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Japan Reviews Wrestling

Merry Joshi Christmas 2017! Part 4: Marvelous 12/25/17 Live Thoughts

December 25, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan

I was lucky enough to see four shows themed about and/or on Christmas this year. First was an Ice Ribbon dojo show on the 23rd leading to a show of theirs at KFC Hall early on Christmas Eve. After that was Gatoh Move in Ichigaya, and here I’ll be talking about my Christmas Day show at Shin-Kiba First Ring by Marvelous.

Similar to last year this show had a lot of Christmas elements, in this case including some wrestlers in costumes and randomly inserted presents under certain chairs in the venue (such as towels, t-shirts, etc).

 

 

There was a heavy focus on teams and stables for this show, with matches often having leadership implications and or teammates facing off. For example in the opener of HENA-CENTRIC (Sakura Hirota & Miki Tanaka) vs Level 5 (Yuu Yamagata & Tomoko Watanabe) it seemed whoever obtained the pin would become the leader of their team, while whoever WASN’T pinned on the opposing team would gain that honor for theirs.

As to be expected with Hirota involved, this was almost all comedy, starting with her generally being as much on other team’s side as her own, and proceeding into things like Watanabe giving her a gift of  diapers for her twins which eventually were fought over and placed over Hirota and Tanaka’s heads. There are parts of Hirota’s humor I don’t care for, but a lot of it here was amusing and I enjoyed the match overall. The absolute highlight of the comedy involved something I usually don’t enjoy: “fourth wall” breaking. Hirota was trapped in a waistlock screaming and struggling to avoid a German suplex when she suddeny stopped and just stared at her partner in the corner for a second. She then apologized to Wantanabe, asked for a moment, calmly opened the latter arms and left her standing in that position. Hirota then walked over to her own corner, slapped Tanaka upside the head for still having the diaper on (a good five minutes after it was put on her), and ripped it off her head. Hirota then went back to Wantanabe, thanked her, and put herself back in the waistlock, complete with resumed screaming. It was absurd, and hilarious.

 

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This was my first time seeing Tanaka, and she was a highlight here. She was decent in the action that happened and great in her role in the comedy, and her truculence at listening to Hirota and dealing with her was perfect, particularly given what it built to. Eventually Hirota and the other team all got in each other’s way, and the rookie no one was paying attention to or cared about jumps on the pile and gets the win on Wantanabe.

Everyone else as stunned and Tanaka’s gleeful jumping around in celebration was AWESOME (amusingly STILL in her snowman costume, even though Hirota had shed her Christmas tree one early on). She immediately lets her newfound power go to her head, bossing Hirota around, making her hold the ropes for Miki, etc. Can’t say it wasn’t deserved. 😉

One last phenomenal touch was Yamagata’s slow realization that things worked out for her. She showed disappointment at the loss, which gradually changed to a look of relief and then glee as she processed that she wasn’t pinned and thus was her team’s new leader. She treats Wantanabe much the same as Tanaka did Hirota as they leave.

The action was fine and the comedy was a mix of hilarious and meh, but the finish and story were fantastic.

 

 

 

While I didn’t understand what was on the line nor the full dynamics of the match pitting Rin Kadokura against Sumire Natsu, the general gist of Rin not having any patience for Sumire and Rin’s Wave Tag Team Championship partner Takumi Iroha somehow being in the middle of things was easy to pick up. Little things like Sumire mimicking Rin’s entrance dance behind her to Rin’s eventual displeasure and Iroha aiding Rin at points seemed like nice touches to the unfolding angle.

Sumire has improved over the last couple of years but is still just ok in the ring and more character than ringwork. The crowd didn’t seem to care much, which minimized that second point and held things back a little in general. On the other hand Rin is great (particularly for her experience level) and was able to fire everyone up when she took over offense, so this evened out to be fine overall.

To Rin’s frustration they wrestled to a time limit draw, and it was established that the victor would be determined by Rock-Paper-Scissors. They proceeded to draw several times, until Sumire demurred and seemed to grant Rin whatever they were fighting over with a self satisfied look and an expression of confusion from her opponent. Obviously there’s more to this than what I caught, but the high points of the story still seemed well conveyed even with my lack of Japanese language comprehension.

 

 

 

The third match saw faction W-Fix fight amongst themselves to determine a leader as DASH Chisako & KAORU faced Chikayo Nagashima & Megumi Yabushita. The referee immediately explained given the tendencies of the people involved she wasn’t going to bother with silly things like rules and this became no DQ.

I’m a huge fan of Dash in general so it’s always a treat to see her, and the remainder of the participants are other veterans capable of magic on the right night. This was certainly it. The match was incredible, with the teammates going all out in a war using all of their trademark heel antics on each other and just flat out trying to win, which had the crowd giving them all big face reactions if just for one night. It totally worked in a way that will let them go right back to being booed as needed on the next show. And any match that ends with Dash’s picture perfect frog splash (the “Hormone Splash”) is even better. 🙂 My match of the night, and one of my favorites of the whole trip.

The pinfall gives Dash leadership of W-Fix, but she immediately cedes it to her partner Kaoru. Karou then presents the team with matching jackets as Christmas presents. In gratitude they swarm her with a group hug declaring “Best Leader!” This whole sequence amused me to no end.

 

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The tag team of Mio Momono and Maruko has expanded into a full faction called the “Outsiders,” and here each teamed with other members in another intra-faction Leadership match, Mio Momono & La Rosa Negra vs Maruko Nagasaki & Kyuri.

 

 

I’ve written about Mio and Kyuri as rising stars, and they’ve both become personal favorites of mine. Maruko is also right there with them as a phenomenal quasi-rookie talent. All three are much more skilled than their experience would suggest, and I was really excited for the opportunity to see them square off in various combinations. They delivered, as did the four competitor. Rosa did interject a lot of comedy into things here (mostly based around struggling with Japanese and not quite understanding things), but it worked well and her ring style was a good fit as well. I came out of this really excited about her being a part of this unit and seeing her in more matches alongside the others. Great stuff.

 

 

The match ended in the second draw of the evening, and after an extended sequence of getting Rosa to do RPS correctly, everyone throws the same thing… except Kyuri, who becomes the Outsiders’ leader. Hopeful (and force of nature) Mio is NOT pleased, and Kyuri herself seems reluctant. The other three actually pose without their leader, but then decide “maybe okay” and seem to agree to give her a chance. Lots of interesting ways to go with this.

