Event: Marigold Fields Forever
Date: May 20th, 2024
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance:  1,539
Broadcast: Streamed on Wrestle Universe

If there was one thing that the wrestling landscape in Japan needed, it was a new promotion! Marigold was formed after Rossy Ogawa left/was fired from Stardom and decided he wasn’t quite done being involved with wrestling. With his influence and money, Ogawa was able to sign for Marigold several of the top wrestlers on the Joshi scene, as well as other talented young wrestlers to be the future of the promotion. Ogawa also secured a distribution deal, as their events will air on Wrestle Universe! An exciting time, except for fans of Actress girl’Z as Marigold took their best young wrestlers. Here is the full card!

• Nanae Takahashi vs. Victoria Yuzuki
• Miku Aono vs. Nao Ishikawa
• CHIAKI vs. MIRAI
• Mai Sakurai and Zayda Steel vs. Nagisa Nozaki and Myla Grace
• Kouki Amarei and Chika Goto vs. Natsumi Showzuki and Misa Matsui
• Giulia and Utami Hayashishita vs. Sareee and Bozilla

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

Nanae Takahashi vs. Victoria Yuzuki

The tie-up to start, Takahashi pushes Yuzuki into the ropes but she gives a clean break. Tie-up again, this time Yuzuki gets Takahashi in the ropes and she slaps Takahashi. Yuzuki goes off the ropes but Takahashi avoids the dropkick and slaps Yuzuki back. Kicks by Takahashi, she picks up Yuzuki but Yuzuki hits an armdrag followed by a dropkick. Takahashi gets back up and they lock knuckles, Takahashi wins that battle and applies a wristlock. They trade holds, Takahashi pushes Yuzuki into the ropes and chops her in the chest. Sidewalk Slam by Takahashi and she applies a chinlock, elbow to the back by Takahashi and she hits a scoop slam. Takahashi picks up Yuzuki but Yuzuki elbows her, Takahashi tells her to keep elbowing her but Takahashi eventually knocks her down with a shoulderblock for a two count. Takahashi picks up Yuzuki but Yuzuki gets her back with a sleeper, Takahashi gets out of it but Yuzuki keeps her in a bodyscissors. Takahashi gets out of it and puts Yuzuki in a single leg crab hold, but Yuzuki gets to the ropes for the break. Takahashi randomly bites Yuzuki’s hand before picking her up and chopping her in the corner. Irish whip by Takahashi but Yuzuki reverses it, Takahashi boots Yuzuki but Yuzuki grabs Takahashi’s wrist.

Before she can do anything, Takahashi swats Yuzuki away and the two trade elbows. Yuzuki goes off the ropes but Takahashi absorbs the dropkick, elbows by Yuzuki and she goes for a springboard move while holding Takahashi’s wrist, but she loses her footing and flops to the mat. Ever the pro, Takahashi hits a leg drop on Yuzuki and covers her for two. Armtrap crossface by Takahashi but Yuzuki gets to the ropes for the break, Takahashi picks her up but Yuzuki blocks the slam attempt. Yuzuki tries to slam Takahashi and finally manages to do so, mounted elbows by Yuzuki but Takahashi switches positions with her and returns the favor. They go back and forth until returning to their feet, lots of dropkicks by Yuzuki as she finally gets Takahashi off her feet with strikes. Takahashi finally has had enough of this and hits a hard elbow, cover by Takahashi but it gets two. Takahashi applies a stretch submission but Yuzuki quickly gets to the ropes, Takahashi picks up Yuzuki but Yuzuki slaps her. Lots of slaps by Yuzuki but Takahashi slaps her back, Yuzuki ducks Takahashi’s kick however and hits a trio of kicks of her own. Yuzuki goes for a slam but Takahashi blocks it, so she applies a small package for two. Knee by Takahashi and she hits a short range lariat, cover by Takahashi but it gets two. Takahashi picks up Yuzuki and delivers a backdrop suplex, cover by Takahashi but Yuzuki barely gets a shoulder up. Takahashi positions Yuzuki and goes to the top turnbuckle, Refrigerator Bomb by Takahashi and she picks up the three count! Nanae Takahashi is the winner.

Aside from the botch during Yuzuki’s offensive comeback that immediately killed said comeback, this was an acceptable opener. Nanae gave more here than she usually does, which is a low bar but she did let Yuzuki get in some offense before immediately cutting her off. I wish Yuzuki had some type of convincing nearfall, not that anyone thought she was winning but at no point in a 15 minute match did she seem like she was even close to winning, a hot 30 second stretch of her hitting some bigger moves to get a semi-close three count would have been fun to watch. I can’t say it was a good match but it set some groundwork for Yuzuki in Marigold and I’m looking forward to see how she continues to improve.

Miku Aono vs. Nao Ishikawa

Miku quickly gets the advantage as she applies a headlock, Nao gets out of it and hits a shoulderblock but Miku kips back up to her feet. Nao throws Miku into the corner and tosses her down by the hair, bootscrapes by Nao but Miku dropkicks her into the opposite corner. Another dropkick by Miku and she kicks Nao hard in the back. Kick to the chest by Miku but Nao fires up and elbows Miku. Nao delivers her own kicks to the back, she picks up Miku but Miku kicks Nao in the ankle after blocking the double underhook. Miku picks up Nao and hits a kneebreaker, kicks by Miku but Nao catches one and hits a dragon screw. Ankle lock by Nao but Miku makes it to the ropes for the break. Running elbow by Nao in the corner and she delivers a double underhook suplex for two. Hard elbow by Nao, she goes off the ropes but Miku catches her with a powerslam. Miku goes off the ropes and kicks Nao in the ribs, lariat by Miku and she goes to the top turnbuckle. Missile dropkick by Miku and she covers Nao for a two count. Miku elbows Nao but Nao weakly elbows her back, slap by Nao but Miku slaps her back. Miku goes off the ropes but Nao catches her with a German suplex, sit-out slam by Nao and she covers Miku for two. Nao picks up Miku and hits a half and half bridging suplex hold, but Miku barely kicks out. Nao picks up Miku but this time Miku gets away and lariats Nao in the back of the head. Irish whip by Miku and she hits another lariat for a two count cover. Miku goes for a kick but Nao ducks, bridging cover by Nao but it gets two. Miku kicks Nao in the head, she picks her up and nails the Styles Clash for the three count! Miku Aono is the winner.

It is hard to “recommend” matches like this but they are an important part of any wrestling show. Well worked, not too long to wear out its welcome, and it helped showcase two wrestlers that may be stuck in midcard hell for the next year but have the ability to be called up if needed. In this short showing, Miku looked like the better wrestler but both were fairly crisp and they kept the action going from bell to bell so it never dragged. Simple, but effective and non-offensive.

CHIAKI vs. MIRAI

They run into each other to start the match before trading elbows, shoulder tackle by CHIAKI but MIRAI ducks on her next charge and CHIAKI flies out of the ring. MIRAI goes to the top turnbuckle but MIRAI grabs her from the apron and tosses her back into the ring. CHIAKI grabs MIRAI and slams her back into the corner, CHIAKI trips MIRAI and hits her with the bootscrapes. Running boot by CHIAKI, she goes of the ropes and hits a cartwheel double kneedrop. CHIAKI picks up MIRAI and hits a scoop slam, she goes for a fisherman suplex but MIRAI blocks it and kicks CHIAKI in the best. MIRAI charges CHIAKI and hits a back elbow, she hits another followed by a lariat. MIRAI goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover by MIRAI but it gets two. Neck crank by MIRAI and she hits a snapmare, dropkick by MIRAI but CHIAKI starts fighting back with elbows.

MIRAI welcomes this as the two trade shots, palm strike by CHIAKI and she hits a shoulderblock. MIRAI hits a shoulderblock of her own, CHIAKI goes off the ropes and she delivers a spear. CHIAKI picks up MIRAI and hits rolling fisherman suplexes, but MIRAI blocks the last one and hits a reverse STO. MIRAI waits for CHIAKI to get up but CHIAKI snaps off a fisherman suplex hold for two. CHIAKI gets MIRAI on her shoulders in an Argentine Backbreaker before slamming her to the mat for a two count cover. CHIAKI picks up MIRAI but MIRAI wiggles away, applying a submission hold. CHIAKI gets a toe on the ropes, MIRAI goes off the ropes but CHIAKI catches her with a powerslam. Backdrop suplex by MIRAI, both wrestlers slowly get up but CHIAKI knocks over MIRAI with a dropkick. She goes off the ropes but MIRAI hits a lariat, MIRAI drags up CHIAKI and hits a fireman’s carry slam for two. MIRAI goes off the ropes and rocks CHIAKI with a hard lariat, cover by MIRAI and she gets the three count! MIRAI wins!

This was a really good showcase for MIRAI, who clearly has been putting in work recently to be her best self in Marigold. Her strikes and power moves are still snug but she also had more speed and agility then she did early in her career, keeping up a fast pace or the entire match. CHIAKI looked fine as well, she clearly is below MIRAI but put up a good fight and had a strong showing. I love strike and suplex battles and these two are both well versed in that style, so I was very entertained. My only real complaint is I wish it was longer and it lacked some drama since the winner was never in doubt. Looking forward to seeing more of MIRAI in this new environment, the sky is the limit for her if she is given the opportunities (which I am sure she will get).  Mildly Recommended

Mai Sakurai and Zayda Steel vs. Nagisa Nozaki and Myla Grace

Steel and Grace start the match, they tie-up and trade holds, ending with a Grace La Magistral for two. Steel goes for her own pin as they trade flash pin attempts, neither has any luck as Steel tags Mai. Grace fights off both of them and hits a double dropkick, Grace drops Mai with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors and tags Nozaki. Mai boots Nozaki as she gets in the ring, snapmare by Nozaki but Mai ducks the PK. Curb Stomp by Nozaki on Mai and she hits a second one, cover by Nozaki but it gets two. Nozaki throws Mai into the corner and stomps her down, Nozaki picks her back up and slaps Mai in the chest repeatedly. Mai fights back with elbows but Nozaki knocks her back to the mat and applies a camel clutch. She switches it to a facelock but Mai wiggles to the ropes for the break. Mai gets back up and the two trade elbows, Nozaki grabs Mai around the neck and tags Grace. Elbows by Grace but Mai returns fire, jumping lariat by Grace and she hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. Grace goes off the ropes but Mai delivers a jumping kick, she ties up Grace in a pretzel and makes the tag to Steel. Mai mouths off to Nozaki, giving Grace time to recover but Steel retains the advantage and chops Grace while she is in the ropes.

Modified Code Breaker by Steel, she picks up Grace and elbows her against the ropes. Irish whip attempt by Steel but Grace slides through her legs and kicks her in the head. Splits legdrop by Grace, but it gets two. Grace picks up Steel, Steel ends up in the corner and Grace hits a 619. Tornado DDT by Grace, and she covers Steel for a two count. Grace tags Nozaki but Steel delivers a kick combination, Nozaki kicks her back however and delivers a vertical suplex. Running boot by Nozaki in the corner and she hits another one, Nozaki kicks Steel again while she is hanging over the second rope before joining her on the apron. Steel and Nozaki trade kicks while still on the apron, until Steel delivers a Code Breaker. Nozaki falls out of the ring, Steel gets a running start and sails out onto her with a tope suicida. Steel slides Nozaki back in, cover by Steel but it gets two. Steel picks up Nozaki and drives her into the corner, running knee by Steel and she spins Nozaki to the mat before kicking her in the back. Steel tags Mai, Mai goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick.

Mai goes off the ropes and boots Nozaki in the head, Mai chokes Nozaki with her leg while applying a seated armbar but has to release the hold as Nozaki is too close to the ropes. Mai picks up Nozaki but Nozaki fires off a series of elbows, Mai returns fire but Nozaki plants a boot on her face. Nozaki picks up Mai, Grace runs in and hits Mai with a backdrop suplex. Double superkick to Mai, but it gets two. Nozaki puts Mai in a sleeperhold but Steel breaks it up, Nozaki goes off the ropes and kicks Mai in the face for a two count. Nozaki picks up Mai but Mai knocks her back and hits a legdrop for two. Bridging vertical suplex by Mai, but that gets a two as well. Mai drops Nozaki to the mat and goes to the top turnbuckle, but Nozaki avoids the diving elbow drop and kicks Mai in the face. Another boot by Nozaki, but the bell rings as the time has expired. The match is a Draw.

This wasn’t as bad as I was anticipating, but the main issue is that it felt like they didn’t even plan for an ending. By that I mean there wasn’t a nearfall stretch or anything that felt like a wrestler was in real trouble, they structured it like it was an exhibition match going to a Draw. Which it was, but the wrestlers shouldn’t wrestle like its a planned Draw, there was no sense of urgency or trying to win as time was running out. The tag team partners also interacted with each other very little, so it felt more like a series of singles matches than a meaningful tag match. The action itself was generally pretty fluid, no real signs of miscommunications which is a plus. It just didn’t hit any high notes or present anything memorable.

Kouki Amarei and Chika Goto vs. Natsumi Showzuki and Misa Matsui

Kouki and Misa start, Kouki asks Misa to lock knuckles but Misa can’t reach her hands. Misa kicks Kouki but Kouki applies a side headlock, Misa Irish whips out of it but Kouki cartwheels away. They continue a fast back-and-forth but they reach a stalemate and stare each other down. Natsumi and Goto tag in, elbows by Natsumi but Goto elbows her back and they trade blows. Natsumi applies a Fujiwara Armbar but Goto wiggles to the ropes to get the break. Natsumi tags Misa, and Misa throws down Goto by the hair. Misa picks up Goto and works over her arm in the corner, running knee by Misa and she applies an arm submission on the mat. Natsumi comes in and kicks Goto in the arm to help out, Misa releases the hold and tags Natsumi who hits a rebound double kneedrop off the ropes. Goto tries to fight back but eats knees for her trouble, Natsumi goes off the ropes but Goto grabs her and spins her around in a Giant Swing. This gives Goto time to tag Kouki, Kouki goes off the ropes and boots Natsumi in the head. Kouki goes off the ropes again but Natsumi ducks the lariat, Misa boots Kouki from the apron and Natsumi follows with a boot of her own for two. Natsumi picks up Kouki but Kouki ducks the head kick and slams Natsumi to the mat for a two count. Kouki positions Natsumi and goes to the top turnbuckle, but Natsumi avoids the Amethyst Butterfly and delivers a running knee for two.

Kick by Natsumi, she goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a diving double kneedrop for a two count. Natsumi tags Misa, Misa goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick for two. Misa puts Kouki on the ropes and drops he with a DDT, but Kouki barely kicks out of the cover. Misa goes to run off the ropes but Kouki grabs her, Misa rolls Kouki to the mat however and hits a series of footstomps. Misa goes off the ropes and hits a body press while Kouki is against the ropes, Natsumi runs in and hits a running knee before both hit jumping knees on Kouki. Cover by Misa, but again Kouki barely gets a shoulder up. Misa goes off the ropes but Goto runs in and plants her with a chokeslam. Kouki recovers and both grab Misa, dropping her to the mat. Kouki and Misa slowly recover, hard elbow by Kouki but Misa elbows her back. Misa goes off the ropes but Kouki hits a powerslam, cover by Kouki but Misa bridges out of it and applies a flash pin. It quickly gets broken up, Natsumi tries to help Misa but Kouki drops them both to the mat. Kouki picks up Misa and hits a Samoan Drop, but the cover only gets two. Kouki positions Misa and goes to the top turnbuckle, she nails the Amethyst Butterfly and picks up the three count! Kouki Amarei and Chika Goto are the winners!

Now this is my kind of wrestling. Everything wasn’t perfectly executed but they made up with that with great fluid tag team action. Unlike the last match, both of these teams worked as actual teams and not individuals, leading to fast paced and attention grabbing action from bell to bell. There was always something happening and it was a great display by all four to what is likely mostly a new audience. Kouki looked like a star but Natsumi was the most “clean” of the group, her age and experience really shone through as she hit everything hard and fast. I don’t want to over-hype a 12 minute mid-card tag match, but it did its goal of presenting four wrestlers they no doubt hope will become stars in the new promotion.  Recommended

Giulia and Utami Hayashishita vs. Sareee and Bozilla

Sareee and Giulia start the match, they tie-up and end up in the ropes but Sareee gives a hard elbow instead of a break. They trade strike attempts with neither connecting as they reach a stalemate, and both wrestlers tag out. Utami and Bozilla circle each other, Bozilla tosses Utami down a couple times but Utami delivers a dropkick after Giulia distracts Bozilla. Giulia is tagged in, they both try to Irish whip Bozilla but they can’t get her to budge. Giulia and Utami take turns striking Bozilla until they get her to her knees, but Bozilla gets back up and eats Giulia’s strikes. Bozilla gets Giulia on her shoulders but Giulia applies a hanging armbar, Bozilla gets out of it so Utami runs in to help, but Bozilla slams them both to the mat. Sareee comes in as they kick Giulia and Utami out of the ring, Bozilla gets Sareee up in a press and tosses her out of the ring and down onto both opponents. Bozilla gets out of the ring and tosses Giulia around the ring while Sareee does the same to Utami, Utami regains the advantage on Sareee and the two trade shots. Bozilla and Giulia gets back in the ring and Bozilla delivers a vertical suplex, cover by Bozilla but it gets two. Bozilla tags Sareee, Sareee goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick.

