Event: OZ Academy Sparkling New Year 2020
Date: January 5th, 2020
Location: Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan
Announced Attendance: 326

In an effort to have a more diverse selection of Joshi reviews on the website, next we will jump over to Oz Academy. I don’t watch OZ Academy too often as I am not a big fan of the Ozaki-gun antics, but on this event that should just be confined to the main event and the other matches will have room to breathe. There is a lot to look forward to here, with Tae Honma getting a big singles match and the start of a mini-tournament to find a new #1 Contender. Here is the full card:

• OZ Academy Openweight Championship #1 Contender Tournament: Kaho Kobayashi vs. Yuu
• OZ Academy Openweight Championship #1 Contender Tournament: Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto
• Aja Kong and Kaori Yoneyama vs. Kakeru Sekiguchi and Sonoko Kato
• AKINO vs. Tae Honma
• Ayame Sasamura, Rina Shingaki, and Syuri vs. Maya Yukihi, Mayumi Ozaki, and Yumi Ohka

All wrestlers on the card have profiles on Joshi City, you can click on their name above to go straight to it. As this event aired on NicoPro, it will be unclipped. It is just a one-camera setup, however there is no commentary box so that’s a plus. For information on how to sign up for NicoPro, please read my guide, only $5 a month for lots of great wrestling.

Kaho Kobayashi vs. Yuu

They start slow as they exchange holds but neither gets a clear advantage, takedown by Yuu but Kaho switches positions with her and rolls away. Another takedown by Yuu but Kaho gets her back, which Yuu quickly rolls out of. They end up back on their feet again, Kaho goes for an armdrag but she can’t get Yuu over. Hard chop by Yuu, she pushes Kaho into the ropes and chops her in the chest again. Irish whip by Yuu but Kaho hits a crossbody followed by a dropkick. Yuu falls out of the ring, Kaho gets a running start and dives out onto Yuu with a tope suicida. Kaho slides Yuu back into the ring, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving hurricanrana. Dropkick by Kaho in the corner, she tosses Yuu to the mat and dropkicks her again for a two count cover. Kaho applies a key lock with a headscissors but Yuu gets a foot on the ropes to force the break. Kaho twists Yuu’s arm in the ropes and knees her in the back of the head, she goes off the ropes and dropkicks Yuu in the back. Kaho goes back to the arm as she twists and dropkicks it again, cover by Kaho but it gets two.

Kicks to the arm by Kaho and she hits a knee onto Yuu’s arm as well, Octopus Hold by Kaho but Yuu muscles out of it. Running elbow by Yuu and she hits a senton, cover by Yuu but it gets two. Yuu picks up Kaho and chops her in the chest, even though it hurts her own arm as well. She elbows her with her injured arm as well, Kaho quickly gets back up however and knocks Yuu to the mat. Yuu chops Kaho against the ropes, Irish whip by Yuu but Kaho applies the iron octopus. Yuu gets into the ropes for the break, running boot by Kaho but Yuu fires back with an elbow and they trade shots. Hard elbow by Yuu but Kaho gets up and elbows her back, Yuu elbows Kaho in the corner and chops her in the chest. Running senton by Yuu, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Kaho recovers and joins her. Frankensteiner by Kaho, she gets on the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. She goes up top again and hits another missile dropkick, cover by Kaho but it gets two. Kaho quickly goes back to the arm submission but Yuu gets into the ropes for the break, they return to their feet and trade strikes until Kaho goes for a hanging submission.

Yuu gets out of it and clubs Kaho in the head, hard elbow by Yuu and she covers Kaho for two. Enzuigiri by Kaho, she gets on the top turnbuckle but Yuu avoids the Gideon Splash. Kaho is up first and elbows Yuu, she goes off the ropes but Yuu catches her with a hip toss and applies a sleeper. Kaho rolls out of it and applies a crucifix, but it gets two. Kaho goes off the ropes but Yuu hits another hip toss, Irish whip by Yuu but Kaho reverses it. Yuu catches Kaho and slams her to the mat, Yuu goes for a powerbomb but Kaho reverses it into a hurricanrana for two. Elbows by Kaho, she picks up Yuu and elbows her again before hitting a dropkick. Kaho picks up Yuu but Yuu hits a backdrop suplex, running kick by Yuu and she hits a cannonball in the corner. Last Ride Powerbomb by Yuu, and she covers Kaho for the three count! Yuu is the winner and advances in the tournament.

This match was structured very uniquely. Even though Yuu has the size advantage and wrestled this match with a “I could win at any moment with a big power move” vibe, Kaho was the veteran so she controlled the action and won a fair number of the strike exchanges. Kaho sticking to submissions and high flying moves was the way to go since she wasn’t going to out-power Yuu, it was the fact Kaho won so many strike battles that threw me off as Yuu should have been winning more of those if she was the “stronger wrestler” (even with the injured arm). It led to an interesting dynamic for sure. I did like Kaho’s arm work throughout the match and her game plan was sound, and since Yuu tends to win matches like this sometimes I have no issue with Kaho staying down for three after just a couple power moves in a row since that was the story they set up from the beginning. Overall I liked it, it may not have the pacing that some prefer but it was a hell of a way to begin a show, with a 20+ minute match with a slower build.  Recommended

Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto

They both immediately try to knock each other over with shoulderblocks and elbows, they then trade lariats but both wrestlers stay standing. Finally Kuragaki knocks over Matsumoto with a lariat, lariats by Kuragaki in the corner and she stretches Matsumoto on the mat. Kuragaki picks up Matsumoto and delivers a delayed vertical suplex, cover by Kuragaki but it gets a two count. Kuragaki picks up Matsumoto but Matsumoto blocks her attack and hits a back bodydrop, Matsumoto goes off the ropes but Kuragaki kicks her in the stomach. Matsumoto knocks Kuragaki back and goes for a lariat, Kuragaki stays up but Matsumoto suplexes her to the mat. Body Avalanche by Matsumoto in the corner, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits the reverse double kneedrop for a two count. Matsumoto picks up Kuragaki but Kuragaki blocks the powerbomb attempt, lariat by Kuragaki while Matsumoto is against the ropes and she hits a body press off the second turnbuckle for two.

Kuragaki goes all the way up top but Matsumoto recovers and joins her, she goes for a superplex but Kuragaki tosses her back down to the mat. Diving body press by Kuragaki, but Matsumoto kicks out at two. Kuragaki clubs on Matsumoto and gets her up over her shoulders, but Matsumoto slides away and finally lariats Kuragaki off her feet. Kuragaki and Matsumoto trade elbows while on their knees, they keep elbowing each other on their feet until Matsumoto knocks down Kuragaki with a spinning back elbow for two. Backdrop suplex by Kuragaki and she hits a lariat for a two count. Another lariat by Kuragaki, but that gets two as well. Falcon Arrow by Kuragaki, but once again Matsumoto gets a shoulder up on the cover. Kuragaki goes up for the moonsault but Matsumoto rolls out of the way and delivers a sliding lariat, but Kuragaki reverses her cover attempt into one of her own. Matsumoto quickly returns the favor as she reverses Kuragaki’s next cradle attempt and holds down Kuragaki for the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto wins and advances in the tournament.

It shows the level of respect that Matsumoto has for Kuragaki that Kuragaki was the one that controlled this match. Matsumoto is still one of the top Joshi wrestlers on the scene and is very accomplished, but Kuragaki stayed in the dominant position for the bulk of this match. It really felt like Kuragaki’s match to lose the entire time as Matsumoto only had some hope spots, even having issues just knocking Kuragaki off her feet. It was a way to protect the veteran I guess, but I am not sure if Kuragaki really needs protecting, her place in wrestling is cemented regardless of her match against Matsumoto. A pretty good power-style match even if the structure threw me off a bit, a straight-forward story but one easily understood anyway. A perfectly fine ‘power’ encounter, even if it feels off to see Matsumoto wrestling from underneath and needing a flash pin to win.  Mildly Recommended

Aja Kong and Kaori Yoneyama vs. Sekiguchi and Sonoko Kato

Yoneyama and Kakeru start the match, drop down by Kakeru but Kato stomps on her back. Dropkick by Kakeru but Kong kicks her from the apron, she comes in the ring and Kong helps Yoneyama kick Kakeru to the mat. Kong and Yoneyama have a chat before Kong tries to slam Yoneyama onto Kakeru, but Kakeru moves out of the way. The action spills out of the ring as Kakeru dives off the apron with a crossbody onto Kong, she gets back in the ring with Kato and Yoneyama as Yoneyama is double teamed. Snapmare by Kakeru to Yoneyama and she applies a body scissors, she lets go after a moment and hits a scoop slam for two. Kakeru tags Kato, snapmare by Kato and she kicks Yoneyama in the back, but Yoneyama bridges out of the pin. Kato stops Yoneyama from tagging out and applies a camel clutch, but Kong comes in and breaks it up. Scoop slam by Kato and she hits a leg drop, Kakeru comes in and she scoop slams Yoneyama as well. Leg drop by Kato and Kakeru slams Yoneyama again before Kato hits another leg drop.

Kato gets Yoneyama on her shoulders and puts her in the corner, kicks to the chest by Kato and she hits a cannonball. Kato gets Yoneyama on her shoulders and hits a rolling fireman’s carry slam before tagging in Kakeru. Dropkick by Kakeru and she applies a short armbar, but Yoneyama gets to the ropes. Yoneyama finally rolls to her corner and tags in Kong, Kakeru elbows Kong but Kong absorbs the blows and clubs Kakeru. Kong picks up Kakeru and clubs her again, kicks by Kong but Kakeru returns to her feet and tries to fight back. It doesn’t work, Kong puts Kakeru on the top turnbuckle but Kato grabs her from behind and pulls Kong back to the mat. Missile dropkick by Kakeru and she tags Kato, Kato kicks Kong repeatedly and applies a full nelson, but Kong quickly gets out of it. Yoneyama runs in but Kato drops her with a German suplex, she then German suplexes Kong as well before covering her for two. Kato goes up top but Kong avoids her dive, strikes by Kato and she goes for a suplex, but Kong blocks it.

Kakeru runs in to help but Kong suplexes both of them, Kong picks up Kato and hits a backdrop suplex for two. Kong tags Yoneyama, Yoneyama knees Kato in the back of the head and hits a series of Mongolian Chops. Northern Lights Suplex by Yoneyama, but Kato kicks out. Yoneyama gets on the second turnbuckle but Kato avoids her dive, Kakeru runs in and she dropkicks Yoneyama. Kick by Kato and Kakeru dropkicks Yoneyama again, dragon suplex hold by Kato but Kong breaks it up. Kato gets Yoneyama up but Yoneyama wiggles away, Kong comes in with her paint can and hits Kato and Kakeru with it. Yoneyama goes up top while Kong gets on the second turnbuckle, Kong tries to superplex Yoneyama onto both their opponents but they move. Running STO by Kakeru to Yoneyama, Kato goes up top and hits the Guillotine Leg Drop. Cover by Kato, but Kong breaks it up. Kato charges Yoneyama but Yoneyama avoids her kick and cradles Kato for two. Yoneyama goes off the ropes but Kato catches her with a heel kick, she picks up Yoneyama but Yoneyama hits a DDT. Kong drops Kakeru on top of Kato, jackknife hold by Yoneyama to Kato and she gets the three count! Beast Friend wins!

A good enough midcard match but nothing more. Beast Friend are an odd team as they try to be too cute, which you’d think two long time veterans would be better than doing. The spots like a wrestler trying to superplex her own partner onto their opponents is something I’d expect to see in a ROH dark match, not more established wrestlers as it breaks logic and reasoning that they would find that to be a good idea. I’d much prefer they just wrestle it straight, but I guess that is hard with Yoneyama around, as she is semi-comedy and has been for years. On the plus side, Kakeru looked good when they let her do anything and Kato was her usual solid self. Some individual parts were fun, like Kato getting Kong over for the suplex, but as a whole there just wasn’t enough to it to recommend with more annoying sections than I’d prefer.

AKINO vs. Tae Honma

Tae really wants a handshake to start the match, AKINO is hesitant but finally does so after much prompting, only to be cradled by Tae for her trouble. She kicks out but Tae gets in a few more flash pins without any luck scoring the quick victory. Tae throws AKINO into the corner and hits a running elbow, dropkick by Tae and she covers AKINO again for two. Tae goes for a short armbar but AKINO rolls through it, knee to the back by AKINO and she kicks Tae. Camel Clutch by AKINO as she pulls her on nose, showing each side of the ring before letting go and kneeing Tae in the back again. Scoop slam by AKINO and she facewashes Tae in the corner, spinebuster by AKINO and she hits a leg drop for two. AKINO quickly applies an armtrap crossface, but Tae gets a foot on the ropes for the break. Irish whip by AKINO but Tae reverses it and elbows AKINO, AKINO elbows her back and they trade blows. Waistlock by Tae but AKINO elbows out of it, Tae rolls AKINO to the mat and puts her in an ankle hold. AKINO gets out of it and applies a headscissors, but Tae reverses it into a cross armbreaker attempt.

AKINO blocks it and applies a cross kneelock, but Tae reverses it into a kneelock of her own. AKINO gets out of it and goes back to Tae’s leg, but Tae gets into the ropes for a break. Snapmare by AKINO and she kicks Tae in the back a few times but Tae catches a kick and slaps AKINO in the face. Tae goes off the ropes and hits a tilt-a-whirl headscissors, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Tae quickly applies a Fujiwara Armbar, AKINO tries to rolls through it but Tae keeps it applied. AKINO eventually makes it into the ropes for the break, Tae goes off the ropes and hits a dropkick. Tae goes off the ropes again but AKINO kicks her in the head, kick combination by AKINO and she covers Tae for two. More kicks by AKINO, she picks up Tae and hits a backdrop suplex, but Tae barely gets a shoulder up. AKINO picks up Tae again but Tae gets away from her and sneaks in a quick flash pin. Tae goes for a few more but AKINO quickly reverses it, and she eventually holds down Tae for the three count! AKINO wins!

That is two matches on the card that ended with a cradle cutback of some sort, not overly creative here. I’m not completely sure what this match was going for, as AKINO didn’t really give enough to Tae to give her any type of rub. Sure, she had a few close submissions and close flash pins, but to be the semi-main you’d think it would have been more of an even affair. Tae was clearly over-matched here and they didn’t do anything to really convince me she could overcome the odds. This really should have been the opener and the Kaho/Yuu match in this spot, OZ Academy has weird match ordering sometimes. Not a whole lot to it and disappointing overall.

Ayame Sasamura, Shingaki, and Syuri vs. Maya Yukihi, Ozaki, and Yumi Ohka

To the surprise of no one, Ozaki-gun attacks before the match starts and they immediately take it outside the ring. Police (the guy, not the music group or law enforcement) is there to help make the odds uneven of course, as they stay in control around the ring. All four eventually get in the ring with Rina, Ozaki slams her on the mat and they stack chairs on her before tossing more at her. They focus the chair attacks on her leg before putting Rina in the ropes and taunting her. Ozaki gets her chain and chokes Rina with it, Syuri finally has seen enough and comes in to break everything up, but Maya knocks her out of the ring. Ohka comes in and hits Rina with a cat o’ nine tails a few times, she gets on the second turnbuckle and hits Rina with it again before choking her. She tags in Maya who has her own more standard whip, and she chokes Rina with it while tossing her around the ring. Syuri breaks it up again, Maya whips Rina as the rookie beatdown continues for several more minutes, with Ohka eventually being tagged in so she didn’t feel left out. Rina finally dropkicks Maya and Ozaki to hit her first move of the match and smartly she tags in Syuri, Syuri kicks everyone (including Police but not including MIO), Irish whip by Syuri to the corner and she hits a jumping knee on Ohka. Another knee by Syuri, she covers Ohka but it gets two.