 

 

The semi-main event was a men’s match pitting Leo Isaka against TAKU Iwasa. I don’t know if it was nerves or just being green, (at less than a year wrestling) but Leo was a bit off in the early going. Not horrible, but clearly not hitting things cleanly and being a bit off at times. The crowd was much more into him as the home grown talent than his visiting veteran opponent, which was understandable but hurt reactions a bit because the crowd didn’t care when Taku was on offense but because of the differing skill levels the match was actually much better whenever he was. Things did ramp up overall as the match went on though, and as mentioned the crowd was excited for Leo even in defeat.

 

 

Takumi Iroha, who I’ve also  wrote about as someone to watch in the past, also main evented last year’s Marvelous show and is clearly being groomed / built as the central star of the promotion. Here she got a one on one non-title opportunity with Sendai Girls’ Champion Chihiro Hashimoto.

 

 

This was my first look at Chihiro, and I was definitely impressed. It’s immediately easy to see why she holds Sendai’s title. This was an excellent, hard hitting contest with Takumi and Chihiro just beating the hell out of each other and throwing each other around. Iroha’s blend of power and high flying is just incredible.

They battled all the way to the third time limit draw of the evening, which wasn’t terribly surprising given the participants. I know there might be some criticism about half the matches ending that way (one I’d normally share), but each match it happened in unfolded differently, and logically, with varying post match implications and significance. So I was actually totally fine with it all myself.

 

 

Strong overall show from Marvelous, probably the best I’ve seen from them yet. Even the stuff that wasn’t quite to my tastes wasn’t bad, and the highlights were fantastic. This one’s an easy recommendation.

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Japan Reviews Wrestling

Gatoh Move 12/29/17 Live Thoughts

December 29, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan

My second Gatoh Move at Ichigaya Chocolate Square of my most recent trip was a particular blast for a multitude of reasons.

 

As I like to explain to start my Gatoh Move reviews, the Ichigaya 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. I’ve greatly enjoyed the previous events I’ve seen seen there.

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).

 

As usual for Gatoh Move all the shows opened and closed with a song/dance performed by the core roster, in this case Emi, Riho, Mitsuru, and Obi. Aasa was sick and missed all of the GM shows I saw this time. Hope she feels better soon.

For this show I was right outside the window the wrestlers usually use for “high risk maneuvers” and sometimes fight right out of, leading to a need to be ready to scramble out of the way at a moment’s notice. Of note for this show, there a was a couple with a baby seated right next to me. This will become highly relevant. 😉 During the opening dance and introduction the wrestlers were all (rightfully) infatuated with the baby and waving to her.

 

 

 

Mitsuru Konno is my favorite Gatoh Move wrestler (among an incredibly talented roster in the first place) so I was extremely excited to see her get a singles opportunity against Gatoh Move’s Ace, the reigning Super Asia champion Riho. Riho is a 12 year veteran at age 20, and her smoothness in everything she does and general instincts properly reflect her experience and skills. This was fantastic, with both making full use of the environment and telling a strong story of Mitsuru getting aggressive in trying to prove herself but coming up a bit short against GM’s superstar. A lot of this happened near (or through) my window, which was a particularly fun bonus for me. Mitsuru’s spot where she spills out of the window then later propels herself back in to attack her opponent using an audience stool to launch from appears to be a regular part of her matches now, and is always awesome.

 

 

 

A flashback to last year for me saw Antonio Honda vs Sayaka Obihiro vs Jaki Numazawa in a comedy skit match. Whenever someone got a 2 count they were allowed to take a prop from a provided basket and make a joke. The referee would then decide if a point was scored (based on whether it was funny, usually indicated by audience laughter). Most points at the end of the time limit wins. The previously mentioned baby’s presence had a big impact here, as Honda stopped a couple of times to reassure her when they were fighting, and during the comedy portions her booming, delighted laughter was absolutely contagious.

Overall this was probably my favorite comedy match ever in Gatoh Move so far, as the gist was usually easy to pick up despite not understanding the spoken portions of the jokes, as were other themes like Obi’s attempts generally not going over well (to the point where she stopped mid-joke once frustratingly declaring “it’s not funny!” and just went back on the attack). Fun stuff.

 

 

The main event was another great tag match from the Asia Dream Tag Team Champions Emi Sakura & Masahiro Takanashi, with opponents Kazuhiro Tamura & Baliyan Akki who were totally up for the challenge. My first look at Akki was a really good one here, as he fit in well with his much more experienced compatriots and is adapting nicely to GM’s home venue’s unique environment and its constraints and strengths. Overall this was simply a well worked, highly enjoyable main event. Of special note was Emi amusingly reaching out to try to tag the baby when in a submission hold, as well as directly leading me in (successfully) trying to start a “Sa-ku-ra” chant at one point.

 

One of the best Ichigaya events I’ve seen here, with just enough that felt different from GM’s (admittedly awesome) usual formula, in addition to my personal experience being elevated by my lucky seat position and the antics around me.

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Japan Reviews Wrestling

Merry Joshi Christmas 2017! Part 2: Ice Ribbon 12/24/17 Live Thoughts

December 24, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan

A week out from Ribbonmania Ice Ribbon had another relatively major show at KFC Hall, headlined by the Ribbonmania challenger to Risa Sera’s Ice Cross Infinity Championship trying to take Risa’s other belt first as Kurumi Hiiragi & Akane Fujita challenged Azure Revolution (Risa Sera & Maya Yukihi) for the International Ribbon Tag Team Championships.

This was my second of four Christmas shows this year, taking place on Christmas Eve. The first was an Ice Ribbon dojo show the day before, which did a lot to build up some of the issues going into this show.

 

This was my first time at KFC Hall for anything. It’s a really nice venue with a good atmosphere. The show started with the roster dancing out in Santa hats while Maya sang part of “All I Want for Christmas.”

 

 

 

The first match saw a developing rivalry between rookies take the stage in a singles match pitting Asahi against Ibuki Hoshi. They were on opposite sides of the main event tag match for the previous day’s dojo show, and showed a lot of aggravation and frustration with each other. That vibe continued here in a hard hitting encounter (wow did they lay into each other with forearms) that saw IR’s younger Hoshi get the better of her rival. Ibuki has looked good in everything I’ve seen her in so far, and I’ve been even more impressed with Asahi. Looking forward to seeing both continue to develop their skills.

 

 

 

Tequila Saya had been out of action for a bit, and returned to face the daunting opposition of Satsuki Totoro. Another solid contest, with Saya trying to persevere against the onslaught of her larger opponent but eventually being overwhelmed. Satsuki landed hard on Saya for the finishing top rope senton, and Saya seemed knocked for a loop. She did stand and was helped out. I hope she’s ok.

