt her a bit, otherwise she would have been higher, but she is still one of the best in-ring competitors in Japan. If she wrestles more outside of SEAdLINNNG in 2020, she could easily be a Top 5 wrestler next year.

8. Hiroyo Matsumoto (Freelancer)

Championships Held: Sendai Girls’ Tag Team Championship (79 days), SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Championship (186 days), OZ Tag Team Championship (131 days), and the Blast Queen Championship (7 days)
Biggest Matches: with Kaori Yoneyama vs. Maya Yukihi and Saori Anou on 5/12, with Yoshiko vs. Himeka Arita and Miyuki Takase on 6/28, vs. Nanae Takahashi on 8/18, vs. Mayumi Ozaki on 8/25, vs. Hanako Nakamori on 9/29, and with DASH Chisako vs. Charli Evans and Millie McKenzie on 10/13
Best Match: vs. Mayumi Ozaki in OZ Academy on August 25th, 2019

Like Arisa Nakajima, Hiroyo Matsumoto didn’t have a great 2018 but had a much better year in 2019. She found her most success in the tag team division, as she ended the year holding two tag team championships. She was very active with 120 matches in twelve different Japanese promotions, so even though she didn’t get any long runs at the top of a promotion this year she stayed visible. Hiroyo didn’t have any noted MOTYC type matches but was very consistent in-ring, and considering she is a Freelancer it was a very solid year overall.

9. Momo Watanabe (Stardom)

Championships Held: Wonder of Stardom Championship (135 days), Goddesses of Stardom Championship (195 days), and the Artist of Stardom Championship (38 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Tam Nakano on 1/14, vs. Jungle Kyona on 3/3, vs. Arisa Hoshiki on 5/16, with Utami Hayashishita vs. Jungle Kyona and Konami on 7/15, vs. Tam Nakano on 9/1, vs. Mayu Iwatani on 9/22, and with AZM and Utami Hayashishita vs. Andras Miyagi, Kagetsu, and Natsu Sumire on 11/23
Best Match: vs. Jungle Kyona in Stardom on March 3rd, 2019

Momo did the opposite of Arisa and Mayu in 2019, which always impacts one’s impression of a wrestler – she started the year hot but disappeared for the last half of the year as she faded more into the second tier. As 2019 began she held both the Wonder of Stardom and Goddesses of Stardom Championship, but both titles were gone by the summer. She didn’t win any tournaments but did win the Artist of Stardom Championship in November so at least she didn’t end the year with no titles at all. That being said, in the first half of the year she had some great title defenses, and even though she wasn’t always winning she had some really quality matches in the fall as well so her in-ring performances stayed at a high level. Momo may have been passed by both Arisa and Mayu in 2019, with with wrestlers like Utami, Hana Kimura, and Giulia in the wings she may have trouble climbing back to the top.

10. Miyu Yamashita (Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling)

Championships Held: Tokyo Princess of Princess Championship (122 days) and the SHINE Championship (31 days)
Biggest Matches: vs. Maki Itoh on 1/4, vs. Yuka Sakazaki on 3/31, vs. Shoko Nakajima on 5/3, vs. Allysin Kay on 5/6, and with Miu Watanabe vs. Misao and Sakisama on 8/25
Best Match: vs. Shoko Nakajima in Tokyo Joshi Pro on May 3rd, 2019

Tokyo Joshi Pro didn’t have one dominate wrestler in 2019 as their main title was divided between three wrestlers through the year, but Miyu Yamashita still felt like their superstar. She entered the year the Princess of Princess Champion and kept it until May, oddly enough she did not get a rematch for the rest of the year and even lost in the first round of the Tokyo Princess Cup. She did get one tag title shot, but her team lost. Still, she did hold the title for 25% of the year with three successful defenses and continued putting on high quality matches as she always does which helped her sneak into the Top 10 and over her fellow Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers.

   11. Saori Anou (Actwres girl’Z) – The undisputed Ace of Actwres girl’Z in 2019, Saori also saw title success outside the promotion for the first time as she held the OZ Academy Tag Team Championship for over 100 days. She lost the AgZ Championship and OZ Academy Tag Team Championship in August however and was more under the radar the rest of the year, as her future went into limbo as she announced she was leaving AgZ in December. As of the time of this review, we still don’t know what her future holds, and that will be the determining factor on where she is on this list next year. If she is on it at all.

12. Hanako Nakamori (PURE-J) – Like last year, Hanako took control of being the Ace of the seldom seen PURE-J promotion. More of her matches seemed to “make tape” in 2019 than 2018 however, her main issue this year is that due to the retirement of Command Bolshoi she wasn’t really the focus the first quarter of the year. Once she won the PURE-J Openweight Championship in April she held it to the conclusion of 2019, with five successful defenses. Hopefully more PURE-J is available to watch in 2020.

13. Mayumi Ozaki (OZ Academy) – Even though I find Mayumi Ozaki’s match style to be predictable and not overly entertaining, I can’t deny her success in 2019 as she led OZ Academy. She held the OZ Academy Openweight Championship from April until the end of the year, and won the Blast Queen Championship as well. She wasn’t as active as most wrestlers on this list with only 46 matches however, which isn’t a surprise considering her age, and none of her matches were highly ranked. She deserves being on the list just due the stranglehold she held on OZ Academy, but hopefully in 2020 a younger wrestler with a different wrestling style will take over.

14. Riho (Gatoh Move/Stardom) – Riho found a good deal of success in AEW in 2019, but even beyond that she had a good year in Japan. She was the Ace of Gatoh Move for the first half of the year, holding both the Super Asia Championship and the Asia Dream Tag Team Championship. After joining AEW in late summer, Riho still wrestled in Japan and won the High Speed Championship in Stardom. Riho may be focusing more on AEW in 2020, but for 2019 she still did enough in Japan to make the top 20 Joshi wrestlers of the year.

15. Kagetsu (Stardom) – In her final full year as a professional wrestler, Kagetsu continued to put out great matches in 2019. She opened the year as World of Stardom Champion, holding the title for four months. From then on her championship success was more limited, with just a short Artist of Stardom run, but she was constantly involved in the title scene and had great matches with Hazuki, Toni Storm, Konami, Jungle Kyona, Arisa Hoshiki, and Mayu Iwatani. In a promotion where it is easy to fade in the background, Kagetsu never did and stayed a visible and popular wrestler for the entire year.

16. Shoko Nakajima (Tokyo Joshi Pro) – Shoko had the longest Princess of Princess title reign of 2019, holding the title for over 180 days. She didn’t have the same level of matches as Miyu Yamashita, and was also often overshadowed by other fan favorites like Maki Itoh and Yuka Sakazaki. Still, she did have four successful defenses and stayed in bigger matches even outside her title reign, so even though she was sometimes overlooked she still had a really solid year for the promotion.

17. ASUKA (Freelancer) – ASUKA had an interesting year, as even though she did not win any major titles she was a force to be reckoned with wrestling in the male-dominated promotions DDT and ZERO1. She took part in the Fire Festival in 2019, and even though she didn’t do great in the tournament she did have a big win over Masato Tanaka. She also battled Akito in DDT for the DDT Extreme Championship, considered by many to be a stealth MOTYC candidate. ASUKA set her own path in 2019, one not many Joshi wrestlers have attempted, and came away with a very memorable year. As a Freelancer, its always hard to predict her future, but being a regular in DDT made her in 2019 one of the most visible Joshi wrestlers in Japan and the quality of her matches proved that she belongs in the big leagues.

18. Utami Hayashishita (Stardom) – Utami dealt with some injury issues in 2019 but still collected titles like few others can. She held five championships during the year, four in Stardom and one from EVE, and for the year she had a total of 21 title matches. She ended the year still holding three belts, as she seems poised to move up the ladder further if she can stay healthy.

19. Risa Sera (Ice Ribbon) – I really didn’t want to only have one Ice Ribbon wrestler on the list, and Risa Sera seemed like the most deserving to also be included. Risa had two tag title reigns in 2019, plus she held the Blast Queen Championship for the first month and a half of the year. She had one shot at the ICExInfinity Championship, but lost, and ended the year with no titles. Her match quality continued to be high however, making it easier to justify placing her on this list.

20. Hikaru Shida (Freelancer) – Hikaru Shida held the OZ Academy Openweight Championship until April of 2019, but did not win any other titles the rest of the year. To many she was still considered one of the best in-ring wrestlers in Japan, however, and she had over 90 matches in Japan for the year even though she left in October to join AEW. Hikaru may not be eligible for this list for awhile if things go well in AEW, but she earned her spot this year with her versatility in the ring and general popularity.

The post Top 20 Joshi Wrestlers of 2019 appeared first on Joshi City.

Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine Erokawa VII Photobook Details:

Title: Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine Erokawa VII
Release: May 31st, 2017
Pages: Unknown
Cost: ¥1,250
Where to Buy: Currently sold out, can be found on Ebay

For the 7th edition of Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine Erokawa, the following wrestlers were featured:

• Io Shirai
• Toni Storm
• Hana Kimura
• Natsu Sumire
• Saori Anou
• Natsumi Maki
• Konami

All seven wrestlers had their own separate spreads, as there were not any dual or group shot pictures since I assume they all took their pictures separately. Each wrestler received a fair number of pages, however Io Shirai, Toni Storm, and Hana Kimura received more coverage than the other four. Since most Western fans will be purchasing these magazines for the pictures, I’ll focus my review on that portion. Approximately 45 pages from the magazine are modeling/gravure pictures for the wrestlers featured. It is a solid variety of wrestlers, as since the magazine is not affiliated with any promotions in particular every wrestler came from a different promotion or area (as of the date of this review, three of the wrestlers are members of/regularly wrestle in Stardom but that was not the case at the time of release).