Syuri applies a kneelock but MIO helps Ohka get to the ropes for the break. Ohka knees Syuri and hits a quick DDT before delivering a heel drop for two. Ohka tags in Ozaki, she hits Syuri with the chain a couple times, Syuri tries to get the chain from her and they play tug of war. All six wrestlers eventually join in the tug of war, with Ozaki-gun winning once Police comes in to help. Ozaki throws Syuri into the corner and hits her with the chain, lariat by Police and Ohka hits a big boot. Jumping knee by Maya, Rina tries to help but Syuri elbows her by accident. Snapmare by Syuri to Ozaki and she kicks her, cover by Syuri but it gets a two count. Syuri tags in Ayame, hard shoulderblock by Ayame to Ozaki but Ozaki elbows her and they trade blows. Ayame gets Ozaki against the ropes and jumps down on her back, cover by Ayame but it gets two. Backfist by Ozaki to Ayame and she tags in Maya, Maya elbows Ayame and Ohka boots her in the head. Running kick to the chest by Maya, she throws Ayame but Ayame reverses it. Maya boots Ayame in the face but Ayame hits a dropkick off the second rope before tagging in Rina. Rina dropkicks Maya into the corner, another dropkick by Rina and she covers Maya for two. Armbar by Rina to Maya but Maya gets to the ropes for the break.

Rina goes off the ropes but Police pulls her out of the ring, he takes Rina up into the crowd and throws her into a row of chairs. Rina is eventually brought back into the ring, where Ozaki-gun is waiting as they take turns hitting her with weapons. Scoop slam by Maya in front of the corner, she goes up top but Syuri runs in and hits her before she can jump off and pulls her back into the ring. Rina goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but Ohka breaks up the pin. Ohka eventually whips Maya by accident as things break down further, STO by Ayame to Maya and Syuri hits a running knee. Jackknife hold by Rina, but Police breaks it up. Rina slaps Police and with Ayame they both slap her again before Syuri kicks him. They set up Police so that Ayame can dropkick him in the uh lower groin area, Rina goes back to Maya and she puts Maya in a short armbar. Maya gets out of it, they trade flash pins with MIO counting much faster one way than the other way, but neither gets the three count. MIO trips Rina when she goes to go off the ropes and Maya hits a running knee, cover my Maya but it gets two. Buzzsaw Kick by Maya, but Syuri breaks up the pin. Rina quickly rolls up Maya, but MIO never starts the count. High Kick by Maya and she delivers the Omiwatari (Pendulum Knee Strike) for the three count! Ozaki-gun win the match.

My issue (well main issue) here is I don’t even understand what the point was. Ozaki-gun beats up rookies for 20 minutes, they get a few hope spots, then Ozaki-gun wins and celebrates with the biased referee that got them the win. How exciting. I don’t love these matches in just about any situation, but at least sometimes the good guys overcome the odds so you can understand the story. Watching Rina get slowly beaten up for ten minutes via nefarious means isn’t particularly exciting to watch, and the end stretch wasn’t nearly good enough to make up for it. So if you enjoy large heel groups dominating inexperienced wrestlers for 20 minutes, this is your match, otherwise it didn’t really accomplish anything and was a flat way to end the show.

The post OZ Academy Sparkling New Year 2020 on 1/5/20 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

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

Finally an Oz Academy event popped up on the Internet, so in order to have as many promotions represented as possible I had to review it as soon as possible. This event is a pretty big one for Oz Academy, as it has the return of Sonoko Kato as well as an Oz Academy Openweight Championship match. Here is the full card:

• AKINO vs. Sonoko Kato
• Kaori Yoneyama vs. Miyako Matsumoto
• Kyusei Sakura Hirota and Hamuko Hoshi vs. Mayumi Ozaki and Mio Shirai
• Dynamite Kansai, Aja Kong, and Manami Toyota vs. Hikaru Shida, Syuri, and Kaho Kobayashi
• OZ Academy Openweight Championship: Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Kagetsu

All of the Joshi wrestlers above profiles on the website, you can click on their names to go straight to it. This event aired on GAORA TV in a two hour block, so some matches will be clipped. 

AKINO vs. Sonoko Kato

AKINO starts off the match with a hurricanrana but it gets a two count. They trade elbows and then high kicks. Dragon screw by Kato and she kicks AKINO into the corner. Cannonball by Kato and she hits an avalanche cannonball for two. AKINO slaps on an armbar but Kato hits a neckbreaker and applies a Dragon Sleeper. Kato goes up top but AKINO hits a superplex. High kick by AKINO and she hits a backdrop suplex. Kato hits a dragon suplex hold, but it gets a two count. High kick by Kato and she boots AKINO in the head. Kicks by AKINO and they trade elbows as they slowly return to their feet. Kato picks up AKINO and hits the Kowloon’s Gate, but it only gets a two count. Kato goes for a kick but AKINO catches her with a powerbomb. They trade elbows, AKINO catches Kato with a running elbow smash and quickly covers her for the three count. AKINO is the winner!

The ending was a bit sudden as it felt like they still had a few more minutes in them, but it wasn’t a bad match. I guess since it was Kato’s return match from injury they wanted to just keep it simple. Not a bad way to open the show, it had some hard hitting action and no overkill.

Kaori Yoneyama vs. Miyako Matsumoto

This match is Joined in Progress, proving that there is a God. We pick up as Matsumoto falls on top of Yoneyama and dances around the ring. Yoneyama then dances around and hits a back splash. Yoneyama goes to the second turnbuckle but Matsumoto moves and hits a Shining Wizard. Scoop slam by Matsumoto, she goes up top but Yoneyama gets her feet up when she jumps off. Northern Light Suplex by Yoneyama but it gets a two count. Yoneyama goes up top and hits a senton for another two. Yoneyama cradles Matsumoto from behind and she picks up the three count. Kaori Yoneyama wins.

This was painful but luckily it was really clipped.

Kyusei Sakura Hirota and Hamuko Hoshi vs. Mayumi Ozaki and Mio Shirai

This one is also Joined in Progress, with Shirai and Hirota in the ring. Ozaki is tagged in and she hits a senton onto Hirota for a two count. Hirota is whipped in the face and is literally attacked by everyone. Triple powerbomb to Hirota but Hirota slips away from Ozaki. DDT by Ozaki and she hits a sit-down powerbomb for a two. Chops by Hirota and she hits the Oil Check. Hirota kisses Ozaki and hits a suplex for a two count. Shirai accidentally hits her friends with her pole and Hirota hits a schoolboy on Ozaki for the three count. Hirota and Hoshi are the winners.

This match was equally not good, mid-card Oz can be brutal. I can’t believe this match was 18 minutes, that would have been the worst 18 minutes of my life if it had not been so heavily clipped.

Dynamite Kansai, Aja Kong, and Manami Toyota vs. Hikaru Shida, Syuri, and Kaho Kobayashi

We start the match with Kansai and Kobayashi in the ring, Kong is in the ring too and they take turns slamming Kobayashi. Scoop slam by Toyota as well and everyone slams Kobayashi over and over. Toyota hits a double underhook slam and applies a cross arm submission. Toyota tags in Kong and everyone attacks Kobayashi in the corner. Piledriver by Kong but the cover is broken up. Kobayashi dropkicks Toyota but Toyota boots her and hits a dropkick. Toyota goes up top and hits a missile dropkick. Toyota goes for a slam but Kobayashi rolls her up. Oklahoma Roll by Toyota but Kobayashi hits a dropkick and tags in Syuri. Kicks by Syuri to Toyota, Kong comes in but both Syuri and Shida dropkick them. Toyota is thrown in the corner, knee by Shida and Syuri hits one as well. PK by Syuri, cover, but Toyota kicks out. Syuri and Toyota trade elbows, an Toyota hits a German suplex. Heel drop by Toyota but it gets two. Kansai is tagged in and she lariats Syuri in the corner. Syuri gets away from Kansai and hits a backstabber following by a running knee. Shida comes in to help but Kansai hits a double lariat. Syuri knees Kansai and slaps on a cross armbreaker, but Kansai gets to the ropes. Syuri tags in Shida and Shida hits a missile dropkick. Jumping knee by Shida in the corner but Kansai catches the second one and flings Shida to the mat. Shida applies a Fujiwara Armbar but Kong breaks it up. Armbreaker by Shida but Kansai catches her with a backdrop suplex.

Kansai tags in Kong and she trades elbows with Shida. German suplex by Kong and she kicks Shida in the head. Hurricanrana by Shida and she hits Kong with a kendo stick repeatedly. Enzuigiri by Shida but Kansai runs in and lariats her. Vertical suplex by Shida and she hits a running leg kick for two. Shida hits Toyota and Kansai with her kendo stick but Kong hits her with a metal box. Shida tags in Kobayashi, and Kobayashi dropkicks Kong. More dropkicks by Kobayashi, she goes up top and hits a missile dropkick. Syuri comes in and kicks Kong but Toyota comes in and kicks Kobayashi. Kansai lariats Syuri and scoop slams Kobayashi. Kong and Kansai run into each other and Shida hits them both with kendo sticks. Kobayashi goes up top but Kong kicks her in the stomach. Lariat by Kong but the pin is broken up. Kong drops Kobayashi on her head with a backdrop suplex, she then hits a Brainbuster on Kobayashi for the three count. Kansai, Kong, and Toyota are the winners.

I am not going to lie, I really loved this match. Kobayashi is so feisty and easy to root for, and both teams made the match seem really important by constantly inferring, breaking up pins, etc. Really it was Kobayashi that made the match as she takes monster offense so well, but the whole match just clicked for me. The time flew by and unlike what the last match would have been it was a great way to spend 15+ minutes. Only knock was the first few minutes were cut out, wish I could have seen the whole thing.  Highly Recommended

(c) Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Kagetsu
Oz Academy Openweight Championship

Kuragaki pushes Kagetsu into the ropes and she hits a shoulderblock. Dropkick by Kagetsu but Kuragaki hits a lariat. Body press by Kuragaki and she hits a pair of lariats in the corner. Kuragaki gets Kagetsu on the mat but Kagetsu gets to the ropes. Dropkick by Kagetsu and she hits a vertical suplex. Lariat by Kuragaki and she hits an exploder. Kuragaki goes up top, Kagetsu joins her but Kagetsu slides out to the apron and kicks Kuragaki back to the mat. Kagetsu goes for a swandive move but Kuragaki hits her back out to the floor. They battle outside the ring and Kuragaki applies an Argentine Backbreaker. Kagetsu kicks Kuragaki and she grabs Kuragaki’s arm as she jumps off the second deck, snapping her arm over the railing. She then pulls Kuragaki back to the floor and slams her into the apron. Kagetsu kicks Kuragaki from the apron and Kagetsu hits a swandive plancha to the floor. Swandive dropkick back in the ring by Kagetsu but Kuragaki knocks Kagetsu to the mat. Kuragaki goes for a suplex but Kagetsu reverses it into a bulldog. Kicks by Kagetsu but Kuragaki slams Kagetsu to the mat.

Kuragaki goes up top but Kagetsu elbows her. Kuragaki throws Kagetsu to the floor and hits a missile dropkick. Scorpion Deathlock by Kuragaki but Kagetsu gets to the ropes. Kuragaki goes up top but Kagetsu rolls out of the way of the moonsault and kicks Kuragaki in the chest. Kagetsu goes up top and hits a diving double knee to Kuragaki’s arm. Armbar by Kagetsu but Kuragaki gets to the ropes. Kuragaki and Kagetsu trade elbows but Kagetsu hits a judo throw before applying the cross armbreaker. Kuragaki powerbombs out of it, she picks up Kagetsu but Kagetsu rolls up Kuragaki for a two. Death valley bomb by Kagetsu and she hits a cross armbreaker takedown. La Magistral by Kagetsu but it gets a two count. High kick by Kagetsu but Kuragaki catches her with a backdrop suplex. Another backdrop suplex by Kuragaki and she hits a lariat. Kuragaki picks up Kagetsu and hits the Metal Wing. Kuragaki picks up Kagetsu and goes for it again but Kagetsu lands on her feet and kicked Kuragaki in the head. Lariat by Kuragaki, she picks up Kagetsu but Kagetsu gets away. Kuragaki levels her with another lariat and she hits a Falcon Arrow for the three count! Tsubasa Kuragaki wins and retains the championship.

A really solid match and a fun back and forth. I wish Kuragaki had sold the arm a bit at some point but Kagetsu stayed on it at least, and it was a good ‘power offensive vs. submission holds’ match dynamic. The time of the match felt just right and it wasn’t clipped. The show started really slow but ended with two entertaining matches. Recommended

event reviewed on 2/9/15

The post Oz Academy “The Wizard of OZ” on 1/11/15 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alex Lee vs. Saori Anou

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Yumiko Hotta

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post OZ Academy “Rude In June” on 6/3/18 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

It is hard to summarize how important Manami Toyota was and always will be to Joshi Wrestling. That’s another column for another day, but from her career in AJW to her continued role in wrestling she has left a mark that will never be forgotten. This retirement show does a match style that isn’t uncommon at anniversaries or retirements, nor is it the first gauntlet match of Manami Toyota’s career. The idea behind the match is Manami Toyota will have a long series of singles matches, the vast majority of which have a one minute time limit (except the first and last few matches). The list of wrestlers she will be against includes old friends, current enemies, and everyone between. Some pairings will be serious, some will be playful, but its really about giving the wrestlers a chance to say goodbye in their own way. Of course, it is filmed for our enjoyment as well. This will be the longest match list of any show I will ever review, here is what we have in store for us:

• Manami Toyota vs. Mayumi Ozaki, Yumi Ohka, Maya Yukihi, and Alex Lee
• Manami Toyota vs. Tequila Saya
• Manami Toyota vs. Mochi Miyagi and Hamuko Hoshi
• Manami Toyota vs. Meiko Satomura
• Manami Toyota vs. Emi Sakura
• Manami Toyota vs. Rina Yamashita
• Manami Toyota vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki
• Manami Toyota vs. AKINO
• Manami Toyota vs. Risa Sera
• Manami Toyota vs. Drake Morimatsu
• Manami Toyota vs. Cherry
• Manami Toyota vs. Aoi Kizuki
• Manami Toyota vs. Yuki Miyazaki
• Manami Toyota vs. Bolshoi Kid
• Manami Toyota vs. Sakura Hirota and GAMI
• Manami Toyota vs. Kaori Yoneyama
• Manami Toyota vs. Sonoko Kato
• Manami Toyota vs. Leon
• Manami Toyota vs. Yuu Yamagata
• Manami Toyota vs. ASUKA
• Manami Toyota vs. Kaho Kobayashi
• Manami Toyota vs. Hikaru Shida
• Manami Toyota vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto
• Manami Toyota vs. Ayako Hamada
• Manami Toyota vs. Chikayo Nagashima
• Manami Toyota vs. Ikuto Hidaka
• Manami Toyota vs.  Papillon Akemi
• Manami Toyota vs. Gabai-jichan
• Manami Toyota vs. Kanjyouro Matsuyama
• Manami Toyota vs. KID
• Manami Toyota vs. Small Antonio Inoki
• Manami Toyota vs. Otoko Sakari
• Manami Toyota vs. Isami Kodaka
• Manami Toyota vs. Ryuji Ito
• Manami Toyota vs. Carlos Amano
• Manami Toyota vs. Mima Shimoda
• Manami Toyota vs. Itsuki Yamazaki
• Manami Toyota vs. Bull Nakano
• Manami Toyota vs. Chigusa Nagayo
• Manami Toyota vs. Jaguar Yokota
• Manami Toyota vs. Mariko Yoshida
• Manami Toyota vs. Nanae Takahashi
• Manami Toyota vs. KAORU
• Manami Toyota vs. Kaoru Ito
• Manami Toyota vs. Tomoko Watanabe
• Manami Toyota vs. Takako Inoue
• Manami Toyota vs. Yumiko Hotta
• Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue
• Manami Toyota vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto
• Manami Toyota vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto
• Manami Toyota Retirement Match: Manami Toyota vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

There also will be a retirement ceremony, which I won’t “review” but I will still discuss at the end of the article. As I mentioned, the vast majority of these matches have a one minute time limit, except for the opener and the final series of matches against Tsukasa Fujimoto. There is a method to the madness, as for some sections the string of wrestlers in a row is promotion-based, then with the older veterans from Toyota’s heyday going last.