Sickle Hold by Sareee, she switches to a leg submission but Giulia gets to the ropes for the break. Giulia snaps off a vertical suplex, Irish whip by Giulia to Sareee and Giulia delivers a dropkick. Giulia tags Utami, running elbow by Utami and she kicks Sareee in the back. Utami picks up Sareee but Sareee elbows her, Bozilla comes in but Utami fights off both of them and hits a lariat on Sareee for two. Utami picks up Sareee and hits an Argentine Backbreaker Slam, she picks her up again but Sareee hits a double footstomp and tags Bozilla. Bozilla throws Utami into the corner and hits a Body Avalanche, she throws Utami to the mat and covers her for two. Bozilla picks up Utami and runs into her, Utami stays up and elbows Bozilla but Bozilla sends her to the mat with a body attack. Utami knocks Bozilla into the corner but Bozilla picks her up, Utami slides away and she punches Bozilla in the face. Rolling elbow by Utami, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Bozilla recovers and joins her, hitting a superplex down to the mat. Running shoulderblock by Bozilla and she covers Utami for two. Bozilla puts Utami on the top turnbuckle to get Utami on her shoulders, but Utami wiggles away and applies a sleeper. Bozilla slams Utami into the corner to break out of it, but Utami quickly re-applies it. Bozilla gets out of it again and hits a running senton, picking up a two count. Bozilla picks up Utami and hits a Fallaway Slam, she gets on the second turnbuckles and delivers a Reverse Splash, but the cover is broken up.

Bozilla picks up Utami but Utami gets her around the waist, hitting a release German suplex. This gives her time to tag Giulia while Sareee also tags in, hard boot by Giulia but Sareee elbows her back and the two trade shots. Giulia goes off the ropes but Sareee catches her with a dropkick, another dropkick by Sareee but Giulia blocks the fisherman suplex and applies a STF. Sareee gets to the ropes to force a break, Giulia picks up Sareee and suplexes her for a two count. Giulia goes to the top turnbuckle but Bozilla grabs her, this gives Sareee time to join Giulia and she hits an avalanche fisherman suplex for two. Sareee goes up top again but Utami slows her down, Giulia hits Sareee and joins her, delivering an avalanche underhook suplex. Giulia goes to boot Sareee but Sareee moves, they trade waistlocks until Utami runs in and dropkicks Sareee. Giulia goes to the top turnbuckle while Utami gets Sareee on her shoulders and they hit a missile dropkick/Argentine Backbreaker Slam combo for a two count. Giulia puts Sareee in a double armbar  but Bozilla breaks free of Utami and breaks up the hold. Bozilla grabs Giulia and hits a powerbomb, Sareee goes up top and delivers a diving footstomp but Utami breaks up the cover. Bozilla goes up top and with Sareee’s help goes for a somersault senton, but Utami pulls Giulia out of the way. Lariat by Utami to Sareee and she drops her with a German suplex, another release German by Utami to Sareee and all four wrestlers are down on the mat.

Giulia and Sareee slowly get to their knees and trade elbows, they continue trading strikes once on their feet until Giulia headbutts Sareee to her knees. Giulia goes for a suplex but Sareee kicks her in the head, hard elbows by Giulia but Sareee hits a German suplex hold for two. Giulia fires back with a Saito Suplex, knee strike by Giulia and she covers Sareee for two. Giulia applies a hammerlock before nailing the Glorious Driver, cover by Giulia but Bozilla breaks it up. Giulia picks up Sareee but Sareee gets away, she goes off the ropes but Bozilla knocks Giulia over with a shoulderblock. Bozilla stays in the ring and challenges Giulia and Utami, double Irish whip attempt to Bozilla but Bozilla hits a lariat on both of them. Sareee picks up Giulia and drops her with a uranage, cover by Sareee but Utami breaks it up. Sareee picks up Giulia but Bozilla snaps off a backdrop suplex, she goes off the ropes but Bozilla shoulderblocks her again, giving Sareee time to hit a second uranage. She nails Giulia with a third, she picks up Giulia and hits one more but Giulia barely kicks out of the cover. Bozilla goes to the second turnbuckle and hits a moonsault on Giulia, Sareee picks up Giulia and delivers one last uranage for the three count! Bozilla and Sareee are the winners!

A lot to unpack here, but a great match. The big question mark going in was Bozilla but they used her really smart here as while she is limited she is good at what she does. And what she does well is hit hard. Sareee did the bulk of the “work” but that wasn’t a problem for her as she’s one of the top Joshi wrestlers, so with Sareee putting in the minutes and Bozilla contributing the boom they worked as a solid team. Utami and Giulia of course are both fantastic, they cooperated when they needed to but at the same time they didn’t pretend to be best buddies since we all know they aren’t (in storyline). The super hot crowd really helped as that elevates any match, and it was the hard hitting/hard dropping affair you’d expect. I wouldn’t put it at full MOTYC status as it felt like something was missing from the end stretch (where did Utami go?) and there were a few miscommunications/awkward moments but still a fantastic match and a fitting ending to Marigold’s debut show.  Highly Recommended

The post Marigold Fields Forever on 5/20/2024 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chikayo Nagashima vs. Tsukushi Haruka

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Sareee and Yoshiko

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

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

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

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

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

Event: Diana
Date: November 8th, 2020
Location: Diana Dojo in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

Sometimes, you are just in the mood to watch some Diana. For many years, Diana events literally never made TV and the only way to watch them was on “clips” shows or to purchase the one DVD they put out a year. But recently they have been having more events on NicoPro or Youtube, giving long time Diana fans a chance to finally see their shows. Diana is a very small promotion, with a tiny roster and limited broad appeal, but they do have some good wrestlers and their events tend to get straight to the point. Plus Sareee is back to wrestling in Diana so we get to see the best wrestler in the world, which is never a bad thing. Here is the full card:

• Ayako Sato vs. Nanami
• Jaguar Yokota vs. Madeline
• Haruka Umesaki and Kaoru Ito vs. Kyoko Inoue and Sareee

Only three matches, with the entire video being only an hour long. Just heavenly. As this aired on Youtube all matches will be shown in full, to visit the wrestler’s profile here on Joshi City you can click on their names above to go straight to it.

Ayako Sato vs. Nanami

They tie-up to start and trade waistlocks, Sato applies a full nelson but Nanami reverses it. Snapmares by Sato and she applies a sleeper, she then lets go to put Nanami in a stretch hold. Sato applies a bodyscissors but Nanami gets out of it and elbows Sato in the chest. Nanami stomps on Sato and throws her down by the hair a few times, boot to the chest by Sato and she hits a monkey flip. Wristlock by Sato and she applies an arm wringer, hammerlock by Sato but Nanami reverses it. Headlock by Sato and she gets Nanami to the mat, Nanami gets her in a headscissors but Sato quickly gets to the ropes. Irish whip by Sato and she hits an armdrag, Nanami goes for a crossbody but Sato blocks it with a knee. Running knee by Sato and she hits a scoop slam, cover by Sato but it gets a two count. Sato picks up Nanami and hits a back bodydrop, she covers Nanami again but she gets another two count.

Back on their feet they trade elbows, boot by Sato but Nanami shoulderblocks her to the mat. More shoulderblocks by Nanami, and she covers Sato for a near two count. Sato rakes Nanami in the eyes and mushes her with her boot, but Nanami fires up and throws down Sato by the hair. Rolling cradle by Nanami but Sato kicks out of the cover, she goes for a backslide but Sato rolls through it and dropkicks Nanami in the head. Knee by Sato but Nanami sneaks in a backslide for two. Sato throws Nanami towards the corner, Nanami reverses it but Sato hits a dropkick from the second turnbuckle. Sato goes off the ropes and knees Nanami, Sato delivers a series of running knees but Nanami barely kicks out of the cover. Irish whip by Sato and she hits a front dropkick, double wrist clutch armsault by Sato but Nanami kicks out. Sato goes up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a missile dropkick, but that gets two as well. Sato picks up Nanami, she applies a modified cradle and she gets the three count! Ayako Sato is the winner.

The finishing move translated in Google Translate as “Sato Squared” but I’m not really confident in that being its real name. Anyway, Sato gave Nanami quite a bit of offense and Nanami did show some fire and ability, more than I’ve seen from her in the past anyway. Nanami did manage to mess up the rolling cradle, which was amusing, but otherwise the match went off without a hitch. If anything, the champion of the promotion gave the kid too much leeway with kicking out of her big moves, you’d think a 14 year old could be pinned after a half dozen running knees. A good experience for Nanami, maybe not all hope is lost with her but I’m still not overly optimistic.

Jaguar Yokota vs. Madeline

After an enthusiastic handshake, Madeline grabs a metal rod when Yokota isn’t looking and hits her from behind with it. The referee tries to get Madeline to stop as she chokes Yokota with it, but has little success. Madeline hits the referee with the rod before going back to Yokota, Madeline avoids Yokota’s lariat attempt and goes for her arm, getting the Fujiwara Armbar applied. Yokota gets to the ropes for the break, dropkick by Madeline but Yokota hits her with a hard elbow. Madeline takes down Yokota and attempts to apply a cross armbreaker, Yokota struggles to block it and gets to the ropes before Madeline could get it fully locked on. Madeline picks up Yokota and goes to the top turnbuckle while holding her wrist, walking the ropes before hitting an armdrag. Irish whip by Madeline to the corner and she hits the Space Rolling Elbow, she goes for it a second time but Yokota blocks it and hits a heel drop to Madeline’s head. Somersault double leg drop by Yokota, and she covers Madeline for two. Yokota picks up Madeline and puts her in a stretch hold, roll-up by Yokota but it gets a two count.

Irish whip by Yokota but Madeline cartwheels way, she goes for a crossbody but Yokota sidesteps it. Yokota gets a steel chair and hits Madeline in the head with it, she tries to choke Madeline but Madeline blocks it (somewhat) with the metal rod she had earlier. Yokota picks up Madeline but Madeline blocks the piledriver, drop toehold by Madeline and she walks over Yokota’s back. Madeline throws Yokota into the corner but Yokota avoids her charge, but Madeline applies a sunset flip for two. Madeline gets on the second turnbuckle but Yokota joins her, superplexing Madeline back to the mat. Cover by Yokota, but it gets a two count. Yokota picks up Madeline and hits a backdrop suplex, but that gets a two as well. Fisherman Buster by Yokota, she slowly covers Madeline but Madeline bridges out of it. Annoyed, Yokota gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a somersault double leg drop, but Madeline kicks out. Yokota drags Madeline to her feet and drops her with a piledriver, cover by Yokota and she finally gets the three count! Jaguar Yokota is the winner.

Even though the in-ring work wasn’t exactly high end, there is something enduring about Madeline. She’s scrappy and resourceful, and while she wasn’t going to win the match she had a plan and wasn’t easy to put down. Yokota can do whatever she wants at this point but I have to laugh that here she is in a midcard match taking place at a dojo and she is still bopping Madeline in the head with a chair. I’m going to give this the slightest of recommendations because I love Madeline, but it may not be a match that someone parachuting in would appreciate the charm of.  Mildly Recommended

Haruka Umesaki and Kaoru Ito vs. Kyoko Inoue and Sareee

Haruka and Sareee start the match and tie-up, arm wringer by Haruka but Sareee flips out of it and sends Haruka to the mat. Irish whip by Sareee, reversed, and Haruka delivers a dropkick. Armdrag by Sareee and she dropkicks Haruka, she tags in Inoue who attacks Haruka in the corner. Inoue puts Haruka in a leg submission while Sareee stands guard, Inoue lets go after a moment and applies a chinlock. Inoue tags Sareee back in, and Sareee puts Haruka in a Sickle Hold. Sareee picks up Haruka and flings her down by the hair, she tags in Inoue and Inoue puts Haruka in an Argentine Backbreaker. She eventually lets Haruka out of the hold by flinging her to the mat, vertical suplex by Inoue and she tags Sareee. Dropkicks by Sareee to Haruka, she picks up Haruka and delivers a scoop slam for a two count. Haruka finally gets away from Sareee and hits a dropkick of her own, giving her time to tag in Ito. Ito elbows Sareee, Irish whip to the corner and she hits a lariat. Single leg crab hold by Ito, she switches it to a chinlock before Haruka comes in so they can slam Sareee’s knees into the mat.

Ito tags in Haruka, Haruka goes for a crab hold but Sareee blocks it. Elbows to the chest by Haruka but Sareee switches positions with her and hits elbows of her own before tagging in Inoue. Chops by Inoue to Haruka, Haruka hits a dropkick but Inoue stays up. Inoue swats aside the next dropkick attempt, Irish whip by Inoue but Haruka hits a jumping lariat. Haruka grabs Inoue and puts her in a stretch hold, stomps to the back by Haruka and she hits a missile dropkick off the second turnbuckle for a two count. Haruka goes for a suplex but Inoue blocks it, Inoue goes for a powerbomb but Haruka gets away and dropkicks her in the knee. Front flip neckbreaker by Haruka and she tags in Ito, Ito grabs Inoue but Inoue elbows her off. They take turns trying to lariat the other down until Ito catches Inoue with a side slam, Sareee comes in but Ito hits a jumping crossbody on both of them. Haruka then gets in the ring but Inoue lariats both of her opponents, giving her time to tag Sareee. Sareee comes off the top with a missile dropkick to Ito, picking up a two count. Sareee goes for a German suplex but Ito blocks it, Ito goes for a lariat but Sareee ducks it and goes for the suplex again. Still no luck so Sareee elbows Ito, satellite schoolboy by Sareee but it gets a two count.

Sareee elbows Ito but Ito levels her with a lariat, senton by Ito and she covers Sareee for two. Ito tags Haruka, missile dropkick by Haruka but Sareee blocks the attempted suplex. Knees by Sareee but Haruka trips her and applies a modified figure four leglock. Sareee eventually makes it to the ropes for the break, stomps by Haruka but Sareee gets up and elbows her hard in the chest. Dropkick by Sareee but Haruka gets away from her suplex attempt, elbows by Haruka and she goes off the ropes, catching Sareee with a powerslam for a two count. Haruka picks up Sareee and rolls her to the mat, but Sareee rolls through it and hits a footstomp. Dropkick by Sareee while Haruka is against the ropes, Inoue comes in but she lariats Sareee by accident. Ito comes in too and knocks over both Inoue and Sareee, Haruka picks up Sareee and delivers double wrist-clutch armsault, but Inoue manages to break it up. Small package by Haruka but that gets a two as well, as does the schoolboy into a jackknife hold. Haruka goes off the ropes but Inoue hits her with a lariat, Ito comes in but Sareee greets her with a kick to the face. Sareee goes to the top turnbuckle and with Inoue’s help she hits a front flip senton. Fisherman Suplex Hold by Sareee, but Haruka barely get a shoulder up. Sareee quickly picks up Haruka and delivers a German suplex hold, and this time she gets the three count! Sareee and Kyoko Inoue are the winners.

The thing that helped this match the most is it didn’t have any bad eggs to drag it down, so it wasn’t really ever going to have any dead moments or awkward exchanges. Ito and Inoue may be past their primes but they know their limitations and wrestle within them, and they don’t mind putting over the next generation when it is necessary to do so. Sareee was her usual on-point self, hitting all her moves flawlessly and not seeming to have lost a step after a pretty long layoff. Haruka doesn’t have the experience of everyone else but for a young wrestler she has a ton of potential and showed a lot of fire in this one. Both teams acted as units so it didn’t come across as a series of singles matches, which is always a plus. There wasn’t one particular ‘wow’ moment as they kept it more based, but they kept the action up to keep things interesting. The camera setup hurt the match as we missed the impact of some of the moves, but for a small dojo show I thought this match delivered pretty well and its always a pleasure watching Sareee.  Recommended

The post Diana on 11/8/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Diana at Shin-Kiba
Date: February 22nd, 2020
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

Sareee didn’t have many matches left in Japan after this one before joining the WWE, and this will likely be her last Joshi match released to the public. So, obviously I had to watch it as we bid her farewell. Diana cards aren’t very deep, and this one is even less-so as Kyoko Inoue missed the event due to an injury, but there are a lot of little things I am looking forward to on this event. The opener has a shot at being a lot of fun, and Sareee vs. Yoshiko should be amazing. I am really interested in the main event as well, as the super veterans take on a young team from PURE-J. Its great to see Diana events finally ‘making tape’ so I am not going to complain either way. Here is the full card:

• Haruka Umesaki vs. Miyuki Takase
• Ayako Sato, Jaguar Yokota, and Madeline vs. HIROe, Nanami, and Yumi Ohka
• Sareee vs. Yoshiko
• World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana Tag Team Championship: Kaoru Ito and Tomoko Watanabe vs. Manami Katsu and Mari Manji

As this aired on NicoPro, all matches will be shown in full. As always, all the wrestlers on the show have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. Onto the matches!

Haruka Umesaki vs. Miyuki Takase

Haruka and Miyuki tie-up to start, Miyuki pushes Haruka into the ropes and she gives a clean break. Haruka elbows her as she backs off however and they start trading strikes, Miyuki chops Haruka against the ropes and then into the corner. Rapid fire chops by Miyuki and she tries to toss Haruka by the hair, but Haruka cartwheels out of it and dropkicks Miyuki into the corner. Chops by Haruka and she hits a scoop slam, snapmare by Haruka and she applies a bodyscissors. Miyuki quickly gets out of it and puts Haruka in a stretch hold, she picks up Haruka while having her in a headlock but Haruka spins out of it and applies a guillotine. Miyuki reverses that into a wristlock as they trade holds, Miyuki gets Haruka to the mat but Haruka gets into the ropes for the break. Scoop slam by Miyuki and she applies a crab hold, but Haruka gets into the ropes for the break. Stomps by Miyuki, she picks up Haruka and puts her upside down in the corner. Miyuki gets a running start and dropkicks Haruka in the back, she puts Haruka back into the crab hold but Haruka quickly gets to the ropes again. Miyuki puts Haruka in the corner, Irish whip by Miyuki but Haruka reverses it. Miyuki rebounds out of the corner with a missile dropkick, she charges Haruka but Haruka avoids her charge and connects with a series of dropkicks.