 

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As befitting a team of Matsumoto & The Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi) their match against Hana DATE, Makoto, & Julia was a strong blend of action and comedy. Hammy’s reindeer costume was highly amusing. Like the day before Miyako busted out the “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” Mama Miya, and it was likewise hilariously unsuccessful. This was my first live look at both Hana and Julia. Julia looked decent, even if it was obvious she was in the match to be take the fall. Hana’s style of strike based wrestling is great, and I certainly understand all the buzz I’ve seen about her.  She had my favorite spots of the match, including a sequence where she tried to wear down Hammy’s impervious stomach with a serious of quick strikes, and an absolutely beautiful flying kick to her three opponents stacked in the corner.

Miyako constantly trying to steal the spotlight from her own partners was also highly amusing. And with her team’s victory, I believe this is the longest winning streak I’ve seen from her live, at two whole matches. 😉

Honestly Makoto was just kind of there. Not bad, but didn’t really add anything and I’ve seen better from her.

 

 

 

My most anticipated match of the card was up next as GEKOKU (Kyuri & Maika Ozaki) got a shot at the more experienced and decorated Best Friends (Tsukasa Fujimoto & Arisa Nakajima). It started off interesting right away as after their entrance Kyuri and Maika quickly had ref Mio check them (as would normally happen after both teams had entered) and snuck out of the ring back to the sides of the entrance. Then as Best Friends came out they ambushed them from behind to jump start the match. I really liked this, as it showed both aggression and perhaps a bit of desperation from a great team that unfortunately hasn’t had much success lately facing formidable opponents. Little touches like Maika shushing the crowd to not give away their intentions were great.

 

 

 

This was simply a great match. I really wish GEKOKU had pulled out the upset, as there were a lot more interesting ways to go with that result, but they had a strong showing against one of the best tag teams in the world regardless.

 

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The two semi-finals of the Young Ice Tournament (where the winner will be in line for a title match of her choice) were the last matches before the main event, starting with Nao DATE vs Uno Matsuya. Nao impresses me more and more the more I see her wrestle, and Uno is my favorite rookie in IR, so I was excited for this one. Hana had initially seemed a potential favorite for this tourney, so when Uno eliminated her in the first round it opened up the possibility of Uno as a dark horse candidate. I wish she had advanced here, as it would have kept a feeling of uncertainty alive and capitalized on the momentum of that first round victory instead of wasting it. The match was extremely good either way though and Nao certainly deserves the opportunity for a important match at Mania.

 

 

 

With Nao advancing to the finals, Karen DATE vs Maruko Nagasaki seemed even more like a forgone conclusion. Good match, with Karen doing really well against the most experienced participant in the tourney before Maruko put her away for the expected win. Maruko is very good, but I really wish someone else was winning this tournament. She’s already viewed at a slightly higher level than the rest of the field, and whatever title opportunity she’ll be pursuing could have easily been set up another way. In general IR needs to do more to elevate their undercard during tournaments, as they tend to have the favorites dominate. I will be absolutely (and pleasantly) SHOCKED if Nao wins at Ribbonmania.

Maruko and Nao have a tense staredown further setting up the finals as Nao comes out to check on her defeated sister after the match. If Maruko wins she will have gone through every member of Team DATE in the tourney except her former rival Hana.

 

 

 

 Azure Revolution (Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera) vs Akane Fujita & Kurumi Hiiragi for the International Ribbon Tag Titles was good, intense match where Akane in particular shined. Watching her and Kurumi level people like wrecking balls is great. The champs retained with Maya’s “Snow-ton” Bomb on Akane, giving Risa bragging rights over her impending challenger without slowing Kurumi’s momentum as a threat to Risa. I wanted a title change here, but this makes a Kurumi victory at Mania more likely (I don’t see Risa having both belts going into the new year). Kurumi got in Risa’s face for a pull apart when the latter tried to cut a post match promo. Good build to the main event on their biggest show of the year.

 

 

 

 

Akane took the microphone for a second during the post match tensions and challenged Arisa Nakajima. It was accepted and announced for Mania. This answers the question of Arisa’s involvement with her tag partner busy in Tsukushi’s re-debut. Will be a good match and Akane totally deserves the spotlight of a singles match against a big name opponent (even if Arisa’s victory or a draw is a foregone conclusion).

 

 

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Great show overall, with not a bad match in the bunch and my only real criticism some of the booking choices.

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Merry Joshi Christmas! Part 3: Gatoh Move 12/24/17 Live Thoughts

December 24, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan

For my third of four Christmas themed shows this year (and my second of the day on Christmas Eve) I saw Gatoh Move at Ichigaya Chocolate Square.

 

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The Ichigaya 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. I’ve greatly enjoyed the previous events I’ve seen there.

 

As usual for Gatoh Move all the shows opened and closed with a song/dance performed by the core roster, in this case Emi, Riho, Mitsuru, and Obi. This was the first show after the retirement of Kotori, who’s final show I unfortunately missed due to coming to Japan a day late to attend.

 

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).

 

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Aasa wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t compete, so Sayaka Obihiro took her place and the show opened with her against Antonio Honda in a comedy match, something I’m very familiar with from previous trips. In this case it was a Christmas Deathmatch with weapons available to be taken out of a stocking such as a Santa hat, Rudolph nose and ears for a finger puppet rendition, and a croissant. There was also a coffee break scheduled five minutes in. This was ridiculous but on purpose, and while not quite all of the humor was to my tastes it was amusing enough overall. The highlight was Honda using the croissant as a mustache for an energetic, over the top Hogan impression, then opening it and splitting it in half for him and Obi to share during the calm, low key coffee break.

 

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Next up was a 3-way match featuring CHANGO, PSYCHO, and Hoshitango Imachi. Solid contest focused around Psycho flying about (often from the windowsill I was seated right outside, smoothly jumping up into it inches from my face) and he and Chango trying to deal with the larger Hoshitango.

 

The main event continued my string of seeing Emi Sakura & Masahiro Takanashi against Riho and a different partner in the main of the first GM Ichigaya show I see each holiday trip. In 2015 it Kotori was her partner, and last year it was Aasa. This time she teamed with Mitsuru.  I’ve really enjoyed all the variations on this match I’ve seen, and this was no exception. They really used the environment to its fullest, and Emi and Takanashi played subtly heel to put even more sympathy on the relative rookie Mitsuru.

 

 

 

Being at the target window I had Mitsuru dumped across the windowsill right in front of me slingshot suplex style at one point, then late in the match she and Takanashi spilled all the way out of the window and brawled as I scrambled out the way. My favorite spot of the matched followed, as once Mitsuru neutralized Takanashi she pulled one of the audience stools back near the window, then ran towards it and used it as a platform to launch herself back inside through the window at Emi. Was so cool seeing that from a foot away. The tag champs eventually isolated the less experienced member of the opposing team and Emi pinned Mitsuru for the win. This was great.