The event starts with by far the least fair match of the night, as Manami Toyota faces off against all four members of Ozaki Army. Mayumi Ozaki and Manami Toyota have been battling since the early 90s in AJW and never stopped, as they had matches in GAEA Japan and of course OZ Academy as well. The other members have less of a connection, but they still happily join in as Toyota is beaten by all four of them (plus of course Police). The match goes better once Toyota isolates Ozaki, but it doesn’t last long as Toyota is quadruple teamed and tosses out of the ring. Ozaki Army takes the fight into the crowd and pummel Toyota, Ozaki returns to the ring as the referee counts and Toyota is counted out! Ozaki Army win the match.

So on a night that Manami Toyota has over 50 matches, she starts out getting beaten with chairs and whatever other weapons they can find. Toyota eventually does make it back into the ring, at first Ozaki throws the flowers at her but eventually does pick them up and nicely hands them to her. The other members of Ozaki Army follow suit, except for Police, who throws a chair at her instead. Police was always an asshole.

Tequila Saya is next. Saya is an Ice Ribbon wrestler with limited interactions with Toyota over the years, with only a few tag matches between them. Toyota doesn’t seem to take Saya too seriously  as she sends her flying with a missile dropkick, moonsault by Toyota and she gets the three count! Manami Toyota defeats Tequila Saya. Toyota doesn’t get much of a chance to relax as its back to a handicap match, with Toyota facing off against the Lovely Butchers. They bring Manami a hat and instead of fighting, they all dance together. They even get Toyota do do their signature pose but they jump her while she is doing it and give her the double body block for the double pin three count! Manami Toyota falls for the second time tonight, but they still all pose together and no hard feelings are had.

Next down the ramp is the woman that has no chill – Meiko Satomura. Satomura and Toyota first wrestled in GAEA in the late 90s and had many encounters in the promotion of the years. Since GAEA Japan closed their paths have crossed a few times in Satomura’s Sendai Girls’ promotion. Satomura and Toyota have such a high level of respect for each other that it took time for them to lock up, Satomura eventually hits a DDT and cartwheel kneedrop but the minute has already expired and the match is a Draw. Gatoh Move wrestler and owner Emi Sakura enters the ring, Sakura immediately goes in with chops and delivers the low crossbody in the corner. Toyota slaps Emi Sakura, Riho runs in and with Toyota they pose over Sakura. Toyota puts Sakura in a camel clutch, and she submits! Manami Toyota gets her second win of the night.

Young WAVE wrestler Rina Yamashita is Toyota’s next challenger, Toyota boots her but Rina kicks out of her continuous covers. Rina connects with a hard shoulderblock but she is so excited she never covers Toyota and the time expires. They hug before Rina exits the ring and Tsubasa Kuragaki takes her turn. Kuragaki and Toyota began their battles in JWP back in 2006 and haven’t stopped, as they frequently were paired up in OZ Academy. Kuragaki gets Toyota in the corner and lariats her, she gets Toyota on her back in a backbreaker before she drops her to the mat. Kuragaki goes up top and nails a moonsault, but Toyota bridges out of the cover. Kuragaki picks up Toyota and lariats her, but the bell rings as the match is a Draw. Another hug, and fellow OZ Academy wrestler AKINO takes her spot.

Six matches down, lots more to go! AKINO is another common enemy and foe from OZ Academy, which was Toyota’s primary home the last several years. AKINO gets Toyota in the corner and bootscrapes her, but doesn’t go for the pin as time expires for the Draw. AKINO helps her up before Ice Ribbon wrestler Risa Sera charges the ring to take her shot at the retiring legend. A slew of Ice Ribbon wrestlers jump into the ring with Risa Sera and they all attack Toyota in the corner, Sera goes up top and she nails the diving kneedrop, she hits a second one but the bell rings before she can cover her so the match is a Draw. Almost all retirement matches at some point have a string where the retiring wrestler is attacked by tons of wrestlers in rapid succession, and it may not be the last time. But Toyota gets a special gift from the Ice Ribbon wrestlers after Sera’s match, and everyone poses for the camera.

Drake Morimatsu is next! You may not be familar with Drake, she current wrestles in GUTS WORLD, she started her career in FMW and is definitely an ‘old school’ veteran. She comes into the ring with a baseball bat and hits Toyota with it a few times, lariat by Drake and she covers Toyota, but pulls her up before the three count. Another lariat but she does the same thing, she hits a Samoan Driver but Toyota kicks out of the cover. Drake gets the bat again and hits Toyota with it, but the bell rings which saves Toyota from more carnage. I really enjoyed the feel of this one, very different as Drake showed her old FMW side with the weapon-based offense.

Cherry bops down to the ring, she repeatedly steps on Toyota’s toes and chops her in the face, but Toyota chops her back. Toyota wins the strike exchange but the bell rings, signifying the match is a Draw. Aoi Kizuki is next, Aoi is a young popular Freelancer that wrestles in a variety of promotions. Aoi immediately dropkicks Toyota and hits a jumping lariat, double wrist-clutch suplex by Aoi and she goes for the swivel body press, but Toyota gets her feet up. Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb by Toyota and she gets the three count! Toyota has won her third match of the evening. Aoi is laughing and smiling even as getting pinned, which is accepted in these situations as I am sure she was thrilled to be part of Toyota’s retirement show.

Next is Yuki Miyazaki, she charges Toyota but Toyota boots her. She goes up top but Yuki joins her and gives her a big ‘ol kiss. Superplex by Yuki and she puts Manami in a Compromising Position, where she stays until the bell rings for the One Minute Draw. Poor Toyota, that’s what happens when you wrestle Yuki. Bolshoi Kid comes down, this is I am assuming Command Bolshoi wrestling in her old gimmick, which is a more playful clown. Bolshoi Kid gives Toyota a little bag and they both throw things into the crowd, but Bolshoi Kid schoolboys her from behind for the three count! A rare loss for the gullible Manami Toyota, hopefully she learned something from this experience.

On paper, Manami Toyota vs. GAMI and Sakura Hirota looks normal, but it isn’t….. since both are dressed as Manami Toyota. So this is Manami Toyota vs. her two clones. The real Toyota is double teamed and imitated by the two impostors, Oil Check by Sakura and GAMI hits Toyota with her horn. Luckily for Toyota the bell rings and the match is a Draw. Up next is Kaori Yoneyama, she is affiliated with YMZ but wrestles in a bunch of promotions including OZ Academy and Stardom. Yoneyama wants Toyota to wave a flag she brought down to the ring, which she does, but Yoneyama schoolboys her from behind for a two count. Yoneyama goes for a roll-up but Toyota reverses it, getting the three count! Manami Toyota gets her fourth win of the night. OZ Academy wrestler Sonoko Kato takes her turn, lots of kicks by Kato as she is taking this one minute match very seriously. Cannonball by Kato and she nails the diving leg drop, but the bell rings as she makes the cover so the match is a Draw. Manami gives Kato a rolling cradle just for fun before Kato leaves the ring and the next wrestler enters.

Leon throws Toyota into the corner and spears her, another spear by Leon and she hits the Frog Splash, but Toyota kicks out of the cover. Heel drop by Toyota and she nails the Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb, but Leon barely kicks out of the cover and the bell rings, as time has expired. Leon barely survives and other Pure Dream wrestlers get into the ring as they all give Manami Toyota their final goodbyes. Yuu Yamagata is next, these two have had very limited interactions over the years even though they are seasoned veterans, as Toyota rarely wrestled in Pro Wrestling WAVE. Enzuigiri by Yuu but Toyota hits a snap vertical suplex and a second one The bell rings soon thereafter as the time has expired, making the match a draw!

WAVE wrestler ASUKA comes down and she hits Toyota with a springboard moonsault, dropkick by ASUKA and Toyota falls out of the ring. ASUKA dives out onto her with a tope con hilo, she then goes back up top and hits a missile dropkick down to the floor, in an homage to Toyota. Everyone is hurt outside the ring as the bell rings, as time has expired. ASUKA seems more hurt than Toyota as she likely regrets that spot, Toyota returns to the ring as my personal favorite Kaho Kobayashi enters. Kaho dropkicks Toyota and goes up top to hit a missile dropkick, elbows by Kaho and she covers Toyota for a two count. Boots by Toyota and she nails the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, and she picks up the three count! Manami Toyota defeats her fifth wrestler so far today.

Hikaru Shida takes the next shot (this is the 21st match for Manami Toyota so far), while her friend Syuri watches from ringside. Shida goes for hip attacks, at first Toyota blocks them with her own hip but she finally connects with one. Syuri comes in the ring and with Shida they both kick Toyota, but Toyota breaks out of the cover. Falcon Arrow by Shida, but the bell rings before she can make a cover so the match is a Draw. Syuri returns and both present Toyota with flowers, once she is able to get back up. Hiroyo Matsumoto and her Godzilla mask is next, she shakes Toyota’s hand but kicks her before putting the Godzilla mask onto Toyota. Body avalanche by Hiroyo, she takes the mask off Toyota and hits a missile dropkick. Toyota slowly gets up, Hiroyo allows her to go up top and she hits a missile dropkick as the bell rings, giving Toyota another Draw.

Ayako Hamada is the next challenger, Hamada immediately dropkicks Toyota but she misses the heel kick. Enzuigiri by Hamada and she hits a DDT, superkick by Hamada but Toyota kicks out of the pinfall. Samoan Driver by Hamada, but the bell rings before she can finish the cover, as Toyota escapes another match with a Draw. The rest of the WAVE wrestlers get in the ring and they pose with Toyota for a photo-op, signifying the end of the WAVE string of challengers.

Veteran Freelancer Chikayo Nagashima is Toyota’s next opponent, she has a long history with Toyota as they fought in both GAEA and OZ Academy over the years. Chikayo hits Toyota repeatedly with her jacket and puts her in the rolling cradle, this takes literally the entire match until Chikayo stops just in time to get the three count pinfall! Chikayo Nagashima defeats Manami Toyota! Never know what is going to happen in these matches. Ikuto Hidaka is next, Hidaka is a ZERO1 wrestler with limited interactions with Toyota over the years. Toyota dropkicks Hidaka as soon as the match starts but Hidaka strikes her back, snap German by Toyota and she hits a heel drop for a two count. Boots by Toyota but the bell rings before anything else of note happens, and the match is a Draw.

Things are going off the rails a bit, as Papillon Akemi is next. He wrestles in smaller promotions such as GUTS World and I have no idea how he got into this match. Kick and a snapmare by Akemi, but Toyota puts him in the rolling cradle, but the bell rings before she can finish the move for a cover. The match is a Draw. Gabai-jichan very very slowly comes down to the ring (he has an ‘old man’ gimmick so he can’t walk very fast), with Toyota getting impatient in the ring for him to hurry up. The referee starts the match and the 20 count, Toyota goes out to help Gabai-jichan get into the ring while they pose for pictures. Toyota helps roll Gabai-jichan into the ring but he knocks her back to the floor with his cane, and Toyota is counted out! Gabai-jichan wins by dubious means, but the crowd enjoyed it.

The series continues going down the wrong path as creepy wrestler Kanjyouro Matsuyama is the next one down. Matsuyama tries to attack Toyota with his fan, but she avoids it and hits him with it instead. They trade slaps until Matsuyama is thrown into the corner, she gets Toyota’s wrist and walks the ropes, but he falls off of them before he can finish the move. The bell rings, and the match is declared a Draw. KID is next, I can’t find anything online on who KID is, but Toyota promptly boots him in the face and gets the three count pinfall! Toyota gets her sixth win of the gauntlet. Small Antonio Inoki is next, we still have a few more goofy challengers, punches to the head by Small Inoki and he applies a Cobra Twist. He goes up top and hits the diving kneedrop, more kneedrops by Small Inoki and he hits an enzuigiri. He goes to put Toyota in an Octopus Hold but the bell rings, the match is a Draw!

Otoko Sakari (Alexander Otsuka) is the next opponent, as Toyota faces her second man of the night that is only wearing a thong. Strikes by Toyota, she goes for a sunset flip but Sakari blocks it. Sakari tries to get away but Toyota grabs him by the thong, pulling it down to expose Sakari. The referee finds this offensive so he rings for the bell, disqualifying Sakari, giving Toyota her seventh win so far! Isami Kodaka is next, he throws streamers at Toyota to distract her before kicking Toyota out of the ring and sailing out onto her with a tope suicida. Back in the ring, Kodaka grabs Toyota’s hair but Toyota kicks him low and delivers the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex Hold for the three count! Toyota gets her eighth win of the evening. Big Japan wrestler Ryuji Ito is the final male challenger in this intergender run of opponents, he comes down to the ring with a barbed wire board. He sets up the board in the corner but Toyota jumps him and tries to throw him into it. He blocks it and goes for a suplex, but Toyota reverses the suplex and puts the barbed wire board on the mat. Ito scoop slams Toyota onto the barbed wire board, but Toyota kicks out of the pin. Ito keeps her on the board, he goes up top and he nails the Dragon Splash for the three count! Manami Toyota is defeated by the Big Japan star.

Now we have reached a run of challengers from Toyota’s past. Retired wrestler Carlos Amano is first, Amano and Toyota held tag team championships together in both GAEA Japan and OZ Academy. They don’t want to wrestle, so they set up chairs in the ring and talk to each other instead. I can’t understand what they are saying, but they seem to be having a good time. Amano gives Toyota a letter, which she reads as the bell rings. The match is, obviously, a Draw. Mima Shimoda is next, with her friend and long time tag partner Etsuko Mita joining her at ringside. But Toyota won’t go at it alone, as old teammate and friend Toshiyo Yamada joins her at ringside as well to make everything fair. These four were friends and foes back in the mid-90s in AJW. Shimoda charges Toyota and hits a jumping neck drop, Mita runs in and chops Toyota in the chest as they both double team Toyota i the ropes. Yamada trips Shimoda from the floor, she gets in the ring as Toyota puts Shimoda in a camel clutch, kicking Shimoda in the chest. Around this time the bell rings, and the match is a Draw. Mita brings in a big present for Toyota and all four pose together in the ring.