The majority of the pictures are bikini/lingerie attire but it does not dip into more risqué territory than that. The Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine Erokawa series is one of the best available due to the wrestler variety and the quality of the pictures, and I always recommend checking them out if they can be found at a reasonable price. Here is a sample of pictures from the magazine:

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

Event: Actwres girl’Z Act 37
Date: March 14th, 2019
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

Occasionally I do this obnoxious thing where I review an event that I have on DVD, that is not anywhere online so only a small handful of people in the US have access to it. But I feel its important to shine a light on events that no one has seen, even though I know it can be annoying if I pimp a match that isn’t readily available. I picked this event because it was a pretty big one for Actwres girl’Z, with a title match in the main event. Actwres girl’Z is a smaller promotion based in Tokyo, they very rarely air on TV or online but do sell all of their events on DVD on their website. Check out the Actwres girl’Z Roster for a look at the wrestlers, here is the full card:

• Ayumi Hayashi vs. Misa Matsui
• Ayano Irie vs. Miku Aono
• Mii vs. Momo Tani vs. Yumiko Hotta
• Hikari Shimizu, SAKI, and Sakuran Bonita (Cherry) vs. Himeka Arita, Miyuki Takase, and Tae Honma
• AgZ Championship: Saori Anou vs. Kakeru Sekiguchi

Since this is an official DVD, all matches are shown in full. Wrestlers on the show have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names above to go straight to it.

Ayumi Hayashi vs. Misa Matsui

Tie-up to start, Ayumi works the headlock and snapmares Misa around before applying a bodyscissors. Misa rolls out of it and applies a single leg crab hold, but Ayumi gets to the ropes for the break. Irish whip by Misa but Ayumi dropkicks her, they trade elbows until Ayumi knocks down Misa with another dropkick. Scoop slam attempt by Ayumi but Misa reverses it into a cradle for a quick two count. Back up, drop toehold by Misa and she hits a crossbody. A second crossbody by Misa, she picks up Ayumi and hits a scoop slam for two. Crab hold by Misa, Ayumi inches to the ropes and finally makes it to force the break. Misa charges Ayumi but Ayumi drop toeholds her into the ropes and dropkicks her in the back. Stomps by Ayumi but Misa avoids her dropkick and hits a running back elbow. Dropkick by Misa but Ayumi blocks the scoop slam, bridging cover by Ayumi but Misa kicks out. They trade flash pins with neither having any luck, Japanese Rolling Clutch by Misa and she picks up the three count! Misa Matsui wins.

Even though Misa won, I thought that Ayumi looked a bit better. Ayumi’s elbows were better, her dropkicks had more impact and she didn’t botch the ending of the match like Misa did. That doesn’t mean Misa won’t become better down the road but four months into it there is still plenty of room for improvement. A simple match, fine for an opener but nothing here to recommend watching.

Ayano Irie vs. Miku Aono

They struggle with a tie-up to start, Ayano gets Miku in the ropes and elbows her, but Miku returns the favor. Ayano and Miku trade waistlocks until Miku applies an armbar on the mat, but Ayano gets out of it and applies a wristlock. Side headlock takedown by Ayano but Miku reverses it with a headscissors, Ayano quickly gets out of it and applies a crab hold. Miku gets to the ropes for the break but Ayano stretches Miku before putting her in a camel clutch. Miku tosses Ayano over her head to get out of it, Ayano goes for a slam but Miku blocks it and hits a slam of her own. Ayano goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick, Miku doesn’t go down so Ayano hits another one. Miku still stays up, she absorbs a third before dropkicking Ayano to the mat. Dropkick by Miku in the corner and she kicks Ayano in the chest for a two count. Ayano fights back with elbows but Miku gets away and applies a backslide, schoolboys by Ayano but she gets two counts. A dropkick by Ayano knocks Miku over, scoop slam by Ayano and she covers Miku for two. Ayano goes off the ropes but Miku lariats her and hits a kneebreaker. Modified crab hold by Miku, and Ayano taps out! Miku Anou is the winner.

This was more even than I was expecting based off their experience levels, but at least I got the winner right. Miku was fairly impressive, her dropkicks are solid and I liked her modified crab hold she used to win. Overall this was more fluid than the last match, they worked together well and it was smooth. Still a pretty basic match but I could see either of these two having a decent career if they stick with it, both showed a little something special here even though they still are putting on pretty simple matches.

Mii vs. Momo Tani vs. Yumiko Hotta

Mii starts in the ring first with Hotta, she asks for a knucklelock and gets it, which Hotta easily wins. Momo attacks Hotta from behind and both of the young wrestlers take turns dropkicking Hotta in the corner. Momo struggles with Hotta so Mii helps her out with a dropkick to the back, Momo and Mii both dropkick Hotta again before celebrating. Momo tries to slam Hotta but Hotta doesn’t budge, scoop slam by Hotta and she puts Momo in a camel clutch while Mii watches. Mii decides to start kicking Momo while Hotta looks amused, Hotta eventually lets go of Momo and congratulates Mii on her hard work. They both knocks Momo to the mat together, cover by Mii but it gets two. Mii runs over Momo before hitting a footstomp, but Momo hits a Backstabber. Hotta starts helping Momo now as she picks up Momo to help her kick Mii, crab hold by Momo but Mii gets into the ropes for the break. Momo puts the crab hold back on but again Mii gets into the ropes, Hotta comes in and she puts Mii in a camel clutch.

Momo kicks at Mii while she is in the hold, Mii reaches the ropes but Momo stomps on her hand. Hotta eventually picks up Mii, elbows by Mii to Hotta but Hotta doesn’t budge. Mii goes for a top toehold, it doesn’t work but Momo gets on the mat to help and they get Hotta over. Mii and Momo take turns running over Hotta’s back, Mii goes up top and she hits a diving crossbody for a two count. Momo knocks Mii away and gets a two count cover of her own, Momo and Mii start trading elbows while Hotta recovers. Hotta hits both of them, she stacks her opponents in the corner but when she charges in she only hits Momo. Mii schoolboys Hotta from behind for two, she suplexes Momo in the middle of the ring and covers her for a two count. Waistlock by Mii but Momo gets out of it, Hotta elbows Momo in the chest and Mii scoop slams Momo near the corner. Mii gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving footstomp, cover by Mii but Hotta breaks it up. Momo throws Mii at Hotta, Somato by Momo to Mii but Hotta breaks up her cover. Momo and Mii trade flash pins while Hotta watches, until Momo finally pins down Mii long enough to get the three count! Momo Tani wins the match.

This was an interesting match. Hotta was clearly not trying to win but just to get some in-ring time with the less experienced wrestlers, as at times she was just watching until she decided it was time to get involved for some reason or another. I liked the parts with Mii and Momo double teaming Hotta and if there was more of that it would have been a better match, but in the end it just felt unusual more than good. Some cute spots with Hotta, but not really a great match.

Hikari Shimizu, SAKI, and Sakuran Bonita (Cherry) vs. Himeka Arita, Miyuki Takase, and Tae Honma

Hikari and Tae begin the match for their teams, Tae gets Hikari to the mat but Hikari kips up and applies a wristlock. Tae reverses it as they trade holds, armdrag by Tae but Hikari cartwheels away from her and hits a dropkick. Miyuki and Himeka come in the ring but Hikari hits a crossbody on both of them, SAKI and Bonita enter and they all pose on top of Himeka. Tae and Miyuki recover to help, they trey to pose on Hikari but Hikari collapses. The action spills out to the floor with Bonita choking Tae, Miyuki runs up the stairs and hits an elbow on Hikari. Hikari fires back with elbows to Miyuki and hits her own elbow after running down the stairs, Hikari then tosses Miyuki into a row of chairs at ringside. Miyuki slides Hikari back into the ring and the two trade chops, rapid fire chops by Miyuki in the corner but all the other wrestlers in the match get in the ring and get stacked up in the corner. Himeka charges in and hits a body avalanche on the whole lot (except SAKI who dove out of the way), and SAKI puts Himeka in a Rocking Horse. After a moment she lets go, SAKI picks up Himeka but Himeka gets away and hits a shoulderblock. SAKI doesn’t go over, she then tries to shoulderblock Himeka but Himeka stays on her feet. SAKI kicks Himeka but Himeka finally knocks her down with a shoulderblock, crab hold by Himeka but SAKI is too close to the ropes and forces a break. Snapmare by Himeka but SAKI avoids her knee, takedown by SAKI and she puts Himeka in a Scorpion Deathlock.

Himeka quickly gets out of it and gets SAKI on her shoulders, but SAKI slides away. Hikari runs in and hits a crossbody on Himeka to get her over on a sunset flip attempt, but the cover only gets two. Bonita is tagged in, she picks up Himeka and slams her to the mat. Miyuki trips Bonita from the floor, Himeka tosses her into the corner but Bonita avoids her charge and hits a knee. Swinging neckbreaker by Bonita, but he cover only gets two. Himeka fights back and hits a running knee, she gets Bonita on her shoulders in a backbreaker but SAKI and Hikari run in to rescue her. Himeka picks up Bonita again and hits a Samoan Drop, cover by Himeka but Bonita kicks out. Himeka tags in Miyuki, dropkick by Miyuki and she hits a missile dropkick off the second turnbuckle. Lariat by Miyuki and she hits a diving elbow smash off the second turnbuckle for a two count cover. Heel kick by Bonita and she dropkicks Miyuki, giving her time to tag in Hikari. Bonita stays in as SAKI comes in also and all three hit running strikes on Miyuki, PK by Hikari and she covers Miyuki for two. Hikari applies a choke but Miyuki gets out of it, Hikari goes for a crossbody but Miyuki elbows her in midair and gets a two count cover. Rolling fireman’s carry slam by Miyuki, but Hikari avoids the diving legdrop attempt. Chops and elbows by Miyuki in the corner but Hikari avoids one and slides out to the apron. She charges back in but Miyuki catches her with a powerslam and tags in Tae. Tae gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a front dropkick, cover by Tae but it gets two. Bonita comes in and stomps Tae, but Tae throws Bonita into Hikari.