Haruka goes for a crossbody but Miyuki catches her and hits a backbreaker, single leg crab hold by Miyuki but Haruka manages to get a break as she crawls to the ropes. Miyuki goes up top but Haruka hits her before she can jump off and tosses Miyuki back to the mat. Haruka gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Haruka but it gets two. Scoop slam by Haruka, she gets on the top turnbuckle and nails the missile dropkick, but Miyuki kicks out of the cover. Haruka goes off the ropes but Miyuki catches her with a lariat, Miyuki gets Haruka on her shoulders and his a rolling fireman’s carry slam. Guillotine leg drop by Miyuki off the second turnbuckle, but Haruka barely gets a shoulder up. Miyuki picks up Haruka but Haruka gets away, she goes off the ropes but Miyuki hits a powerslam. Miyuki goes off the ropes and delivers a lariat, but the cover only gets two. Miyuki picks up Haruka but Haruka sneaks in an inside cradle for two. Haruka tries a few more flash pins with no luck, Haruka goes off the ropes but Miyuki takes off her head with a lariat. Miyuki picks up Haruka and hits the brainbuster, cover by Miyuki and she gets the three count! Miyuki Takase is the winner.

This didn’t reach the level I was hoping it would, but for an opener it was decent enough. Haruka’s hope spots were all well done and helped elevate the match, but Miyuki’s offense was just more repetitive than I’d have liked. Crab holds are a traditional way to beat young wrestlers but she kept going for it with little effort to set up Haruka for it, and by the third one I had had enough of the hold. And then she won with a brainbuster, which has nothing to do with anything a crab hold weakens, rendering the work meaningless. There was really no long-term selling in general as they were going from spot to spot, and there was a tiny botch in the middle. I am still impressed by Haruka’s poise as she has no issue standing up to wrestlers above her in the pecking order, but they didn’t do enough here to make it memorable in any way.

Ayako Sato, Yokota, and Madeline vs. HIROe, Nanami, and Yumi Ohka

Yokota and friends attack before the match starts as the action quickly spills outside the ring, with Yokota and HIROe closest to the camera as the legend pummels the young WAVE wrestler. Yokota and HIROe return to the ring, elbow by Yokota and she rakes HIROe’s face over the top rope. She tags in Sato, Sato tosses HIROe down by the hair and boots her in the corner. Back bodydrop by Sato and she covers HIROe for a two count. She throws HIROe into the corner so that Madeline can help, Sato tags in Madeline and Madeline puts HIROe in a Fujiwara Armbar. HIROe quickly gets to the ropes for the break, Irish whip by Madeline to the corner but HIROe rebounds out of it with a crossbody. Madeline and HIROe trade elbows, hard shoulderblock by HIROe and she tags Ohka. Ohka throws Madeline into the corner and delivers a big boot, she pushes her boot into Madeline’s face while taunting Madeline’s teammates. More boots by Ohka and she stands on Madeline’s back, cover by Ohka but it gets two. Ohka tags Nanami as HIROe comes in too, as all three attack Madeline in the corner. Dropkick by Nanami, she snapmares Madeline and applies a bodyscissors. Nanami rolls Madeline around the ring while maintaining the hold, she stops to hold down Madeline for the cover but it gets two.

Madeline finally fights back against the kid and hits a scoop slam, but Nanami elbows her and the two trade strikes. Nanami connects with a series of dropkicks, cover by Nanami but it gets two. Nanami goes off the ropes again but Madeline catches her with an elbow, kick by Nanami and she scoop slams Madeline for a two count. Nanami tags HIROe, HIROe throws Madeline into the corner but Madeline avoids her charge and connects with some elbows. Dropkick by Madeline and she goes for the armbar, but HIROe rolls out of it. Madeline stays in a dominate position as she goes for a choke, but HIROe wiggles to the ropes to force the break. Irish whip by Madeline but HIROe hits a hard shoulderblock, shoulder tackles by HIROe in the corner and she hits a vertical suplex for two. HIROe picks up Madeline but Madeline gets away and rolls up HIROe for two. Irish whip by HIROe but Madeline cartwheels out of the way and hits a crossbody. This gives her time to tag in Sato, dropkick by Sato and she hits a jumping kick in the corner. HIROe retorts with a shoulder tackle, she goes off the ropes and delivers a spear for a two count. HIROe goes up top but Sato recovers and joins her, HIROe jumps back to the mat and hits a German suplex. HIROe picks up Sato but Sato snaps off a double wrist armsault for a two count. Sato goes off the ropes but HIROe hits a quick suplex, she goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick. Northern Lights Suplex Hold by HIROe, but Sato gets a shoulder up. HIROe tags in Ohka, running boot by Ohka and she hits a backdrop suplex. Ohka picks up Sato and boots her, she goes off the ropes but Sato hits her with a trash can lid.

Dropkick with the lid by Sato, she covers Ohka but it gets two. Sato goes off the ropes and goes for a bodyscissors, but Ohka catches her and hits a German suplex. Big boot by Ohka, but Sato kicks out of the cover. Ohka goes for the Tiger Suplex but Sato blocks it, Madeline comes in and they hit a double vertical suplex on Ohka followed by a double dropkick. Sato goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, cover by Sato but it gets two. Yokota comes in with a chair and hits the child Nanami with it, she stays in as the legal wrestler and hits Ohka in the head with the chair. Sato gets her trash can lid and hits Ohka as well, Yokota sits down Ohka in the chair while Madeline hits her with a metal stick. Yokota gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a somersault kick, cover by Yokota but the pin is broken up. Yokota goes off the ropes but HIROe stops her with a shoulder tackle, DDT by Ohka to Yokota and she hits a heel drop. Ohka goes off the ropes and delivers the big boot, cover by Ohka but Yokota gets a shoulder up. Yokota tags Nanami, Nanami gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving body press for two. Nanami goes off the ropes but Sato kicks her from the apron, HIROe does the same to Yokota and Nanami cradles Yokota for two. Swinging neckbreaker by Nanami, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Yokota recovers and joins her. Superplex by Yokota, but Ohka breaks up the cover. Yokota picks up Nanami but HIROe runs in and elbows her, Ohka clears the ring and hits a chokebomb on Yokota. Nanami goes for another swinging neckbreaker but Yokota reverses it into a Backslide for the three count! Jaguar Yokota, Madeline, and Ayako Sato win!

This match was quite a combination of good, bad, and ugly. Yokota was great in this match. She didn’t do much but she uses weapons, which I like, and she gave quite a bit of offense to a 13 year old which is admirable. Unfortunately, the 13 year old isn’t good. I know, she’s a child, but she’s a child I have to watch wrestle and bad is bad. Her strikes are laughable, she is sometimes out of position and she doesn’t show the fire that we just saw from Haruka in the match before. I was surprised Madeline was the Ricky Morton in this match, she’s a new-ish wrestler but to see her getting thrown around by Nanami of all wrestlers was quite something. The match dragged at times in the middle, and the few fun parts were too spread out to get a good run going. A watchable midcard tag match, but nothing here I could really recommend.

Sareee vs. Yoshiko

They tie-up to start, Sareee gets Yoshiko into the ropes and gives her a hard elbow. Yoshiko returns fire as they trade shots, Yoshiko throws down Sareee by the hair but Sareee returns the favor. They trade strikes again before ending up in the ropes, with the referee finally getting them to separate. Sareee asks for a knuckle lock and Yoshiko obliges, they go into a Test of Strength which Yoshiko gets the better of, but Sareee hits an armdrag. Yoshiko swats away the dropkick and kicks Sareee in the ribs, Sareee goes for another armdrag but Yoshiko blocks it and hits one of her hard. Hard shoulderblock by Yoshiko, she snapmares Sareee and puts her in a chinlock. Yoshiko lets go before Sareee gets to the ropes and kicks her, but Sareee returns the favor and kicks Yoshiko in the back repeatedly. Irish whip by Sareee but Yoshiko hits a hard elbow, Sareee goes for a crossbody but Yoshiko catches her and slams Sareee to the mat. Cover by Yoshiko, but Sareee bridges out of it and dropkicks Yoshiko. Irish whip by Sareee but Yoshiko hits a hard shoulderblock and puts Sareee in a stretch hold. She lets go after a moment and kick Sareee out of the ring, she goes out after her and throws Sareee into the chairs at ringside. Yoshiko takes Sareee up high in the bleachers and slams her into the wall, which we can at least somewhat see since they are on the hard cam side.

They return to the ring after a couple minutes as Yoshiko sits down on Sareee for a two count. She quickly applies a choke hold but Sareee gets a toe on the ropes to force the break. Sareee rolls out of the ring but Yoshiko goes out to the apron and jumps down onto Sareee with what I assume was a footstomp. Slightly off camera. Yoshiko returns to the ring with Sareee following, Yoshiko goes back to the choke but Sareee quickly rolls to the ropes for the break. Yoshiko picks up Sareee, Sareee chargers her in the corner but Yoshiko moves and smacks her over the ropes. Yoshiko sets up Sareee in the ropes and kicks her in the head repeatedly, but Sareee avoids one and elbows Yoshiko in the chest. Sareee elbows Yoshiko off the apron to the floor, she goes out to the apron and hits a crossbody down to the floor. Sareee throws Yoshiko into the chairs at ringside and fights her up into the crowd, she gets back in the ring after a moment and goes up top as Yoshiko returns as well, hitting a missile dropkick for two. Sareee picks up Yoshiko and hits a fisherman suplex hold, but that gets a two as well. Sareee trips Yoshiko and puts her in the STF, but Yoshiko gets to the ropes for the break. Sareee knees Yoshiko in the back and goes for a German suplex, but Yoshiko blocks it. Roll-up by Sareee into a double footstomp, she goes off the ropes and goes for a dropkick but Yoshiko moves and kicks her in the head.

Yoshiko picks up Sareee but Sareee elbows her and they trade shots. Dropkick by Sareee, she goes off the ropes and dropkicks Yoshiko again while she is leaning against the ropes. She goes for the Uranage but Yoshiko blocks it, she goes off the ropes but Yoshiko hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker before applying a sleeper hold. She lets go after a moment and picks up Sareee, but Sareee cradles her for two. Sareee goes off the ropes and applies a tilt-a-whirl roll-up, but that gets a two as well. She goes off the ropes yet again but this time eats a lariat, they trade headbutts and Yoshiko hits another lariat for two. Sliding lariat by Yoshiko, but Sareee kicks out of the cover. Yoshiko gets up on the second turnbuckle and delivers a diving senton, but Sareee gets a shoulder up. Yoshiko picks up Sareee but Sareee nails her with a jumping back kick, she goes off the ropes and delivers a hurricanrana for two. Uranage by Sareee, but Yoshiko kicks out of the cover. Back up, headbutt by Sareee and she hits another Uranage, but Yoshiko lands too close to the ropes and gets a foot on the bottom one. Wrist-clutch Uranage by Sareee, she crawls to Yoshiko and covers her, but Yoshiko gets a shoulder up. Sareee picks up Yoshiko and goes for another one, but Yoshiko elbows her off. Big lariat by Yoshiko, she goes off the ropes and hits a sliding lariat for a two count. The bell rings before she can do anything else, as time has expired. The match is a Draw.

A pretty fitting final televised match for Sareee. I really loved the first portion and final portion of the match. They came out on fire with the hard strikes and passion, which you’d expect from these two, and it had that rough style that has been a staple of Yoshiko’s matches since soon after she debuted. The middle portion lost me a bit as they did a lot of crowd brawling, which not only was hard to see with the single cam setup but felt more like wasting time to reach the time limit. Once they returned to the ring though I went back to loving it, with both just throwing bombs to try to pick up the win before time expired. Overall I really enjoyed it, a few adjustments here and there would have made it a true MOTYC, but even as it is its a pretty damn good match.  Recommended

(c) Kaoru Ito and Tomoko Watanabe vs. Katsu and Mari Manji
World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana Tag Team Championship

The PURE-J team attacks before the bell rings as they kick the champions out of the ring. The veterans take control on the floor before Watanabe and Mari return to the ring, vertical suplex by Watanabe and she hits a scoop slam followed by an elbow drop off the ropes. She tags in Ito, Ito throws Mari in the corner and hits a lariat. Single leg crab hold by Ito but Mari makes it to the ropes to force the break. Watanabe strolls in and they double team Mari, cover by Ito but it gets a two count. Watanabe throws Mari into the corner, Mari elbows her but Watanabe lariats Mari to the mat. Scorpion Deathlock by Watanabe, Manami tries to break it up but Watanabe just ignores her kicks and keeps the hold applied. Mari eventually makes it to the ropes for the break, Watanabe tags in Ito and hits a footstomp on Mari’s leg. Ito applies a single leg crab hold, Manami has the same lack of luck in getting the hold broken but Mari makes the ropes again. Ito applies a Camel Clutch while taunting Manami, she lets go just so she can put Mari in a crab hold. Mari gets to the ropes again, Watanabe comes in and Ito tries to catapult Mari to her, but Mari splats to the mat instead. Watanabe picks up Mari and hits a lariat anyway, Ito tags in Watanabe as Mari fights back with elbows. Watanabe absorbs the blows, Mari schoolboys Watanabe but they land in the rope. Watanabe grabs Mari by the leg and applies a STF, but Mari gets a foot on the ropes for the break.

Ito is tagged back in and she goes back to the crab hold (this match isn’t very interesting so far), but once again Mari makes it to the ropes. Watanabe returns and they drop Mari with a double vertical suplex, Watanabe applies a crab hold over by her own corner this time while Ito steps on her hands. Mari gets to the ropes, Watanabe picks her up but Mari sneaks in a schoolboy for two. Mari finally makes the tag to Manami, Ito comes in as well but Manami hits a face crusher on both of them. Knees by Manami to Watanabe and she throws her into the corner, Mari returns and elbows Watanabe but Manami hits a superkick. They continue to double team Watanabe before Mari leaves the ring, Manami picks up Watanabe but Watanabe hits a back bodydrop. They take turns trying to lariat each other over until Manami finally sends Watanabe to the mat, Watanabe returns the favor however and tags in Ito. Running footstomp by Ito and she hits a senton, cover by Ito but Manami kicks out. Ito grabs Manami but Manami gets into the ropes, Mari comes in and they both attack Ito while she is against the ropes. Running boots by Manami and she delivers a sliding kick to Ito, Manami gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a reverse splash for two. Manami tags Mari, Mari tries to shoulderblock Ito over but Ito doesn’t budge. Hard elbow by Ito and she sends Mari to the mat with a lariat, but Manami kicks Ito from the apron and Mari finally manages to shoulderblock Ito down. Mari hits a side Russian leg sweep and puts Ito in a submission hold. Cover by Mari but Ito can reach the ropes for the break.

Mari goes for a backdrop suplex but Ito blocks it, Uranage by Ito and she tags in Watanabe. Watanabe picks up Mari but Manami comes in, Watanabe goes for a springboard move but Mari and Manami push her out of the ring. Ito takes the opportunity to hit a crossbody on both of them, Manami and Mari both fall out of the ring and Ito sends them down to the floor with a baseball slide. Mari is brought back into the ring and is hit with a double lariat, Watanabe slams Mari in front of the corner but Manami runs in as Watanabe gets on the second turnbuckle. Watanabe hits a diving body press anyway, but Manami breaks up the cover. Watanabe goes all the way up top but Mari elbows her before she can jump off. Mari joins Watanabe but Ito grabs Mari from behind to help Watanabe hit a seated senton. Cover by Watanabe, but Mari barely gets a shoulder up. Manami runs in but she lariats Mari by accident, Ito comes in but she hits Watanabe by mistake, allowing Mari to put Watanabe in a modified Dragon Sleeper. Ito breaks it up, she goes to pick up Mari but Manami lariats her. Watanabe had gone up top but Manami joins her and hits a superplex, Mari puts Watanabe in the modified Dragon Sleeper while Manami goes up top. Mari lets go so that Manami can hit a diving elbow drop, cover by Mari but Ito breaks it up. Mari goes for another quick pin, but Watanabe kicks out. Ito comes off the second turnbuckle with a diving footstomp to Mari, Screwdriver by Watanabe to Mari, but Manami breaks up the cover. Watanabe picks up Mari and nails the Cannonball Buster, cover by Watanabe and she picks up the three count! Tomoko Watanabe and Kaoru Ito win and retain the championship.

I really wanted to enjoy this match, but I could not. While it is logical that Watanabe and Ito go at a slower pace than they did in their heyday, the first half of the match just wasn’t fun to watch. It needed someone super sympathetic or charismatic to be taking the beating and Mari is neither of those things, so it was just dull. Manami tried to be the veteran of her team but was overwhelmed by Watanabe and Ito, so it just came across as a mismatch with the PURE-J team never being a believable force against their seniors. The end stretch was better, almost by default, but didn’t last long enough to justify the wait to get there. I still love Ito but this wasn’t the best performance from any of them, and ultimately it was just disappointing.

The post Diana at Shin-Kiba on 2/22/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Pro Wrestling WAVE Ikinari Friday Night
Date: January 17th, 2020
Location: Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

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

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

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

Ayumi Hayashi and Yumi Ohka vs. Yuki Miyazaki and Yuu

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

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

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

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

Haruka Umesaki vs. Kyusei Haruka Umesaki (Sakura Hirota)

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

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

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

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

HIROe vs. Sareee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• 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.

Event: Sendai Girls’
Date: January 12th, 2020
Location: Miyagino Ward Bunka Center in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

Last year I tried to not review house shows, but this year I am turning over a new leaf so here we are at Sendai Girls’! This was a smaller show but some of these matches look intriguing. Any opportunity to see Sareee wrestle should be taken, plus the Jr. Championship features two young wrestlers that could have long and successful careers in Joshi if they stick with it. Here is the full card:

• Ayame Sasamura vs. Sakura Hirota
• Chihiro Hashimoto and Mikoto Shindo vs. Nanami and Sareee
• Dalys la Caribeña and Queen Aminata vs. DASH Chisako and KAORU
• Sendai Girls’ Jr. Championship: Manami vs. Yurika Oka
• Battle Royal with KAORU, DASH Chisako, Sakura Hirota, Dalys la Caribeña, Sareee, Chihiro Hashimoto, Manami, Ayame Sasamura, Mikoto Shindo, Yurika Oka, Nanami, and Queen Aminata

Sendai Girls’ uploaded this event on their Youtube Channel for free, so all matches are shown in full. Wrestlers on the card have a profile on Joshi City, you can click on their names above to go straight to it.