Itsuki Yamazaki is next, she may be the least-known wrestler to casual fans as she retired back in 1991. You may know her better as part of the Jumping Bomb Angels, a popular Joshi tag team in the late 80s. She and Toyota also wrestled at Toyota’s 25th Anniversary Show, so the two made a strong bond during their brief time in AJW together. Yamazaki gets Toyota to the mat and starts working over her arm, Irish whip by Yamazaki and she hits a running elbow in the corner. Yamazaki pulls Toyota out of the ring and poses her for a picture, they get back in but the bell rings before she can do anything else, as the match is a Draw. Up next is Bull Nakano, yes THE LEGENDARY BULL NAKANO which obviously is exciting for me as I love Bull Nakano and this is her first televised match of any sort in over five years. Nakano looks great, and comes down to the ring with her nunchucks. Once the bell rings, she hits Toyota in the stomach with the nunchucks, but Toyota avoids the next shot and schoolboys Nakano for the three count! Manami Toyota wins and picks up her ninth victory so far.

Very few wrestlers could follow Nakano and not be a drop down in status, but Chigusa Nagayo is next. Nagayo is still a fairly active wrestler, she currently owns and promotes the wrestling promotion Marvelous. Nagayo and Toyota worked together quite a bit in GAEA Japan, and Nagayo already is tearing up before she even gets into the ring. They tie-up as both are getting emotional, but Toyota hits a scoop slam and covers Nagayo for the three count! They hug on the mat, as Manami Toyota wins her 10th match. Equally legendary Jaguar Yokota is next, as we reach a big string of wrestlers. Nakano, Nagayo, and Yokota are three of the biggest names in Joshi over the last 30 years and it feels really special seeing them all here to help send Toyota into retirement. Yokota is more stone-faced as they lock-up, Yokota kicks Toyota in the head and hits a somersault kick but the bell rings before she can further capitalize. The match is a Draw.

Mariko Yoshida is the next challenger, she also has had a great career and is best known for her work in ARSION. She’s also already crying before the match starts, Yoshida throws Toyota in the corner and boots her in the face. Toyota ducks the next boot but Yoshida puts her in the Spider Twist, luckily for Toyota the bell rings before she can submit, so the match is a Draw. Nanae Takahashi is next, she and Toyota both were in AJW together in the late 90s. Nanae charges Toyota and knocks her to the mat, Natsuki Taiyo comes in and dropkicks Toyota in the corner. Nanae grabs Toyota but Toyota drops her with the Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb, Nanae returns to her feet however and hits a Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb of her own for the three count! Nanae Takahashi wins the match!

It is now KAORU’s turn, KAORU is still an active wrestler and has battled with Toyota in a number of promotions over the years, ranging from AJW in the early 90s up to Marvelous and Diana just a few years ago. KAORU immediately hits Toyota repeatedly with her wooden panel, she picks up Toyota and suplexes her onto it but the referee won’t count the cover since she used the weapon. KAORU drags Toyota to the corner and tries to top the wood piece onto Toyota, but Toyota rolls out of the way as the bell rings. The match is a Draw as Kaoru Ito comes down, Ito and Toyota wrestled with and against each other many many times in the 1990s while wrestling AJW and also won the JWP Tag Team Championship together. Ito isn’t feeling the love as she immediately slams Toyota, Yoshida and another wrestler get in the ring and hit a double facecrusher. Diving footstomp by Ito, and she covers Toyota for the three count! Manami Toyota falls to Ito in painful fashion, but she gets a nice bouquet of flowers for her troubles.

The next challenger is Tomoko Watanabe, like Ito she wrestled with and against Toyota during much of their run in AJW in the 90s. The match starts but Watanabe wants a selfie with Toyota so they do that first. Lariat by Watanabe and she hits another one, a third lariat by Watanabe and a fourth, but as she goes for the cover the bell rings, and the match is a Draw. Former AJW wrestler Takako Inoue is next, they were usually on opposing teams in the tag division and kept wrestling after AJW folded in LLPW, OZ Academy, and Diana. Takako shakes hands but then grabs her baton, Toyota ducks the shot but Takako hits a DDT instead. Takako goes up top as Toyota joins her, but Takako hits an avalanche chokeslam for two. DDT by Takako and she goes up top again, but Toyota ducks the Takako Panic as the bell rings. The match is a Draw as they end the match with an embrace.

Veteran wrestler Yumiko Hotta is next, she has her chain with her of course. Hotta was one of Toyota’s main foes in their AJW years, and they had multiple title matches in their heyday. Hotta gets right to kicking Toyota but Toyota pushes her against the ropes, she charges Hotta but Hotta nails her with a heel kick. Cover by Hotta, but Toyota barely kicks out. Hotta picks up Toyota but Toyota sneaks in a cradle, she goes off the ropes but Hotta delivers another heel kick for the three count! Yumiko Hotta is the winner, as I think all these matches is starting to wear on Toyota a bit. Takako Inoue’s long time tag partner Kyoko Inoue is next (no relation), as we have seen with this set of wrestlers these two used to be common enemies in AJW. They eventually tie-up and Kyoko flings Toyota to the mat, Pyramid Driver by Kyoko Inoue but the bell rings as time expires, the match being declared a Draw. Some of the veteran wrestlers return to the ring again and give Toyota more flowers, as she prepares for Tsukasa Fujimoto.

The one minute time limit is out the window now, as Manami Toyota faces her last opponent, Tsukasa Fujimoto. While Manami Toyota didn’t train Fujimoto, their careers crossed several times as far back as 2011. Toyota was impressed with Fujimoto’s abilities, and in 2015 it was Tsukasa Fujimoto that Manami Toyota endorsed as her ‘successor’ and gave her permission to use all of the Japanese Ocean moves. So this is a fitting final opponent, as Toyota has her last match against the wrestler she believes will best continue her legacy. Before the match starts, Aja Kong gives Toyota some flowers – Kong and Toyota had a long match in late October which is likely why she wasn’t in the Gauntlet. Shinobu Kandori then comes down and gives Toyota flowers as well, she had a ‘final’ match with Toyota on October 22nd.

Tsukasa Fujimoto finally arrives and the match begins, Fujimoto immediately dropkicks Toyota and tries to get Toyota on her shoulders, but Toyota blocks it. Dropkick by Fujimoto as they reach a stalemate, Toyota twists up Fujimoto in the ropes and dropkicks her in the back. Fujimoto falls out of the ring, Toyota goes up top but Fujimoto recovers before Toyota can jump off and knocks Toyota to the floor. Fujimoto then gets on the top turnbuckle and dives down onto Toyota, Toyota returns to the ring but Fujimoto connects with a missile dropkick. Toyota recovers and puts Fujimoto in the rolling cradle, Toyota lets go and goes up top, delivering a missile dropkick. She goes up top again and hits another missile dropkick, but Fujimoto springs back to her feet and hits a dropkick of her own. Fujimoto sits Toyota in the corner and dropkicks her in the chest, she goes for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex but Toyota blocks it and hits a heel drop. Cover by Toyota, but it gets a two count. Toyota gets up on the top turnbuckle and she nails the moonsault, but Fujimoto bridges out of the pin. Fujimoto gets up near the ropes but Toyota grabs her and goes for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex. Fujimoto wiggles out of the hold and cradles Toyota for two, kicks to the back by Fujimoto and she hits a PK for a two count. Fujimoto goes up top but Toyota hits her she can jump off and joins her, Fujimoto goes over her back and hits an avalanche sunset flip powerbomb for two. Fujimoto goes for the Venus Shoot, but Toyota grabs her from behind and delivers the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex for the three count! Manami Toyota wins!

The match immediately starts again, elbows by Fujimoto and she goes up top, but again Toyota joins her. Fujimoto knocks Toyota into the Tree of Woe and hits the diving footstomp, cover by Fujimoto but Toyota kicks out. Venus Shoot attempt again by Fujimoto but Toyota blocks it the same way, Fujimoto slides off Toyota’s back this time and hits a series of jumping footstomps for two counts. Fujimoto gets Toyota on her shoulders and hits the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, but Toyota gets a shoulder up. Heel drop by Toyota, she grabs Fujimoto and decapitates her with a Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb. Both are slow to recover, Fujimoto picks up Toyota but Toyota snaps off a suplex. Toyota picks up Fujimoto and hits another Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb, and she picks up the three count! Manami Toyota wins for the second time against Fujimoto.

Fujimoto quickly gets back up as the final match begins, kicks to the back by Fujimoto and she goes up top, but Toyota boots her off the top turnbuckle to the floor. Toyota goes up top and dives down onto Fujimoto (and a slew of other wrestlers that wanted to be part of the last dive of Toyota’s career), she slides Fujimoto back in and goes up top, hitting a missile dropkick. Cover by Toyota, but it gets two. Toyota picks up Fujimoto and hits the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, but Fujimoto gets a shoulder up. Toyota goes back up top but Fujimoto gets her feet up on the moonsault attempt, Fujimoto kips up and hits the Tsukka-chan☆Bomb, but Toyota kicks out. Fujimoto picks up Toyota and hits the PK, dropkick by Fujimoto and she hits a second one followed by a third. Fujimoto goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick, which she follows with two more. Another missile dropkick by Fujimoto, she covers Toyota but it only gets a two count. Venus Shoot by Fujimoto, she grabs Toyota and delivers the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex for the three count! Tsukasa Fujimoto wins the final match in Manami Toyota’s career.

Following the match, many of the wrestlers Toyota faced tonight surround the ring, while Toyota says her final words. She gives Fujimoto her final blessings, and Fujimoto speaks for a moment as well. After that, per her wishes, a chair is brought into the ring and Toyota has her hair cut shorter, with her hair being donated to use for wigs for people that lost their hair due to medical issues. A photo and video slideshow then appears on the big screen, highlighting Toyota throughout her career, which continues for several minutes.

 

The post Manami Toyota Retirement Show on 11/3/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

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

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

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

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

Kagetsu and Kaho Kobayashi vs. Kana and Konami

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cherry vs. Ryo Mizunami

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Kyusei” Sakura Hirota vs. Misaki Ohata

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post OZ Academy X ZABUN ~dagaya~ [ZEN] on 5/10/15 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Over the next eternity, I will be watching and reviewing all GAEA Japan events in order, starting with their debut show on April 15th, 1995. Visit the GAEA Japan Project page for a brief history of the promotion, the roster page, my favorite matches from the promotion, and the full list of all events reviewed. I will also be uploading my favorite match from each show so that everyone can enjoy it.

If you want to watch the GAEA Japan events I am reviewing, Mike Lorefice sells the complete seasons at a very reasonable price both via download and physical copy. Mike’s quebrada.net is one of the sites I’m using extensively to write these reviews, its a great resource for learning more about GAEA Japan and wrestling in general.

For the first time, I am reviewing a GAEA Japan COMM release! GAEA Japan generally aired on GAORA TV, but they also put out commercial tapes as well. Most of their later commercial tapes are compilations, but in 1995 and 1996 they released several that showed entire events. This isn’t their first commercial tape of 1995, however I decided to just review the TV broadcast of the other shows. This event was never shown on TV, however, and since I didn’t want to miss any events I tracked down the commercial DVD (you can get it too at the link above). The show featured a one night six woman tag team tournament, here is the full card:

• Super Scramble Six Women Tag Tournament: Chigusa Nagayo, Chikayo Nagashima, and Kobayashi vs. Hikari Fukuoka, Sonoko Kato, and Kanako Motoya
• Super Scramble Six Women Tag Tournament: Dynamite Kansai, Makie Numao, and Yasuko Kuragaki vs. KAORU, Meiko Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi
• Battle Royal with Bolshoi Kid, Bomber Hikari, Chigusa Nagayo, Chihiro Nakano, Chikayo Nagashima, Cuty Suzuki, Devil Masami, Dynamite Kansai, Makie Numao, Mayumi Ozaki, Rieko Amano, Saburo, Tomoko Miyaguchi, Tomori Kobayashi, Toshie Sato, Toshie Uematsu, Yasuko Kuragaki, and Yuki Miyazaki
• Super Scramble Six Women Tag Final: Hikari Fukuoka, Sonoko Kato, and Kanako Motoya vs. KAORU, Meiko Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi

Since this was shown on tape and not on TV, nothing will be clipped. You can click on the names above to go directly to that wrestler’s profile here on Joshi City.

Chigusa Nagayo, Chikayo, and Tomori Kobayashi vs. Hikari Fukuoka, Sonoko, and Kanako Motoya
Super Scramble Six Women Tag Tournament Semi Final

Chikayo and Kanako start the match but Tomori quickly tags in and they double team Kanako in the corner. Kanako swats them away when they go for a double dropkick and tags in Sonoko, Fukuoka comes in too but Nagayo gets in the ring and clears house. She starts working over Sonoko and hits a suplex, but Fukuoka breaks up the cover. Nagayo casually slaps Kanako before tagging in Tomori, Tomori works a headlock on Sonoko but Sonoko suplexes her to the mat and throws her into the corner. She tags in Fukuoka, Kanako comes in too and they both dropkick Tomori. Fukuoka whips Tomori around the ring while kicking her, stretch hold by Fukuoka but Chikayo eventually comes in to break it up. Fukuoka tags in Kanako, dropkick by Kanako and she covers Tomori for two. Kanako goes for a sleeper but Tomori quickly gets out of it and tags in Chikayo. Dropkick by Chikayo and she hits Kanako with two more, she picks up Kanako and applies a crossface before tagging in Nagayo. Nagayo throws Kanako into the opposite corner so that Fukuoka can tag in, kicks by Nagayo and she drills Fukuoka with a heel kick. Fukuoka catches the next kick attempt and apples a cross kneelock, but Tomori and Chikayo both run in to break it up.

Kanako and Sonoko take care of them, Kanako goes to help Fukuoka but Tomori and Chikayo run in again. They still can’t free Nagayo as Fukuoka and Kanako won’t let go, finally Nagayo reaches the ropes and both Kanako and Fukuoka release the hold. Fukuoka tags Sonoko, Sonoko applies a kneelock but Nagayo laughs it off (literally) and slaps Sonoko to get out of it. Nagayo tags Tomori, body blocks by Tomori to Sonoko and she covers her for two. Tomori wants Fukuoka so she tags in, Fukuoka elbows Tomori to the mat but Tomori keeps firing back. Tomori tosses Fukuoka to the mat and tags in Nagayo, piledriver by Nagayo but Kanako breaks up the cover. Giant Swing by Nagayo, Tomori comes in and she gives Fukuoka the Giant Swing as well. Tomori tags Chikayo and she does the same, as Fukuoka is probably pretty dizzy by now. Cover by Chikayo, but Kanako and Sonoko break it up. Kanako and Sonoko both put Chikayo in the Giant Swing now, which is easier since Chikayo is an itty bitty wrestler, Fukuoka returns to the ring and gives Chikayo one final Giant Swing before Kanako tags in and covers Chikayo for two. Chikayo bridges out of the next pin attempt and hits the front roll push, but Fukuoka hits her from behind with a missile dropkick.