SAKI runs in and boots Tae in the head, kicks to the back by Hikari to Tae but Tae avoids the PK. Tae and Hikari trade elbows until Hikari hits a scoop slam, cover by Hikari but it gets a two count. She tags in SAKI, SAKI boots Tae in the head and they start to do the “all six wrestlers suplex each other” spot but Hikari is in no mood and breaks it up with a kick. Vertical suplex by SAKI to Tae, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Himeka grabs her from behind and brings her back into the ring. SAKI hits a double facebuster on Himeka and Tae, SAKI goes for a boot but Tae catches her leg and goes for an ankle hold. SAKI quickly gets to the ropes, Tae dropkicks SAKI in the leg and covers her but SAKI is too close to the ropes. Tae trips SAKI and puts her in a cross kneelock, but the hold is broken up. Himeka and Miyuki come in and double team SAKI, Tae goes up top but Tae accidentally dropkicks her own partners. suplex by Bonita to Tae, Hikari gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving footstomp. SAKI follows with a reverse splash, but the cover is broken up. SAKI picks up Tae but Tae gets away and rolls up SAKI for two. Himeka shoulderblocks Hikari but Bonita chops her in the face, lariat by Miyuki to SAKI and Tae connects with a missile dropkick on SAKI for two. Tae holds SAKI but SAKI kicks Miyuki away and hits a vertical suplex onto both of them. Assisted footstomp by Hikari to Tae, SAKI picks up Tae and hits a vertical suplex for the three count pinfall! Hikari Shimizu, SAKI, and Sakuran Bonita are the winners!

This match not only met my expectations but exceeded them, a really fun match. You can tell they have been wrestling together for awhile as they have great chemistry, and both Hikaru Shimizu and Miyuki Takase have very bright futures in wrestling if they stay active. Matches with six wrestlers are generally too chaotic to tell a story and they embraced that here as there was constantly action going on and wrestlers running in to help their teammates. A fast paced and well executed match and the exact type you want in this slot to get the crowd excited for the main event coming up.  Recommended

(c) Saori Anou vs. Kakeru Sekiguchi
AgZ Championship

Kakeru pushes away Saori’s handshake attempt and elbows her repeatedly in the corner, Irish whip by Kakeru but Saori reverses it. Saori lands out on the apron but quickly gets back into the ring and boots Kakeru to the mat. Saori works a headlock but Kakeru quickly gets out of it, she goes for a dropkick but Saori avoids the move and hits a heel drop. Headlock by Saori but Kakeru inches to the ropes and gets there to force a break. Saori goes off the ropes and boots Kakeru in the face, she charges Kakeru but Kakeru hits a judo throw followed by series of dropkicks for a two count cover. Sleeper by Kakeru but Saori gets a foot on the ropes to get the hold released. Kakeru knocks Saori into the corner but Saori avoids he charges and hits an enzuigiri. Saori goes for a chop but Kakeru ducks it and hits a dropkick, another dropkick by Kakeru while Saori is against the ropes and she snaps Saori’s head into the apron. Kakeru slams her head into the apron again before returning to the ring, she goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick. Another missile dropkick by Kakeru, she goes for the cover but Saori kicks out. Kakeru picks up Saori but Saori elbows her back and the two trade blows.

Slap by Saori and she hits an enzuigiri, Kakeru comes back with more elbows and she delivers a dropkick. Kakeru charges Saori but Saori snaps off German suplex, Kakeru gets back up however and plants Saori with a STO for a two count. Saori goes for a boot but Kakeru ducks it and schoolboys Saori for a two count. Kakeru gets the sleeper re-applied, she lets go to cover Saori but Saori kicks out. Kakeru jumps at Saori and drops her to the mat with a grounded front necklock, but Saori doesn’t fully go to sleep so Kakeru releases it. Kakeru drives Saori’s head into the mat repeatedly before picking her up and re-applying the hold, but this time Saori is too close to the ropes and she forces a break. Kakeru doesn’t let go of the hold so Saori stands back up while still in it and slams Kakeru into the mat. This gets them even more in the ropes and the referee finally manages to break them up, Kakeru drags Saori to her feet and goes off the ropes, nailing a STO for a close two count. Saori goes off the ropes again but this time Saori snaps off a hurricanrana for a two count. Kakeru goes for the front necklock but this time Saori slams her to the mat to block it, Kakeru goes for a cradle but Saori kicks out. Kakeru goes off the ropes and hits another STO, but again it only gets two. Kakeru goes off the ropes but Saori goes behind her back and delivers a Wheelbarrow German Suplex Hold for two. Enzuigiri by Saori and she delivers a Dragon Suplex Hold, picking up the three count! Saori Anou is the winner and still the champion.

Even though I wish the match was a bit longer, it was still an enjoyable match. Kakeru’s STOs are fantastic, loads of impact and it is a perfectly reasonable finisher with the way that she executes it. I do wish that she wouldn’t just release submission holds for no reason, its a tough spot but if a submission isn’t going to work then its probably better to do a rope break or some other reversal as releasing them without victory isn’t overly logical. It really was Kakeru’s match as Saori was in despair for the bulk of it, but her move combination at the end felt definitive enough that it didn’t feel like a cheap victory. Overall I liked it, both are good wrestlers, even if it wasn’t completely without its flaws and was a little shorter than I’d prefer a main event title match to be.  Mildly Recommended

The post Actwres girl’Z Act 37 on 3/14/19 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: PURE-J Bolshoi Retirement ~ Thank You!!
Date: April 21st, 2019
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 1,530

One of the neat and sad things about Joshi is that when wrestlers retire by their own choice (i.e. not counting the AJW forced retirements), they generally mean it. When a Joshi wrestler sets up a retirement show and goes through the whole ceremony, there is a pretty good chance the wrestler will never participate in another match, aside from maybe a farewell battle royal for another retiring wrestler. Command Bolshoi is a legend that first debuted in 1991, which made her one of the longest tenure Joshi wrestlers still on the scene. Since most Joshi careers seem to last 4 to 7 years (at best), having a 27 year career is monumental and the fact she stayed in JWP/PURE-J for her entire run makes her even more special. Last year, Bolshoi announced her plans to retire so she has done a farewell tour in 2019, with this event being her official retirement show. Here is the full card:

• Battle Royal: Aiger, Arisa Nakajima, Bolshoi Kid, Chihiro Hashimoto, Emi Sakura, Giulia, Jaguar Yokota, Kyoko Inoue, Makoto, Moeka Haruhi, Saori Anou, Shinobu Kandori, Tsubasa Kuragaki, Yumiko Hotta, and Yumi Ohka
• Manami Katsu, Mari Manji, and Yako Fujigasaki vs. AKARI, KAZUKI, and Rydeen Hagane
• PURE-J Openweight Championship: Leon vs. Hanako Nakamori
• Command Bolshoi Farewell Gauntlet Match
  • Command Bolshoi vs. Hanako Nakamori
  • Command Bolshoi vs. Kaori Yoneyama
  • Command Bolshoi vs. Mayumi Ozaki

This event was shown on Nico so there won’t be any match clipping. All wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names to go straight to it. I know the PURE-J roster page needs a hug, I’ll get it updated this weekend.

Aiger, Arisa Nakajima, Bolshoi Kid, Chihiro Hashimoto, Emi Sakura, Giulia, Jaguar Yokota, Kyoko Inoue, Makoto, Moeka Haruhi, Saori Anou, Shinobu Kandori, Tsubasa Kuragaki, Yumiko Hotta, and Yumi Ohka
Battle Royal

The match starts with roughly half the wrestlers already in the ring, Bolshoi Kid is schoolboyed by Emi Sakura but the pin is broken up. They all kick at Emi for trying to pin Bolshoi Kid so early in the match, they make a knucklelock chain and Bolshoi walks the ropes with all of them tied up, but she gets pulled back off the ropes and they all start elbowing each other. Everyone jumps Kyoko Inoue and dumps her out of the ring, and Kyoko Inoue is eliminated. Yumiko Hotta is attacked by the wrestlers in the ring while she is in the corner, Ohka and Anou then boot Sakura but Ohka then boots Anou. Sakura puts Ohka in a Mexican Surfboard but Bolshoi covers Sakura while she has the move applied and picks up the three count! Emi Sakura is eliminated. At the moment only Hotta, Anou, Bolshoi, and Ohka are in the ring, Ohka tries to boot Anou but Anou holds down the top rope and Ohka tumbles out of it, so Yumi Ohka is eliminated. The majority of the rest of the wrestlers join the party so now the ring is quite full, Giulia and Anou get into it until Kuragaki, Bolshoi, and Haruhi start posing together.

Kuragaki and Hashimoto trade shoulderblocks, lariats by Kuragaki in the corner but Hashimoto knocks her down with a shoulderblock. Kuragaki and Hashimoto are attempted to be pinned with no luck, and things break down when Aiger finally gets in the ring. Giulia and Anou are so scared of Aiger they bail out of the ring, so Giulia and Saori Anou are eliminated! Hotta isn’t scared of her and they have an exchange, Aiger gets a chain and gives Hotta one end of it. They start a tug of war but all the other wrestlers help Hotta, they then all cover Hotta and pick up the three count! Yumiko Hotta is eliminated. Hotta is annoyed at Aiger for causing her to get pinned and faces off with her, Aiger wants none of it and runs out of the ring, taking herself out of the match. Aiger is eliminated! Everyone remaining creates a headscissors chain, Shinobu Kandori finally joins the festivities and she breaks up the chain. Kandori squares off against everyone but they wait to engage while Jaguar Yokota joins the match as well. Bolshoi shakes hands with both of them and they pose for pictures, but all three get schoolboyed from behind for their troubles. None work, Haruhi charges Kandori but Kandori puts her in an armbar and Haruhi quickly submits! Moeka Haruhi is eliminated. Makoto goes after Yokota, but Yokota slaps her in a Cobra Twist and Makoto taps out as well, Makoto is eliminated!