 

 

 

The post show roundtable had a fun feel, with the core roster in different colored Santa outfits, Honda wearing reindeer antlers, etc. There was also a couple rounds of rock, paper, scissors for the opportunity to purchase special autograph boards, which was a fun touch.

 

As usual Gatoh Move at Ichigaya provided an atmosphere that’s unlike anything else in wrestling. While these shows can feel very similar to one another, they are always enjoyable. I had a lot of fun with this one, particularly the main event.

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Merry Joshi Christmas 2017! Part 1: Ice Ribbon 12/23/17 Live Thoughts

December 23, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan

 

I can’t believe it’s so close to the holidays, and that it’s already time for me to be back in Tokyo. My first show for this trip was Christmas Ribbon at the Ice Ribbon Dojo.

This wasn’t a Shutter Ribbon event, so I don’t have any pictures of the matches.

 

Right before the show got going Sato and Tsukka came out in suits with a formal announcement that a settlement had been reached and that Tsukushi will be returning to Ice Ribbon at Ribbonmania in a “career reset.” Tsukushi then came out for a few words. Her time away and working in the background was appropriate, but I’m glad things are going better and an arrangement was reached for her second chance. She’ll be facing Tsukka in her re-debut.

 

The start of the show was then announced and the roster came out in Christmas outfits (to Maya singing a version of “Jingle Bells”) and had a lengthy, light hearted segment of opening comments.

 

Maika Ozaki vs Nagasaki Maruko  was a great opener, with good, hard hitting action (man did they lay in those forearm shots) with an underlying sense of tension, and a real sense both were growingly frustrated with being unable to win. Maika has really evolved a lot since she first started wrestling in Ice Ribbon and I think both these wrestlers will have big things ahead of them. There was a brief pull apart brawl afterwards as neither was satisfied with the time limit draw, so a rematch seems likely. Looking forward to it.

 

 

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The teams of Tsukasa Fujimoto, Miyako Matsumoto, & Karen DATE and Kyuri, & Novel Tornado (Satsuki Totoro & Nao DATE) each brought several balloons to ringside with them for their 6-woman tag match. It indicated another of IR’s special stipulation matches that highlight touches of comedy and amusingly absurd match conditions while still maintaining a strong sense of competition and the essential trappings of a wrestling match. IR is one of the best promotions there is at achieving that balance. In this case the balloons were legal to use during the match, and there were numerous clever spots involving popping the balloons on and around their opponents. From various splashes onto each other with balloons wedged in between people to hard kicks popping balloons on opponents’ chests and faces, etc there was so much amusement the fact that the competitors often had to hold balloons in place on themselves was easily overlooked. Another humorous highlight was “Merry Christmas Mama Mia,” in which Miyako laid out her three opponents in a line and had her partners Tsukka and Karen follow her around the ring posing while Miyako sang “we wish you a Merry Christmas.” Of course the entire opposing team got their legs up when Miyako’s trio went for the splashes at the end.

This was my first time seeing Novel Tornado team in any capacity, and they have great chemistry and nice double teams. Kyuri fit in well with them and the opposing trio was an equally suitable pairing. Again what I liked best is that underneath all the comedic elements was a solid, well wrestled match. And of course seeing Miyako get a rare win with a Super Mama Mia (onto a balloon of course) was a nice bonus. This was a ton of fun.

 

 

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Things went back to all business in the third match, an interesting non-title encounter between Ir’s Cross Infinity Champion Risa Sera and Uno Matsuya. Uno continues to be absolutely incredible at playing the underdog and getting the audience behind her, and with a little bit of dismissiveness thrown in from Risa they had the crowd fully invested and totally believing in a possible upset by Uno. Risa had a few close calls and eventually had to pull out several finishers to put the upstart down in another great contest.

The timing of this was intriguing, as Uno is still a part of the Young Ice Tournament. She was despondent with the loss, and while I don’t think this is how the tourney will play out her winning it and using the prize choice of championship opportunity to demand a rematch from Risa with the title on the line is certainly one logical way they could go and would be a highly satisfying story to watch unfold.

 

 

The main event saw a nice combination of build for two different matches at the next big show as Maya Yukihi & Ibuki Hoshi faced Akane Fujita & Asahi. The very next day Akane and partner Kurumi would be challenging Azure Revolution (Maya & Risa) for the International Ribbon Tag Team Championships, and Asahi and Ibuki would be facing off in a singles rematch. Akane started things off passive aggressively by shaking Ibuki’s hand but refusing Maya and from there all four kept up a good feeling of hostility and wanting to better their respective rivals here. This was best when the wrestlers were just trying to plow through one another and viciously striking their opponents. The sound of the impacts the smaller Asahi and Ibuki were managing when forearming each other was cringe inducing, and Akane playing wrecking ball is always a treat to watch.

There was some awkwardness during other sequences, such as Maya seemingly not being able to decide which corner to go up in at one point and repeatedly starting to go out just to come back in and think some more (given the sequence eventually ended with her partner getting involved I’d guess either someone was out of position or Maya momentarily lost track of where things were going and whether her choice of corner mattered). But they were minor things overall and the match was still quite a good main event to finish the show off  that provided some great build for the following day’s show. Maya eventually got Asahi isolated and kept hitting escalating moves until the rookie couldn’t kick out.

 

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Merry Christmas!

 

The post show roundtable was all about building up the next show, with a nice summary video package shown and several little scuffles and/or arguments between impending opponents. Asahi seemed quite broken up and was crying as she gave her portion, and Tsukka picked her to lead the show ending “Happy Ice Ribbon” cheer to the audience’s strong approval. Two new trainees were introduced as well.

 

I really enjoyed this. It had a diverse batch of matches and styles and was just generally good wrestling all around. The recent influx of talent is certainly having an effect, as having more power wrestlers such as Totoro, Nao, and Maika in addition to Akane and Kurumi and the MMA influence the Team Date women brought in to supplement mat technicians like Kyuri and Tsukka adds significant depth and variability to the stories that can be told. This show was a perfect way to start my trip.

 

Categories
Art Japan Reviews

Glimpses of the Stars, the Past, and the Present

Tenri Cultural Institute, in addition to its language school, concerts, and various other cultural events, hosts an art gallery that is always home to a variety of incredible exhibitions ranging from demonstrations of traditional Japanese techniques to innovative displays of multinational modern art. I’ve spotlighted several past showings, including Chika MacDonald’s Mugen exhibit and Nobuko Tsuruta’s 12 Years.

Here I’ll be talking about last month’s Pseudoastronomy by Kiichiro Adachi and the currently ongoing The Art of Japan: NOW, with the Past by the
Alumni Association of Tokyo University of the Arts.