Chikayo stumbles to her corner and tags in Tomori, Bubba Bomb by Tomori and Chikayo hits an assisted crossbody onto Kanako before Tomori covers her for two. Running kick by Kanako and she tags in Sonoko, bulldog by Sonoko to Tomori but Tomori blocks the next one. Fukuoka attacks Tomori from behind, but Nagayo kicks Sonoko in the head from the apron. Tomori tags in Nagayo, heel kick by Nagayo to Sonoko but the cover is broken up. Kicks by Nagayo, Fukuoka tags in and goes for a suplex, but Nagayo blocks it. Spinning headscissors by Fukuoka, she goes for a hurricanrana but Nagayo catches her and hits a powerbomb. Nagayo tags Chikayo, roll-up by Chikayo but Fukuoka kicks out. Fukuoka goes for a Space Rolling Elbow but Chikayo moves, Tomori tries to help with a missile dropkick but she hits Chikayo by accident. Moonsault by Fukuoka to Chikayo, but Nagayo breaks it up. Fukuoka picks up Chikayo and gives her an airplane spin, but again the cover is broken up by Chikayo’s friends. Powerbomb by Fukuoka to Chikayo, she goes up top and nails the Rider Kick to Chikayo’s chest for the three count! Hikari Fukuoka, Sonoko Kato, and Kanako Motoya win!

This was an incredibly fun match and a great way to kick things off. Everything clicked so well, the rookies were going 100% from bell to bell and Fukuoka/Nagayo did their bits when needed to support them. Nagayo was a bit of a dick but only towards her own trainees, as she generally respected Fukuoka’s offense and sold her injured leg for as long as one could expect. Everyone got a chance to shine and they kept up the pace to keep it interesting. Really solid six woman match to open the show.  Recommended

Dynamite Kansai, Makie Numao, and Yasuko Kuragaki vs. KAORU, Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi
Super Scramble Six Women Tag Tournament Semi Final

Kansai throws her rookie teammates at their opponents before the bell rings to give them an early advantage, they stack their opponents in the corner but KAORU quickly gains the advantage and hits a moonsault on Kansai for a two count. Kansai quickly gets back to her feet and hits a Northern Lights Suplex, KAORU and Kansai trade strikes until Makie and Yasuko come into the ring to help. Yasuko stays in as legal but KAORU quickly takes over and tags in Tomoko. Yasuko snapmares Tomoko around and tags in Makie, dropkicks by Makie and she covers Tomoko for two. Tomoko tags in Meiko, jumping shoulderblocks by Meiko and she covers Makie for a two count. Meiko applies a bodyscissors, she then puts Makie in a camel clutch but Yasuko breaks it up. Meiko tags in Tomoko, dropkicks by Tomoko but Makie slides around her and applies a schoolboy for two. Makie tags in Yasuko, Yasuko tosses Tomoko around the ring and hits a scoop slam. Headscissors by Yasuko and she drives Tomoko’s head into the mat, Kansai returns and she kicks Tomoko around the ring. Sleeper by Kansai, she throws Tomoko into the corner and tells KAORU to tag in. KAORU does, backdrop suplex by Kansai and she covers KAORU for two. Kansai puts KAORU in a Scorpion Deathlock, KAORU’s teammates try to break it up but Kansai doesn’t budge.

They finally get Kansai off, Kansai tags in Makie and Makie delivers a diving crossbody. KAORU slaps Makie and kicks her repeatedly before tagging in Meiko, Meiko applies a cross armbreaker, KAORU comes in and applies a cross armbreaker on the other arm too, but it gets broken up. Yasuko tags in while Meiko tags in KAORU, dropkick by KAORU and she covers Yasuko for two. KAORU applies a crab hold but Yasuko eventually gets to the ropes, KAORU tags in Tomoko and hits a jumping crossbody for a two count. Yasuko hits a dropkick and tags in Kansai, sunset flip by Tomoko to Kansai and she tags in KAORU. Lariat by Kansai in the corner but KAORU ducks the next one, KAORU tries to rebound out of the corner but can’t complete the move so she applies an ankle hold instead. Kansai gets to the ropes for the break, KAORU tags in Tomoko and Tomoko dropkicks Kansai repeatedly in the leg. Meiko comes in and they both dropkick Kansai, but Kansai falls in her own corner and tags in Makie. Tomoko elbows Makie but Makie puts her in a Dragon Sleeper, Meiko tries to break up the second one but Yasuko dropkicks her. Missile dropkick by Yasuko to Tomoko, and with Makie they slam Tomoko to the mat. Yasuko kicks Tomoko into the corner but Tomoko sneaks in a sunset flip for two.

Meiko is tagged in and she hits jumping shoulderblocks to Yasuko, Meiko goes up top but Yasuko avoids her dive and dropkicks her in the back of the head. Yasuko goes up top but KAORU grabs her from the apron, giving Meiko time to pull Yasuko off the top turnbuckle and apply a cross armbreaker. Short armbar by Meiko but Kansai breaks it up, things break down a bit with some of the action spilling to the floor. Yasuko and Meiko stay in the ring, Yasuko slams Meiko but KAORU breaks up the cover. Yasuko picks up Meiko but Meiko applies a short armbar, she lets go and charges Yasuko but Yasuko slaps her and tags in Makie. Irish whip by Makie and she hits a back bodydrop, cover by Makie but Meiko bridges out of it. KAORU hits Makie from the apron and Meiko tags in Tomoko, Tomoko stomps on Makie and she hits a swandive missile dropkick. Swandive crossbody by Tomoko, but her cover is broken up by both her other opponents. Meiko comes in and cradles Makie, but she isn’t legal so the referee just looks at her funny. Tomoko recovers, she goes out to the apron and hits a swandive sunset flip, picking up the three count! KAORU, Meiko Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi are the winners and continue to the finals.

This wasn’t as smooth as the opening match, pretty clunky in parts. It wasn’t bad, but it went a bit too long and not enough really happened to justify its length. Tomoko looked really good and Meiko showed her usual fire, so the issue wasn’t with the wrestlers themselves, it just really didn’t tell a story and didn’t have the same exciting feeling that the opener had. Decent enough, and the rookies are really coming along nicely, but just too back-and-forth with not enough substance to really hold my attention.

18 Women Battle Royal

The match starts with Bolshoi Kid, Bomber Hikari, Chigusa Nagayo, Chihiro Nakano, Chikayo Nagashima, Cuty Suzuki, Devil Masami, Dynamite Kansai, Makie Numao, Mayumi Ozaki, Rieko Amano, Saburo, Tomoko Miyaguchi, Tomomi Kobayashi, Toshie Sato, Toshie Uematsu, Yasuko Kuragaki, and Yuki Miyazaki all in the ring. I am not going to do normal play by play for this since its chaotic, but the first part of the match is mostly ganging up on the veterans since that is the only way to pin someone like Nagayo or Devil Masami. Let’s jump ahead to the final three, which are Bolshoi Kid, Bomber Hikari, and Saburo. Bolshoi Kid is double teamed by Saburo and Bomber, Bomber goes up top but Bolshoi pushes her from behind. Bomber thinks that Saburo did it and fusses at her, Saburo charges Bolshoi but Bolshoi pushes Saburo into Bomber. This makes Bomber mad again, giving Bolshoi a chance to hit a missile dropkick to the back of Bomber’s head.

Bomber and Bolshoi end up double teaming Saburo, Bomber goes up top but she has to keep directing Bolshoi where to slam Saburo so she can dive onto her. Bolshoi finally does it right, diving double jump bodypress by Bomber, but Saburo kicks out. Saburo goes up top but Bomber slams her off, Bolshoi breaks up the pin for reasons unknown but Bomber drops Saburo with the Bombs Away. Bomber goes up top while Bolshoi positions Saburo, diving headbutt by Bomber but Bolshoi quickly covers Saburo for the three count behind Bomber’s back. Saburo is eliminated, leaving just Bolshoi and Bomber. Bolshoi wants to part of Bomber so she bails out of the ring, she finally gets back in and Bomber drops Bolshoi with the Bombs Away for a two count. Bomber goes for it again but Bolshoi reverses it into a cradle for two. Bolshoi goes off the ropes but Bomber catches her with a powerslam, rebound crossbody by Bolshoi out of the corner but Bomber kicks out of the cover. Scoop slam by Bomber but Bolshoi avoids her stomps, rebound elbow by Bolshoi and she covers Bomber for two. Bolshoi goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, but that gets a two count as well. Bolshoi tries to slam Bomber but Bomber blocks it and puts Bolshoi in an airplane spin, but Bolshoi quickly recovers. Misteriorana by Bolshoi, and she picks up the three count! Bolshoi Kid wins the Battle Royal!

As I mentioned above, this type of match isn’t something you’d have high expectations for. The veterans had fun, allowing the young wrestlers to do well but it was all with a smile on their face as losing in these matches means nothing. Bolshoi Kid back in the mid-90s was mostly comedy, she could wrestle but stayed within her gimmick most of the time. Mindless fun but nothing more than that.

Hikari Fukuoka, Sonoko Kato, and Kanako vs. KAORU, Meiko Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi
Super Scramble Six Women Tag Tournament Final

KAORU and Fukuoka start the match and waste no time getting right to it, as Fukuoka hits a lariat but KAORU follows with a dropkick. Fukuoka cartwheels away from KAORU and hits another dropkick, and both wrestlers return to their feet to face off again. Fukuoka tags in Sonoko while Meiko also tags in, and both wrestlers kick each other. Dropkicks by Sonoko and she hits a scoop slam, crab hold by Sonoko but Meiko gets to the ropes for the break. Kanako tags in and she bounces Meiko off the ropes, dropkick by Kanako and she covers Meiko for two. Meiko comes back with a hard elbow and tags in Tomoko, dropkicks by Tomoko and she slams Kanako. Sleeper by Tomoko and she then applies a bodyscissors, but Kanako gets to the ropes. Tomoko tags in KAORU, suplex by KAORU and she covers Kanako for two. Another suplex by KAORU and she applies a camel clutch until Sonoko breaks it up, Fukuoka comes in too and she puts KAORU in a figure four leglock. Meiko tries to break it up but Fukuoka keeps the hold on anyway, KAORU eventually gets out of it but Fukuoka slams her to the mat and tags in Sonoko. Kneelock by Sonoko and Kanako puts KAORU in a kneelock as well, then Fukuoka puts KAORU in a headscissors. Kanako stays in as legal, KAORU finally gets a move in and makes the tag to Tomoko. Crossbody by Tomoko, but Kanako bridges out of the pin. Tomoko grabs her to stop the bridge and puts Kanako in a crab hold, Kanako gets out of it and she boots Tomoko in the chest. Another boot by Kanako and she slams Tomoko in front of the corner before tagging in Fukuoka. Fukuoka comes in the ring with a missile dropkick, but Tomoko falls in her corner and tags in Meiko.

Meiko eats a dropkick too, cover by Fukuoka but it gets two. Double wrist-clutch armsault by Fukuoka, but the cover is broken up. Side headlock by Fukuoka, she picks up Meiko and chokes her before slamming Meiko to the mat. Fukuoka tags Sonoko and they both shoulderblock Meiko, Sonoko snapmares Meiko and puts her in a headscissors. Meiko fires back with elbows and hits a running elbow smash in the corner before tagging in KAORU. Scoop slam by KAORU and she puts Sonoko in a Mexican Surfboard until Fukuoka pushes them over, Irish whip by Meiko to Sonoko and she hits a jumping shoulderblock. Another one by Meiko and she hits a third, one final shoulderblock by Meiko and she covers Sonoko for two. Double swandive missile dropkick to Sonoko, but Sonoko bridges out of the pin. Cross armbreaker by Meiko, but Kanako breaks it up. Space Rolling Elbow by Fukuoka to Meiko but Meiko avoids the second one, cross armbreaker takedown by Meiko but Fukuoka gets a foot on the ropes. Meiko tags KAORU, KAORU goes up top but Fukuoka rolls out of the way of the moonsault. Sonoko comes up from behind and hits a bulldog, missile dropkick by Kanako to KAORU and she covers her for two. KAORU is put into the Tree of Woe and triple teamed, Kanako goes to pick up KAORU but KAORU blocks her and hits a piledriver.

Elbows by KAORU to Kanako but Kanako applies a wheelbarrow roll-up for a two count. Kanako tags in Sonoko, bulldog by Sonoko and she hits the Acid Drop out of the corner. Sonoko picks up KAORU and goes for a second one, but KAORU pushes her off and boots Sonoko in the face. She goes for another boot but Sonoko catches her leg, hard slap by KAORU but Sonoko rolls her up from behind. Sonoko tags Fukuoka, and Fukuoka comes in the ring with a diving crossbody. KAORU rolls through it and tags in Tomoko, Fukuoka gets Tomoko on her shoulders but Tomoko slides off and rolls her up for two. KAORU flies into the ring with a missile dropkick, Meiko goes up top and hits a diving bodypress before Tomoko hits one of her own. Moonsault by KAORU, but Fukuoka bridges out of the pin. KAORU picks up Fukuoka but Fukuoka avoids the brainbuster and hits an Aztec Suplex Hold for a two count. Sonoko and Kanako both hit diving bodypresses onto KAORU, moonsault by Fukuoka and she quickly hits two more moonsaults, but Meiko breaks up the cover. Sonoko and Kanako put KAORU on the top turnbuckle, Fukuoka then charges her and DDTs KAORU from the top turnbuckle to the mat. Rider Kick by Fukuoka, but again the cover is broken up. Fukuoka goes back up top and dives out of the ring onto Meiko and Tomoko, she returns to the ring and goes to the top turnbuckle, but KAORU avoids the moonsault footstomp and hits a hurricanrana for a two count. Fukuoka tries to go up top but is grabbed by Meiko and Tomoko, avalanche armdrag by KAORU to Fukuoka and she puts her in La Magistral, but they end up in the ropes. While all of this is happening there is constantly interference and action around the ring, Fukuoka goes up top but KAORU dropkicks her in the middle of her moonsault attempt. Brainbuster by KAORU to Fukuoka and she nails the swandive moonsault for the three count! KAORU, Meiko Satomura, and Tomoko Kuzumi win the tournament!

This match took a bit to get going, but the last five minutes were crazy. It should be noted that even though they all had wrestled earlier, they still were going 100% full tilt the entire match, without any signs of being tired. Their cardio is insane. KAORU and Fukuoka provided the ‘veteran base’ really well and hit all their high spots, both were flying all over the place to keep the match excitement up. The double and triple team spots looked good and while I think the tag rules were pretty loose it didn’t hurt the match any since both sides were doing it. The ending stretch was just constantly something happening, and they hardly gave the viewer a chance to catch their breath with all the action going on. Maybe a smidge too long as it was almost 25 minutes, and we had already seen two similarly structured six woman tag matches, but still a fun match overall.  Mildly Recommended

The post GAEA Japan “Splash J & Running G” on 9/23/95 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

We haven’t checked in with OZ Academy in awhile, let’s see what they are up to. This is a pretty small event for them as it has no title matches, however all the stars are here. Manami Toyota has a big singles match with AKINO as she continues her road to retirement, and we get the unique tag team of Yoshiko and Hikaru Shida in the main event. Here is the full card:

• Aja Kong vs. Kaori Yoneyama
• Aoi Kizuki vs. Rina Yamashita
• Mayumi Ozaki, Yumi Ohka, and Alex Lee vs. Sonoko Kato, Syoko Sekiguchi, and Kaho Kobayashi
• Manami Toyota Retirement Road: AKINO vs. Manami Toyota
• Hikaru Shida and Yoshiko vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Tsubasa Kuragaki

As always, you can click on the names above to go directly to the wrestler’s profile on the website. This aired on Nico Pro, so it will be unedited.