Arisa Nakajima and Bolshoi trade strikes, Bolshoi wins the battle and then armdrags all the wrestlers left in the ring. And the referee. Bolshoi kicks Nakajima and hops on Kuragaki’s back, directing Kuragaki around the ring as she lariats everyone. Bolshoi jumps on Kuragaki’s shoulders and delivers the Limelight, and she gets the three count! Tsubasa Kuragaki is eliminated. Nakajima drop toeholds Bolshoi into the ropes but she botches the Tiger Feint Kick (as a homage to Bolshoi), she lands on the apron and Hashimoto knocks her off to the floor! Arisa Nakajima is eliminated. We are down to Bolshoi, Hashimoto, Yokota, and Kandori. They attempt to knock Bolshoi off the apron and onto the floor, but both times wrestlers are ringside catch her and push her back onto the apron until Bolshoi is able to return to the ring. All the eliminated wrestlers return to the match so they can hit running strikes on Bolshoi in the corner, cover by Kandori but the cover is broken up. Nakajima goes up top and dives off, but lands on Kandori, Hashimoto, and Yokota on accident. The eliminated wrestlers run in and cover all three of them, Kuragaki sits Bolshoi on top of the pile and the referee counts to three! Shinobu Kandori, Chihiro Hashimoto, and Jaguar Yokota are all eliminated. Bolshoi Kid is the winner!

As I mentioned at the top, these are lighthearted affairs and not intended to be taken seriously. There were a lot of cute spots throughout and they kept the match quick enough that the shenanigans never got old. Everyone working together to help Bolshoi Kid win was a nice touch, and its always fun to see legends like Kandori and Yokota mixing it up with their old friends. A nice way to kick off the event and since retirement shows tend to get sad it was a good idea to start with a fun and easy-going match.  Mildly Recommended

Manami Katsu, Mari Manji, and Yako Fujigasaki vs. AKARI, KAZUKI, and Rydeen Hagane

Yako and Rydeen begin the match, Yako gets Rydeen into the ropes but she gives a clean break. Yako goes for a crossbody, Rydeen catches her but Yako’s teammates kicks her over and stays in the ring to triple team Rydeen. Eventually Rydeen’s team helps out and they shoulderblock their opponents over before Rydeen tags in AKARI. Yako armdrags AKARI but AKARI returns the favor and hits a pair of dropkicks, Yako comes back with a hard shoulderblock and she tags in Manami. AKARI elbows Manami but AKARI connects with a jumping shoulderblock, she puts Manami in a backbreaker but it gets broken up. Manami gets AKARI up and hits a Samoan Drop, superkick by Manami and she covers AKARI for two. AKARI tags Mari, elbows by Mari and she covers AKARI for a two count. Mounted elbows by Mari but AKARI puts Mari in an armbar, La Magistral by AKARI but Mari kicks out. Dropkick by AKARI and she tags in KAZUKI, Rydeen comes in too and they triple team Mari in the corner. Backbreaker by Rydeen and KAZUKI kicks Mari in the head, but Yako and Manami run in to even the odds. Team KAZUKI stays in control, they stack all three of their opponents across the ropes in the corner, and KAZUKI hits a reverse double kneedrop on them all. KAZUKI goes up top and hits a reverse double kneedrop on Mari, cover by KAZUKI but it is broken up. KAZUKI grabs Mari but Mari hits a back bodydrop, she applies an Octopus Hold (mostly) while her partners keep everyone else at bay, cover by Mari but it only gets two. Mari tags in Yako, hip attacks by Yako to KAZUKI and they trade knees to the midsection.

Deadlift bridging suplex by Yako, but KAZUKI kicks out. Yako goes up top but Rydeen comes in and elbows her before she can jump off, Rydeen grabs Yako and press slams her onto KAZUKI’s knees. Somato by KAZUKI to Yako, but Yako gets a shoulder up. Rydeen stays in, lariats by Rydeen to Yako and she hits a backdrop suplex. Rydeen goes for a Reverse Splash but Yako moves and hits a hip attack, Mari and Manami come in and assist on beating down Rydeen. Tiger suplex hold by Yako to Rydeen, but KAZUKI breaks it up. Manami stays in the ring and trades lariats with Rydeen, with neither wrestler going down. Rydeen finally knocks down Manami, sliding lariat by Rydeen but Manami kicks out of the cover. Rydeen gets on the turnbuckle but Manami grabs her from behind and hits a powerbomb, she goes up top but KAZUKI grabs her from the apron. Rydeen elbows Manami and joins her, superplex by Rydeen and AKARI hits a diving footstomp off the second turnbuckle. KAZUKI follows with a diving kneedrop, Rydeen then nails a moonsault but her cover is broken up. Rydeen picks up Manami and slams her to the mat, but again her cover is broken up. Rydeen positions Manami while KAZUKI goes up top, but Mari and Yako interrupt them before they can complete a move. Rydeen lariats both of them for their trouble, she goes back to Manami but Manami nails a backfist. Another backfist by Manami, she picks up Rydeen and she hits a hammerlock German Suplex for a two count. Manami goes up top and hits a jumping elbow strike, she quickly goes up again and nails a diving elbow drop for the three count! Manami Katsu, Mari Manji, and Yako Fujigasaki are the winners.

A little rough at times but overall fine. Not all of these wrestlers are “quality wrestlers” to put it nicely, the recent versions of JWP/PURE-J haven’t really churned out great wrestlers as they are so small it is probably hard for them to attract talented athletes. So we get wrestlers like Manami, Yako, and Mari who try hard but don’t have the natural ability to make everything look smooth. Rydeen and KAZUKI are both pretty good power wrestlers and the match was solid when they were in the ring, but there were other segments that just fell flat. Probably the right winner and I know they want to try to build up Manami, but she still isn’t quite there yet and there is no way of knowing for sure if she ever will be.

(c) Leon vs. Hanako Nakamori
PURE-J Openweight Championship

Leon works a headlock to start but Hanako gets away, they trade wristlocks until Hanako knocks down Leon with a kick combination. Leon chops Hanako into the corner but Hanako avoids her spear attempt, Hanako goes to the opposite corner but Leon connects with two running shoulder tackles. Leon goes up top, Hanako avoids her charge but Leon hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Leon gets Hanako on her back and applies a stretch hold, she lets go after a moment and the two trade strikes. Leon dumps Hanako out of the ring to the floor, she goes up top and dives down onto Hanako with a plancha. Leon tells the crowd to move out of the way to give her running room and she spears Hanako against the apron. Leon slides Hanako back in the ring and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Leon but it gets two. Texas Cloverleaf by Leon but Hanako gets to the ropes, Leon charges Hanako but Hanako moves and kicks Leon in the stomach. Hanako goes off the ropes but Leon catches her with a tilt-a-whirl slam, she goes up top but Hanako gets her feet up on the Frog Splash attempt. Hanako boots Leon over the top rope to the floor, she goes out to the apron and hits a jumping knee down to the floor.

Hanako slides Leon back in and delivers the Shining Wizard, cover by Hanako but it gets a two count. Hanako goes up top but Leon avoids her diving knee, she ducks Hanako’s kick attempt in the corner and joins Hanako on the top turnbuckle, but Hanako boots her into the Tree of Woe. Kicks by Hanako, she pulls Leon back up and hits a Fisherman Buster for a two count. Hanako returns to the top turnbuckle and nails the Destiny Hammer, cover by Hanako but Leon gets a shoulder up. Hanako goes for the Capture Buster but Leon pushes her away and hits a release German. Leon goes up top but Hanako kicks her before she can jump off, Hanako joins Leon but Leon spears her down to the mat. Spear by Leon, she covers Hanako but Hanako kicks out. Leon picks up Hanako and kicks her in the head, she goes off the ropes but Hanako hits a head kick of her own and both wrestlers are down on the mat. They slowly get back up and start trading elbows, spinning kick by Leon but Hanako hulks up and kicks Leon in the head. They trade kicks until Hanako knocks down Leon with a step-up kick, and again they are both down. Leon goes for a spear but Hanako moves, head kick by Hanako and she delivers the Chikonka Driver but Leon gets a shoulder up.

Hanako goes up top but Leon shakes the ropes before she can jump off and eventually joins her, headbutt by Leon and she tosses Hanako to the mat with a Spider German. Leon turns around and delivers the Frog Splash, she goes back up top again and hits the diving footstomp but Hanako kicks out of the cover. Leon drags Hanako up and drops her with the Capture Buster, but again Hanako manages to kick out. Leon goes off the ropes but Hanako knees her when she goes for the spear, Leon goes for another Capture Buster but Hanako blocks it. Leon reverses the block into a cradle, but it gets a two count. They both go for quick pins with no luck, Hanako goes for a kick but Leon ducks it and hits a German suplex. Leon goes off the ropes twice and levels Hanako with a spear, but Hanako rolls out of the cover. Leon picks up Hanako and goes for the Capture Buster, Hanako blocks it and catches her with a Chikonka Driver, but Leon rolls through it for a two count. Head kick by Hanako and she delivers a kick combination, La Rojo by Hanako and she picks up the three count! Hanako Nakamori is the new champion!