Ayame Sasamura vs. Sakura Hirota

They circle each other to start before locking up, waistlock by Ayame and the two trade holds. They reach a stalemate and return to their feet, kick by Sakura and she grabs Ayame’s wrist as she goes to walk the ropes, but she eventually crotches herself on them. Sakura throws Ayame into the corner and hits the face crusher, she hops over Ayame a few times but Ayame gets her feet up on the falling headbutt attempt. Sakura lays down and challenges Ayame to do the same to her but she won’t, Sakura gets back up but Ayame kicks her and elbows Sakura in the corner. Sakura falls in the middle of the ring but Ayame still won’t hop over her, Sakura gets up and complains loudly as they all (with the referee) have a chat. Ayame does a little dance instead, they ask the crowd which they like better and they cheer louder for Ayame. This makes Sakura mad, Irish whip by Ayame and she hits a hard shoulderblock, sliding kick by Ayame and she covers Sakura for two.

Sakura slides behind Ayame but Ayame catches her with a slam for another two count. Ayame goes up top, Sakura runs over before she can jump off but Ayame grabs her wrist and walks the ropes. Ayame does Sakura’s trick right the first time but messes up the second. Sakura sets up Ayame in the ropes and hits the Oil Check, Sakura goes off the ropes and yells in Ayame’s ear. Sakura goes off the ropes but Ayame catches her with an armdrag and applies a sleeper. Sakura manages to get to the ropes to force the break, Ayame goes off the ropes but Sakura drop toeholds her into the second rope and hits the Tiger Feint Kick. Sakura goes for the Shining Wizard but Ayame blocks it, Ayame goes for a few flash pins but Sakura kicks out. Sakura goes off the ropes but Ayame catches her with a STO, but Sakura reverses the cover. Sakura goes off the ropes but Ayame applies the Dumpling for the three count! Ayame Sasamura wins!

So I am on record of having two very different opinions of Sakura Hirota – I love it when she does cosplay of other wrestlers, but hate it when she just wrestles as her ‘normal’ comedy self. I’m just over wrestlers doing the exact same shtick for a decade, having a new opponent doesn’t really change it for me and no real effort was done to make it different. Now I get it, the crowd likes it and I’m not the target audience, that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean I am going to find the match good for my own taste. Ayame looked solid so there is that though, she is growing into a quality wrestler, hopefully next time they will put her in a better match.

Chihiro Hashimoto and Mikoto Shindo vs. Nanami and Sareee

Sareee and Chihiro start as the veterans go first, Chihiro pushes Sareee into the ropes but Sareee switches positions with her and hits a hard elbow before backing off. They lock knuckles and go into a Test of Strength, which Chihiro wins without too much issue. Irish whip by Chihiro but Sareee reverses it and hits an armdrag, hard shoulderblock by Chihiro and she gets Sareee to the mat, but Sareee quickly gets away and the two return to their feet. They tag in the kiddos, dropkicks immediately by Mikoto to Nanami but Nanami elbows her and the two trade blows. Irish whip by Nanami but Mikoto dropkicks her to the mat, cover by Mikoto but it gets two Mikoto tags in Chihiro, Chihiro chops Nanami in the corner and she covers Nanami for two. Chihiro stretches Nanami before deadlift suplexing her, she tags Mikoto back in and Mikoto tosses down Nanami by the hair. Dropkick by Mikoto in the corner and she hits a scoop slam, cover by Mikoto but she only gets two. Chihiro returns as the legal wrestler, Nanami elbows her but Chihiro clubs her to the mat. Camel Clutch by Chihiro, she lets go after a moment and and puts Nanami in a headlock.

Chihiro picks up Nanami, snapmare by Chihiro and she twists on Nanami’s neck. Nanami gets into the ropes for the break, Irish whip by Chihiro but Nanami reverses it and applies a backslide for two. Dropkicks by Nanami and she tags in Sareee, Sareee and Chihiro both elbow each other until Sareee connects with a dropkick. She dropkicks Mikoto too before hitting a tilt-a-whirl schoolboy on Chihiro for two. Another dropkick by Sareee but Chihiro blocks the fisherman suplex and hits a vertical suplex of her own followed by a somersault senton for two. Chihiro tags Mikoto, dropkicks by Mikoto and she covers Sareee for a two count. Mikoto picks up Sareee, she avoids Sareee’s charge and dropkicks her in the corner. Mikoto trips Sareee in the corner and dropkicks her again, cover by Mikoto but Sareee is too close to the ropes and forces the break. Mikoto hits a few elbows but Sareee dropkicks her, scoop slam by Sareee and she puts Mikoto in a modified Muta Lock. Chihiro breaks it up, Sareee picks up Mikoto and delivers a fisherman suplex hold for two. Sareee tags Nanami, Nanami goes off the ropes and she dropkicks Mikoto. Nanami goes for a slam but Mikoto blocks it, knees by Mikoto but Nanami schoolboys her for a two count.

A backslide and small package by Nanami get the same result, she picks up Mikoto but Mikoto blocks the scoop slam. Nanami eventually is able to hit it, she charges Mikoto but Mikoto dropkicks her and covers Nanami for two. Mikoto tags Chihiro, big spear by Chihiro but Sareee breaks up the cover. Sareee and Chihiro trade elbows, dropkicks by Sareee but Chihiro lariats her. Chihiro goes for a suplex but Sareee blocks it and stomps on her stomach, diving footstomp by Sareee and Nanami hits a diving body press off the second turnbuckle for two. Mikoto runs in and dropkicks Nanami, double Irish whip to Nanami but Sareee comes off the top with a crossbody to both opponents. They try to double team Chihiro but Chihiro lariats both of them, Mikoto goes up top and Chihiro helps her hit a somersault senton on Sareee and Nanami. Chihiro goes back to Nanami, Nanami elbows Chihiro but Chihiro elbows her down. Chihiro picks up Nanami, Nanami gets away as Sareee comes in but Chihiro slams Sareee onto Nanami. Somersault senton by Chihiro, and she covers Nanami for two. Chihiro picks up Nanami and delivers the Modified Waterwheel Drop for the three count! Chihiro Hashimoto and Mikoto Shindo are the winners.

I had set a pretty high bar for this match in my mind, and happily they met it. Even though Nanami was at an age and experience disadvantage, she still held her own in this match and it wasn’t a situation where she was just beaten up the whole time. Everyone got their shots in and it was a pretty 50/50 match, with the pairs switching out regularly so the action stayed refresh. I really liked how well both teams worked together, they aren’t regular partners but still had plenty of saves/double teams/etc. so it didn’t feel like a series of singles matches. Chihiro and Sareee didn’t hold back (not sure if they know how to) and made it feel like a bigger match than it was. For what it was, about as good as it could have been, both Mikoto and Nanami came out of the match looking great which is the main goal for this style of match. Really fun.  Recommended

Dalys la Caribeña and Queen Aminata vs. DASH Chisako and KAORU

Aminata and Chisako start the match, Aminata asks for a knucklelock but Chisako isn’t tall enough to reach. Chisako headbutts her instead, Irish whip by Chisako but Aminata applies a choke before swinging Chisako around. Chisako gets Aminata’s back but Aminata hip attacks her to the mat, dropkick by Chisako but Aminata returns to her feet and offers a handshake. Its a ruse though as Aminata kicks Chisako and connects with a couple hip attacks while Chisako is sitting on the mat. Aminata picks up Chisako but Chisako knees her in the midsection and slams her down. She tags in KAORU, Dalys comes in too and the Gaijin stack their opponents in the corner. Stinkface by Aminata, she picks up KAORU and tags in Dalys, but KAORU throws Dalys in the corner and delivers a boot. Kicks by KAORU and she brings Aminata into the ring, she puts both Dalys and Aminata in the same corner and and delivers a dropkick. KAORU and Chisako return the favor and give them both a Stinkface, KAORU picks up Aminata but Aminata kicks her.

Aminata elbows KAORU to the mat, she tags in Dalys (who I though was legal anyway) and Dalys rolls up KAORU for two. Dalys goes for a kick but KAORU ducks it, Dalys gets KAORU in the ropes and delivers a dropkick. KAORU inches to her corner and tags Chisako, Chisako goes to the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick.. Chisako elbows Dalys, armdrag by Dalys but Chisako moves when she goes for a swandive move and delivers a running knee. Chisako goes up top but Aminata pushes her off, Dalys grabs Chisako and pulls her repeatedly by the hair. Irish whip by Dalys but Chisako reverses it, Dalys slides out to the apron and hits a slingshot body press for two. Dalys puts Chisako on the turnbuckle and tags Aminata, Aminata and Dalys both take turns kicking Chisako until Dalys delivers a dropkick. Aminata and Chisako chop Dalys, Chisako finally rings the ring as Aminata goes for a cover, but KAORU breaks it up. Chisako gets away from Aminata and hits a cutter, giving her time to tag KAORU. KAORU has her board and hits both Aminata and Dalys with it, she puts it on the mat but Aminata reverses the suplex attempt. Cover by Aminata but KAORU bridges out of it, Dalys runs in but she lariats Aminata by accident.

Chisako strolls in the ring and they double team Aminata, cover by KAORU but it gets two. Chisako goes up top and hits an assisted somersault senton, but Aminata kicks out of the cover. KAORU goes up top but Dalys pulls her back into the ring, double Irish whip to KAORU but she cartwheels through them as Chisako runs in. Dalys takes care of Chisako but runs into Aminata by accident, KAORU gets a board while Chisako gets a chair and they both use their weapons. Dalys floors them both with a double lariat, Samoan driver by Aminata to KAORU but Chisako breaks it up. Aminata picks up KAORU and hits the swinging fisherman neckbreaker, but again Chisako breaks up the cover. KAORU quickly cradles Aminata for two, she grabs Aminata but Aminata delivers a superkick. Swinging fisherman neckbreaker to KAORU, Dalys runs in and goes for a lariat but KAORU ducks it. This gives Aminata time to schoolboy KAORU from behind and she picks up the three count! Dalys la Caribeña and Queen Aminata win the match.

The effort was there, but you could tell that these two teams were not very familiar wrestling against each other (or even with each other, in the case of Aminata and Dalys). A fair amount of awkward moments, very little structure to it, and the ending felt out of nowhere. The execution of the moves themselves was generally fine, they didn’t come across as untrained or anything, just like they were working out the kinks in real time. Not much here to really recommend, I am sure they could have a better match if they had more time together in the ring first.

(c) Manami vs. Yurika Oka
Sendai Girls’ Jr. Championship

Yurika runs over and dropkicks Manami as soon as the bell rings, more dropkicks by Yurika but Manami avoids one and hits a dropkick of her own. Manami gets Yurika’s back and tosses her to the mat. They jockey for position, Yurika applies a hammerlock but Manami returns to her feet. Side headlock takedown by Yurika but Manami reverses it, Yurika inches to the ropes and makes it there for the break. They end up on the mat again and trade mounted elbows, Yurika goes for a cross armbreaker bu Manami quickly gets a foot on the ropes. Stomps by Yurika and she applies a wristlock, but Manami gets Yurika o the mat and applies a side headlock. Yurika struggles back up and Irish whips out of the hold, hard shoulderblock by Manami but Yurika comes back with a dropkick for two. Yurika pushes Manami into the corner, Irish whip by Yurika but Manami reverses it and hits a monkey flip out of the corner. Dropkick by Manami and she goes for a crab hold, but Yurika quickly gets into the ropes. Manami picks up Yurika and they trade elbows, Manami knocks Yurika down first and goes for a scoop slam, but Yurika reverses it into one of her own.

Yurika picks up Manami and hits a dropkick, Irish whip by Yurika and she schoolboys Manami for two. Manami goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick, two more dropkicks by Manami and she covers Yurika for two. Crab hold by Manami but Yurika inches to the ropes and makes it there for the break. Manami picks up Yurika but Yurika blocks the slam attempt, backslide by Manami and she puts Yurika in the Cattle Mutilation. Manami picks up Yurika while still holding her arms and cradles her for two, Yurika quickly goes for a few flash pins of her own but she gets two counts as well. Yurika goes off the ropes but Manami rolls through it and applies a small package for two. Yurika goes off the ropes but Manami catches her with a dropkick, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick for another two count. Manami quickly puts Yurika in a crab hold, she switches it to a single leg crab hold and Yurika has no choice but to submit! Manami wins and retains the championship.

With wrestlers of this age, there are really only two things I am looking for – if they have the basics down pat and if they show any fire. These two succeeded in both of those areas, which is particularly impressive in Yurika’s case since she has only been wrestling for a few months. Even though they didn’t do anything overly complicated, everything was smooth and they never felt lost or confused at any point. The dropkicks had pretty good elevation and Manami’s submissions are snug. Obviously you can’t really compare this to a match with veterans (and adults), but considering their experience levels I thought they did a really solid job.  Mildly Recommended

Battle Royal
with KAORU, DASH Chisako, Sakura Hirota, Dalys la Caribeña, Sareee, Chihiro Hashimoto, Manami, Ayame Sasamura, Mikoto Shindo, Yurika Oka, Nanami, and Queen Aminata

Hirota is cosplaying as Meiko Satomura for the Battle Royal, since she is not around for the show. Since everyone starts in the ring, needless to say it starts pretty slow, with Hirota being targeted first. KAORU gets on the second turnbuckle to hit Hirota but falls out of the ring (for reasons I am not sure of). KAORU is eliminated. Yurika and Manami start to elbow each other since they are still fired up, but they are interrupted by Aminata and Dalys. They get rid of them and go back at it, Manami pins Yurika and everyone helps her hold down the rookie for the three count, but then they flip it over and hold down Manami as well for three. Manami and Yurika Oka are eliminated. Chihiro turns her attention back to Hirota, they create a wristlock chain while Hirota grabs Sareee’s wrist at the end of the chain while she tries to walk the ropes. They send a wave down the line to knock Hirota off the ropes, Sareee and Nanami go after Ayame but DASH Chisako helps her out while everyone else watches. Nanami tries to pin Sareee from behind which does not amuse her senior, Sareee smacks Nanami in the head and all eight wrestlers hit running strikes on Nanami in the corner. Sareee covers Nanami (with some help) and she gets the three count. Nanami is eliminated.

Chihiro still seems annoyed about Hirota but Hirota directs her attention to Aminata, the wrestlers pair up and everyone takes part in a submission hold on the mat (either doing the hold or being in one). They all let go after a moment, Dalys and Aminata go for Hirota as they both go up on different turnbuckles, but they are knocked out to the apron. Double Oil Check by Hirota, and both wrestlers fall down to the floor. Dalys and Aminata are eliminated. Ayame slaps Hirota in the head but Hirota knocks her to the mat, she goes for the cartwheel kneedrop but misses. Cover by Ayame, but everyone breaks it up. Ayame dropkicks Chisako and Chihiro, but Chihiro levels her with a lariat and everyone covers her for the three count. Ayame Sasamura is eliminated. Sareee and Chihiro start trading elbows but Hirota tells them to stop, so they both take turns doing Chihiro’s pose instead. Things get heated so Chisako interrupts them, they both kick Chisako but are tripped from the floor by KAORU. Double dropkick by Chisako, Hirota tries to pick up Chihiro but gets flattened instead. Somersault senton by Chihiro but Mikoto jackknifes over her and Sareee helps hold Chihiro down for the three count! Chihiro Hashimoto is eliminated. We are down to Sareee, Mikoto Shindo, Hirota (as Meiko Satomura), and DASH Chisako. Hirota offers here hand to Sareee and they go after their opponents, Sareee then starts working with Chisako (so she isn’t picky who her friend is) but Hirota catches them with a double DDT and double face crusher. She goes for a Shining Wizard on Sareee but she crotches herself on Sareee’s knee, sunset flip by Mikoto to Hirota and she gets the three count! Sakura Hirota is eliminated.

Chisako and Sareee go after Mikoto until Chisako dropkicks both of them, Chisako goes up top but misses everyone when she goes for a missile dropkick. Double dropkick to Chisako, Mikoto goes up top and Sareee helps her hit a somersault senton. Chisako reverses her cover attempt however, and she holds down Mikoto for the three count! Mikoto Shindo is eliminated. That leaves just Sareee and DASH Chisako. Sareee and Chisako trade elbows, Northern Lights Suplex by Chisako but it gets a two count. Chisako goes up top but Sareee smacks her before she can jump off and tosses her back into the ring. Release German by Chisako but Sareee quickly returns to her feet, release German by Sareee but Chisako gets back up as well. Sareee goes off the ropes but Chisako schoolboys her for two, Frankensteiner by Chisako but the referee only counts to two even though Sareee didn’t kick out. Chisako quickly cradles Sareee again, and this time she gets the three count! DASH Chisako is the winner!

The fact the referee messed up the ending on a goofy Battle Royal match is pretty funny. This accomplished its goal, it had some comedy, some real action, and most importantly it didn’t drag out as they kept the eliminations coming. A fun way to end the show, nothing beyond the norm but they don’t do Battle Royals like this in Joshi very often so its a nice change of pace. Even if they did botch the final elimination.