 

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Kiichiro Adachi sees his art as a way to explore the “distortion” of using made man things to “control or simulate nature.” His Pseudoastronomy exhibition (which ran from November 9th to the 22nd) sought to capture a small piece of the grandeur of  the universe via light reflections of off intricate, carefully constructed mirrored apparatuses.

 

 

 

The exhibit was tailored to the space available at TCI and the effect of the moving reflections through the darkened space and added light smoke effects was captivating. In comments about the exhibit Adachi mentions he likes “the absurdity of using mirror balls to simulate the sacred universe.” This perspective and his creativity created a striking piece of art with a thought provoking theme beneath it.

 

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Tokyo University of the Arts Alumni Association of New York’s “2nd Art and Music Collaboration Exhibition,” entitled The Art of Japan: NOW, with the Past, features an art collection by several artists, along with musical performances and workshops all focused on highlighting a combination of modern and traditional Japanese influences.

 

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The opening reception featured shamisen music by Yoko Reikano Kimura and tango/jazz by Machiko Ozawa (violin) & Ayako Shirasaki (piano). Both performances were excellent.

 

 

There are also workshops related to this event, including the still to come “NOH WORKSHOP: VOYAGE TO NOH” with sessions for both children and adults on December 10.

 

 

 

The varied and distinctive pieces that comprise The Art of Japan: NOW, with the Past exhibit can be viewed at TCI until Monday, December 11.

 

 

Categories
Japan Wrestling

The NXT Step for a Pirate

The signing of Stardom’s Kairi Hojo in early 2017 by the WWE created immediate buzz and excitement. It was wonderful to see that feeling build in anticipation as the Mae Young Classic and her debut as Kairi Sane approached.

 

Kairi is a masterful ring technician, measuring everything she does carefully and exerting expert body control for maximum visual impact. Her trademark diving elbow from the tope rope looks as beautiful as it does devastating. Her excellent selling draws the audience in and invests them emotionally in her matches, yet she always believably feels like a threat to her opponent no matter how much punishment she’s taken or how much bigger her opponent is. She brings something special and unique to WWE, and the hype surrounding her debut as it approached showed they realized it.

 

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My own perspective on Kairi’s pre-WWE career was bit different from when I wrote about Kana (NXT Step for a Legend) and Johnny Gargano (NXT Step for an Icon) heading to NXT, as I’d only seen her live on two occasions (though she essentially wrestled twice on each show). Even from that small sample it was easy to see the command she has of her craft.

 

My first time seeing Kairi live was under unique circumstances, as she was involved in Act Yasukawa’s retirement match at Climax 2015.

 

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Act’s retirement match and ceremony had an incredible atmosphere around it, and the entire spectacle was awesome to be at live. Kairi teamed with Act & Haruka Kato vs. Holidead, Kris Wolf & Kyoko Kimura in a match that went on for about 10 minutes, with back and forth action that saw Act and her teammates, particularly Kairi, more and more at odds. Both Act and Kairi did a phenomenal job at portraying two people who thought they had reconciled but were just never meant to get along. Things eventually exploded and the two fought into the crowd with everyone else along for the ride, resulting in a double countout.

 

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Then the “real” match began, as Act rejoined her former Oedo Tai stablemates leading to Act Yasukawa & Kyoko Kimura vs Haruka Kato & Kairi Hojo. This was a fitting send off, with Act and her teammates clearly enjoying themselves against long time rivals. Kairi was clearly genuinely emotional as she helped bid farewell to her fellow wrestler’s career.

 

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The following year I was back for Climax 2016 and saw Kairi in a pair of equally impressive matches at opposite ends of the spectrum. In a special contest model Nana Suzuki made her debut in a singles match against Hojo, one of Stardom’s aces. Nana actually played her role as an overmatched but determined underdog well and the match was quite good, due in no small part to Kairi playing her own role of dominant veteran absolutely perfectly. She knew exactly how to rightly control most of the offense and avoid reducing her own standing yet still make her rookie opponent look strong. That takes an incredible amount of skill and a deft touch, and the two told a great story here.

 

 

Later that night Kairi told a completely different story as she and partner Yoko Bito looked to regain their Goddesses of Stardom Titles from Oedo Tai (Kyoko Kimura & Kagetsu). This time Kairi was in some sense the underdog, as there was a lot of interference from the Oedo Tai entourage outside the ring. The stacked odds and again excellent awareness of the story being told combined to generate quite the conquering hero reception for Hojo & Bito when they finally overcame it all and took their belts back. It was a treat not only seeing Kairi perform twice, but in such different (but complimentary and consistent) circumstances.

 

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Fast forward back to a few months ago and Kairi entered a WWE ring for the first time as part of the Mae Young Classic. It was certainly no surprise when she provided several of the best matches of the whole thing, including a show-stealing first round encounter with Tessa Blanchard, great bouts with Bianca Belair, Dakota Kai, and Toni Storm, and a fitting finale to the whole thing against Shayna Baszler. Seeing her joy at becoming the well deserved first ever MYC winner was wonderful. Since then she has become an integral part of NXT’s women’s division, and is likely to feud with Shayna Baszler and eventually progress to a one on one challenge to champion Ember Moon.

 

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Incredible art print depicting (and signed by) Kairi by Rob Schamberger.

 

Kairi Sane is the epitome of the cliche “a joy to watch,” and I wish her all the best as this exciting new phase of her career continues.

Categories
Japan Wrestling

Farewell to a Legend

On November 3, 2017, in an hour long match with 50+ opponents, Manami Toyota ended her incredible 30 year career in professional wrestling.

Toyota is a innovator and standard bearer whose impact on the sport will be felt long after her retirement. I haven’t watched nearly as much as I want / intend to of Toyota’s older matches, but am of course well aware of her impact on professional wrestling.

As my own personal goodbye to her legendary career, I’d like to focus on the fortuitous opportunities I’ve had to see Toyota wrestle live.

 

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The first was a complete surprise, and an incredible moment for me during my first trip to Japan. Toyota was not scheduled for any of the 12 shows I saw during my two week trip to Tokyo at the end of 2015.

On December 20 I attended a show by Chigusa Nagayo’s Marvelous promotion. The main event was a 6 on 2 handicap match featuring Chigusa, Aki Shizuku, Chikayo Nagashima, Mima Shimoda, Takumi Iroha & Tomoko Watanabe vs Dump Matusmoto & Yumiko Hotta. Chigusa’s teammates were largely cannon fodder for Dump to  to hit with a kendo stick and other objects over and over. Hotta arrived wearing numerous pairs of handcuffs all over her gear, so it was obvious where things were eventually going. After the brawl spilled throughout the arena Chigusa’s team was eventually incapacitated by being handcuffed to the ropes.