Leon may be 38 years old but she can still go. This match far exceeded my expectations, Hanako Nakamori and Leon knew this may be the biggest crowd that PURE-J is ever in front of and they really brought it. Even though it went 15 minutes the action was non-stop, as they went at the fast pace that Joshi wrestling has become known for. Leon wrestled like the underdog as I figured she would, and really threw everything at Hanako, but once Hanako kicked out of her big moves she was in trouble. My only complaint is I wish that Hanako had to do a bit more at the end to put Leon away since Leon had such a long segment of big moves, but the Chikonka Driver/head kicks/La Rojo is a killer combination so it still didn’t feel like an “out of nowhere” win. I don’t say this often about PURE-J but this is a must-see match.  Highly Recommended

Command Bolshoi Retirement Series Gauntlet Match
Singles matches vs. Mayumi Ozaki, Kaori Yoneyama, and Hanako Nakamori

Command Bolshoi vs. Mayumi Ozaki – They circle each other to start before locking up, Ozaki gets Bolshoi in the ropes but she gives a clean break. Ozaki stomps on Bolshoi’s foot and scoop slams her, she gets her chain and hits Bolshoi in the head with it. More chain strikes by Ozaki but Bolshoi grabs her arm and applies an armbar over the top rope. Armbreaker by Bolshoi but Ozaki quickly puts her in a sleeper hold, Bolshoi struggles but eventually makes it to the ropes for the break. Ozaki puts Bolshoi in the ropes so that other members of the Ozaki Army could assist her as they pose for the crowd. Irish whip by Ozaki but Bolshoi slides away and hits a palm strike. Bolshoi rolls Ozaki to the mat and applies a kneelock, she reverts it into a modified figure four but Ozaki gets to the ropes (with some help) to get a break. Bolshoi picks up Ozaki but Ozaki gets her back and tosses Bolshoi to the mat. Ozaki gets her chain again and hits Bolshoi with it, but Bolshoi comes back with a palm strike as they trade blows. They fight over the chain until Bolshoi runs in with a Piko Knee Smash, cover by Bolshoi but it gets a two count. Bolshoi picks up Ozaki but Ozaki hits a backfist followed by a jumping kick, but her cover gets two as well. Bolshoi puts Ozaki in a modified Dragon Sleeper, but the bell rings as the five minutes has expired. The match is a Draw.

Command Bolshoi vs. Kaori Yoneyama – Yoneyama is crying as the match starts but it turns out to be a ruse as she quickly schoolboys Bolshoi for a two count. She tries a few more flash pins but they don’t work, she charges Bolshoi but Bolshoi puts her in a Fujiwara Armbar. Yoneyama tries to roll out of it but fails in her first few attempts so Bolshoi switches to a cross armbreaker and then into a seated armbar. Yoneyama gets into the ropes for a break, she begs off Bolshoi and Bolshoi allows her to get up. Yoneyama asks for a knucklelock but she steps on Bolshoi’s foot, Mongolian Chops by Bolshoi and both wrestlers punch each other in the stomach. Bolshoi and Yoneyama trade strikes, waistlock by Yoneyama but Bolshoi slides away. Northern Lights Suplex by Yoneyama, but it only gets a two count. Mounted elbows by Yoneyama, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails a diving senton, but Bolshoi kicks out of the cover. Knees by Yoneyama, she goes off the ropes but Bolshoi hits a knee of her own followed by an uppercut and a Tiger Feint Kick.  Bolshoi-shiki Wakigatame by Bolshoi in the middle of the ring, Bolshoi switches it into a cradle but the bell rings before the referee can complete her three count as time expires. The match is a Draw.

Command Bolshoi vs. Hanako Nakamori – They circle to start, kicks by Nakamori but Bolshoi catches one and applies an ankle lock. Nakamori gets out of the hold and applies a waistlock, but Bolshoi kicks out of it and palm strikes Nakamori in the face. Bolshoi goes off the ropes but Nakamori catches her with a fisherman buster, head kick by Nakamori and she goes up top, but Bolshoi recovers and elbows Nakamori from the turnbuckle down to the floor. Bolshoi gets out on the apron and hits an Asai Moonsault down onto Nakamori, she rolls her back in but Nakamori blocks the tiger suplex attempt. Palm strikes by Bolshoi but Nakamori fires back with a head kick, Bolshoi gets Nakamori in the ropes and hits the Tiger Feint Kick followed by another palm strike for a two count cover. Bolshoi nails Nakamori with the Piko Knee Smash, but Nakamori gets a shoulder up on the cover. Bolshoi picks up Nakamori but Nakamori blocks her suplex attempts and hits a Michinoku Driver. Nakamori drags Bolshoi up but Bolshoi quickly hits a Fisherman Buster, cover by Bolshoi but it gets two. Tiger suplex hold by Bolshoi, but that gets a two count as well. The two trade strikes on their knees before returning to their feet, palm strikes by Bolshoi and she knocks down Nakamori for two. Bolshoi picks up Nakamori but the bell rings before she can do anything else, as the time has expired. The match is a Draw.

Gauntlet matches are not an uncommon method for a wrestler to go out when retiring, but this one was set up a bit differently. Generally I really enjoyed it, the five minutes gave the wrestlers a bit more time to get something going so it wasn’t just a one minute sprint, and even though there was no winner I liked that Bolshoi was on the cusp of winning in all three matches so it felt like she could have won with just another minute or two. I wish that Yoneyama had wrestled more of a straight match, I know in YMZ and Stardom she has been more playful for awhile but for a retirement match I wouldn’t have complained if serious Yoneyama had shown up for one last run. Still, this was a fun walk down memory lane and Bolshoi was given a chance to shine against a nice variety of former opponents to close out her career.  Recommended

At the conclusion of the show, we have the retirement ceremony for Command Bolshoi, which is shown in full. Wrestlers can look very different in street clothes so I won’t try to identify all the wrestlers that came into the ring to wish Bolshoi a happy farewell, but some of those in attendance included Manami Toyota, Jumbo Hori, Yukari Omori, Dynamite Kansai, Cuty Suzuki, and many others. We also got a video message from Devil Masami, which shows how special Command Bolshoi was as Masami doesn’t show up very often at wrestling functions these days. Finally we get a photo montage, Bolshoi gets one final salute, and she is carried off into the sunset.

The post PURE-J Bolshoi Retirement ~ Thank You!! on 4/21/19 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

I am continuing my trend of being somewhat current with watching Joshi, as its now time to see what OZ Academy has been up to (I typed this line when I started writing this review two weeks ago, so not necessarily still true). This is a pretty big event for the promotion, as both the OZ Academy Tag Team Championship (held by Ozaki Army) and the OZ Academy Openweight Championship (held by Yoshiko) are on the line. Here is the full card:

• Alex Lee vs. Saori Anou
• Aja Kong, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Kaori Yoneyama vs. Aoi Kizuki, AKINO, and Kaho Kobayashi
• Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Yumiko Hotta
• OZ Academy Tag Team Championship: Maya Yukihi and Mayumi Ozaki vs. Kakeru Sekiguchi and Sonoko Kato
• OZ Academy Openweight Championship: Yoshiko vs. Hikaru Shida

As always, all the wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names to go straight to it.

Alex Lee vs. Saori Anou

We join this one in progress as Alex has Saori in the corner, slaps by Alex and she hits a jumping knee in the corner. Alex picks up Saori, Saori gets away but she is tripped by Maya Yukihi when she goes off the ropes. Maya pulls her out of the ring and whips her before Mayumi Ozaki throws Saori into the ring post, Alex comes out and she scoop slams Saori onto the floor. Alex gets on the apron before jumping back to the floor with a footstomp onto Saori, she slides Saori back into the ring and hits a vertical suplex for two. Knees by Alex but Saori comes back with a boot, three more boots by Saori and Alex finally falls to her feet. Saori goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, but Alex kicks out of the cover. Saori grabs Alex but Alex hits a suplex, Saori quickly gets back into control and delivers a fisherman suplex for a two count. Alex gets Saori’s back and hits a release German, kick to the head by Alex and she covers Saori for two. Kick by Alex and she whips Saori in the back, Saori avoids one shot however and gets the whip from Alex to return the favor. Mayumi comes in but she hits Alex with a chain by accident, backslide with a bridge by Saori and she picks up the three count! Saori Anou wins!

I’d like to say this match was good as I adore Saori Anou, but it was not good. Alex Lee is slightly better now that she has a heel gimmick but she still isn’t smooth in the ring, as her general movements are clunky and the transitions were rough around the edges. Saori is a solid young wrestler but she joined in the awkwardness here, and neither one came out of the match looking better than they came into it. Saori works better with wrestlers she is comfortable with and looks stronger in her home promotion, here it just didn’t work in any way.

Aja Kong, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Yoneyama vs. Aoi Kizuki, AKINO, and Kaho Kobayashi

Aoi is supposed to start the match but quickly changes her mind, throwing Kaho to the wolves instead. Kaho is triple teamed for a bit until Kong stays in as the legal wrestler, Kong picks up Kaho but Kaho hits a Codebreaker, Aoi and AKINO run in and they double team Kong. Kong pushes them all away as Kaori and Hiroyo come in, but MISSION K4 regains the advantage. They go back triple teaming Kong but Kong hits a jumping crossbody onto all of them and tags in Hiroyo. Body avalanche by Hiroyo to AKINO but AKINO hits a jawbreaker followed by a pair of kicks. Hiroyo blocks the third kick and the two trade blows, a battle that Hiroyo eventually wins with a spinning back elbow. She goes for a sliding lariat but AKINO catches her arm and hits a backdrop suplex. Hiroyo fires back with a lariat, and both wrestlers are down on the mat. AKINO tags in Kaho while Kaori is also tagged in, springboard armdrag by Kayo and she delivers a tilt-a-whirl headscissors followed by a dropkick. More dropkicks by Kaho, she goes to the top turnbuckle and drops Kaori with a missile dropkick before AKINO goes up top and hits a missile dropkick as well. Aoi follows with a diving crossbody, fisherman suplex by Kaho but Kaori barely gets a shoulder up.