Aja Kong vs. Kaori Yoneyama

The match starts slowly, with Kaori trying to be the dominate wrestler without having much luck since Kong ignored everything she did. Kong knocks Kaori to the mat and stomps her against the ropes, she puts Kaori in the corner and chops her in the chest. Lariat by Kong and she covers Kaori with one foot for a two count. Chinlock by Kong but Kaori bites her arm to get out of it, Kong steps on both of Kaori’s hands before stomping down on them. Scoop slam by Kong and she hits an elbow drop for a two count cover. Kaori swats at Kong but Kong shrugs her off and punches her to the mat, Kong picks up Kaori but Kaori goes for a sunset flip. Kong blocks it and tries to sit on Kaori, but Kaori moves and dropkicks Kong in the back. Kaori goes for a slam but Kong blocks it, Kaori slides away and jumps on Kong’s back and puts her in a sleeper, but Kong drives her into the corner to get her off. Kaori applies a waistlock but she can’t get Kong over, she goes for a crossbody before hitting a DDT. Running knee to the back of the head by Kaori but Kong kicks her in the head, lariat by Kong and she covers Kaori for two. Scoop slam by Kong, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Kaori grabs her from behind and tosses her to the mat. German suplex hold by Kaori, but Kong gets a shoulder up. Kaori gets on the second turnbuckle and hits the diving senton, but that gets a two count as well. Kaori goes all the way up the next time but Kong avoids her dive, Kong gets her paint can and hits Kaori in the head with it. Backdrop suplex by Kong, but Kaori barely kicks out of the pin. Kong picks up Kaori and drops her with a brainbuster, but that gets a two count as well. Kong picks up Kaori but Kaori ducks the backfist, Kaori blocks Kong’s kick and knees her in the chest. Jackknife cover by Kaori, and she picks up the three count! Kaori Yoneyama wins the match.

The story was sound, but it took time to get going. This was basically Aja Kong 101, a common theme in a lot of her matches is the feisty underdog failing at first to get her off her feet before finally succeeding as the match goes on. Kaori is easy to root for so it generally worked, but she is enough of a veteran that it didn’t feel out of the realm of practical that she could hit moves like the German suplex. I am surprised that Aja Kong lost, not that it matters in this case but she so rarely gets pinned. An interesting way to start the show, it had a tight story and a fun surprise ending.  Mildly Recommended

Aoi Kizuki vs. Rina Yamashita

Aoi grabs Rina from behind and quickly schoolboys her for two, she tries a few more flash pins but none have any luck. Suplex by Aoi, she goes up top but Rina rolls out of the way of the swivel body press. Rina picks up Aoi but Aoi hits a series of Mongolian Chops, snapmare by Aoi and she puts Rina in a rolling bodyscissors. Aoi eventually lets Rina go, Irish whip by Aoi but Rina reverses it and Aoi falls to the mat. Giant Swing by Rina and she puts Aoi in the Scorpion Deathlock, but Aoi gets a hand in the ropes for the break. Rina throws Aoi into the corner and hits her with a few lariats, but Aoi runs out of the corner and hits a jumping lariat of her own. Aoi jumps out to the apron and snaps Rina’s neck on the top rope, Aoi goes up top and delivers a diving body press for a two count cover. Aoi picks up Rina and applies a side choke over her knee, but Rina gets out of it and boots Aoi in the head. Rina goes for a backdrop suplex but Aoi lands on top of her, she goes for another one but Aoi grabs the referee to stop from going over. Rina shakes Aoi free and hits the move anyway, but Aoi kicks out of the pin. Rina charges Aoi, Aoi avoids her and goes for another flash pin with no success. Lariat by Rina but Aoi cradles her for two, Aoi goes off the ropes but Rina hits another lariat for her own two count. Rina goes off the ropes and hits a final lariat, picking up the three count pinfall! Rina Yamashita wins the match.

I have trouble these days really getting into Aoi Kizuki matches, she went from one of my favorites a few years ago to just being nothing. She rarely wins big matches so I don’t take her seriously, and her offense (such as the Mongolian Chops and jumping lariat) lack any impact whatsoever. Rina is a lot of fun to watch but she wasn’t able to save this match. I don’t know what is going on with Aoi or if it can be fixed, but most of her matches these days are skippable.

Mayumi Ozaki, Ohka, and Alex Lee vs. Sonoko Kato, Sekiguchi, and Kaho Kobayashi

Kaho and company attack before Ozaki Army even makes it to the ring, and both teams brawl around the floor. They drag Ohka into the ring and triple team her until Ozaki comes in with a whip to help. The action goes right back to the floor again, with Ozaki Army in control this time, as Police makes it a 4 vs. 3 affair. Ohka and Syoko return to the ring as Ohka whips the rookie, Ozaki comes in to help even though Ohka had things well in control. Ohka tags in Alex Lee, who has a whip of her own which she uses to choke Syoko. Lee kicks Syoko in the head with a Buzzsaw Kick, cover by Lee but Kaho breaks it up. Lee tags Ozaki as they continue on Syoko, its interesting as usually Kaho is the Face in Peril but I guess with Syoko there she gets the day off. Ozaki suplexes Syoko and gets a chain, she drives Syoko’s head into the chain a few times before hitting her in the head with it. Police gets on the apron to help (again, not really necessary under the circumstances), Ozaki hits Syoko with the chain in the corner before throwing her into Ohka’s boot. Ozaki tags Ohka as the abuse of Syoko continues, Syoko finally manages to dropkick Ohka but Ohka stops her from making the hot tag. Knees by Ohka but Syoko hits another dropkick and tags in Sonoko. Kaho comes in too and Ohka is double teamed in the corner, catapult footstomp to Ohka and Sonoko kicks Ohka in the face. Another kick by Sonoko, but her cover only gets a two. Sonoko goes up top and hits a cannonball, but it gets a two count as well.

Kicks by Sonoko and she tags in Syoko, dropkicks by Syoko and she hits a STO, but Ohka kicks out of the cover. Syoko goes off the ropes but she is hit by Lee from the apron, Ozaki comes in but Kaho dives into the ring with a crossbody onto both opponents. Sonoko kicks Ohka but Ohka gets her whip and hits Sonoko in the face with it. Backdrop suplex by Ohka, and she covers Sonoko for two. Ohka tags in Lee, Lee kicks Sonoko into the corner and hits a jumping knee followed by a spin-out slam for a two count. Sonoko ducks a lariat and hits a release German, kick to the head by Sonoko but Ohka breaks up the cover. Sonoko picks up Lee but Lee wiggles away, head kick by Sonoko but Lee returns the favor. Lee slams Sonoko in front of the corner, she goes up top and hits the diving footstomp, but Kaho breaks up the pin. Lee tags in Ozaki, Ozaki goes for the Tequila Sunrise but Sonoko blocks it. Sonoko hits a back bodydrop, she gets Ozaki behind her back but Ozaki applies a sunset flip for two. Kaho runs in to clear out Ozaki Army, running kick by Sonoko to Ozaki and she goes up top, hitting the diving guillotine legdrop. Her pin attempt is broken up so she tags in Kaho, Kaho goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick. She goes up top again, she knocks Police off the apron before hitting another missile dropkick. A third missile dropkick by Kaho, she elbows Ozaki but is tripped from the apron when she goes off the ropes and pulled out of the ring by Police.

A crazy brawl ensues at ringside, most of which we can’t see well since the event is filmed with just a hard cam, until Kaho is rolled back into the ring. Kaho gets away from Ozaki but eats a chop to the chest, Ozaki tags in Ohka who takes a moment to whip Kaho. Sonoko comes in and kicks Ohka, dropkick by Syoko and Kaho hits the Fisherman Suplex for a two count. Kaho and Ohka trade elbows until Ohka hits a DDT, heel drop by Ohka and she covers Kaho for two. Ohka whips Kaho, then Ozaki hits her with a chain before Police hits Kaho with a chair. Powerbomb by Ozaki to Kaho, but the referee won’t count since everyone is standing in the ring with weapons. Ohka picks up Kaho but Kaho reverses the chokebomb into a hurricanrana for two. She goes for a bodyscissors roll-up but Ohka blocks it, Ohka goes off the ropes but Kaho hits it on the second try. Ozaki hits Kaho in the head with the chain, lariat by Police and Lee drops Kaho with a chokebomb. Ohka then hits a chokebomb of her own, but Sonoko breaks up the cover. Police lariats Ohka by accident, La Magistral by Kaho to Ohka but Police breaks it up. Police stomps Kaho but Kato comes in to neutralize him, dragon suplex by Kato to Ohka and Kaho goes up top, but Ozaki joins her and hits a superplex. Ohka tosses Kaho over her head before hitting a big boot, but Syoko breaks up the pin. Brainbuster by Ohka but she lifts up Kaho before the referee can count three, she goes off the ropes and nails a big boot for the three count pinfall! Ozaki Army wins.

I can’t pretend to really enjoy matches like these, as they simply aren’t my preferred match style. At least Ozaki Army lost their own biased referee (MIO) so its not quite as unfair, but the constant interference by Police just takes me out of it a bit. I lived through WCW doing this match style for years and it officially burned me out apparently forever. Even beyond that it was way too long, the Syoko segment lasted an eternity but ultimately didn’t matter so it just felt like time filler. It also makes the weapons like the chain less special when they are used throughout the match with little long term impact, I don’t mind them cheating but sometimes less is more. A few exciting parts and its always fun to see Kaho, but overall just too long and predictable.

AKINO vs. Manami Toyota

AKINO schoolboys Toyota right after the handshake, ending the pleasantries, but Toyota comes back with a crossbody and kicks AKINO into the ropes. Stomps by Toyota but AKINO fires back with a dropkick, kicks to the back by AKINO and she flings down Toyota by the hair. PK by AKINO and she rakes at Toyota’s face, but Toyota gets away and stomps AKINO in the lower midsection. She does it a second time before throwing AKINO into the mat, cross leg submission by Toyota and she puts AKINO in a Muta Lock. She lets her go after a moment and puts AKINO in the ropes, dropkick by Toyota but AKINO kicks her and returns the favor by dropkicking Toyota while she is tied up in the ropes. AKINO goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, but Toyota gets back up and goes for the Rolling Cradle. AKINO blocks it but Toyota kicks AKINO in the head, Toyota gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick. She hits a second one and a third but AKINO keeps getting back up, so Toyota delivers a fourth missile dropkick for a two count cover. Toyota gets on the top turnbuckle but AKINO avoids the moonsault, AKINO goes up top but Toyota boots her off and down to the floor. Toyota gets on the top turnbuckle but AKINO rolls back in, Toyota climbs back down but AKINO kicks her. AKINO kicks Toyota in the leg and chest, release German by AKINO but Toyota ducks the PK. Rolling Cradle by Toyota, but AKINO kicks out at two. Both wrestlers slowly get up, heel drop by Toyota and she covers AKINO for another two count. Toyota goes up top and nails the moonsault, but AKINO gets a shoulder up on the pin. Toyota picks up AKINO but AKINO spins away from her, they trade strikes until AKINO knocks Toyota to her knees with a high kick. Buzzsaw Kick by AKINO, she covers Toyota but it gets a two count. AKINO goes for an exploder but Toyota blocks it, high kick by AKINO but Toyota boots her back. Toyota gets AKINO on her shoulders but AKINO slides off, AKINO goes for a schoolboy but Toyota sits on her for two. AKINO pushes Toyota down and puts her in La Magistral, picking up the three count! AKINO wins!

Needless to say, AKINO and Toyota can’t “go” like they could 10 years ago, but both still know how to structure a match to make it entertaining. The ending was a bit flat as I’d have preferred after all of that they ended it with something bigger than a cradle, but they kept the action up and Toyota hit most of her big setup moves. I don’t mind a good veteran match now and then, not everything was hit crisp but it was still a fun watch. Mildly Recommended

Hikaru Shida and Yoshiko vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Tsubasa Kuragaki

Hiroyo and Yoshiko start the match, they trade holds before trying to knock each other over, with Hiroyo having the first success. Yoshiko returns the favor and knocks Hiroyo into the corner, she goes for a running boot but Hiroyo greets her with an elbow. Hiroyo snaps Yoshiko’s neck on the top rope, elbows by Hiroyo and she dropkicks Yoshiko in the head. She tags in Kuragaki, Kuragaki throws Yoshiko into the corner and she hits a couple lariats. Crab hold by Kuragaki but Hikaru runs in to break it up, Kuragaki keeps the hold applied though until Yoshiko makes it to the ropes for the break. She tags Hiroyo back in, scoop slam by Hiroyo and she hits a double kneedrop to Yoshiko’s stomach. Kuragaki returns, she throws Yoshiko into the corner but Yoshiko rebounds out of it with a diving lariat. That gives her time to tag in Hikaru, elbows by Hikaru to Kuragaki and she hits an enzuigiri. Hikaru gets her kendo stick, she hits Hiroyo in the head with it before rolling Kuragaki to the mat for a two count. Dropkick by Hikaru and she goes for a suplex, but she can’t get Kuragaki over. Yoshiko comes in to try to help but Kuragaki suplexes both of them and makes the tag to Hiroyo. Hiroyo goes up top and hits a missile dropkick onto Hikaru, backbreaker by Hiroyo and she puts Hikaru in the Argentine Backbreaker before hitting a gutbuster for a two count. Hiroyo picks up Hikaru and applies a sleeper, but Hikaru snapmares out of the hold. Elbows by Hiroyo but Hikaru catches her with a hurricanrana, running knee by Hikaru and she hits a vertical suplex for two. Running knee by Hikaru, but Hiroyo barely kicks out. Hikaru rolls to her corner and tags Yoshiko, senton by Yoshiko to Hiroyo but Hiroyo blocks the Samoan Drop attempt. Strike combination by Yoshiko and she kicks Hiroyo in the head, running senton by Yoshiko and she covers Hiroyo for two. Cobra Twist by Yoshiko but Kuragaki quickly breaks it up, Hikaru and Yoshiko pick up Hiroyo but Hiroyo catches them with a double backdrop suplex.

Reverse double kneedrop by Hiroyo out of the corner, but Yoshiko kicks out of the cover. Hiroyo goes back up top but Yoshiko elbows her and goes up as well, Hiroyo headbutts her off but Yoshiko headbutts her back. Chokebomb by Yoshiko, but Hiroyo rolls through it and they trade quick pin attempts. Yoshiko picks up Hiroyo and hits a fireman’s carry slam, she goes up top but Kuragaki runs in and joins her. Yoshiko blocks the superplex attempt but Hiroyo helps them out by powerbombing Kuragaki, sending everyone to the mat. Body avalanche by Hiroyo but Yoshiko blocks the powerbomb, elbow by Hiroyo but Yoshiko slides away and hits a Codebreaker. Spinning back elbow by Hiroyo, and both wrestlers are on the mat. Hiroyo recovers first and tags in Kuragaki, backdrop suplex by Kuragaki to Yoshiko and she goes for a moonsault, but Yoshiko gets her feet up. Yoshiko tries to tag out but Hiroyo knocks Hikaru off the apron, Yoshiko lariats Hiroyo before sending Kuragaki on top of Hiroyo and hitting a senton. Kuragaki recovers and trades elbows with Yoshiko, Hikaru kicks Kuragaki from the apron and Yoshiko delivers a lariat for a two count. Yoshiko gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving senton, but Hiroyo breaks up the cover. Hikaru comes in with her kendo stick and hits Hiroyo with it, but Kuragaki grabs it. Yoshiko tries to hold Kuragaki for Hikaru, but Hikaru hits Yoshiko with the kendo stick by mistake. Kuragaki then lariats both of them, another lariat by Kuragaki to Yoshiko but Hikaru breaks up the cover. Hiroyo returns and drops Hikaru with a backdrop suplex, she then picks up Yoshiko but Yoshiko blocks the suplex attempt and puts Hiroyo in a sleeper. Kuragaki breaks it up but Yoshiko then puts her in the sleeper, Kuragaki gets out of it and Hiroyo greets Yoshiko with a hard elbow. Assisted powerbomb by Hiroyo to Yoshiko, Kuragaki follows with a lariat and covers Yoshiko for two. Falcon Arrow by Kuragaki to Yoshiko, and she picks up the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto and Tsubasa Kuragaki are the winners!