The post Sendai Girls’ on 1/12/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: TJPW Tokyo Joshi Pro 2020
Date: January 4th, 2020
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 1,467

Starting the year with something new – Tokyo Joshi Pro! Not a new promotion of course, but one that I didn’t watch much (if at all) in 2019 as their general style doesn’t always line up with my interests. This is one of their biggest shows of the year however, and the card is really stacked with four title matches and a special singles match between Natsumi Maki and Sareee. Here is the full card:

• Haruna Neko and Suzume vs. Mahiro Kiryu and Sena Shiori
• Rename In The Pinata Loser Name Change Match: Hyper Misao vs. Shoko Nakajima
• DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship: Saki Akai vs. Yuki Kamifuku
• Aja Kong, Pom Harajuku, and Raku vs. Mina Shirakawa, Mirai Maiumi, and Yuna Manase
• Natsumi Maki vs. Sareee
• Mizuki vs. Thunder Rosa
• International Princess Championship: Maki Itoh vs. Hikari Noa
• Princess Tag Team Championship: Miu Watanabe and Rika Tatsumi vs. Nodoka Tenma and Yuki Aino
• Princess Of Princess Championship: Yuka Sakazaki vs. Miyu Yamashita

As Tokyo Joshi Pro is not a promotion I watch very often, I may miss some of the smaller nuances on what is going on but I’ll do my best. All wrestlers have profiles on the site, you can click on their name above to go straight to it.

Haruna Neko and Suzume vs. Kiryu and Sena Shiori

Suzume and Sena start, they trade holds on their feet before Suzume takes Sena down to the mat. Sena switches positions and applies a leglock but it gets quickly reversed, they jockey for position but end up in a stalemate. Back up, Suzume backs into her corner to tag in Haruna, while Mahiro is also tagged in. Haruna gets the first strike on Mahiro and tries to knock her over, but Mahiro stays up and applies a side headlock. Haruna Irish whips out of it but Mahiro hits a hard shoulderblock, she applies a front necklock as she tags in Sena. Sena tries to throw Haruna into the corner but it gets reversed, seated senton by Haruna to Sena and she covers her for two. Haruna tags in Suzume, Sena is thrown into the corner and she eats running strikes from both her opponents. Cover by Suzume, but it gets two. Suzume picks up Sena but Sena elbows her and the two trade blows, Sena tags in Suzume but Mahiro catches her with a scoop slam. Mahiro slams Suzume into the corner but Suzume connects with a dropkick and tags Haruna. Haruna goes for a slam but it gets blocked, Mahiro goes for a slam but Haruna gets out of it and hits a lariat. Cover by Haruna, but it gets a two count. Haruna tags Suzume, Suzume goes up top and she hits a diving crossbody for two. Suzume elbows Mahiro in the chest but Mahiro connects with a hard elbow and tags in Sena. Dropkick by Sena and she applies a single leg crab hold, but Haruna breaks it up. Mahiro throws Haruna out of the ring, Irish whip by Sena to Suzume but Suzume reverses it. Sena avoids Suzume’s dropkick and re-applies the crab hold, but Suzume wiggles to the ropes and gets the break. Elbows by Sena but Suzume elbows her back, schoolboy attempt by Suzume but Sena rolls through it. Dropkick by Suzume and she puts Sena in a sleeper hold, Sena struggles to escape but taps out! Haruna Neko and Suzume are the winners.

Even for a rookie/young wrestler match, the ending here was pretty sudden as there wasn’t really any foreshadowing that a sleeper finisher was in play. I was really impressed by Mahiro, her poise and mannerisms are great for a rookie and I could see her becoming a force down the line. I was less impressed by Haruna and Suzume, however I concede this was a really small sample size. Sena looked fine for a debut, seemed to be confident and didn’t mess up anything. Not a bad way to start, although a slightly longer end stretch would have been nice.

Hyper Misao vs. Shoko Nakajima

For their respective weapons, Shoko brought with her a giant bag of kaiju action figures while Misao will use…. Tokyo Joshi Pro producer Tetsuya Koda, who is in no way a wrestler. But he does distract Shoko off the start which allows Misao to attack her from behind, Rocking Cradle by Misao while Koda puts a sheet down on the mat. They roll up Shoko in the sheet, Misao gets the ladder and starts climbing up, but the still-cocooned Shoko knocks it over. Koda and Misao grab the ladder but Shoko dropkicks it away from them and gets the sheet off, she puts the ladder on her shoulders and spins it into Misao. Misao falls out of the ring but Shoko dives out onto her, she goes back in the ring to get some of her action figures and starts throwing them at Misao. Misao crawls under the ring to get away, Shoko goes out to try to find her but Misao sneaks up from behind and sprays her from a spray can. Back in the ring, Irish whip by Misao and she hits a crossbody, she sets up the ladder but Shoko pulls her off. They fight over the ladder until Misao smashes Shoko’s hands between the rungs and then throws the ladder at Shoko. Shoko recovers and hits a bulldog into the turnbuckle, she goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick.

Shoko charges Misao but Misao hiptosses her onto the ladder, Misao sets up the ladder but Shoko takes it back down and drives Misao into the corner with it. Shoko puts the ladder across the ropes in the corner, trapping Misao in, and sets up her toys in the middle of the ring. Misao gets free and charges her, Shoko puts Misao on the top turnbuckle and joins her, hitting a Frankensteiner. Shoko gathers the toys again into a pile, Shoko scoop slams Misao onto the toys before going up top, but Koda runs in and protects Misao. Shoko dives off with a senton attempt but Koda helps Misao get out of the way (maybe?), Misao sets up the ladder and climbs it, but Shoko pulls her off. They trade punches until Misao back bodydrops Shoko onto the toys, but Shoko spins away from her and they both start to climb the ladder. They elbow each other at the top of it, Shoko knocks Misao off the ladder and breaks open the pinata, pulling out the banner! Misao runs up and tries to get it from her but its too late, as Shoko puts it on. Shoko Nakajima is the winner!

These types of matches always annoy me, as just based on skill they could have had a pretty fun ten minute ladder match but in the end it was just about the silly gimmick tied to it. There were a few really nice/painful bumps hidden in here, and when they just got a chance to wrestle this was fine, but when it was about the Hello! Project concert and Koda and toys everything came to a halt. I am sure this match is for someone out there in the world, just not really for me. I want to see destruction in ladder matches, not sub-par comedy.

(c) Saki Akai vs. Yuki Kamifuku
DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship

Saki starts with a side headlock, Yuki reverses it and takes Saki to the mat but it only lasts a moment as they return to their feet. Yuki stomps on Saki’s feet and trips her, Saki is thrown into the corner and Yuki elbows her. Saki switches positions with her but Yuki avoids the boot, Yuki charges Saki but Saki kicks her in the stomach. Saki stomps Yuki and chokes her in the corner, kick to the back by Saki and she covers Yuki for two. Saki picks up Yuki and hits a drop toehold into a headscissors, Yuki inches to the ropes and makes it there for the break. Saki goes off the ropes and boots Yuki in the head, cover by Saki but it gets another two. Yuki returns to her feet but Saki kicks her back down again, Saki throws Yuki into the corner and delivers a big boot. Saki goes for a suplex but Yuki lands on her feet and hits a handstand face crusher.

Yuki tosses Saki into the corner and slams her into the turnbuckle repeatedly, boot by Yuki and she covers Saki for two. Yuki picks up Saki but Saki kicks her arm away and the two trade blows, with Saki finally knocking down Yuki with a big boot but Yuki quickly gets up and delivers a “dropkick.” Yuki throws Saki into the corner but Saki knocks her back, head kick by Saki and she goes to the top turnbuckle, but Yuki dropkicks her as she jumps off. Scissors Kick by Yuki, but Saki is too close to the ropes and using them to break up the count. Yuki goes after Saki, Saki quickly puts her in a Triangle Choke but Yuki gets to the ropes. Schoolboy by Yuki, but it gets two. Yuki goes for a dropkick but Saki swats it away and hits a PK for a two count. Saki goes up top again and this time hits a diving crossbody, but Yuki kicks out of the cover. Kick to the chest by Saki and she hits the Pendulum Knee Strike, Quetzalcoatl by Saki and she picks up the three count! Saki Akai wins and is still the champion.

I hate to go back on what I said about nine minutes ago, but this match really needed some comedy elements. Or something. No one has ever accused Saki of being a super worker (I assume, if they have they are wrong), but she can work a good match if put in the right situation. Going up against someone of the same type of wrestler, but worse, was not the right situation. This was awkward, uncoordinated, and poorly laid out. I am not sure why they would do this to Saki and Yuki. Make it a wacky tag match or a five way match or something, give them some protection. The rookies in the opening match put on a better performance, including Sena. Skip this one.

Aja Kong, Harajuku, and Raku vs. Shirakawa, Maiumi, and Manase

Mirai and Pom kick things off and trade wristlocks, they end up on the mat but Mirai locks in a side headlock as they get back up. Mirai drives Pom back and tags in Yuna, while Kong tags in as well. They lock up, Kong pushes Yuna into the ropes and she gives a clean break. Yuna elbows Kong and goes off the ropes, but she fails in her attempts to shoulderblock Kong over. Kong slaps Yuna against the ropes, Irish whip by Yuna and she hits a double chop to the chest. Kong goes for the elbow drop but Yuna moves and kicks Kong in the back, she quickly tags in Mina and Mina goes for the Romero Special, but Kong ignores her and rolls over to break it up. Kong kicks Mina in the leg and tags Raku, Raku runs over Mina’s midsection but Mina moves when she tries to sit down on her. Pom comes in to help get Mina back to the mat, they invite Kong in but she stays on the apron. Raku tries to sit on Mina again but once again she moves, Mina is knocked down and finally Kong agrees to come in. All three take turns running over Mina’s midsection with Kong sitting on Mina to end the spot, cover by Raku but it gets a two count. Mina scoop slams Raku and puts her in the Romero Special, she lets go after a moment and tags in Mirai. Scoop slam by Mirai and she elbows Raku in the corner, Yuna is tagged back in but Raku greets her with elbows to the chest. Yuna avoids Raku’s lariat and hits a hard shoulderblock, she goes for a kick but Raku catches it and hits a face crusher. She makes the tag to Pom, swinging headscissors by Pom to Yuna and she rolls over Yuna for a two count.

Pom kicks Yuna in the leg but Yuna delivers a big boot in the corner, shoulderblock by Yuna and she tags Mina. Diving double chops by Mina but Pom trips her and delivers a dropkick for two. Pom picks up Mina but Mina blocks the scoop slam, Lou Thesz Press by Mina and she covers Pom for two. Pom ducks the backfist and kicks Mina in the shin, giving her time to tag Kong while Mirai is also tagged in. Mirai tries to knock over Kong with no luck, Mirai goes for a scoop slam but Kong doesn’t budge. Scoop slam by Kong, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Mirai pulls her off from behind. Kong quickly comes back with a punch to the face, Mina runs in to try to help and she hits a backfist on Kong. Yuna also gets in the ring and shoulderblocks Kong over, lariat by Mirai to Kong but Kong kicks out at two. Mirai picks up Kong and goes for a backdrop suplex, but Kong blocks it. Elbows by Mirai and she goes off the ropes, but Pom catches her with a forearm. Mina runs in and DDTs Pom, but Raku hits a diving chop to Mina. Yuna boots Raku, she goes to Kong and tries to help Mirai hit a double vertical suplex, but it gets reversed. Kong waits for Mirai to get up and hits a hard lariat, cover by Kong but Mirai bridges out of the pin. Kong looks annoyed, she picks up Mirai and plants her with a backdrop suplex, but the cover is broken up. Kong positions Mirai and gets on the second turnbuckle, falling back elbow drop by Kong and she picks up the three count! Aja Kong, Raku, and Pom Harajuku are the winners.

Post match, they try to trick Aja Kong and pin her to win the DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship, but Kong is too smart and bails.

For a midcard match, this was perfectly fine. Not everyone here is a great wrestler so hiding them in a six wrestler tag was a good idea, as it was really about Aja Kong either playing along with some silliness or the younger wrestlers trying to knock her over. Not an original theme but an effective one that I can appreciate. I thought Mirai looked good here, showed a lot of fire and the offense she did connected pretty well which I can’t say for everyone involved. Not critical viewing but decent enough for what it was going for.

Natsumi Maki vs. Sareee

Natsumi dropkicks Sareee right as the match starts, another dropkick by Natsumi but Sareee blocks the crossbody and slams Natsumi. Natsumi bridges out of the pin, armdrag by Natsumi but Sareee armdrags her back and they reach a stalemate after a few trips. Tie-up, Natsumi gets Sareee into the ropes and slaps her as she gives the break. Sareee slaps her back, she throws Natsumi into the corner and tosses her down by the hair. Natsumi returns the favor but Sareee whips her down again, elbows by Natsumi but Sareee elbows her hard to the mat. Stomps by Sareee and she hits a scoop slam, modified Muta Lock by Sareee but she lets go after a moment to kick Natsumi in the leg. Crab hold by Sareee but Natsumi inches to the ropes and makes it there for the break. Sareee jumps down on Natsumi’s back, Irish whip by Sareee but Natsumi connects with a dropkick for two. Natsumi quickly goes for the cross armbreaker and gets it locked in, but Sareee wiggles to the ropes to force the break. Dropkicks by Natsumi before Sareee can get back up, Natsumi goes off the ropes and dropkicks Sareee in the face. Sareee falls out of the ring, Natsumi goes to the top turnbuckle and dives out onto Sareee with a plancha suicida.

Natsumi slides Sareee back in, she goes up top again and hits a diving crossbody for two. Natsumi applies a waistlock but Sareee reverses it and hits a wheelbarrow German suplex. Sareee picks up Natsumi, Natsumi elbows her but Sareee elbows her right back, sending Natsumi off her feet. They trade elbows back and forth with Sareee generally getting the better of it, dropkick by Natsumi but Sareee dropkicks her back. Running dropkick by Sareee, she picks up Natsumi and hits a fisherman suplex hold for two. Sareee goes for the uranage but Natsumi blocks it, Irish whip by Sareee but Natsumi ducks the lariat and schoolboys Sareee for two. Natsumi goes off the ropes, Sareee goes for a uranage but Natsumi blocks it and cradles Sareee for two. Natsumi picks up Sareee, kick to the head by Natsumi and she goes off the ropes, hitting the Backlash for a two count. Back up, Sareee blocks the suplex attempt and drops Natsumi with a German suplex hold, but Natsumi gets a shoulder up. Sareee goes towards the turnbuckles but Natsumi grabs her leg, Natsumi slaps Sareee but Sareee elbows her and kicks her in the jaw with a back kick. Uranage by Sareee, and she covers Natsumi for the three count! Sareee is the winner!

Even though Natsumi (in experience) isn’t on Sareee’s level, she sure did try to match her move for move. Sareee tried submissions, Natsumi did too, Sareee threw elbows, Natsuki returned fire, almost as if she was trying to prove she could do anything Sareee can. But in the end that was her undoing – her elbows weren’t as hard, her dropkicks weren’t as on point, and her submissions weren’t as effective. It wasn’t a complex story but it was a smart one, realistically Natsumi wasn’t winning this but she wanted to show the fans that she wasn’t intimidated or backing down to The Sun God. Sareee has gotten so good in the last few years, she doesn’t look intimidating but she hits harder than anyone and her suplexes are beautifully executed. While I wish they had gotten more time, they were able to tell the story they wanted to, and overall I really enjoyed it and look forward to where Natsumi goes from here in Tokyo Joshi Pro.  Recommended

Mizuki vs. Thunder Rosa

Mizuki offers her hand to start the match, Thunder Rosa goes to shake it but Mizuki tries to kick her. Thunder Rosa catches the kick and throws Mizuki to the mat. Mizuki is up quickly and hits a tilt-a-whirl armdrag, dropkick by Mizuki but Thunder Rosa throws her into the corner. Mizuki kicks Thunder Rosa back when she charges and goes for a diving crossbody, but Thunder Rosa catches her and hits a backbreaker. Front slam by Thunder Rosa and she covers Mizuki for a two count. Stomps by Thunder Rosa, she picks up Mizuki and slams her again. Thunder Rosa puts Mizuki in the Tree of Woe and dropkicks her in the leg, she picks up Mizuki and hits a scoop slam for two. Single leg crab hold by Thunder Rosa into the rocking cradle, she picks up Mizuki and chops her against the ropes. Mizuki goes for a quick cradle but Thunder Rosa kicks out and boots her in the head, she rakes at Mizuki’s face before slamming her into the mat. Thunder Rosa puts Mizuki in the ropes and chops her in the chest, Irish whip by Thunder Rosa but Mizuki ducks the lariat and connects with a dropkick. Mizuki charges Thunder Rosa and hits a crossbody, sending Thunder Rosa off the apron to the floor.

Mizuki goes up to the top turnbuckle and dives out of the ring with a plancha suicida, she slides Thunder Rosa back into the ring and goes up top again, hitting a diving crossbody for two. Mizuki picks up Thunder Rosa but Thunder Rosa knees her in the head, she picks up Mizuki but Mizuki slides down her back and delivers a Backstabber. Armtrap crossface by Mizuki but Thunder Rosa muscles out of it, she gets Mizuki on her shoulders and drives her into the turnbuckles before hitting a Death Valley Bomb. Cover by Thunder Rosa, but Mizuki barely bridges out. Stomps by Thunder Rosa, she gets on the top turnbuckle but Mizuki recovers and joins her. Superplex by Mizuki and both wrestlers are down, they slowly get to their feet as they trade strikes. Chops by Thunder Rosa but Mizuki goes off the ropes and hits a tilt-a-whirl crossbody for two. Mizuki charges Thunder Rosa, Thunder Rosa tries to kick her back but Mizuki slides her legs onto the second ropes and hits a reverse double kneedrop. Mizuki goes up top but Thunder Rosa avoids her dive, running kick by Thunder Rosa and she drops Mizuki with the Thunder Driver for the three count! Thunder Rosa wins!