Kaho tags in Aoi, jumping lariat by Aoi and she covers Kaori for two. Mio Shirai (the referee) cheers on Aoi, which Kong doesn’t like so she tosses Aoi from the top turnbuckle to the mat. Hiroyo comes in and tries to powerbomb Kaori onto Aoi, but Aoi moves out of the way and AKINO kicks Hiroyo in the head. Aoi goes back up top and delivers the swivel body press, but Kong breaks up the cover. Aoi picks up Kaori and hits a running elbow, Kaho comes in and she dropkicks Kaori. Aoi picks up Kaori and hits a double wrist-clutch suplex, but ht only gets two. Aoi goes off the ropes but Hiroyo comes in and lariats her, AKINO and Kaho return but Hiroyo drops them both with a double backdrop suplex. Aoi and Kaori go back at it, cradle by Aoi but Kaori reverses it as they go back and forth. Kong lariats both Kaho and AKINO before slamming Kaori onto both of them, Hiroyo them slams Kaori onto Kaho before Kong picks up Kaori to try to slam her into Aoi. Aoi moves, Hiroyo holds Aoi for Kong as Kong gets her paint can, and Kong hits Aoi in the head with it. Hiroyo puts Kaori in a waistlock as Kaori puts Aoi in one, and Hiroyo suplexes both of them (Kaori is basically just being used as a weapon here). Kaori hits a senton onto Aoi, she goes up top and nails a diving senton, picking up the three count! MONSTERS win the match.

I probably enjoyed this match more than I should have, it was pretty basic but still had a certain charm to it. Mio encouraging Aoi Kizuki was cute, I think she was acting nice because Aoi announced she will be retiring soon. Kaori being used as a weapon was over-done but still different, and it was a short enough match that the offense never had time to feel stale. It had a little bit of everything but not a lot of anything due to the match length, and while its a match that isn’t memorable it still was entertaining for a lower-card match. A fun match between the veterans.  Mildly Recommended

Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Yumiko Hotta

We join this one in progress, which is a bit unusual for a six minute match. Kuragaki has Hotta in a front headlock before hitting a backdrop suplex, she goes up top but Hotta rolls out of the way of the moonsault attempt. Kicks to the chest by Hotta but Kuragaki returns to her feet, sleeper by Hotta but Kuragaki drives her into the corner to release her grip. Hotta quickly goes for the sleeper again but Kuragaki flips her to the mat, rapid fire lariats by Kuragaki and she knocks Hotta to the mat with a final lariat. Kuragaki goes up top and delivers the moonsault, but Hotta kicks out at two. Kuragaki picks up Hotta but Hotta pushes her off and goes for Kuragaki’s arm, Hotta goes for a powerbomb but Kuragaki quickly back bodydrops out of it. They both go for lariats until Kuragaki sends Hotta to the mat, Hotta gets back up however and catches Kuragaki in the head with a heel kick. Cover by Hotta, but Kuragaki gets a shoulder up. Jawbreaker by Kuragaki but Hotta palm thrusts her back, lariat by Kuragaki but Hotta kicks out. Superkick by Kuragaki but Hotta slaps her as they trade blows, lariat by Kuragaki but again it gets a two. Kuragaki goes for a suplex but Hotta reverses it into a cradle for two, Kuragaki then sneaks in a backslide but she gets a two as well. Hotta gets the sleeper back on, Kuragaki drops out of it but Hotta sits down on her and holds down Kuragaki for the three count! Yumiko Hotta wins!

This wasn’t quite the slobber-knocker that I was hoping for. There were moments where it looked like they were going to just start teeing off on each other, but it would always be interrupted. Them both deciding on flash pins being the way to go seemed unusual, and the sudden ending came across flat since the match hadn’t been very long up to that point. Too short and clunky to recommend, a Hoss Battle this was not.

(c) Maya Yukihi and Mayumi Ozaki vs. Kakeru Sekiguchi and Sonoko Kato
OZ Academy Tag Team Championship

Maya and Sonoko start the match, they trade kicks with each other until Maya rakes Sonoko in the eyes. Uppercut by Sonoko and she hits a dragon screw before tagging in Kakeru. Kakeru and Sonoko Irish whip Maya and double team her until Mayumi comes in the ring with Police to take over the situation. The action spills out onto the floor with Ozaki Army in control, Maya whips Kakeru before rolling her back into the ring. Kakeru is attacked by all the members of Ozaki Army while Mio pretends to try to get them to stop, finally the ring clears with Mayumi staying in with Kakeru. Scoop slams by Mayumi, she tags in Maya and Mayu continues the assault on young Kakeru as Police continues to help from ringside. We clip ahead to Mayumi being in the ring with Sonoko, back bodydrop by Sonoko and she kicks Mayumi in the head. Kakeru comes in to help but Police pulls her out of the ring, Sonoko is brought out to the floor also as the Ozaki Army carnage continues. After the floor beatdown is over, Mayumi and Kakeru return to the ring as we see that Kakeru has been busted open. Alex Lee joins in on the fun too as Sonoko and Kakeru are attacked in the corner, Mayumi brings in her chain and hits Sonoko repeatedly in the head with it, Sonoko finally blocks a shot however and the two struggle over the chain. Mayumi hits Sonoko with an enzuigiri, but Sonoko catches Mayumi with a Samoan Driver for a two count. Sonoko goes up top but Mayumi joins her and hits a superplex, Alex Lee comes in but Kaho Kobayashi does as well so they cancel each other out. Kaho suplexes Mayumi as Sonoko goes up top, diving leg drop by Sonoko but Police runs in with a boot to Sonoko.

Maya tries to grab Mayumi but Kakeru kicks her in the face, dropkicks by Kakeru to Mayumi, she covers her but Mayumi gets a shoulder up. Kakeru picks up Mayumi but Mayumi throws her to the mat, Kakeru gets back up and hits a STO, but that gets a two as well. Kakeru goes off the ropes but Mio trips her on purpose, Maya comes in with her whip and hits everyone she sees while Mayumi gets her chain. Mayumi hits Kakeru in the head with the chain, cover by Mayumi but Kakeru kicks out of the one-foot cover. Mayumi hits Kakeru with her chain again but Sonoko runs in and knees her in the stomach, but Maya returns and whips Sonoko. Police and Alex Lee come in with chairs and throw them onto Kakeru, Mayumi slams Kakeru’s head into the mat but the cover gets two. Mayumi picks up Kakeru and goes for the Tequila Sunrise, but Kakeru blocks it before AKINO goes up top and hits a missile dropkick onto Mayumi. AKINO takes care of Police as well, Alex Lee comes in the ring but she eats a dropkick from Kaho. AKINO and Sonoko take turns kicking Mayumi, Kowloon’s Gate by Sonoko and Kakeru covers her, but Mio is too “distracted” to make the count. Police returns with a chair to clear the ring, cradle by Kakeru to Mayumi, but Mio makes a really slow count so it only gets two. Things break down again as they tend to do in Ozaki Army matches, Mayumi slaps Kakeru repeatedly as Maya returns and kicks Kakeru in the face. Mayumi immediately delivers the Tequila Sunrise, and she picks up the three count! Ozaki Army are still the champions.

So I was wrong about there not being clipping as about five minutes was missing. They probably clipped out the ‘slower’ non-carnage portions of the match. I’m on record as not really enjoying these matches as I really don’t like the “heel referee’ gimmick. I didn’t like it with the nWo and I don’t like it now, and since Ozaki Army usually win their matches its not a situation where the faces commonly get the upper-hand. Even though Kaho and AKINO got more involved at the end, for the bulk of it the Ozaki Army just did as they wished. The ending wasn’t very climatic as Kakeru didn’t really get a hope spot to cut off Ozaki Army and it never felt like the end result was in any doubt. That being said there were some things I enjoyed, Kakeru is feisty and while it came a bit late I did enjoy the rest of MISSION K4 getting involved to try to even the score. A decent enough chaos-filled match, its not a structure that is a personal favorite of mine but if you enjoy Ozaki Army matches a lot then you’ll enjoy this one too.

(c) Yoshiko vs. Hikaru Shida
OZ Academy Openweight Championship

They start the match slow as they feel each other out, Yoshiko knocks Hikaru to the mat first with a hard shoulderblock but Hikaru recovers and connects with a hurricanrana. Yoshiko rolls out of the ring but Hikaru goes out after her and throws Yoshiko into the chairs at ringside. Hikaru sets up a chair and goes to do a jumping knee off of it, but Yoshiko catches her in mid-air and throws Hikaru back into the chair. Yoshiko then picks up the chair and throws it at Hikaru before sliding her back into the ring, bootscrapes by Yoshiko in the corner and she delivers a running kick to Hikaru’s head. Drop toehold by Yoshiko and she twists on Hikaru’s leg, but Hikaru gets to the ropes for the break. Yoshiko goes off the ropes but Hikaru pulls down the top rope and Yoshiko falls out onto the apron. Hikaru elbows Yoshiko to the floor, she goes out to the apron but Yoshiko lariats her leg out from under her. Back in the ring Yoshiko keeps on Hikaru’s leg, she goes for a scoop slam but Hikaru blocks it. Vertical suplex by Hikaru and she rolls through it, suplexing Yoshiko again but this time into the turnbuckles. Hikaru throws Yoshiko into the corner but Yoshiko drops her onto the apron when she charges in, Yoshiko gets on the second turnbuckle and tries to suplex Hikaru back into the ring, but Hikaru blocks it.