An interesting booking choice, I’d never have expected Kuragaki to pin Yoshiko as the match result. This was enjoyable, a fast paced heavyweight match with four quality wrestlers. I wouldn’t have minded more Hikaru Shida since she is one of my favorites, but the story of the match centered around Yoshiko so she had to take a back seat. The team of Hiroyo and Kuragaki being dominate throughout the match surprised me, Kuragaki is one of those wrestlers that won’t win anything major but is a very respected veteran that can dominate just about anyone at any given time. Hiroyo’s power was impressive as always and while the heel/face dynamic didn’t exist it was still fun to watch. A fitting main event for a smaller show.  Recommended

The post OZ Academy “Dolphin” on 9/3/17 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Over the next eternity, I will be watching and reviewing all GAEA Japan events in order, starting with their debut show on April 15th, 1995. Visit the GAEA Japan Project page for a brief history of the promotion, the roster page, my favorite matches from the promotion, and the full list of all events reviewed. I will also be uploading my favorite match from each show so that everyone can enjoy it.

If you want to watch the GAEA Japan events I am reviewing, Mike Lorefice sells the complete seasons at a very reasonable price both via download and physical copy. Mike’s quebrada.net is one of the sites I’m using extensively to write these reviews, its a great resource for learning more about GAEA Japan and wrestling in general.

Since for the moment I am reviewing what was broadcast on TV and not what was released on commercial tapes, this airing only showed half of the event. The TV show that GAEA aired on, called Champ Forum, was only one hour long so some condensing was necessary. This event features an LLPW invasion, as four wrestlers from the promotion participate in the top two matches. Here are the matches from the event that made air:

• Meiko Satomura, Tomoko Kuzumi, and Toshie Sato vs. Toshie Uematsu, Yasuko Kuragaki, and Sonoko Kato
• Chigusa Nagayo and Meiko Satomura vs. Eagle Sawai and Keiko Aono
• KAORU and Sonoko Kato vs. Miki Handa and Michiko Nagashima

I have added profiles for all the wrestlers above, you can click on their names to go straight to it. Some wrestlers had double duty on this event as GAEA Japan was still in the process of fleshing out their roster.

Satomura, Tomoko Kuzumi, and Toshie Sato vs. Toshie Uematsu, Yasuko Kuragaki, and Kato

We join this in progress, with Meiko taking it to Uematsu with shoulderblocks. Snapmares by Meiko and she applies the cross armbreaker, but Kato quickly breaks it up. Meiko tags in Sato while Kuragaki also tags in, Sato repeatedly shoulderblocks Kuragaki to the mat before tagging Meiko back in. Dropkicks by Meiko and she twists Kuragaki’s arm, but Kuragaki reverses it and tags in Kato. Slap by Kato and she goes for a cross armbreaker, but Sato breaks it up. Kato goes for an armdrag but Meiko reverses it into a cross armbreaker, Kato gets to the ropes but Meiko hits mounted punches before tagging in Sato. Face crusher by Sato to Kato and she hits a second one, covering her for two. Kato manages to hit a pair of bulldogs and tags in Uematsu, diving crossbody by Uematsu but Kuzumi breaks it up. Sato hits a neckbreaker and tags in Kuzumi, schoolboy by Uematsu and she dropkicks Kuzumi to the mat. Kuzumi gets the schoolboy applied the next time, she gets on the second rope but is knocked back into the mat. She tags in Meiko, Meiko clubs everyone but is tripped from the floor. Kato comes in but so does Sato and Kuzumi, evening things up. Kuragaki knees Meiko from the apron, she clears their opponents off the apron while Uematsu connects with a diving crossbody onto Meiko for the three count! Toshie Uematsu, Yasuko Kuragaki, and Sonoko Kato win!

Only about a third of the match was shown, but it wasn’t bad for a rookie match. Some miscommunications, but remember that for four of them this was their second ever match and first tag team match, so some issues were bound to creep up. Interesting to watch just knowing how big of stars they would later become, but not a very good match.

Chigusa Nagayo and Meiko Satomura vs. Eagle Sawai and Keiko Aono

After the pre-match handshake, Keiko nicely goes out to the apron while Eagle attacks both of her opponents from behind. Eagle grabs Nagayo and bits a bodyblock, but Nagayo doesn’t go down. Nagayo’s heel kick has the same effect, both wrestlers go for lariats and they knock each other to the mat. The rookies come into the ring to help, Meiko stays in with Eagle and goes for dropkicks, but she can’t knock Eagle over. Eagle slaps Meiko in the chest and hits a bodyblock, she picks up Meiko and hits a scoop slam before tagging in Keiko. Back elbow by Keiko and she hits a bodyslam, she covers Meiko but it gets two. Irish whip by Keiko but Meiko hits a few shoulderblocks, she throws down Keiko by the hair and hits an elbow in the corner. More elbows by Meiko while Nagayo cheers her on, but Keiko switches positions with her and hits her own elbows. Keiko asks for a tag but Eagle isn’t interested, Meiko Irish whips Keiko and hits a few more jumping shoulderblocks. She asks for a tag but Nagayo wants her to stay in too, she shoulderblocks Keiko again and tries to tag Nagayo again, but Nagayo refuses. Note the crowd is cheering this, it is not Nagayo being mean but rather wanting the rookie to get experience and fight.

Keiko comes back with her own shoulderblock and finally Nagayo allows Meiko to tag her, Keiko elbows Nagayo into the corner and dropkicks her to the mat. Dropkick by Keiko and a hard shoulderblock, she covers Nagayo but it only gets two. Nagayo finally plants Keiko with a high kick, more kicks by Nagayo and she covers Keiko for two. Irish whip by Nagayo and she delivers a spinning heel kick, she picks up Keiko and tosses her into her own corner so Eagle can come in. Nagayo goes for a sleeper but Eagle drives her back into the corner, Eagle then goes for a powerbomb but Nagayo reverses it with a back bodydrop. Nagayo tags in Meiko, dropkicks by Meiko and she goes for the cross armbreaker, but Eagle grabs the ropes to block it. Meiko tries to knock Eagle over and eventually half succeeds, but Eagle knocks her back to the mat. The crowd is really getting behind Meiko as she tries to knock over Eagle, but she can’t get Eagle completely off her feet. Meiko is pretty gassed at this point as Eagle scoop slams her in front of the corner and tags in Keiko, scoop slam by Keiko and she covers Meiko for two. Dropkicks by Keiko and she coop slams Meiko, but Meiko bridges out of the pin. Meiko goes off the ropes and hits a couple shoulderblocks, she applies the cross armbreaker and Keiko quickly submits! Chigusa Nagayo and Meiko Satomura are the winners.

This is one of those matches that to appreciate, you have to look at it as it was presented in 1995. Chigusa Nagayo and Eagle Sawai were the mentors here for their rookie tag team partners – it wasn’t about them. That’s why it wasn’t the main event. Nagayo thought very highly of Meiko and was coaching her from the apron, but she wanted her to do it herself so she could learn and grow. Eagle was doing the same thing. The crowd was very supportive of this and was cheering young Meiko on, it was a very effective tactic by Chigusa Nagayo to give Meiko a bit of a rub in this manner. Now in a vacuum, it was still two rookies with very minimal move sets and experience doing the bulk of the work so it wasn’t particularly creative, but they definitely accomplished their goal and with so many rookies on the roster, this type of match was needed to try to start elevating them in the eyes of the crowd. I enjoyed it, nothing that would compare to a match with more veterans in it but still fun to watch.  Mildly Recommended

KAORU and Sonoko Kato vs. Miki Handa and Michiko Nagashima

Nagashima and Handa attack before the match starts and they immediately take the match out to the floor. Kato is tosses into various objects before Nagashima brings her back into the ring and tags in Handa. Handa tosses around Kato while preventing her from tagging in KAORU, Nagashima returns and they double team Kato in the ropes. Kato is beaten around the ring and generally treated like a low ranked rookie for several minutes, until she finally gets close enough to her corner and tags in KAORU. KAORU tosses Nagashima around the ring and stomps her down in the corner, Handa runs in to help her partner but KAORU dispatches her and gets back to Nagashima. Vertical suplex by KAORU, but the cover gets two. KAORU applies a chinlock and then a bodyscissors, but Nagashima gets out of it. KAORU slaps Nagashima and tags in Kato, dropkicks by Kato but Nagashima kicks her and tags in Handa. Handa tosses Kato in her corner so that KAORU can tag in, jumping neck drop by Handa and she tosses KAORU to the mat. Handa goes for KAORU’s leg but KAORU gets into the mat, Handa tags in Nagashima and Nagashima stays on the offense, as now KAORU is the Face in Peril. Handa returns and hits a diving crossbody on KAORU, but KAORU finally manages to roll up Handa and tags in Kato. Double dropkick to Handa and Kato hits a scoop slam, swandive body press by KAORU and Kato tosses around Handa by the hair. Dropkicks by Kato but Handa punches her and hits an elbow to the back of the head.

Vertical suplex by Handa, but the cover to Kato gets two. Handa tags in Nagashima, who dropkicks Kato in the face. Kato rolls out of the ring but KAORU hits Nagashima with a missile dropkick, she tosses Nagashima out of the ring but Handa sails in with a missile dropkick of her own. KAORU dumps Handa out of the ring and goes off the ropes, but Nagashima trips her from the floor and pulls KAORU out with her. KAORU is hit with chairs by both of her opponents, KAORU and Handa go up into the stands while Nagashima kicks Kato in the ring. Handa returns first and helps Nagashima double team Kato, who by this point is busted open. KAORU finally returns and tries to help Kato, but is kicked in the back of the head for her trouble and hit with a double neck drop. Nagashima goes up top but misses the missile dropkick on Kato, bulldog by Kato and she hits a second one for a two count. Kato slams Nagashima in front of the corner and tags in KAORU, who hits a moonsault onto Nagashima for two. She goes up top again but Nagashima rolls out of the way of the second moonsault attempt, KAORU lands on he feet but is hit from behind by Handa. Nagashima gets a kendo stick and hits KAORU with it, but KAORU knocks it away from her.

Handa distracts KAORU while allows Nagashima to hit a backdrop suplex, Nagashima tags Handa but KAORU avoids Handa’s dive and rolls her up for two. Scoop slam by KAORU in front of the corner, she goes up top but Nagashima hits her with the kendo stick before she can jump off. Nagashima hits KAORU a few more times, KAORU tags in Kato so Nagashima starts hitting her with it instead. Kato finally gets the stick from it, KAORU takes it and hits Nagashima with it repeatedly. Handa runs in with a chair as things break down again, and all four end up on the floor with Nagashima and Handa in control. Nagashima throws chairs at KAORU while Handa takes Kato up into the bleachers to beat on her. Meanwhile, Nagashima puts KAORU on a table, she gets on up the smaller stage and dives down onto her with a body press, breaking the table. Handa returns to the ring with Kato with Nagashima joining her, and both hit Kato with missile dropkicks. Nagashima pins Kato but pulls her up so that she can drop Kato with a backdrop suplex. Again she pulls up Kato instead of pinning her, scoop slam by Nagashima in front of the corner and she delivers a diving senton. She finally covers the not-moving Kato, and she picks up the three count. The winners are Miki Handa and Michiko Nagashima

A very interesting match, I am not quite sure how to describe it. Nagashima and Handa were both great in their roles as evil invaders, not just using weapons but bloodying the rookie and refusing to pin her until putting in maximum damage. I think Kato was legitimately knocked a bit loopy as she didn’t budge on the diving senton, when normally wrestlers at least brace for the impact a bit. It was probably a bit longer than it needed to be as parts did drag, but since it was the main event they probably felt an obligation to reach a certain time mark. But I thought for her second match, Kato looked really good and took a hell of a beating, and both teams worked together really well. It was chaotic without much of a structure, but overall I’d say it was pretty enjoyable and probably the best match on the card. Mildly Recommended

The post GAEA Japan “Second Battle Story” on 5/14/95 Review appeared first on Joshi City.

Since a fair number of OZ Academy shows air on GAORA, it isn’t unusual for us to be a bit behind in watching the promotion’s more significant events. This show just recently aired and is a big one, as it takes place at the famous Korakuen Hall and has two title matches on top. Here is the full card:

• Kaori Yoneyama and Aoi Kizuki vs. Rina Yamashita and Yako Fujigasaki
• Konami vs. Sonoko Kato
• Aja Kong, Yoshiko, and Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Mayumi Ozaki, Maya Yukihi, and Yumi Ohka
• Manami Toyota vs. Takako Inoue
• OZ Academy Tag Team Championship: Syuri and Hikaru Shida vs. AKINO and Kaho Kobayashi
• OZ Academy Openweight Championship: Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Kagetsu

You can click on the wrestler’s name above to go to their profile page on Joshi City. As this aired on GAORA there is likely heavy clipping, I’ll make a note of any match that is noticeably missing content.

Kaori Yoneyama and Aoi Kizuki vs. Rina Yamashita and Yako Fujigasaki

We join this one well in progress as Aoi and Yamashita are in the ring, Aoi applies a cobra clutch over her knee but Yamashita avoids the senton and kicks Aoi in the head for a two count. Yamashita goes for a backdrop suplex but Aoi blocks it, back up Aoi hits a lariat and she tags in Kaori. Kaori knees Yamashita in the back but Yamashita blocks the suplex attempt and hits a lariat for two. Yamashita tags in Yako and they double team Kaori in the corner, Yako goes up top and she hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Yako picks up Kaori and hits the double wrist armsault, but Aoi breaks up the cover. Yako goes up top but Kaori avoids the swivel both press, Aoi runs in and sentons Yako with Kaori following with a senton of her own. Kaori goes for a suplex but Yako blocks it, Yamashita runs in to help but she accidentally kicks Yako. Aoi sails off the top with a crossbody onto both of them, they put Yako in front of the corner and both hit diving sentons on Yako. Cover by Kaori and she gets the three count! Kaori Yoneyama and Aoi Kizuki win.

Clipped down to two minutes so not a whole lot to say about it. Fun home stretch though, Kaori and Aoi worked well together. Way too clipped to recommend but what they showed was fine.

Konami vs. Sonoko Kato

This match is also joined in progress as Kato is going for a suplex, but Konami blocks it. Uppercut by Kato and she hits a rolling fireman’s carry, picking up a two count cover. Kato gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a diving legdrop, but that gets a two count as well. Kato kicks Konami into the corner and hits the cannonball, she goes up top but Konami kicks her before she can jump off. Konami applies the sleeper but Kato gets into the ropes, schoolboy by Konami and she applies the cross kneelock. Kato manages to get into the ropes to force the break again, release German by Konami and she kicks Kato in the head for a two count. Konami drags Kato up but Kato catches her kick and hits a dragon screw. Konami charges Kato but Kato kicks her in the head, she goes for a Dragon Sleeper but Konami kicks her off. Kato kicks Konami in the back and applies it anyway, but Konami gets a foot on the ropes. Kato goes up top but Konami avoids the diving legdrop and quickly re-applies the sleeper. Kato throws her off this time and kicks Konami in the head, but Konami retorts with her own head kick. Another head kick by Kato but Konami hits another as well, as both wrestlers are woozy. Konami finally ducks a head kick and hits a pair of her own, but Kato quickly kicks out of the cover and delivers a heel kick for a two count. German suplex hold by Kato, she picks up Konami and nails the Kowloon’s Gate for the three count! Sonoko Kato is the winner.