I guess the best way to describe this match would be fundamentally sound. It was pretty basic but solid, the two worked together pretty well and they kept it short enough that it never felt like it was pushing its time. The beginning was a bit clunky as I didn’t buy Mizuki has being able to out-strike Thunder Rosa, but once she got more to her high flying moves everything they were doing started to sync up. One of the better matches on the show so far, which I mostly credit to the veteran Thunder Rosa, but Mizuki held her own once they got to the meat of the match. Not a bad showing by either.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Maki Itoh vs. Hikari Noa
International Princess Championship

They circle each other to start, Hikari trips Maki and goes for her ankle, Maki reverses it and the two go back and forth. Maki applies a side headlock and takes Hikari down, but Hikari quickly gets out of it and dropkicks Maki out of the ring. Hikari goes out after her and they trade blows, scoop slam attempt by Maki on the floor but Hikari blocks it. Maki drags Hikari around the ring and this time manages to hit the scoop slam, she tells the crowd to move and she hits Hikari down in a chair. Maki stands over Hikari but Hikari slides between her legs and hits her in the back with a chair, she slams Maki into the ring apron and then into the ring post. Back in the ring, cover by Hikari but it gets a two count. Elbows by Hikari and she Irish whips Maki, but Maki reverses it and hits a scoop slam. Maki picks up Hikari but Hikari throws her into the corner, Maki avoids Hikari’s charge and smacks her in the midsection. Maki stands over Hikari in the corner and delivers rapid fire punches, she tosses Hikari back to the middle of the ring but Hikari quickly cradles her for two. Maki goes for a strike, Hikari bridges down to avoid it but Maki hits a falling headbutt. She goes for a submission but Hikari quickly gets out of it, rolling cradle by Hikari and she holds down Maki for two.

Hikari gets on the top turnbuckle but Maki recovers and joins her, headbutt by Maki and she tosses Hikari back to the middle of the ring. Itoh Special by Maki to Hikari, but Hikari crawls to the ropes and makes it for the break. Maki stomps at Hikari, Irish whip by Maki but Hikari blocks it and applies a grounded cobra twist. Hikari drags up Maki and hits a short-range lariat, cover by Hikari but it gets a two count. Hikari tries a few more quick pins with no luck, she goes for a lariat but Maki blocks it. Maki goes for a DDT but Hikari pushes her off and hits a dropkick, but Maki kicks out of the cover. Hikari goes for a suplex but Maki blocks it, she goes off the ropes but Maki plants her with a DDT. Maki goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers the diving headbutt, but Hikari barely gets a shoulder up. Maki picks up Hikari but Hikari avoids the headbutt and suplexes Maki to the mat. Hikari elbows Maki as they start to get up, but Maki elbows her back. They trade blows as they get up, dropkick by Hikari but Maki isn’t phased and she goes after Hikari’s injured leg as she puts her in the Itoh Deluxe (Elevated Texas Cloverleaf). Hikari struggles for a moment but is forced to submit! Maki Itoh wins the match and retains the championship.

While the ending felt a bit sudden, I still enjoyed this one. Maki has gotten better since the last time I saw her, I still wouldn’t call her a high-end wrestler but she connects well with the crowd and her offense was both smart and effective. Hikari still wrestles a simple style but it works at this level, my main complaint is that Maki did great work on Hikari’s leg but she never really showed any signs it was hurting her until the very end with the dropkick. I appreciate some quality limb work, but a little limp can go a long way. Still a pretty well structured and executed match, Maki could have just done a bit more to foreshadow the end with the submissions finally wearing her down to the point of having to submit. Mildly Recommended

(c) Miu Watanabe and Rika Tatsumi vs. Nodoka Tenma and Yuki Aino
Princess Tag Team Championship

Miu and Yuki start the match, they both try to shoulderblock each other over until Yuki sends Miu to the mat. Nodoka tags in as does Rika, Rika takes Nodoka to the mat but Nodoka reverses positions with her and the two trade holds. Rika goes off the ropes but Nodoka knocks her down with a shoulderblock, she tags Yuki back in and they double team Rika. Yuki picks up Rika and throws her into the corner but Rika kicks her back when she charges in and tags Miu. Miu elbows Yuki in the corner, elbows to the back by Miu and she hits a running elbow. Miu puts Yuki in a bear hug before throwing her in the corner, she tags Rika and they double team Yuki. Rika puts Yuki in a waistlock but Yuki gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Rika picks up Yuki but Yuki elbows her back, she knocks over Rika and makes the tag to Nodoka. Shoulderblocks by Nodoka to both her opponents and she hits a scoop slam on Rika, crossbody by Nodoka and she gets a two count. Rika throws Nodoka into the corner, she puts her leg over the second rope and dropkicks her in the leg. Rika slams Nodoka’s leg into the ring post a couple times before dropkicking it into the post, cover by Rika but it gets two. Rika hits a dragon screw on Nodoka and follows with a hip attack, Nodoka gets Rika around the waist and picks her up, but her knee gives out.

She tries again and this time hits a Samoan Drop, She crawls to her corner but Rika tags in Miu and Miu cuts off Nodoka, body avalanche by Miu in the corner and she hits a hard shoulderblock. Giant Swing by Miu, she picks up Nodoka but Nodoka slides away and applies a side headlock. Nodoka picks up Miu and hits a fallaway slam, she gets to her corner and tags in Yuki. Yuki boots Miu and Nodoka jumps off her back with a crossbody. Cover by Yuki, but it gets two. Yuki elbows Miu and hits a running elbow in the corner, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Miu avoids her dive. Bulldog by Yuki but Rika comes in and rescues her, Nodoka also comes in however and Rika eats a double shoulderblock. Yuki gets on her shoulders as Nodoka goes up to to give her the Bakuretsu Bulldog, but Miu gets away and Rika hip attacks Nodoka off the top turnbuckle. Miu and Rika drop Yuki with an assisted Dragon Twist of Fate, cover by Miu but Nodoka breaks up the pin. Nodoka goes for the Unprettier on Rika but Rika blocks it and hip attacks Nodoka out of the ring, Miu picks up Yuki and she hits a shoulder backbreaker for two. Miu goes for a punch but Yuki ducks it and hits a gutwrench suplex, Yuki applies a full nelson but Miu snapmares out of it. Punch by Miu, she picks up Yuki and nails the Tear Drop for the three count! Daydream win and retain the tag team championship.

Another solid match. From an outsider’s perspective, the Bakuretsu Sisters appear to be done as threats, as if after two years together all you have are three failed title challenges, maybe its time to move on to something else. Miu and Nodoka were my favorite two here, both of their segments on offense were entertaining and they have a variety of ways to hurt people. The leg work was quickly forgotten but it wasn’t enough of a focus to hurt the match, and the end stretch was really good. Rika and Aino didn’t do anything wrong in the match but it just felt like they were kinda ‘present’ rather than doing anything overly memorable, but Tokyo Joshi Pro is full of wrestlers without a lot of experience and not all wrestlers are going to make a difference in every match. Pretty short for a semi-main title match, but an ease to watch with good pacing and a satisfying ending.  Mildly Recommended

(c) Yuka Sakazaki vs. Miyu Yamashita
Princess of Princess Championship

They begin trading wristlocks and headlocks but reach an early stalemate, Yuka sends Miyu to the mat but Miyu reverses positions with her as they jockey for control. Yuka bails out of the ring to regroup but Miyu goes after her, Yuka strikes Miyu as she leaves the ring and kicks her from the apron. Yuka clubs on Miyu’s back and takes her up into the bleachers before throwing her into a wall. Yuka takes Miyu up further into the crowd and scoop slams her on the floor, she gets a table and gets it ready at the top of the stairs to use as a sled. Yuka sits Miyu on the table and pushes her down the stairs, but security is in the way so she only gets about halfway down. Yuka runs down and pushes her the rest of the way, sending Miyu crashing down to the floor at the bottom. They make their way back to ringside and Yuka throws Miyu into the ring post, Yuka props a table up against the post but Miyu fights back with elbows. Yuka elbows her back and scoop slams Miyu into the table (which obviously doesn’t break), Yuka picks Miyu up and slams her into the table again (it kinda breaks this time, Yuka seems satisfied). Yuka brings Miyu up onto the apron but Miyu gets Yuka on her shoulders and slams her onto the apron.

Miyu throws Yuka back into the ring finally, cover by Miyu but it gets a two count. Snapmare by Miyu and she kicks Yuka in the back, Yuka returns to her feet but Miyu knocks her to the mat again. Running knee by Miyu and she hits a gutbuster, kick combination by Miyu and she puts Yuka in a chinlock, but Yuka gets out of it and pushes Miyu out of the ring. Miyu kicks Yuka from the apron as she returns but Yuka catches her with a diving double chop. Running hurricanrana by Yuka and she hits a jumping forearm, missile dropkick by Yuka but Miyu avoids the Sliding D. Yuka connects on her second try, cover by Yuka but it gets two. High kick by Miyu and she nails a rebound high kick out of the corner, running kick by Miyu and Yuka collapses to the mat. Yuka recovers but Miyu kicks her in the back of the head, cover by Miyu but it gets two. Yuka gets back up and elbows Miyu, Miyu elbows her back but Yuka catches her with a vertical suplex. Rolling vertical suplexes by Yuka, she goes up top but Miyu recovers and joins her.

Yuka pushes Miyu off the top turnbuckle to the floor, she gets on the apron and hits a diving hurricanrana. Yuka puts Miyu up on the apron with her head hanging over and goes to the top turnbuckle, delivering a diving body press. Yuka rolls Miyu back in, cover by Yuka but it gets a two count. Swandive body press attempt by Yuka, but Miyu gets her knees up. Kicks to the chest by Miyu but Yuka slaps on a leg submission hold, Miyu inches to the ropes and makes it for the break. Yuka puts Miyu on the top turnbuckle and joins her, hitting a reverse STO down to the mat. Yuka goes out to the apron and gets on the ropes, but Miyu kicks her in the head before she can jump off. Another head kick by Miyu, she goes out to the apron and dives off the ropes with an elbow to Yuka. Cover by Miyu, but it gets two. More kicks by Miyu but Yuka ducks one and cradles Miyu for two. Rolling elbow by Miyu but Miyu gets her back and hits a German suplex hold for two. Miyu kicks Yuka in the head some more, she goes off the ropes but Yuka catches her with a hammerlock suplex. Miyu goes out to the apron and nails the Magical Magical Girl Splash, cover by Yuka and she picks up the three count! Yuka Sakazaki wins and retains the championship.

I had heard going in that this match was sloppy, and while there were one or two moves that didn’t hit well I wouldn’t consider that overly unusual in a 20 minute match. Maybe the type of thing that keeps a match from being a true MOTYC, but nothing that impacted my overall enjoyment of the match. My main complaint is the ‘outside the ring’ portion felt too long and wasn’t completely satisfying since the sled spot didn’t appear to go as planned, so it felt more like wasting time than contributing to the match. Once they got back into the ring though, business really picked up and both wrestlers are so much fun to watch. Miyu’s kicks are killer, and she can hit them from anywhere as she can deliver a kick to someone that is well over her own head (which she did several times). A classic flyer vs. strikes match, I wouldn’t have minded if the end stretch was longer so Yuka could get in some more offense, but still a fitting main event as they both went all out. I appreciate the effort and desire to create something amazing and memorable even if not everything landed as smooth as they had planned, hopefully next time things will sync better and they will create a true epic.  Recommended

The post TJPW Tokyo Joshi Pro 2020 on 1/4/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Sendai Girls’ Big Show In Niigata
Date: June 8th, 2019
Location: Niigata City Gymnasium in Niigata, Japan
Announced Attendance: Unknown

Sometimes a show happens in Japan that I know I have to watch the minute it releases. This is one of those events. Sendai Girls’ tends to really go all out for their big events, and there are several matches on this show I really wanted to see. Sareee is one of my favorite wrestlers but a lot of her matches don’t ‘make TV’ so I’m excited to get to see her again, this is a huge match for her as she has a rare title vs. title match against Chihiro Hashimoto. Here is the full card:

• Sendai Girls’ Jr. Championship: Manami vs. Mikoto Shindo
• Aiger vs. Sakura Hirota
• Alex Lee, Heidi Katrina, and KAORU vs. Hikaru Shida, Hyan, and Mei Suruga
• Aja Kong and Yuu vs. Meiko Satomura and Mika Iwata
• Sendai Girls’ Tag Team Championship: Charli Evans and Millie McKenzie vs. DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto
• Sendai Girls’ World Championship/World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana Championship: Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Sareee

As we are watching the Samurai TV! airing of the event, some matches may be clipped. All wrestlers have a profile on the website, you can click on their names above to go straight to it.

Manami vs. Mikoto Shindo
Sendai Girls’ Jr. Championship

They circle to start before and lockup, they trade holds until Manami gets Mikoto to the mat. Leg submission by Manami and she rolls it into a headlock, Mikoto reverses it but Manami gets away. She goes for a dropkick by Mikoto swats her down, Mikoto goes off the ropes but Manami catches her with a dropkick. Another dropkick by Manami but Mikoto avoids the next and applies a camel clutch crossface, she lets go after a moment and elbows Manami into the corner. Irish whip by Mikoto and she hits a dropkick, four more dropkicks by Mikoto and she covers Manami for two. Crab hold by Mikoto but Manami inches to the ropes to get the break, she puts Manami right back in the crab hold but Manami gets to the ropes again. Mikoto picks up Manami but Manami blocks the slam attempt, they trade elbows until Mikoto drops Manami with a dropkick. Cover by Mikoto, but it gets a two count. Mikoto goes for another crab hold but Manami reverses it into a cradle, schoolboy by Manami but that gets a two as well. Back up they trade elbows, Mikoto knocks Manami to the mat and hits more mounted elbows. Mikoto goes off the ropes but Manami elbows her and applies an inside cradle for two. Dropkick by Manami but Mikoto hits a back bodydrop, she picks up Manami but Manami hits a sunset flip for two. She goes for a jackknife cover but Mikoto blocks it, she holds down Manami and picks up the three count! Mikoto Shindo wins and is the new champion!

Pretty basic, as expected. I will say that Mikoto Shindo is a bundle of fun, she has a bit of a mean streak to her and wrestlers like she has a chip on her shoulder, which probably wasn’t necessary since she was wrestling a child but at least it shows she cared. I wouldn’t have minded if the ending was a bit more conclusive, not that cradle wins aren’t legitimate wins but for a title match something with more substance would have been nice. For an opener with younger wrestlers, nothing wrong with it but it didn’t do much to elevate itself to title match status.

Aiger vs. Sakura Hirota
Bamboo Dumpling Scramble Match

We start with Hirota feeding Aiger what I am assuming is a Bamboo Dumpling, which are strung up over the ring in a X. They both go to opposite corners to try to reach them but can’t, and while I don’t really know what is going on I don’t think with these two that it really matters. Both fail to reach it, they go into the regular Aiger zombie spots before they collide and knock each other out. Hirota is up first and tries to jump off of Aiger’s knee to reach the dumplings, but fails. Aiger tries too with the same result, suplex by Hirota but Aiger delivers a release German suplex. Both wrestlers are down on the mat, they lower the dumplings but raise them before the wrestlers can return to their feet. More comedy spots, this time running through Hirota’s bits until Aiger hits a lariat for a two count. Aiger goes up top and scares Hirota, but Hirota kisses her to even the odds. Hirota goes for a powerbomb but Aiger lands on top of her, picking up the three count! Aiger wins! After the match is over, Aiger throws the referee on top of Hirota, stands on top of them and finally gets some dumplings before leaving the ring.

Slightly clipped, but not enough. The crowd enjoys this so I’m not suggesting it shouldn’t exist, it just isn’t for me. Its literally the same three or four spots every time repeated. I enjoy Sakura Hirota when she is doing cosplay as that can be entertaining, but this is just skippable affair. Unless you are really into one of these two wrestlers (or have never seen either before), nothing worth seeing here.

Hikaru Shida, Hyan, and Mei Suruga vs. Alex Lee, Heidi Katrina, and KAORU

We join this one in progress, with Katrina beating up Mei. Vertical suplex by Katrina, and she covers Mei for two. Katrina picks up Mei, Mei goes for a crossbody but Katrina catches her and hits a fallaway slam. Giant Swing by Katrina and she hits a leg drop, but Shida breaks up her cover. Irish whip by Katrina but Mei jumps on her back, Katrina drives her back into the corner to get her off but Mei avoids her charge and hits a dropkick. Cradle by Mei, but Katrina kicks out. Mei tags in Hyan, dropkick by Katrina and she tags Lee. Lee kicks Hyan into the corner and nails a high knee, release German by Lee and she kicks Hyan in the face. Another kick by Lee but Hyan blocks the slam, springboard armdrag by Hyan and she hits a side Russian leg sweep. Northern Lights Suplex Hold by Hyan, but it only gets a two count. Hyan tags in Shida, Shida trades elbows with Lee but Mei and Hyan both run in to attack Lee in the corner. Jumping knee by Shida, she sets up Lee in the corner before grabbing KAORU and suplexing her into Lee. Shida grabs Lee but Katrina hits her from behind, KAORU runs in and boots Shida before Lee delivers a Buzzsaw Kick. Lee picks up Shida and slams her to the mat, she gets on the top turnbuckle but Shida avoids the footstomp. Dropkick by Mei, both teams run in and trade strikes with each other, ending with a Lee high kick to Shida for a two count. Lee picks up Shida and knees her, but Shida blocks the chokebomb. KAORU tries to hit Shida with a board but hits Lee by accident, Michinoku Driver by Shida to Lee but Lee kicks out. Tamashii no Three Count by Shida, and she picks up the three count pinfall! Hikaru Shida, Hyan, and Mei Suruga win!