They both end up on the apron but Hikaru drops to the floor and trips Yoshiko before kneeing her in the head. Hikaru gets on the second turnbuckle from inside the ring and suplexes Yoshiko back into the ring, Hikaru elbows Yoshiko but Yoshiko elbows her back and they trade blows. Yoshiko goes for lariats but Hikaru knees her to block it, Yoshiko finally delivers one but Hikaru blocks the sliding lariat attempt. Knee to the head by Hikaru, and she covers Yoshiko for two. Hikaru goes off the ropes but Yoshiko levels her with a lariat. Another lariat by Yoshiko and a few more, but Hikaru keeps standing back up. Yoshiko finally sends down Hikaru long enough for a cover, she then gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a diving senton, but Hikaru kicks out at two. Yoshiko goes all the way up the next time but Hikaru recovers and suplexes her back to the mat. Yoshiko fires back with a lariat, she picks up Hikaru but Hikaru sneaks in a sunset flip for two. Yoshiko goes for a lariat but Hikaru catches it and headbutts her, knee strike by Hikaru and she connects with several more. The referee does a count for Yoshiko but Yoshiko gets up before she reaches ten, Hikaru promptly knees Yoshiko some more and covers her for two.

Hikaru picks up Yoshiko but Yoshiko fires off a lariat, another lariat by Yoshiko but Hikaru gets a shoulder up on the cover. Sliding lariat by Yoshiko, but that gets a two count as well. Yoshiko picks up Hikaru and hits a fireman’s carry slam, she goes to the top turnbuckle but Hikaru slowly recovers and joins her. Hikaru goes for a Frankensteiner but Yoshiko blocks it, she gets Hikaru on her shoulders and tosses her back to the mat. Diving senton by Yoshiko, but Hikaru barely kicks out. Yoshiko goes up top again but Hikaru gets a knee up when Yoshiko goes for the diving senton, knee to the back of the head by Hikaru and she delivers the Falcon Arrow for two. Tamashii no Three Count by Hikaru, but Yoshiko grabs the ropes to break up the pin. Hikaru picks up Yoshiko but Yoshiko punches her in the face, she goes off the ropes but Hikaru connects with a jumping knee. Lariat by Yoshiko but Hikaru delivers a jumping knee, she picks up Yoshiko but struggles to pick her up. Hikaru goes off the ropes and hits the Three Count, Hikaru picks up Yoshiko again and drops her with a vertical suplex lift into a side slam for two. Hikaru picks up Yoshiko and hits another Falcon Arrow, she goes off the ropes and nails the Tamashii no Three Count for the three count! Hikaru Shida is the new champion!

While this match wasn’t perfect, it was certainly entertaining. Hikaru Shida is one of my favorites so seeing her in a major singles match was great, and I think she really delivered here. Her knees were on point and frequent, which is all I ever want in life, and Yoshiko was her usual solid self. I didn’t love the early leg work immediately being forgotten, mostly because Yoshiko did a good job with it and it lasted for several minutes, sometimes just a bit of limping can go a long way. But aside from that, it was a hard hitting and well paced match that felt like it went just the right length for what they were going for. Overall a really solid match, not without its faults but still definitely worth a watch.  Recommended

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Full Details

Title: Saori Anou Photobook 道標
Release: Spring 2018
Pages: 40
Cost: ¥2,500
Where to Buy: Actwres girl’Z Shop

This is not your traditional photobook, or at least not what you’d expect from a Joshi wrestler. Saori’s photobook shows highlights from her career, starting from when she first started wrestling, to her time in Stardom and finally to being a champion in Actwres girl’Z. The typical “gravure” style pictures are limited to just a few pictures of Saori on the beach, as that clearly is not the focus. Besides pictures (all pictures in the book are in color), they also included a database of Saori’s matches from 2015 to 2017 as well as a message from Yumiko Hotta, who is one of her current trainers. While it may not be what everyone would expect, the pictures are great and for a fan of Saori Anou it is a fun walk down memory lane as we see how far Saori has gotten as she enters her third year in professional wrestling. Below are a sample of some of the pictures in the photobook:

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*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.*

I am a bit behind in my Stardom reviewing, so we are going to catch up really quick. This is a big show for Stardom on several different levels. First, Act Yasukawa has a big singles match against Kairi Hojo to find the #1 Contender for the World of Stardom Championship. Also, Iwatani challenges La Rosa Negra for the High Speed Championship and Dark Angel challenges Io Shirai for the Wonder of Stardom Championship! This was billed as Dark Angel’s last match in Japan before going to WWE. Here is the full card:

• Hiromi Mimura vs. Kris Wolf
• Haruka Kato vs. Saori Anou
• Kaori Yoneyama vs. Momo Watanabe vs. Starlight Kid
• Act Yasukawa vs. Kairi Hojo
• High Speed Championship: La Rosa Negra vs. Mayu Iwatani
• Wonder of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai vs. Dark Angel

As is a normal feature on Joshi City, you can click on the wrestler names above to go directly to the wrestler’s profile.

Hiromi Mimura vs. Kris Wolf

This is Hiromi Mimura’s debut. I can’t find a lot of information on her, but she is 29 years old and was set to debut several times but it was delayed due to injury. But here she finally has her first match and it is against the energetic Wolf. This will no doubt be basic but I am sure that Mimura and Wolf have interacted quite a bit in the dojo so hopefully it will at least be smooth.

Wolf toys with Mimura to start but Mimura kicks her from behind and they go to the mat trading holds. Wolf bites Mimura in the arm but Mimura applies a wristlock. Wolf quickly gets out of it, snapmare by Wolf and she kicks Mimura in the back. Mimura gets back up and elbows Wolf, but Wolf kicks her in the leg as they go back and forth trading strikes. Mimura surprisingly gets the better of it, dropkick by Mimura and she covers Wolf for two. Back up, Mimura rolls Wolf to the mat and applies a leg submission, but Wolf gets out of it and gives Mimura a hard knee to the head. Running kneelift by Wolf, she goes up to the second turnbuckle but Mimura rolls out of the way of her dive and hits a quick crossbody for two. Wolf elbows Mimura away and they trade shots until Wolf pulls down Mimura by her hair and hits a double kneedrop for a two count. Jumping knee by Wolf in the corner and she kicks Mimura in the back for another two. Wolf suplexes Mimura, she goes to the top turnbuckle and nails a diving double kneedrop for a three count! Kris Wolf wins the match.

This was not your typical wrestler debut, for a few reasons. First, Mimura is not a child so she can physically hang with Wolf as their sizes/strength are similar. Second, Mimura started training a year ago, so she has some decent experience. And finally, Wolf just debuted in August 2014 herself, so while she does have more experience it is not a significant amount. I thought this was pretty solid for a debut, I am sure there are some nerves but it was pretty smooth and Mimura showed off some really solid moves. If she sticks with it and continues improving, Mimura will likely have success in Stardom down the road, the match was too short to get excited about but not a bad way to start the event.

Haruka Kato vs. Saori Anou

This is random as hell. If you don’t know who Anou is, don’t feel bad. Anou wrestles for a small promotion called Actress girl’Z (now Actwres girl’Z). They are a beginners level promotion (their twitter handle is actually “Beginning Pro”) that puts on small events that never make television. So I have never seen Anou before and I am not sure why she is wrestling on a Stardom card. Kato is a solid midcard wrestler that likes doing cross armbreakers, which is the primary reason I like her and not because she is stunningly cute.

They tie-up to kick things off, shoulderblock by Anou and she hits another one. Anou picks up Kato but Kato elbows her away and they trade shots. Scoop slam by Kato and she applies a cross armbreaker, but Anou rolls it into a cover for two. They both go off the ropes, Anou hits a shoulderblock and hits a nice fisherman suplex hold for a two count. Backslide with a bridge by Anou, but that gets a two as well. Anou goes for another fisherman suplex but Kato gets out of it and hits a tilt-a-whirl schoolboy for two. Kato goes back to the arm, she gets the cross armbreaker locked in and Anou has to submit! Kato is your winner.

I thought this was a step down from the last match, as these two did not have the chemistry that Mimura and Wolf had. When Anou had a chance to show a few things she can do it worked fine, she is very bendy, but the match itself was disjointed. Kato isn’t known for her high-end matches so the bar was low for Anou’s Stardom debut, and while it may have worked to introduce her to the crowd it wasn’t the best situation to put Anou in to succeed. Watchable, but nothing more than that.

Kaori Yoneyama vs. Momo Watanabe vs. Starlight Kid

Another debut, as this is Starlight Kid’s first match. I can’t find much information on her, the fact she wears a mask and has a gimmick name obviously doesn’t make it any easier. But this is a pretty low key situation to debut, as it is a short triple threat match against a seasoned veteran in Yoneyama and a literal child that debuted late last year.

Watanabe is teamed up on first but Starlight Kid rolls up Yoneyama for a quick two count. Handstand into a spinning headscissors by Starlight Kid to Yoneyama and she hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors on Watanabe. Watanabe falls out of the ring but returns after a moment, and Starlight Kid hits a dropkick for a two count. Yoneyama comes back in and throws Watanabe and Starlight Kid in the same corner, but they avoid her when she charges in. Watanabe and Starlight Kid both attack Yoneyama in the corner, Watanabe dropkicks Starlight Kid in the opposite corner and take turns dropkicking both of them. Reverse STO by Watanabe to Starlight Kid and she hits rolling vertical suplexes for a two count. Shiranui by Starlight Kid to Watanabe, but Yoneyama breaks up the cover. Starlight Kid falls out of the ring, Yoneyama goes up top and she hits a diving senton on Watanabe for the three count! Yoneyama wins the match.

I gotta say, for a debut I thought this was about as good as you can get. Starlight Kid showed a lot of ability in this short match, obviously it wasn’t long enough to see much of her but she showed a lot of quickness. Beyond that this was nothing special, as these triple threat Stardom matches generally aren’t, but it was fun to watch the rookie go.