The heat coming from sections of fans for both Dump and Chigusa was incredible, creating an electric atmosphere. If possible it intensified even more when Manami Toyota came out as surprise help for Chigusa. For me it was a jaw dropping moment, and I felt incredibly privileged to get to meet Toyota after the show.

 

 

Fast forward a year and I was back for the holiday shows again, including a personal favorite of mine in Ice Ribbon’s annual Ribbonmania. Toyota’s match this time was particularly interesting, as she was one of the challengers for Ai Shimizu’s Triangle Ribbon Title (along with Maruko Nagasaki).  This was a straight up slaughter, which might not have made for the most interesting of matches from the perspective of an completely overmatched champion, but Toyota plowing through both opponents and winning the Triangle title with a double pin after her moonsault was a strong spectacle and nice moment all the same. Toyota commented/joked afterwards about her winning a title in 2016, and it was again an honor to get to greet her in person and congratulate her.

Her Triangle Ribbon championship reign was a quiet one, as she successfully defended the title only once during her six month reign before losing it to her heir apparent Tsukasa Fujimoto. But a final championship before she retired was well deserved.

 

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My third opportunity to see Toyota wrestle live came during a shorter trip this past summer.  At SEAdLINNNG’s August 24 show she was again in a 3-way match with Maruko Nagasaki, this time under high speed rules with Kaho Kobayashi as the third participant. It was an amusing opener centered around the legend having some difficulty with the match concept (super quick counts and covers only valid after some sort of running move from what I could tell) and getting annoyed with special referee Natsuki Taiyo. She eventually adapted and outlasted the youngsters, picked up the win, then sold being exhausted from so much running. It was really amusing, particularly in watching Toyota’s protege Tsukka crack up at ringside at the various antics, and a fun format to see the veteran perform in. 

 

 

 

A few days later I saw what would be my final live Manami Toyota match at Ice Ribbon’s August 27 event. A somewhat poetic way to close things out, as Toyota was the opponent for the debuting Asahi. The rookie played the role of totally overmatched but determined underdog well against  the legend and the dynamic of the confident, somewhat dismissive Toyota acting more and more surprised at Asahi’s resiliency and the length she had to go to in order to beat the upstart was fantastic.

 

 

 

Tsukka and others cheering on Asahi excitedly each time she got a little edge on the veteran or survived a pin attempt added a lot to the atmosphere, and short of being in attendance for Toyota’s actual last match I couldn’t have asked for a better note to say goodbye on.

 

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I appreciate everyone reading indulging me in my personal memories of interactions with one of wrestling’s brightest stars. I highly recommend seeking out anything and everything you can from her incredible career. Congratulations to Manami Toyota and best of luck with whatever’s next.

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Japan Trip Summer 2017: Top 5 Matches (Live)

I’ve been lucky enough to spend two and a half weeks in Tokyo over the end of the year holidays for the last two years. This summer the stars aligned for a shorter, somewhat unexpected additional trip with a specific purpose. Here I’ll be going over my top 5 matches from the 29 I saw that trip (across 5 shows from 5 different companies).

 

Match reviews copied/modified from my show specific blogs when possible/appropriate.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Tokyo Princess of Princess Title: Yuka Sakazaki(c) vs Reika Saiki –  Tokyo Joshi Pro 8/26/17

 

 

Yuka and Reika are two of my favorite wrestlers in the promotion, so I was thrilled to see this. Yuka is perhaps the most fundamentally sound and consistent performers on the roster, and also wows the crowd with her agility and rope walk spots, so was a great choice for champion. Reika seems their biggest rising star so this was exactly the right time for this confrontation. While I do have to admit I prefer and miss the Mil Clown persona, Yuka’s excellent in any incarnation.

The match was great, going back and forth and building well to a strong finish that saw Reika take advantage of a miss by Yuka with hard strikes and a sweet Shining Wizard, then hit the jackhammer (such a perfect choice of finisher for the Muscle Idol) to become the new Princess of Princess champion. Was awesome to be there for that moment, and Reika definitely deserves a chance to show what she can do as champ.

 

Team DATE (Nao, Hana, Nori, & Karen) vs Maruko Nagasaki, Satsuki Totoro, Uno Matsuya, & Tequilia Saya – Ice Ribbon 8/27/17

 

 

I was a little late coming back from intermission and unfortunately missed the beginning of this big blow off elimination match. As such Hanna was already eliminated and on the outside (and seemed to be nursing a knee injury of some sort) and I came in just as Uno also left the match. Uno’s actually my favorite on that team and I wish she was featured a bit more in general.

Even coming in partway, what I saw was excellent and this was my second favorite match of the night. Everyone was constantly fighting as appropriate for the intense rivalry that has been the cornerstone of the feud. This was my first look at any of the DATES as well as Totoro and even though the nature of the match meant not everyone got a lot of chance to shine they all looked good and payed their roles well. Nao and Satsuki went next (and in rapid succession), leaving Saya and Maruko against Karen and Nori. Nori and Saya had been mostly paired off throughout the match, and they had some really good exchanges in this section until Karen and Nori were able to isolate and eliminate Saya, leaving Maruko in a 2 on 1.

The most experienced of Ice Ribbon’s rookie team persevered to eliminate Karen to even things up and eventually get the better of Nori (in a really good final section) to win for her team. This was 100% the right outcome, as the building story had been the DATES’ dominance and this last battle was Maruko and company’s final chance to prove their equals and gain some respect. Great story, great match. Nori impressed me the most here, and I hope to see a lot more of everyone involved going forward.

After the match Maruko’s team seemed to head to the back without any consideration for their finally defeated rivals, but they came back with Ice Ribbon jackets for Team DATE instead, finally fully accepting them into the roster and leaving things peaceful and in a state of mutual respect between all eight wrestlers after the feud’s end. Again, really well done.

 

Top 5:

5. Gatoh Move Title Tournament Semi-Final: Kotori vs Aasa – Gatoh Move 8/26/17

The main event of Gatoh Move’s 8/26 show was the second semi-final of their title tournament and would determine who would face Riho in the finals at their September Greenhall show.  It was appropriately treated like a big deal and felt important. The outcome was never really in doubt with Kotori on a march to face her tag partner in the finals, but they did an excellent job building drama for near falls regardless and put on a main event that is a testament to their skill even at relatively short times in wrestling.