This was clipped up, and what they showed us was hit and miss. Lee and Hyan are probably the least familiar wrestlers with each other in the match and it showed during their segment, just really clunky. I would have liked to see more of KAORU, she never got tagged in at all during what was shown, and focusing on Lee and Katrina impacted some of the match quality. Mei just randomly running in to attack people was fun and Shida was great, it was just too inconsistent to recommend hunting it down.

Meiko Satomura and Mika Iwata vs. Aja Kong and Yuu

Iwata and Yuu kick things off, Iwata gets Yuu into the ropes and she gives a clean break. Headlock by Iwata but Yuu Irish whips out of it and hits a hard shoulderblock. Iwata kips up and kicks Yuu in the arm, snapmare by Iwata and she kicks Yuu in the back before hitting a PK. Iwata tags in Satomura, Satomura trips Yuu and applies an armbar into a headlock but Yuu struggles back to her feet. Snapmare by Satomura and she applies a stretch hold, Yuu inches to the ropes and she makes it to force the break. Satomura tags Iwata back in who arrives and with ax handle to Yuu’s arm, elbows by Iwata but Yuu catches her with a hard chop. More chops by Yuu, she scoops up Iwata and hits a powerslam for a two count. Yuu tags Kong, chops by Kong to Iwata’s chest and she chops Iwata to the mat. Elbow drop by Kong, and she covers Iwata for two. Armtrap crossface by Kong, she lets go after a moment and kicks Iwata in the back. Kong tags Yuu in, Yuu chops Iwata into the corner with Kong and they both knock Iwata to the mat. Cover by Yuu, but Satomura breaks it up. Kong returns as the legal wrestler, piledriver by Kong but Iwata gets a shoulder up on the pin attempt.

Iwata tries to fight back but Kong slaps her in the face, Kong picks up Iwata but Iwata delivers a strike combination. She rolls to her corner and tags Satomura, Satomura knocks Yuu off the apron but Kong slaps her in the face. Heel kick by Satomura and she goes for a cartwheel kneedrop, but Kong moves out of the way. Kong tags Yuu, sidewalk slam by Yuu and she hits a running senton on Satomura for two. Yuu goes off the ropes but Satomura delivers a high kick, another head kick by Satomura and she tags Iwata. Kicks to the chest by Iwata and she hits a Codebreaker, superkick by Iwata and she covers Yuu for two. Iwata goes for a jumping knee but Yuu catches her and tosses her to the mat, front dropkick by Yuu to the corner and she hits the cannonball. Yuu applies a choke but Iwata elbows out of it, high kick by Iwata but Yuu hits a judo toss. This gives her time to tag Kong while Satomura is tagged in as well, Satomura and Kong trade elbows until Kong sends Satomura to the mat.

Irish whip by Kong but Satomura blocks it and hits an uppercut, cartwheel kneedrop by Satomura, she goes for a kick but Kong catches it and slaps Satomura. Iwata runs in and kicks Kong in the chest, Satomura joins in but Kong lariats both of them. Kong gets her paint can and hits both Iwata and Satomura in the head with it, backdrop suplex by Kong to Satomura and she covers her for two. Kong picks up Satomura but Satomura ducks he Uraken, Pele Kick by Satomura and she tries to get Kong on her shoulders, but Kong blocks it. Yuu comes in to try to help but shoulderblocks Kong by accident, Satomura grabs Kong again and this time hits the Death Valley Bomb for two. Elbow drop by Satomura, she goes up top and goes for a diving body press, but Kong gets both feet up. Scoop slam by Kong, she goes to the top turnbuckle and hits the elbow drop, but Satomura gets a shoulder up. Kong picks up Satomura but Iwata comes in and kicks her, Death Valley Bomb by Satomura but Kong hulks up and returns to her feet. Pele Kick by Satomura, she waits for Kong to get to one knee and nails the Scorpion Rising for the three count! Meiko Satomura and Mika Iwata are the winners.

As expected, this was a really fun match. Even though it was a midcard match, Satomura and Kong have no chill regardless and were really laying it into each other. Not everything landed perfectly and the ending felt a bit sudden in that Yuu kinda disappeared for the final stretch, but I’m not complaining too much as I didn’t expect Kong to be the one to take the pin so it caught me off guard in a good way. Yuu fit right in here and I hope she becomes a semi-regular in Sendai Girls’, her and Iwata had good chemistry and the match never slowed down as all of them were going 100%. The ending could have been tighter but still an enjoyable match between four quality wrestlers.  Recommended

(c) Charli Evans and Millie McKenzie vs. DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto
Sendai Girls’ Tag Team Championship

McKenzie and Chisako start the match, Chisako gets McKenzie in the ropes and she gives a mostly clean break. They lock up again and Chisako gives another clean break which just seems to annoy McKenzie, they trade elbows and flash pins before reaching a stalemate. Matsumoto and Evans tag in, they immediately run into each other and take turns attempting to shoulderblock each other over until Evans pulls down Matsumoto by the hair and hits a low crossbody. Body Avalanche by Matsumoto in the corner and she hits a hard shoulderblock for a two count cover. Matsumoto picks up Evans but Evans rakes her eyes, Chisako runs in however and they double team Evans. Matsumoto tags Chisako, Chisako kicks down Evans in the corner and hits a front dropkick. Chisako drags up Evans, Chisako drops Evans on the apron and then dropkicks her off of it to the floor. Chisako gets on the apron but Evans catches her PK attempt and slams Chisako into the apron. McKenzie then gets in the ring and dives out with a tope suicida, they toss Chisako back in and Evans covers her for two. Evans tosses down Chisako by the hair and tags McKenzie, Chisako fights back but McKenzie hits a hard elbow and slaps her on the mat. McKenzie elbows Chisako into the corner and tags Evans, chops by Evans and she snapmares Chisako before kicking her in the back.

Evans applies a stretch hold, she lets go after a moment and elbows Matsumoto on the apron. Chisako elbows Evans and hits a dropkick, she goes to make a tag but McKenzie runs in and knocks Matsumoto off the apron. Evans stomps Chisako in the back and tags McKenzie, superkick by Evans and McKenzie covers Chisako for two. McKenzie picks up Chisako and applies a headlock, but Chisako gets a foot on the ropes to get a break. Chisako snaps off a cutter and finally tags in Matsumoto, Matsumoto shoulderblocks both her opponents but McKenzie blocks the backdrop suplex attempt. Matsumoto is whipped into the corner but stacks both Evans and McKenzie in the turnbuckles before hitting a Body Avalanche. Evans and McKenzie both roll out of the ring, Chisako gets in the ring so that Matsumoto can pick her up and toss her down onto both of them. Chisako rolls McKenzie back in, Matsumoto suplexes McKenzie and covers her for two. McKenzie fights back with elbows but Matsumoto blocks the spear attempt, McKenzie blocks Matsumoto’s vertical suplex and hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. She tags in Evans, kicks by Evans to Matsumoto but Matsumoto blocks the PK and elbows Evans in the face. Matsumoto knees Evans as they trade blows back and forth, superkicks by Evans but Matsumoto levels her with a lariat. Matsumoto crawls to her corner and tags Chisako while McKenzie is tagged as well, they trade elbows until Chisako delivers a dropkick. McKenzie throws Chisako in the corner but Chisako slides out to the apron and goes up top, hitting a missile dropkick. Sliding kick by Chisako and she covers McKenzie for two.

Chisako picks up McKenzie but McKenzie gets her back, they trade waistlocks until Matsumoto runs in and helps Chisako. Backdrop suplex/cutter combination to McKenzie, but she kicks out of the cover. Chisako goes up top but Evans grabs her from the apron, Matsumoto elbows Evans off the apron but McKenzie avoids Chisako’s diving footstomp. McKenzie dropkicks Chisako in the leg and hits a sliding uppercut, cover by McKenzie but it gets a two count. Chisako gets back up as they exchange strikes, hard elbows by Chisako but McKenzie superkicks her when she goes off the ropes. McKenzie picks up Chisako but Matsumoto runs in and elbows her, Evans goes up top and hits a diving crossbody onto Matsumoto. Spear by McKenzie to Matsumoto, she goes back to Chisako and drops her with a double underhook facebuster for a two count. McKenzie picks up Chisako but Chisako rolls her up for two, Matsumoto comes in and lariats McKenzie before she catapults Chisako at McKenzie for a dropkick. Northern Lights Suplex by Chisako followed by a Matsumoto reverse double kneedrop, Chisako goes up top but Evans joins her. Matsumoto powerbombs Evans onto McKenzie, diving footstomp by Chisako but McKenzie barely kicks out of the cover. Chisako goes up top and nails the Hormone Splash, but McKenzie reverses her cover into a cradle for the three count! Medusa Complex remain the champions.

It took a few minutes to get going, but once they did this was pretty fantastic. Chisako and Matsumoto are so so good, I can’t put enough emphasis on how they carried (I mean that in a good way) two less experienced wrestlers through a smooth and well-worked match. Chisako just is so vicious, often times for no reason, and I love her strikes. Evans was the least involved of the four but hit her spots well, and the end stretch was fire as it was just constant action. My only real critique is I didn’t love the ending – I never like it when a wrestler just blows off another wrestler doing their finisher to reverse it into a pin, even though McKenzie sold it after she did basically no-sell the Hormone Splash and all the other offense just done to her. I get they wanted a kinda fluky win since Chisako out-ranks McKenzie but I’d preferred just a traditional cradle if that was the direction they were going, or off some other type of sneaky deception. Still, a hard hitting and entertaining match, it makes me want to hunt down more of McKenzie as she really held her own against two of the best wrestlers in Joshi.  Recommended

(c) Chihiro Hashimoto vs. (c) Sareee
Diana World Championship and Sendai Girls’ World Championship

After sizing each other up they tie-up, Chihiro pushes Sareee into the ropes but she gives a clean break. Knuckle lock by Chihiro and they go into a Test of Strength, Chihiro pushes Sareee to the mat but Sareee gets out of it and hits an armdrag. Hard lariat by Chihiro but Sareee quickly kicks out of the cover and they are back on their feet. They struggle for position, Chihiro gets Sareee down and goes for an armbreaker, but Sareee quickly gets out of it. Rolling headlock by Sareee but they end up in the ropes, Chihiro lets up Sareee as the match resets. Chihiro applies a cross-arm submission before picking up Sareee and applying a guillotine. Delayed vertical suplex by Chihiro, and she covers Sareee for a two count. Sareee elbows Chihiro but Chihiro elbows her back as they trade blows, Sareee rebounds off the ropes with an armdrag before dropkicking Chihiro. Sareee goes off the ropes but Chihiro drives her into the corner, Irish whip by Chihiro but Sareee jumps on the second turnbuckle and hits a dropkick. Chihiro puts Sareee in a Cobra Twist before tossing her to the mat, deadlift by Chihiro and she hits a scoop slam followed by a somersault senton for two.

Chihiro slams Sareee in front of the corner, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Sareee avoids the senton and kicks her repeatedly in the back. She goes for a PK but Chihiro catches it, crab hold by Chihiro but she lets go as Sareee gets close to the ropes. Chihiro stretches Sareee before stomping her in the back, she goes off the ropes but Sareee rolls her to the mat before hitting a footstomp. Footstomp from the second turnbuckle by Sareee, she then goes all the way up and hits a second diving footstomp, picking up a two count cover. Elbows by Sareee, she goes off the ropes but Chihiro hits a lariat. Sareee charges Chihiro but Chihiro hits a spear, waterwheel drop by Chihiro but Sareee kicks out of the cover. Chihiro goes off the ropes but Sareee hits her with a dropkick, a second dropkick sends Chihiro out of the ring and Sareee goes up top to dive out onto Chihiro. She then gets on the apron and hits a diving footstomp to the floor, she goes to return to the ring but Chihiro grabs her and powerbombs her onto the floor. Chihiro returns to the ring while Sareee tries to recover, she eventually gets back in and Chihiro covers her for two. Chihiro picks up Sareee and hits a series of hard lariats, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a somersault senton for a two count. Chihiro goes up top but Sareee recovers and joins her, Chihiro knocks her back down but Sareee snaps back up and headbutts Chihiro.

Another headbutt by Sareee and she drops Chihiro with a release German, Chihiro gets back up but Sareee hits another German suplex for a two count. Chihiro gets Sareee’s back and hits a German suplex of her own, and both wrestlers are down on the mat. They both slowly get up and trade elbows, they then trade slaps until Chihiro floors Sareee with a lariat. Chihiro picks up Sareee but Sareee reverses the powerbomb attempt into a hurricanrana for two. Tilt-a-whirl schoolboy by Sareee, but that gets a two as well. She goes off the ropes but Chihiro catches her and hits a release German, lariat by Chihiro and she gets a two count cover. Chihiro picks up Sareee and hits a belly to belly suplex, she drags her back up and drops her with a powerbomb. Chihiro gets Sareee around the waist but Sareee elbows away, Chihiro goes off the ropes but Chihiro nails a uranage. Sareee picks up Chihiro and hits a second uranage, cover by Sareee but Chihiro barely gets a shoulder up. Sareee goes for a third but Chihiro grabs the ropes to block it, she rolls up Chihiro but it gets a two count. Chihiro rams Sareee down and hits a series of short-range lariats, but Sareee nails another uranage for two. Sareee picks up Chihiro and kicks her in the jaw, hammerlock uranage by Sareee and she picks up the three count! Sareee is now a double champion!

My gut reaction after watching this match was that this is my favorite match of 2019, period. To say I loved it would be an understatement, and it went beyond just Sareee being great as Chihiro Hashimoto matched her step for step. Chihiro isn’t flashy but she does so many little things right – just for two examples, I loved that she let go of a submission before Sareee could get a break to pull her out so she could apply another submission, and her cutting off the “trading running strikes” spot with a spear was a nice change of pace from the norm. She is an incredibly smart worker and her strength is impressive, she just isn’t like most other Joshi wrestlers. Sareee delivered too of course, her strikes are so on point and I love her uranages. It says a lot that this wasn’t a short match but it left me wanting more, they could have gone another ten minutes and I wouldn’t have complained, but sometimes less is more which is a lesson I think more wrestlers could learn. It felt like a real struggle with tangible urgency and it kept me captivated, they were just throwing bombs and I was loving every minute of it. I know “must see” is thrown around a lot but this is legitimately a must-see match, even for wrestling fans that aren’t normally into Joshi. Its that damn good. I’d give this ***** without blinking an eye, I don’t see how any match will top this in my end-of-year ranking, an instant classic.  Highly Recommended

The post Sendai Girls’ Big Show In Niigata on 6/8/19 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Event: Sendai Girls’
Date: April 16th, 2019
Location: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 998

I don’t normally review events the moment they become available, but I was a little excited for this show. Sendai Girls’ flies under the radar for the bulk of the year but a few times a year they pop in for a major show such as this one. For Korakuen Hall they give us a special treat as this event is a real banger, with the last four matches in particular all having a real chance of being memorable. Jordynne Grace is the special guest here as she challenges Chihiro Hashimoto, plus we get Sareee facing off against Meiko Satomura! Here is the full card:

• KAORU and Mikoto Shindo vs. Mei Suruga and Ryo Mizunami
• Aiger and Sakura Hirota vs. Alex Lee and Bolshoi Kid
• Sendai Girls Junior Championship: Millie McKenzie vs. Manami
• Mika Iwata vs. Yuu
• Meiko Satomura vs. Sareee
• DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Hikaru Shida and Killer Kelly
• Sendai Girls World Championship: Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Jordynne Grace

This show was broadcast on Samurai TV so some matches may be clipped to fit into the two hour block. All wrestlers above have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their names to go straight to it.

KAORU and Mikoto Shindo vs. Mei Suruga and Ryo Mizunami

We join this one in progress with Mei and Mikoto in the ring, they both attempt scoop slams until Mikoto hits one and covers Mei for two. Dropkick by Mikoto and she tags in KAORU, KAORU boots Mei in the face but Mei gets away from her and rams KAORU head-first into the turnbuckles. She tries to do it a second time but KAORU blocks it, dropkick by Mei and she twists on KAORU’s arm before springboarding around the ring into an armdrag. Ryo comes in, she picks up Mei and rams her into KAORU for another two count. Mei tags Ryo, spear by Ryo to KAORU and she chops her into the corner. Mikoto gets tired of watching Ryo and attacks her from behind, but Mei come in too to even the odds. Mei and Ryo both attack their opponents in opposite corners before posing in the middle of the ring, Ryo goes back to KAORU but KAORU elbows her off. Lariat by Ryo and she covers KAORU, but the pin is broken up. Double Irish whip to KAORU but KAORU cartwheels through it, she gets her board and hits Ryo in the head with it. Excalibur by KAORU, but Ryo gets a shoulder up on the cover.

KAORU goes up top but Mei hits her from the apron, Mikoto runs over to grab Mei and KAORU goes for the Valkyrie, but Ryo rolls out of the way. Lariat by Ryo,  but KAORU bridges out of the pin and cradles Ryo for two. KAORU goes off the ropes and hits a Frankensteiner, but Mei breaks up the cover. KAORU tags in Mikoto, dropkicks by Mikoto and she tries to slam Ryo, but Ryo blocks it. Scoop slam by Ryo and she hits a leg drop for a quick two. Crab hold by Ryo but KAORU comes in with her board and hits Ryo in the head with it. Big boot by KAORU, she grabs Mikoto and suplexes her onto Ryo. Mikoto picks up Ryo and stomps her foot before finally scoop slamming her, cover by Mikoto but Ryo kicks out. Mikoto goes off the ropes but Mei hits her from the apron, Ryo charges in but she hits Mei by accident. Mikoto locks in a few flash pins but Ryo kicks out each time, KAORU helps with a big boot but Mei breaks up the cover. Mikoto goes off the ropes but Ryo catches her with a powerslam, hard lariat by Ryo but Mikoto barely gets a shoulder up on the cover. Ryo locks in a deep crab hold and Ryo has no choice but to submit! Mei Suruga and Ryo Mizunami are the winners.