Act Yasukawa vs. Kairi Hojo

This match is for the #1 Contendership for the World of Stardom Championship held my Meiko Satomura. These two need no introduction. Hojo is the former champion and just won the FIVE STAR GP, while Yasukawa just recently returned after being injured in a match earlier this year against Yoshiko. Really Hojo should not have had to wrestle anyone for the #1 Contendership since she won the tournament, but she is never one to back down from a fight, and since Yasukawa was unable to be in the tournament it only seemed fair.

They start with tie-ups and wristlocks, but neither gets a clear advantage. Next they trade elbows, Hojo knocks Yasukawa into the corner and starts marching but Yasukawa pulls her down from behind by her hair. Yasukawa picks up Hojo but Hojo slides away and they trade elbows. Hojo gets the better of it and goes up top, hitting a diving elbow strike. Hojo applies a crab hold but Yasukawa gets a hand on the ropes to force a break. Hojo goes for the Sliding D but Yasukawa kicks her arm and dropkicks Hojo in the knee. Yasukawa and Hojo go back and forth with elbows, powerslam by Yasukawa and she covers Hojo for a two count. Yasukawa goes up top but Hojo rolls out of the way of the somersault senton and hits a Sliding D to Yasukawa’s back. Cross legged crab hold by Hojo, she lets go of the hold but Yasukawa ducks the spinning backfist and rolls up Hojo for two. Stretch Muffler by Yasukawa, she picks up Hojo but Hojo slides away and rolls up Yasukawa for a two count. Cross-legged crab hold by Hojo but Yasukawa won’t give up, Hojo goes to the second turnbuckle but falls as she goes to jump off. She gets on the second turnbuckle again and hits a diving elbow drop to Yasukawa’s back, but Yasukawa barely gets a shoulder up. Hojo goes up top again, she nails the diving elbow drop and she picks up the three count! Hojo wins the match and is the new #1 Contender.

No one can ever say I am too biased, as while I love both Yasukawa and Hojo I thought this wasn’t a great match. First of all it was clipped which I am sure hurt it a bit, but it was probably clipped for a reason. This was Yasukawa’s first big match since last February so I have no doubt she was rusty, there were a few good sections and I liked Yasukawa’s attitude but it wasn’t cohesive. Also, and I always complain about this, if a move is botched it annoys me when wrestlers just repeat the spot. Poor Yasukawa had to lay on the mat way too long since Hojo slipped off the turnbuckle, I have no issue with her slipping as that happens but she should have gone over and slammed or kicked Yasukawa then gone back up top. So between the clipping, lack of focus, and messed up ending I can’t recommend this match, even though I think both are great wrestlers that on a normal day are two of the best in Stardom.

(c) La Rosa Negra vs. Mayu Iwatani
High Speed Championship

La Rosa Negra won the High Speed Championship last month from Starfire in an upset, in a match that also saw Starfire injure her knee which may have led to that ending. Iwatani on the other hand is one of Stardom’s rising stars and already has the tag team championship with Io Shirai. Of course, Shirai has her own singles title so Iwatani wants one too, and all she has to do is beat La Rosa Negra to get one.

La Rosa Negra and Iwatani do the usual wristlocks trading to begin, La Rosa Negra goes for a wheelbarrow facebuster but Iwatani gets out of it. Dropkick by La Rosa Negra and she chops Iwatani into the corner, she goes for a suplex but Iwatani lands on her feet and hits a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count. Iwatani grabs La Rosa Negra’s wrist and flips off the ropes with an armdrag, La Rosa Negra falls out of the ring and Iwatani goes to the top turnbuckle. La Rosa Negra recovers, she jumps on the apron and throws Iwatani down to the floor. La Rosa Negra then gets in the ring and dives out onto Iwatani with a tope suicida. Back in the ring, Iwatani kicks La Rosa Negra in the gut and she delivers a spinning headscissors. Dropkick by Iwatani in the corner and she kicks La Rosa Negra in the back, La Rosa Negra throws Iwatani into another corner but La Rosa Negra rebounds out of the corner with a crossbody. Back up they trade elbows until La Rosa Negra snaps off a reverse neckbreaker, La Rosa Negra charges Iwatani in the corner and hits an elbow drop. Cover by La Rosa Negra but Iwatani kicks out at two. La Rosa Negra picks up Iwatani and applies the airplane spin before slamming Iwatani to the mat. La Rosa Negra goes up top but Iwatani avoids the Rose Splash, schoolboy by Iwatani but it gets two. Iwatani kicks La Rosa Negra back, she gets on the second turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick. Diving footstomp by Iwatani, she goes up top again and she hits a diving body press for a two count. Iwatani picks up La Rosa Negra and she hits a crucifix slam for another two. Buzzsaw Kick by Iwatani, she picks up La Rosa Negra but La Rosa Negra sneaks in a schoolboy for two. Back up, backslide with a bridge by Iwatani but it gets two as well. Iwatani charges La Rosa Negra but La Rosa Negra catches her with a powerslam, La Rosa Negra goes up top but Iwatani gets up and joins her. Superplex by Iwatani, she goes up top and nails the diving footstomp. Iwatani drags La Rosa Negra up and she delivers the dragon suplex hold, getting the three count pinfall! Your winner and new champion is Mayu Iwatani!

This was really solid, the best I have seen of La Rosa Negra so far. There was no time filler, no meandering limb work that didn’t go anywhere, and it lasted the perfect length. The moves were hit crisply and they were on the same page, which was my primary fear since they don’t have a lot of experience wrestling against each other. About as good as I could have hoped for and entertaining from start to finish, even if you aren’t familiar with La Rosa Negra it is definitely worth a watch.  Recommended

(c) Io Shirai vs. Dark Angel
World of Stardom Championship

This is a special match, as it is also billed as Dark Angel’s last match in Japan. Dark Angel, also known as Sarah Stock, was already signed to WWE before this match took place as she was headed there to become a trainer in NXT. While I am sure she will have another match down the road, at the time of this review this was her last match period as she did not wrestle again after this one before joining NXT. She of course is going out on a high note, challenging Stardom superstar Io Shirai for her World of Stardom Championship.

Dark Angel immediately gets a double underhook applied but Shirai gets away, they lock knuckles and Dark Angel flips Shirai to the mat. Back up they trade elbows, armdrag by Dark Angel and they trade quick pin attempts. Hard dropkick by Dark Angel but Shirai cartwheels away from Dark Angel and dropkicks her out of the ring. Shirai goes up top to do a moonsault but Dark Angel knocks her down and powerbombs Shirai right on the apron. Dark Angel returns to the ring while Shirai gets the magic spray, back in the ring Dark Angel grabs Shirai and she hits a neckbreaker. Dark Angel stretches Shirai’s back and covers her for a two count. Rolling senton by Dark Angel and she hits a backbreaker, another cover but it gets another two. Dark Angel gets Shirai on her shoulders and applies a backbreaker before flinging her to the mat. Dark Angel goes off the ropes but Shirai drop toeholds her into the ropes, Shirai charges Dark Angel to hit a tiger feint kick but Dark Angel reverses it with an armdrag. Jumping knee by Dark Angel in the corner and she hits another one, Dark Angel throws Shirai into the corner but Shirai springs up to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. Dark Angel falls out of the ring, Shirai gets a running start and sails out onto Dark Angel with a tope suicida. Shirai slides Dark Angel back in and hits a springboard missile dropkick, tiger feint kick by Shirai but Dark Angel avoids the next missile dropkick and puts Shirai in an elevated crab hold.

Shirai eventually gets to the ropes, Dark Angel picks up Shirai and hits a few knees to the back before dropping her in the corner and rolling Shirai up for two. Dark Angel picks up Shirai but Shirai avoids the jumping knee and hits a running double knee in the corner. Dropkick by Shirai, she picks up Dark Angel and hits a few elbows, but Dark Angel comes back with a dropkick. Shirai falls out of the ring, Dark Angel goes up top and dives out onto Shirai with a plancha suicida. Back in the ring, Dark Angel goes up top and she hits a diving crossbody for a two count. Dark Angel picks up Shirai but Shirai slides away and hits the double underhook facebuster. German suplex hold by Shirai, she picks up Dark Angel and plants her with a tombstone piledriver. Shirai goes up top but Dark Angel gets both feet up when Shirai goes for the moonsault. Both wrestlers are slow to get up and trade elbows, Dark Angel kicks Shirai against the ropes and hits the Tiger Driver, but Shirai barely gets a shoulder up. Dark Angel gets Shirai on her back in La Reienera but Shirai gets out of it and applies a choke. Dark Angel elbows out of that and goes for another Tiger Driver, but Shirai reverses it and hits an Air Raid Crash. Shirai kicks Dark Angel in the head, she goes up to the top turnbuckle and nails the moonsault for the three count! Shirai is still the World of Stardom Champion.

This was a great match for a lot of reasons, most of which in this case I will credit to Dark Angel. Dark Angel is a seasoned veteran that knows what she is doing, there is a reason she is going to be a trainer at NXT. Her focus on the back was on point, almost all of her offense focused on Shirai’s back area which directly lead to her finisher which targets… the back. It is so simple but so few wrestlers take the time to tell a logical story from start to finish that I appreciate it when it happens. It helped that her offense was all interesting, between backbreakers and powerbombs on the apron she was mixing up how she was hurting Shirai. Shirai was fine here, she sold the back pretty well and only forget about it when she had to do her spots. Which I understand the crowd came to see her do her spots but when she was on offense it became the standard Shirai match we’ve all seen before. Which is still entertaining, just a bit predictable. Dark Angel is the one that made this one, probably by design since it was her farewell match, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Highly Recommended

event reviewed on 10/28/15

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