They went right for each other from the first second in another match that made good use of the environment yet felt different from the other two on the show. I continue to love Aasa’s gimmick, and her energetic onslaught trying to overwhelm the more experienced Kotori was a perfect story for the match as the latter was forced to get creative in countering Aasa’s exuberance. One particularly great spot involved them fighting out the window then running around the building back through the door. Kotori entered first and tried to ambush Aasa, but the latter just BARRELED through Kotori with one of her Vader splashes instead. As expected Kotori eventually prevailed, and she beamed pride throughout the roundtable and even during the meet and greet afterward while Aasa did likewise with little spots of disappointment and despondence. Great touches from both.

 

4. Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami) vs So On Flower (Aoi Kizuki & Moeka Haruhi) – Wave 8/30/17

 

This was a short but great opener with strong structure and story. Moeka and Aoi jumped their decorated and certainly favored opponents during their entrance pose and never let up, going full throttle trying to prove themselves in Avid Rival’s league. Misaki and Ryo fought back of course but couldn’t ever quite get full control of their opponents nor stop the underdogs’ onslaught. Aoi and Moeka essentially overwhelmed AR and Moeka eventually pinned Mizunami for the upset. This was action packed and really well worked to the point it was satisfying despite (and felt longer than) the literal few minutes it actually ran.

 

3. Meiko Satomura vs Miyu Yamashita –  Tokyo Joshi Pro 8/26/17

 

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This was fantastic and edged out the main for match of the night. I’ve commented before that I felt Miyu was capable of more than I’d seen her show, and this was totally the breakout performance I’ve been wanting from her.

She wrestled like someone with something to prove from the very first second and really took it to Meiko, believably smothering the veteran at points with relentless offense, but just couldn’t put the larger, more experienced wrestler. Meiko of course is an artist in the ring and always a joy to watch. Loved this.

Afterwards Miyu slaps Meiko a couple of times out of frustration (and apparently in a challenge for another match) and Meiko’s so impressed with Miyu’s fire she applauds her for it. Great stuff.

 

2. Ultra U-7 Semi-Final: Mio Momono vs Yoshiko – SEAdLINNG 8/24/17 

 

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I hate to admit it given my personal bias, but Yoshiko was awesome here and this was easily the second best match of the night. She was a perfect monster for Mio to attempt to outlast while just refusing to stay down under the larger, more experienced wrestler’s onslaught. The crowd was evenly split between heavy home promotion support for Yoshiko and visiting Marvelous fans (like me) going nuts for Mio. They went to time limit, then overtime where only a two count was needed. The heat for the nearfalls during that final portion was insane.

Mio’s the hottest rookie there is right now (as I mention often), and I continue to marvel at how incredible she is this early into her career.

 

1.  Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami) vs Best Friends (Tsukasa Fujimoto & Arisa Nakajima) – SEAdLINNG 8/24/17 and Ice Ribbon 8/27/17

 

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Ok, so this is a little bit of a cheat as I’m including both matches between these two teams in the #1 spot rather than take up two places and leave less room for other great matches.

During my first trip to Japan in 2015 my favorite match (well tied with one other) featured two incredible tag teams going full throttle competing for Ice Ribbon’s International Tag Ribbon Championships at Ribbonmania. When a best of three series of rematches (one hosted by each wrestler’s home promotion) was announced I was beyond excited, and ended up lucky enough to be able travel to see two of the three. These two matches were the previously mention purpose for the entire trip, and they certainly didn’t disappoint.

 

 

The time limit draw at SEAdLINNNG was great, if just a touch below the original match that inspired this series (due to the lack of finish and time spent on some comedy). The one at Ice Ribbon was neck and neck with the original, and a fantastic way to close things out for now. I was actually partially anticipating the “upset” victory and Avid Rival sweeping this series given the way difficulties between Best Friends were being stressed, leading to somewhat of a feud between Tsukka and Arisa. But them coming together on the same page as a team to dig down and prove they could still win was an equally satisfying story. Their entire record is now 2-1-1 in Best Friends’ favor (with Avid Rival’s sole victory coming at their home promotion of Wave in the one match between the teams I have yet to see).

One great thing I’ve noticed in Avid Rival’s development over time is the way they add and modify actual double team moves in their arsenal (in addition to having awesome versions of the also great rapid fire alternating offense a lot of Joshi teams rely on). It makes them feel more like a cohesive unit and gives a sense of evolution.

In my opinion these are the two best tag teams in all of wrestling, and seeing them face off is always a treat.

 

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Hope everyone enjoyed reading about these great matches, all of which are well worth checking out if possible. The five shows I saw this time were all extremely good in general, with numerous other good matches beyond the highlights talked about here.

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Ice Ribbon Vol. 763 (Halloween Ribbon 2016) DVD Review

With October fast approaching this seemed a good time to look back and finally finish up my review of last year’s Ice Ribbon Halloween show.

 

Vol 763: October 26, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan

Ice Ribbon’s themed shows are always interesting, and this first Halloween show of theirs for me promised to be be highly amusing.

Everyone of course comes out in Halloween costumes to open the show. Nice variety, ranging from specific characters (Tsukka and Maruko as Mario and Luigi respectively, Maika as Asuka Langley, etc) to general Halloween costumes (Saya as a witch, Tsukushi and Maya as cops, etc) to Mizunami in a leopard suit, and so on. I’m sure I missed several specific references. Fun segment. Special mention to Miyako’s “Miyacoco in Wonderland!” costume, complete with Cheshire Cat hat.

 

 

1) Hiroe Nagahama & Maika Ozaki vs Tsukshi & Uno Matsuya **

The four wrestlers in this match are still in their Halloween costumes.

This was a basic match with a mix of really awkward exchanges and some nice, sharp spots and sequences. The main point was of course the wrestlers performing in their costumes and a couple of related jokes (like Hiroe’s samurai headpiece coming right off her head when Tsukushi tried a hairmare), so anything else was a bit of a bonus.

At one point Maika does a nice ripcord clothesline, which I really want her to keep and call the “RainMaika.” 😉

I understand it was tied into her costume and thus somewhat in the spirit of the match, but Tsukushi’s use of her toy gun and handcuffs as weapons to hit her opponents with (to cheers) took me out of the otherwise lighthearted nature of the match. Straight up heel tactics should only be used by heels, and booed. And I don’t understand the point of the ref checking people before the match for foreign objects at all if they’re going to watch wrestlers pick some up and beat their opponents with them later and say nothing.

After hitting Hiroe with the handcuffs and leaving her laid out in the corner Tsukushi follows up on a faceplant from Uno on Maika with the doublestomp from the top to win for her team.

 

 

2) Miyako Matsumoto vs Misaki Ohata vs Maruko Nagasaki ***3/4

These wrestlers have changed out of their Halloween costumes and this is a straight up triple threat. As always when in the ring with Miyako, Misaki has an air of barely restrained patience and general resigned exasperation at her antics. Misaki and Maruko completely ignore her early on to chain wrestle among themselves and swat her away when she approaches.  When they arrive at a stalemate Miyako celebrates with them, annoying them into join forces to attack her.