Even though this was cut in half, I still really enjoyed it. Konami is one of the best wrestlers in the world with only two years experience, she has come along so well and is so smooth with her moves. I love how often she chains moves together, no waiting and thinking, just bang-bang-bang with the offense which is rare these days. Kato was game for everything and really put over Konami’s head kicks, this was a really close match which Kato didn’t have to allow it to be considering her level in the promotion. A really solid match, I just wish we saw more of it.  Mildly Recommended

Aja Kong, Yoshiko, and Kuragaki vs. Ozaki, Maya Yukihi, and Yumi Ohka

This one is joined in progress also, as poor Kuragaki is being whipped by Ohka. Kuragaki is triple teamed for a bit until everyone but Ozaki leaves, Kuragaki promptly drops her with two backdrop suplexes but Ozaki hits a spinning chop and tags in Ohka. Crossbody by Ohka and she whips Kuragaki before choking her, but Kuragaki tosses her to the mat. She goes for a moonsault but Ohka moves and hits a heel drop, Ohka goes off the ropes but Kuragaki ducks the boot. Kick by Ohka but Kuragaki levels her with a lariat, she goes off the ropes but Ohka hits the chokebomb for a two count. Now Ohka goes off the ropes but Kuragaki hits another lariat and makes the tag to Yoshiko. Maya is tagged in too and she whips Yoshiko in the leg, more whips by Maya and she chokes Yoshiko with it. PK by Maya, but the referee won’t count due to all the whip usage. Yoshiko gets the whip and hits Maya with it, running boot by Yoshiko and she covers Maya for two. Mounted choke by Yoshiko, she picks up Maya and elbows her, but Police hits Yoshiko with a chair from the floor. Ohka and Ozaki come in and Yoshiko is triple teamed, Maya goes up top and delivers a missile dropkick for a two count cover. Maya tags Ozaki who comes in with her chain, Ozaki hits Yoshiko in the head with it a few times but Yoshiko grabs it and they play tug of war.

They trade shots with the chain but Yoshiko hits a lariat, running senton by Yoshiko and she covers Ozaki for two. Yoshiko tags in Kong, Kong comes in with her metal can and hits everyone with it. Brainbuster onto the can by Kong, but again the referee won’t count since she used a weapon. Scoop slam by Kong and she gets on the second turnbuckle, but Police grabs her from the apron. Maya runs in too as everyone ends up in the ring, Kuragaki ends up with all three opponents in the corner and gets them all on her shoulders. Kuragaki tosses her to the mat and her team all hit lariats on their opponents before isolating Ozaki. Backdrop suplex by Kong to Ozaki, but Police breaks up the cover. Irish whip by Police and he goes for a lariat, but Kong slaps him in the face. Maya comes in and kicks Kong but Kuragaki lariats her, Ozaki tries to spray mist into Kong’s face but she sprays Ohka by accident. She ducks Kong’s backfist and mists her successfully the second time, Alex lee suddenly appears and she kicks Kong in the head. Schoolboy by Ozaki and she gets the three count! Ozaki Army win!

I don’t mind this match getting clipped a bit. As I mentioned at the top, not my cup of tea, but Kuragaki of all people came out looking like the star as multiple times she fought off Ozaki Army and had the most memorable offense in what they showed. Alex Lee joining Ozaki Army is really lackluster, she is a pretty average wrestler and doesn’t bring much to the table besides being another lackey to interfere in their matches. Some decent action and weapon shots, but quite a bit was missing and the big reveal at the end fell flat to me.

Manami Toyota vs. Takako Inoue

Toyota dropkicks Takako just as the match starts, she hops up on the top turnbuckle and delivers a diving armdrag, but Takako kicks her and hits a DDT. Another DDT by Takako and she applies a sleeper, but Toyota gets out of it by biting her foot. Toyota tickles Takako to get her to release the bodyscissors, she picks up Takako but Takako hits an armdrag. Wristlock by Takako and she steps on Toyota’s hand, she throws Toyota into the turnbuckles but Toyota gets away and rolls her up for two. Toyota twists Takako’s hair and throws her down by it, Toyota stomps on Takako near the ropes but Takako recovers and kicks Toyota in the leg. DDT by Takako and she boots Toyota in the head, but Toyota blocks the next one and bops her. Another boot by Takako, she goes up top but Toyota avoids the Takako Panic and applies the Manami Cradle Roll for a two count. Toyota quickly goes up top but Takako recovers and slams her back to the mat, cover by Takako but it gets two. Now Takako goes up top but Toyota joins her, avalanche chokeslam by Takako but Toyota barely gets a shoulder up. Takako goes up top and nails the Takako Panic, but again it only gets a two. Toyota ducks the backfist attempt and boots Takako in the face, big boot by Toyota and she nails the moonsault, but Takako barely kick out of the pin. Toyota goes for the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex but Takako gets away, she goes for the spinning backfist but Toyota ducks it. Suplex by Takako and she hits Toyota with a night stick, Takako Night Night by Takako but that gets a two as well. Takako goes up top and hits another Takako Panic, but she can’t keep Toyota down. Another Takako Night Night doesn’t do the trick either, Takako goes up top but Toyota boots her off and she falls to the floor. Toyota goes up top but Takako quickly rolls back in and joins her, but Toyota slaps her back to the mat and hits a missile dropkick. Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex by Toyota, but Takako kicks out at two. Toyota picks up Takako and hits the Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb, and she picks up the three count! Manami Toyota is your winner.

Needless to say, this was a “Legends” style match, which meant a bit of playing around but still with some quality action. Toyota and Takako are past their prime of course, and Takako doesn’t wrestle a normal schedule, but both are still in shape and had no issues putting on a ten minute match. They were spamming finishers a bit but I can see it being their last ever singles match so they wanted to put on a good show. An enjoyable match if you go in with the right expectations, the effort was definitely there and it was fun to see them going at it probably for the last time.

(c) Syuri and Hikaru Shida vs. AKINO and Kaho Kobayashi
OZ Academy Tag Team Championship

Syuri and Shida are deadly serious for this match, which doesn’t bode well for AKINO and Kaho. Syuri and Kaho start off, Kaho gets Syuri into the ropes and gives a clean break, but Syuri kicks her anyway and applies a headlock. Kaho gets out of it, shoulderblock by Kaho but Kaho kips up and hits a pair of armdrags. Dropkick by Kaho, AKINO comes in and Syuri is double teamed, but Shida grabs AKINO from the floor and pulls her out of the ring. Syuri gets out onto the apron and hits a jumping knee off of it onto AKINO, Kaho goes for a double crossbody but she is caught and thrown at AKINO. Shida battles Kaho around the ring while AKINO and Syuri end up in the bleachers, Syuri kicks AKINO in the head before coming back to ringside to help Shida double team Kaho. Shida stays in as the legal wrestler and hits a backbreaker on Kaho, Shida stretches Kaho over her shoulder before hitting another backbreaker. Syuri comes in but Kaho ducks their kick and they hit each other, AKINO dives in with a crossbody on both of them before Kaho applies a quick cover to Shida for two. Kaho tags AKINO, missile dropkick by AKINO but Syuri comes in to help. Syuri elbows Shida by accident, kicks by AKINO to Shida but Shida lands on her feet on the backdrop suplex attempt and hits a hurricanrana. Knee by Shida in the corner and she tags Syuri, kicks by Syuri and she hits a spinning headscissors. PK by Syuri, but AKINO kicks out of the cover.

Jawbreaker by AKINO and she delivers a few kicks, but Syuri ducks one and rolls her up. Syuri goes for a kick but AKINO blocks it, Syuri reverses AKINO’s hold into an ankle lock but AKINO reverses that into an armbreaker. AKINO charges Syuri but Syuri hits a jumping knee followed by a cross armbreaker takedown. Kaho breaks it up before Shida can get to her, kicks to the chest by Syuri to AKINO but AKINO catches her jumping knee attack and slams Syuri to the mat. AKINO locks in a deep headscissors but Shida breaks it up, kicks by AKINO and she covers Syuri for two. AKINO picks up Syuri but Syuri gets away and delivers a jumping knee. Kick combination by Syuri but AKINO elbows her and they trade shots until both collapse to the mat. AKINO tags in Kaho before Syuri can reach her corner, dropkicks by Kaho but Syuri kicks her in the chest and makes the tag to Shida. Shida goes for a suplex, Kaho gets out of it but Shida hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Kaho reverses the Falcon Arrow into a DDT, she goes up top but Shida throws the kendo stick at her, she joins Kaho up top but Kaho lands on top of her when she goes for a suplex. Kaho and AKINO both go up top together, Syuri runs in and hits a Backstabber on AKINO, but Kaho jumps off the top with a missile dropkick/body press combination on both opponents.

Fisherman suplex hold by Kaho, but Shida barely gets a shoulder up. Kaho goes off the ropes and goes for a roll-up, Shida blocks it but AKINO runs in and kicks her. Cover by Kaho, but Syuri breaks it up. Dropkick by Kaho, she goes off the ropes but Shida nails a jumping knee. Shida picks up Kaho and hits a vertical suplex, Three Count by Shida and Syuri follows with a PK. Another kick by Syuri and they both knee Kaho, but AKINO breaks up the pin. Shida goes off the ropes but Kaho catches her with a Frankensteiner, but Shida rolls through it. Jackknife cover by Kaho, she goes for La Magistral but Shida kicks her off. High kick by Shida but AKINO kicks her and Kaho hits a Codebreaker. 120% Schoolboy by Kaho, but Syuri breaks it up. Kaho goes off the ropes but it caught by a powerslam, Three Count by Shida but Kaho kicks out. Falcon Arrow by Shida, but AKINO breaks the pin up. She eats a double knee for her trouble as does Kaho, but again Kaho gets a shoulder up. Tamashi No Three Count by Shida, and she finally gets the three count pinfall! Syuri and Hikaru Shida are still the champions!

What a match. This was just a 15 minute strike filled sprint, with little time to breath or relax. I don’t mind matches that start with submission holds or feeling out, but I do enjoy when a match does something different as this one had none of that. Kaho is so easy to get behind, she got her ass kicked the whole match and even though I knew the ending, I still leaned forward when she got the 120% Schoolboy locked in, rooting her on even though I knew it wouldn’t work. She took an amazing amount of abuse here but kept on chugging along, until Shida finally found the right combination to put her away. Both teams are real tag teams, not just thrown together, and were constantly helping each other out without it feeling excessive or like one team was cheating. Just an incredible tag team match and one of my favorite ones of 2017 so far.  Highly Recommended

(c) Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Kagetsu
OZ Academy Openweight Championship

This match starts a bit slower, until Kagetsu drives Hiroyo into the corner and hits a running elbow smash. More elbows by Kagetsu and she hits a dropkick in the corner, Hiroyo recovers and they get into a double wristlock. Hiroyo chops Kagetsu in the chest but Kagetsu dropkicks her and the two trade elbows. Hiroyo throws Kagetsu out of the ring and throws her into the crowd, Hiroyo gets Kagetsu on her back before tossing her to the floor. Hiroyo throws Kagetsu into the ring post but Kagetsu moves when Hiroyo charges in, Kagetsu gets on the apron and kicks Hiroyo in the chest. Kagetsu throws Hiroyo back into the ring and puts her in a headscissors, Kagetsu kicks Hiroyo in the back but Hiroyo catches her with a sidewalk slam. Elbow drops to the back by Hiroyo, Hiroyo gets Kagetsu on her back and stretches her with a backbreaker. Kagetsu grabs the ropes to get out of it, she slides out to the apron but Hiroyo grabs her when she goes for a swandive move and throws Kagetsu back to the mat. Body avalanche by Hiroyo in the corner, she goes up top and she delivers a missile dropkick. Elevated crab hold by Hiroyo, but Kagetsu crawls to the ropes and reaches them for the break. Hiroyo gets on the second turnbuckle and hits a reverse double knee to Kagetsu’s back, gutbuster by Hiroyo and she covers Kagetsu for two. Kagetsu fights back with elbows, she goes for a suplex but Hiroyo blocks it. Kagetsu jumps up on the top turnbuckle and hits a missile dropkick, Kagetsu goes for a kick but Hiroyo catches it. Deadlift German by Hiroyo, she gets on the second turnbuckle but Kagetsu springboards up to her and dropkicks Hiroyo out of the ring. Kagetsu runs up to the top turnbuckle and dives out onto Hiroyo (and Rina Yamashita too), Kagetsu returns to the ring and waits for Hiroyo to recover. Kagetsu grabs Hiroyo as she gets on the apron but can’t suplex her back in, Hiroyo snaps Kagetsu’s neck over the top rope and climbs back into the ring.

Hiroyo elbows Kagetsu in the knee, she goes up top but Kagetsu joins her and hits a superplex. Kagetsu keeps the hold applied and hits a vertical suplex, cover by Kagetsu but it gets two. Strike combination by Kagetsu and she hits an Ebisu Drop, cover by Kagetsu but Hiroyo gets a shoulder up. Kagetsu hits a second one but she gets another two count, she jumps on Hiroyo’s back but Hiroyo blocks the sunset flip bomb and hits a hard lariat. Kagetsu kips up and kicks Hiroyo twice in the head, she goes for another high kick in the corner but Hiroyo ducks it and plants her with a powerbomb. Kagetsu recovers and hits another Ebisu Drop, but she can’t keep Hiroyo down for three. Hiroyo goes for a lariat but Kagetsu kicks her arm away, she goes for a backdrop suplex but instead drives Kagetsu face-first into the mat. Sliding Lariat by Hiroyo and both wrestlers are down on the mat. Hiroyo recovers first and elbows Kagetsu, Kagetsu elbows her back and the two trade blows. Roaring elbow by Hiroyo and she lariats Kagetsu, but Kagetsu stays up. Hard elbow by Hiroyo and she chops Kagetsu in the chest, she goes for a powerbomb but Kagetsu back bodydrops out of it. High kick by Kagetsu and she rolls up Hiroyo with a jackknife, but Hiroyo gets out of it. Kagetsu goes off the ropes but Hiroyo catches her with an elbow, she goes for a cover but Kagetsu reverses it into a cover of her own. Kagetsu goes for a hurricanrana but Hiroyo catches her, hitting a sit-down powerbomb for two. Hiroyo picks up Kagetsu but Kagetsu lands on her feet on the backdrop suplex attempt, high kick by Kagetsu and she applies a jackknife hold for two. Kagetsu goes off the ropes but Hiroyo nails a hard lariat, Hiroyo picks up Kagetsu and delivers the backdrop suplex for the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto is still the champion.

I enjoyed this as both are just so smooth at their execution and they hit hard, but both blowing off moves so quickly eventually got on my nerves. It was constant, but one example was Hiroyo being “out” at ringside, but upon getting on the apron hits the first move and is back in control. Both “reversed” covers after eating their opponent’s bigger moves a few times, and generally the transitions were non-existent for half the match. Still, I can’t say the match wasn’t exciting as it certainly was, and they just went non-stop for the end stretch. An enjoyable and intense main event, just lacking in some areas.  Recommended

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