For a clipped opener, this was actually really good. As I suspected, KAORU and Ryo are two that don’t mind giving rookies some offense and this is the best I have seen from both Mikoto and Mei as they were able to do more than just intro-level offense. Even though the veterans maintained their dominance, the rookies both had segments where they got over on the veterans, making it feel like a more even exchange than it really was. KAORU played it straight, which was appreciated, and Mei is a treasure to watch. Really solid way to begin the show.  Mildly Recommended

Aiger and Sakura Hirota vs. Alex Lee and Bolshoi Kid

Needless to say, this won’t be your traditional match. Bolshoi Kid and Alex get the early advantage, Bolshoi Kid and Sakura both get an opponents wrist and walks the ropes, but while Bolshoi Kid successfully hits an armdrag per usual Sakura crotches herself on the top rope. Bolshoi Kid goes off the ropes to do a dive but poses in the ring instead, meanwhile Aiger chases Alex around the floor. Bolshoi Kid joins the fun too and drags Sakura around ringside, but eventually she gets back in the ring with Alex and Sakura. Sakura is double teamed in the corner, Alex stays in with Sakura and kicks her into the corner. Alex charges Sakura but Sakura gets her to stop, face crusher by Sakura and she rolls out of the ring as Aiger comes in as legal. Bolshoi Kid comes in too, Aiger uses her creepy zombie tactic and hits a DDT, but is too slow to capitalize so Bolshoi Kid knocks her to the mat. Bolshoi Kid snaps a rope into Aiger’s face chokes her with it, but Aiger gets a chair and hits everyone with it. Bolshoi Kid gets the chair from her and sits down on it, leading to all four wrestlers trying to sit in the chair.

They play Musical Chairs but they all sit in the chair together again, Bolshoi Kid tries to sit in the chair again but Sakura pulls it out from under her and covers Bolshoi Kid for two. Alex and Sakura remain in the ring, suplex by Alex and she kicks Sakura in the chest. Sakura drop toeholds Alex into the ropes and gives her the Oil Check, Sakura jumps over Alex repeatedly but Alex rolls out of the way when she tries to chop her. Or elbow her, not sure. Sakura convinces Alex to try to do the same and Alex complies but Sakura kicks her in the stomach before she can finish. Bolshoi Kid comes in and also tries to get over on Sakura, but Sakura schoolboys her. Aiger gets on the top turnbuckle and scares Bolshoi Kid before biting her hand, Sakura Oil Checks Bolshoi Kid but Aiger then spits dust into Sakura’s face. Sakura falls on top of Bolshoi Kid with the cover, but Bolshoi Kid kicks out. Aiger holds Alex for Sakura but Alex moves and Sakura kisses Aiger by mistake, high kick by Alex to Sakura and Bolshoi Kid hits Sakura with a Tiger Feint Kick. Oil Check by Bolshoi Kid to Sakura, she applies La Magistral and she picks up the three count! Bolshoi Kid and  Alex Lee win!

This isn’t my favorite type of match and honestly I wish it had been clipped (which it was not). Having Bolshoi Kid involved added something a bit different to it but otherwise it was just your standard Aiger and Sakura Hirota match we have all seen a hundred times. Skippable early-card fodder for me, but if you enjoy these matches then its probably worth the watch.

(c) Millie McKenzie vs. Manami
Sendai Girls’ Junior Championship

Manami dropkicks Millie in the back before the match starts, she knocks Millie into the corner and takes her to the mat, putting Millie in a headlock. Millie recovers and puts Manami in a headlock of her own, but Manami switches it into a headscissors. Millie stretches Manami’s legs before putting her in an ankle hold, Manami crawls to the ropes and she forces the break. Millie goes for a snapmare but Manami reverses it into one of her own, bodyscissors by Manami and she stretches Millie’s back. Manami picks up Millie but Millie hits a scoop slam, Manami fires back with elbows and she hits a dropkick. Millie kicks Manami in the midsection and drops her with a swinging neckbreaker, cover by Millie and she gets a two count. Millie picks up Manami but Manami dropkicks her, sunset flip by Manami but Millie kicks out. Manami tries a few more flash pins with no success, Manami gets Millie’s back and puts her in the Cattle Mutilation , she pulls Millie back up and cradles her but Millie kicks out. Manami goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick, another dropkick by Manami but Millie avoids the next one and gets Manami’s back. Manami elbows away and hits another dropkick, but Millie comes back with a spear and she picks up the three count! Millie McKenzie wins and retains the championship.

I was really enjoying this until it ended so suddenly. For wrestlers their age/lack of familiarity with each other, the mat wrestling was really smooth and even though it was a short match they both showed natural ability. The ending was out of left field, it felt like the match was still crescendoing when it was abruptly over. A lot of fun while it lasted, I haven’t seen much of Millie McKenzie previously but just from this five minutes she seems to show a lot of promise.  Mildly Recommended

Mika Iwata vs. Yuu

They tie-up to start, Yuu gets Mika to the mat but Mika returns to her feet only to eat a hard shoulderblock. Chops by Yuu and she puts Mika in the corner, Irish whip by Yuu but its reversed and Mika hits a jumping knee. Hard kick to the back by Mika and she hits a PK for a two count. Mika picks up Yuu but Yuu catches her with a swinging sidewalk slam followed by a running senton for two. Yuu deadlifts Mika up and hits a powerslam, Yuu goes to pick up Mika but Mika elbows her back and the two trade blows. Mika goes off the ropes but Yuu catches her with an elbow, Yuu charges Mika but Mika delivers a superkick. Back up they jockey for position, Mika rolls up Yuu but it gets two. Kicks to the chest by Mika but Yuu catches one and tosses Mika to the mat. Dropkick by Yuu in the corner, she rolls Mika to the middle for of the ring and covers her for two. Yuu picks up Mika and chops her but Mika kicks her back, Mika goes off the ropes but Yuu catches her with a judo toss. Yuu goes for a sleeper but Mika elbows out of it, she goes off the ropes but Yuu again catches her with a judo throw. Yuu goes for a powerbomb but Mika reverses it into a cross armbreaker, but Yuu lifts Mika up and powerbombs her way out of the hold. Yuu goes for a chop but Mika kicks her arm, Yuu comes back with a lariat and both wrestlers are down. Yuu tries to pick up Mika but her arm gives out on her, she ducks Mika’s high kick but Mika connects with her second attempt. Mika quickly jumps up to the top turnbuckle and delivers a high kick, cover by Mika and she picks up the three count! Mika Iwata is the winner!

Another good match, and one of the things I liked about it is that it told an old school story that you don’t see much these days. Limb work is common, limb work that actually prevents a wrestler from doing a big move and they lose because of it happens far less often and I appreciate that attention to detail. I wouldn’t say they had great chemistry, which isn’t too surprising, but they worked well enough together and clearly had a plan that they stuck to. Yuu is a beast but the story here was more Mika’s attempts to neutralize her, which she was able to do. Straight-forward but well done, and even though it was a bit short I thought they both did a great job with the time constraints. Not a MOTYC type match but a really solid midcard match.  Recommended

Meiko Satomura vs. Sareee

They begin with a tie-up, Satomura pushes Sareee into the ropes but she gives a clean break. They go into a Test of Strength, Satomura gets Sareee to the mat but Sareee applies a headscissors as they trade holds. Satomura gets the better of things on the mat and stops Sareee from reaching the ropes, she kicks Sareee in the chest repeatedly but Sareee hits a springboard armdrag followed by a dropkick. Sareee puts Satomura in her modified Muta Lock, she lets go after a moment and hits jumping footstomps. Sareee picks up Satomura but Satomura kicks her in the head with her heel, kicks to the leg by Satomura and she puts Sareee in a leg submission. Sareee gets into the ropes for the break, Satomura picks her up but Sareee delivers an elbow and the two trade shots. Satomura goes off the ropes but Sareee nails her with a dropkick, another dropkick by Sareee but Satomura drops her with a backdrop suplex. Satomura kicks Sareee into the corner, but Sareee ducks a kick and hits rapid fire elbows. Satomura knocks Sareee to the mat, Irish whip by Satomura and she nails a jumping heel kick. Kick to the head by Satomura and Sareee rolls out of the ring before collapsing on the floor. Satomura goes out after her and slides Sareee back into the ring, Sareee goes for a kick but Satomura catches it and hits a leg sweep. Seated armbar by Satomura but Sareee rolls to the ropes and gets the break.

Satomura picks up Sareee and she hits a vertical suplex, hard elbow by Satomura but Sareee jumps up on the second turnbuckle and hits a dropkick. Sareee goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, she goes to the top turnbuckle again but Satomura hits a Pele Kick on her before she can jump off. Backdrop suplex by Satomura, but Sareee kicks out of the cover. Satomura goes for a choke but Sareee slides away, Satomura kicks her in the chest but Sareee fires up and elbows her. She eats a hard elbow for her trouble, Satomura goes off the ropes but Sareee ducks her heel kick and delivers a thrust kick. She then goes off the ropes but Satomura kicks her in the head, cover by Satomura but Sareee bridges out of the pin. Satomura immediately drops her with a Death Valley Bomb, she picks up Sareee but Sareee slides away and hits a Uranage. Sareee picks up Satomura but Satomura snaps off a DDT, she goes off the ropes and hits the cartwheel kneedrop. Satomura positions Sareee and goes to the top turnbuckle, but Sareee recovers and tosses Satomura back to the mat. Kicks to the chest by Sareee but Satomura kicks her in the head, another high kick by Satomura and she nails a Death Valley Bomb, but Sareee barely kicks out of the cover. Satomura picks up Sareee but Sareee quickly hits a Uranage, one final Uranage by Sareee and she covers Satomura for the three count! Sareee is the winner!

This is a peak Meiko Satomura match. The style isn’t for everyone, but it should be as its a no-nonsense hard hitting style that barely gives you a chance to breath during the home stretch. I really hope this is built upon as its a big deal for Sareee to beat Meiko Satomura, who isn’t the unbeatable force she used to be but still is one of the top active Joshi wrestlers across the entire scene. Every time Satomura drilled Sareee, Sareee was right there to drill her back and everything she gave to Sareee, Sareee had an answer. The kicks were brutal and the suplexes were really snug, as neither was going to allow the other to be the tougher wrestler. Wrestling is cooperative of course but I do believe there are times wrestlers give their opponents a little extra and I think both were doing that here, the last five minutes were just bombs and big strikes until Sareee hit the right combination to hold down Satomura barely long enough for the three count. I wouldn’t go as far as say this was an official torch passing, its too early to know for sure, but its a big moment in Sareee’s career and she delivered. A must-see match from two of the most entertaining wrestlers in all of wrestling.  Highly Recommended

DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Hikaru Shida and Killer Kelly

Hiroyo and Hikaru start the match for their respective teams, hard shoulderblock by Hiroyo but Hikaru kips up and hits a hurricanrana. Hikaru goes for a jumping knee but Hiroyo catches her, she throws Hikaru into the corner but Hikaru avoids her charge and they reach a stalemate. Kelly and Chisako tag in, leg kicks by Kelly but Chisako trips her and goes for Kelly’s ankle. Kelly kicks Chisako away and hits an uppercut in the corner, knees by Kelly and she nails a pump kick for a two count. Irish whip by Kelly but Chisako boots her, Hiroyo comes in and she helps Chisako take out Kelly. Hikaru jumps in to help but gets a double dropkick for her trouble, Hiroyo throws Kelly into the corner and chops her in the chest. Hiroyo throws Kelly into the corner but Kelly avoids her charge, elbows by Hiroyo but Kelly catches one and headbutts her. Double underhook suplex by Kelly and she dropkicks Hiroyo in the corner, giving her time to tag in Hikaru. Hikaru knees Hiroyo in the corner, she puts her across the second rope and suplexes Chisako into Hiroyo. Vertical suplex by Hikaru, she goes off the ropes but Hiroyo blocks the knee to the head.

Enzuigiri by Hikaru, she goes off the ropes but Hiroyo catches her hurricanrana attempt and applies a crab hold. Hikaru gets to the ropes for the break, Hiroyo gets on the second turnbuckle and nails the reverse double kneedrop, but Hikaru kicks out of the cover. Chisako is tagged in and she hits a missile dropkick to Hikaru, another dropkick by Chisako and she covers Hikaru for two. Hard elbow by Chisako but Hikaru nails her with a jumping knee. Hikaru goes for another knee but Chisako moves, Hikaru gets Chisako’s back and knees her in the back of the head. Running knee by Hikaru, but it gets a two count cover. Hikaru tags in Kelly, kick to the gut by Kelly and she hits a gutwrench suplex. Kelly picks up Chisako and puts her on the top turnbuckle, Kelly joins her and applies a hanging guillotine. She legs go after a moment and gets back into the ring, she puts Chisako in the Tree of Woe before hitting a dropkick for two. Chisako falls out of the ring, Kelly gets on the apron but Chisako blocks the PK attempt. Hikaru gets on the apron too but Chisako avoids both of their strikes and Hiroyo knocks them both down to the floor. Hiroyo picks up Chisako and press slams her out of the ring down onto the floor, Hiroyo slides Chisako and Kelly back into the ring and Chisako hits a running elbow.

Dropkick by Chisako, and she covers Kelly for two. Chisako goes up top but Kelly recovers and joins her, Chisako headbutts Kelly but Hikaru runs in and superplexes Chisako to the mat. PK by Kelly to Chisako, cover by Kelly but it gets two. Kelly and Chisako trade elbows, Chisako goes off the ropes but Kelly nails a big boot. Kelly and Chisako slowly get up, head kick by Kelly and Hikaru runs in to knee Chisako in the face. Fisherman suplex hold by Kelly, but Hiroyo breaks it up. Hiroyo boots Kelly and hits a short range lariat, Hiroyo tosses Chisako at Kelly for a catapult dropkick and Chisako covers her for a two count. Chisako goes for a suplex but Kelly blocks it, Chisako slides away and Hiroyo drops Kelly with a backdrop suplex. Chisako goes up top but Hikaru runs in and joins her, Hiroyo grabs Hikaru from behind however and powerbombs her while Chisako hits Kelly with the diving footstomp. Cover by Chisako, but Kelly barely gets a shoulder up. Chisako quickly goes back up top again and this time she nails the Hormone Splash, picking up the three count! DASH Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto are the winners.

Even though this was the longest match on the card, the time just flew by as the action was non-stop. Hikaru Shida and Chisako don’t have any ‘slowdown’ in them so anything they were involved the pace was hectic, while Hiroyo and Kelly were able to keep up without any real issues. Kelly looked a bit awkward at times but generally didn’t look out of place, her moveset is unique so it helped the match feel fresh. While it wasn’t chock-full of ring psychology or a deeper meaning, sometimes four wrestlers going all-out to entertain is all you need. A simple story, but a very fun match to watch nonetheless.  Recommended

(c) Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Jordynne Grace
Sendai Girls’ World Championship

Jordynne and Chihiro jockey for position to start, they briefly take it to the mat but quickly return to their feet. Chihiro pushes Jordynne into the ropes but Jordynne switches positions with her before hitting a side headlock takedown. Chihiro gets out of it and they reach another stalemate, they go into a Test of Strength which Chihiro gets the better of at first. Jordynne bridges back up and they trade wristlocks, side headlock by Jordynne but Chihiro Irish whips out of it and they collide with neither wrestler going down. They both try to knock each other over until Jordynne finally succeeds, snapmare by Jordynne and she connects with a sliding lariat for two. Jordynne goes for a stretch hold but Chihiro reverses it, Chihiro gets Jordynne’s waist and takes her to the mat, putting her in a modified choke. Chihiro throws Jordynne into the corner but Jordynne elbows her as she charges in, Jordynne tosses Chihiro out to the apron and punches her through the ropes, but Chihiro blocks the suplex attempt. Jordynne slides out of the ring and slams Chihiro face-first into the apron, she puts Chihiro against the ring post and chops her. Jordynne slides Chihiro back in the ring, cover by Jordynne but it gets a two count.

Jordynne picks up Chihiro but Chihiro scoop slams her, rolling senton by Chihiro and she covers Jordynne for two. Both wrestlers slowly get up, Jordynne kicks Chihiro when she charges in and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Chihiro recovers and joins her. Jordynne flips over Chihiro’s back and nails a powerbomb, but Chihiro gets a shoulder up on the pin attempt. Jordynne grabs Chihiro but Chihiro elbows her off, alternative lariats by Jordynne and she covers Chihiro for two. Jordynne kicks Chihiro and lariats her in the chest, Irish whip by Jordynne and she delivers a spinebuster. Jordynne pulls Chihiro near the corner and gets on the second turnbuckle, but Chihiro grabs her from behind and drops her with a release German. Lariat by Chihiro but Jordynne isn’t phased and fires back with her own lariat, both wrestlers are very slow to return to their feet and they trade elbows once both manage to do so. Lariat by Chihiro but Jordynne slams Chihiro for a two count. Jordynne picks up Chihiro and throws her into the corner, she puts her on the top turnbuckle and goes for a Muscle Buster, but Chihiro slides away. Chihiro picks up Jordynne and nails a hard powerbomb, German suplex hold by Chihiro and she gets the three count! Chihiro Hashimoto wins and retains the championship.

A pretty good match and a fine conclusion for this event. It went about as you’d expect and how it should have gone, two strong wrestlers slamming into each other repeatedly until someone went down. Lots of power moves, hard lariats, and general toughness. Even though the match was on the short side for a main event title match it didn’t feel like it ended prematurely, they had the time to tell the story they were going to tell. Some of the drama was taken out simply because there wasn’t really any chance Chihiro was losing, but it was an even match with both getting their shots in. Overall entertaining, it didn’t reach the levels of Satomura/Sareee but still a match that fans of either won’t be disappointed in. Mildly Recommended

The post Sendai Girls’ on 4/16/19 Review appeared first on Joshi City.