Gatoh Move 12/30 & 12/31/18 Live Thoughts

December 30 and 31, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan

Shows #2 and 3 from Gatoh Move for this trip, although I was also lucky enough to also see Gatoh talent in action at Michinoku Pro on 12/21 and SEAdLINNNG on 12/28.

 

 

As I like to explain to start my Ichigaya reviews, these events are held in a small room with no ring and two large windows on one wall which are removed for the shows. The crowd itself is effectively the “rope break” marker and the wrestlers will sometimes use the front row to bounce off of for “running the ropes” and the windowsills to jump off of for high risk maneuvers. The limitations of the venue restrict the action in ways compared to “normal” matches, but also provide opportunities for creative variations on standard wrestling elements.

Pictures are not allowed during the show but can be taken afterward, so my pics here won’t contain anything from the matches and will only be of the roundtable and dancing following the shows (as well as of some souvenirs).

 

12/30/18:

 

 

I’ve seen An-chamu at Gatoh Move once before in 6-person tag team competition, but here the gravure model had a singles opportunity against Gatoh’s resident ace in Riho. An has a different look and approach to wrestling that helps her stand out. She’s not nearly as physically strong as the other rookies, so has to adapt a bit in style. So far it’s working well and provides a nice contrast. Decent showing before the women tri-champion Riho turned up the pressure and simply outpaced and dispatched of the rookie.

 

 

Mei Suruga’s straight ahead, “I can take on the world” optimistic character is fantastic, and the undercurrents of mind games and one-upmanship it fostered in her match with the larger, stronger Saki were phenomenal. Lots of compelling, back and forth action until the size and power advantage finally swung things Saki’s way and she picked up the victory.

 

 

Masahiro Takanashi, Emi Sakura, & Baliyan Akki are always a blast as a trios team as their heel instincts gradually come out, making their pairing against the hero group of  Mitsuru Konno, Sawasdee Kamen, & Sayaka Obihiro even more appropriate and fun. Obi didn’t quite mesh well with the masked heroes in the end, causing miscommunications that lead to Akki pinning Mitsuru. Sawasdee was not happy with Obi “failing” his regular partner and made it known. Standard high level performance from Gatoh’s 6-person tags.

 

 

12/31/18:

 

 

Baliyan Akki  vs Cherry vs Toru Owashi was of course comedy heavy with the talent involved, but still felt nicely competitive. Cherry outsmarting  her much larger opponents and pitting them against one another to earn a win here was a really solid story to build around, and they did so reasonably well.

 

Seeing Masahiro Takanashi and Cho-un go to a time limit draw on New Year’s Eve has become something of annual tradition, and to be honest one I was a bit lukewarm on last year. I feel like they pushed themselves a bit to do something different this time, to great effect. While the previous matches were decent, this one was more interesting, with better pacing and the draw feeling less like a forgone conclusion, and unusual elements (like fighting over an audience member’s stool) being involved. Kudos to the vets for freshening things up.

 

 

The main event was a “old Gatoh Move vs new Gatoh Move” 6-woman tag as Riho, Sayaka Obihiro, & Emi Sakura faced Mitsuru Konno, Mei Suruga, & Yuna Mizumori. From little things like brawling through the crowd a little more to coming up with inventive new ways to use the windows to all the tiny, detailed character touches they all use to differentiate themselves, Gatoh Move’s firing on all cylinders and the results are amazing. I loved this match, from the starting moments where Sakura didn’t quite care about being a full part of her team through to when the veterans’ skills were just a little too much for the rookies’ energetic determination to overcome and all the frantic, captivating action in between. Mei was eventually isolated by her opponents, triple teamed liberally, and pinned by Riho.

 

 

Seeing Gatoh Move at full strength is so awesome, and as I’ll mention often in this batch of write ups there was a definite feeling of progression and evolution in these shows. The wrestlers are pushing the boundaries of the format, environment, and the personal strengths and weaknesses they’re working with and elevating what was already always a fun time to another level. Everything’s consistently coming together wonderfully and it’s a joy to see.