However Miyako reverses the double whip on just Maruko and sends her to the ropes, then grabs Misaki’s hands for an unintentional (on Misaki’s part) double clothesline. Misaki just stands there stoically as Miyako celebrates and double high fives her, then calmly catches the attempted cheap shot kick from Miyako we all knew was coming.

Misaki’s look of disdain as she half heartedly throws punches she knows will be ducked as part of Miyako’s posing routine is fantastic. She goes along with it in grudging fashion until Miyako gets to the forced pose part, then blocks it and levels Miyako with a forearm. Hairmares continue her abuse of the Dancing Queen. Standing choke in the corner follows, then a hard curbstomp.

As Misaki covers, Maruko tries a basement dropkick to Misaki’s face, but the vet moves and Maruko lands on Miyako, then Misaki double stomps the pile. A Camel Clutch variation has Maruko screaming. Misaki eventually releases it and slams Maruko to set up for a giant swing. Miyako comes in to encourage Misaki so she can spin and dance along with it in the corner. Misaki’s happy to oblige for a few rotations… then spins into Miyako with a forearm shot as she drops Maruko. Misaki stumbles to the corner dizzily as Miyako and Maruko try to recover, but then realizes the two are seated next to each other and wipes them both out with the running crossbody for a double 2 count.

Misaki then goes up top for a double crossbody, which Maruko dodges but Miyako eats. Misaki ducks the follow up attack by Maruko and goes for the German, but Maruko escapes the waistlock and drops between Misaki’s legs. She then spins Misaki around for her trademark rollup, but Misaki steps aside. The spinning double sledge ducked, but Maruko’s uranage is countered into a DDT. The back and forth these two are doing is great.

Maruko catches Misaki off the ropes with a dropkick and goes for another uranage attempt, which is interrupted by Miyako. Maruko and Misaki again look to deal with the annoyance first and each other later by going for a double dropkick as Miyako hits the ropes. Miyako however holds onto the ropes, then does a double Miyacoco Clutch as her opponents land from the missed dropkicks for a close 2.

Miyako getting serious (well, as serious as she gets anyway) and calls for the Angels Wing’s on Misaki, but Misaki blocks and Maruko rolls Miyako up for 2. The three take turns with rollups until Maruko and Miyako (awkwardly) end up in the ropes, at which point Misaki just breaks it all up with a hard double slap.

Miyako fights for a backslide on Misaki, so Maruko kicks the legs out from under them and rolls them sideways to put both sets of shoulders down for another close 2. She then tries to stack both opponents up for a double uranage, but they fight her off. Misaki’s double sledge is ducked by both, so she does it again. This one’s ducked by Maruko, but caught by Miyako, who tosses Misaki’s hands back the other way and it levels Maruko as she stands back up. Nice bit. Miyako hits a stunner (O_o?!) on Misaki and the Shining Wizard gets 2.

Miyako hits the ropes but gets caught with a dropkick by a recovered Maruko and slumps back against them in a seated position. When Maruko hits the far ones to take advantage of Miyako’s predicament Misaki intercepts and knocks Maruko down against the ropes herself. Misaki runs across the ring and nails the seated crossbody on Miyako, but when she comes back to do the same to Maruko the latter moves and Misaki goes tumbling out of the ring. Maruko gets her trademark rolling clutch as Miyako charges and with Misaki out of the picture there’s no one to save the pinfall.  Strong, logical finish that gives Maruko a win over two veterans (with the caveat that she pinned the weaker competitor of the two).

This was great. The individual personalities and styles meshed well and they put together several clever three way spots, and it all made for a thoroughly engaging match. Misaki and Miyako are two favorites of mine and I love their interactions, particularly Misaki’s general attitude towards Miyako’s existence. The exchanges between Misaki and Maruko makes me really want to see a series of singles matches between the two.

 

 

 

 

Main Event) “Miyako Matsumoto” (Ryo Mizunami) & “Mochi Miyagi” (Tequila Saya) vs “Tsukasa Fujimoto” (Maya Yukihi) & “Ryo Mizunami” (Tsukasa Fujimoto) ***3/4

In one of my favorite absurd match concepts (and one that’s spot on for Halloween), the participants are dressed as other wrestlers and have to wrestle like person they are dressed as. Pinfalls will only be counted after doing a move the person being imitated is known for.

Maya gets off easy here, being roughly the same size / body type as Tsukka and similar in style means she won’t have much trouble copying her partner’s moveset. Tsukka herself is clearly having a blast imitating the opposing Mizunami. She shakes the ropes, intimidates the ref, and generally plays up trying to be a power wrestler, perhaps the one area Tsukka is not a master of.

Powerhouse Mizunami as “Miyako” is just fantastic. The crowd agrees it seems, as a big “Miyako” chant rings out in support in the early going. Miyako herself on outside shouting “pointers” to Mizunami adds further hilarity. Poor Saya is so much smaller than Mochi that she had to wear her own gear under Mochi’s to remain decent, and the slim Saya’s ineffectiveness when trying to do things like Mochi’s belly smother and Earthquake splash was a great running joke throughout the match. In one hilarious bit her giant swing attempt never saw Maya’s shoulders leave the mat so Saya just walked around her holding her legs instead. “Miyako” of course spun and danced in the corner along with the “swing.”

This was incredibly enjoyable, with the wrestlers’ commitment to the concept making all the difference. “Mizunami” vs Mizunami was particularly awesome, as the real Ryo (exaggeratedly) had trouble adapting to Miyako’s posing based offense but was doing well defensively because often when Tsukka tried to use Ryo’s own moves against her they tended to backfire (like a spear attempt that saw Tsukka just stop dead in her tracks as she hit Ryo’s midsection). The parts where wrestlers “lost patience” with the rules and acted like themselves for a move or two (to loud boos) were also great touches.

An amusing finishing sequence saw Tsukka essentially teaching Maya how to do one of Tsukka’s signature rollups as she did it. Once completed it was good to keep Saya down for 3.

This is the type of match that really has to be seen to be understood and appreciated. It’s ridiculous but awesome, not being a technical masterpiece overall but still staying focused on wrestling with some great action down the stretch while providing humor and showcasing Ice Ribbon’s particular blend of such elements perfectly.

 

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This show is an excellent example of Ice Ribbon’s ability to mix action and comedy / lighter elements into shows that are just flat out fun. Having a (somewhat) more serious match in the middle provided nice balance, and again the costume matches were both entertaining in their silliness and yet still competitive and wrestling based. Had a great time with this show.