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Japan Wrestling

Farewell Kellie: A fan’s personal look back on a(nother) great career

I’ve been anticipating writing this since the Shimmer 90 tapings last November. After losing the Shimmer title she had just won the previous day back to Mercedes Martinez, Kellie Skater gave a thankful and heartfelt speech that felt very much like “goodbye.” However nothing was announced or concrete until yesterday (2/23/17), when Kellie gave a “thank you / goodbye” speech at a Stardom event at Korkuen Hall confirming that she was retired from professional wrestling.

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As an avid fan of the Shimmer promotion throughout its history, I’ve had the privilege of watching Kellie grow and transform during her career. She had been wrestling a little over two years when she made her Shimmer debut on May 2nd 2009 during the Volume 24 tapings, and would wrestle in 66 matches over the course of six and a half years. With her announcement at Stardom, it’s official that her last match was against Mercedes Martinez at Shimmer 90.

Kellie entered Shimmer as a comedic heel whose bark was bigger than her bite. Her charisma really made the gimmick work, and as she cheated and stole her way to victories over light competition fans got majorly invested in see the brash loudmouth get her comeuppance. They went crazy on the occasions more formidable opponents got their hands on Kellie and made her pay for her arrogance. Unsuccessful outings against Cheerleader Melissa (hearing the crowd collectively gasp as Skater dared grab Melissa’s pom-poms and mock her deadly opponent was fantastic) and Amazing Kong spring immediately to mind.

Yet the very next show the “Rate Tank” would be back out bragging as usual about being “indestructible.”  It had just the right amount of delusional overconfidence, and made for an entertaining story. Add it her and Shimmer’s announcers playing up her “suspect” protein shake (“ROO ROIDS!”) that she would partake in during matches and ridiculous boasting and Kellie an annoyance that just wouldn’t go away in the very best sense possible.

But beneath it all, Kellie had excellent technical skills anchoring her matches, and that were always improving. On the back of a long string of strong outings, particularly against visiting Joshi talents, Skater was slowly but surely winning the crowd over despite (or perhaps partially because of) her antics. On Shimmer Volume 50 Kellie would gain her first major victory in the promotion by defeating Yumi Ohka, signaling her moving up the card and transitioning into a viable threat. Watching the transformation as Kellie continued to develop and grow as a performer was a treat.

However her singles ascension would be delayed a little as two shows later she would team with Tomoka Nakagawa for the first time, forming arguably the best team in Shimmer history, 3G (the Global Green Gangsters).

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3G t-shirt by ShuperCousin Designs singed by Kellie and Tomoka.

The dynamic of reformed heel and crowd darling Skater trying to reign in the underhanded instincts of not-quite-former-yet heel Nakagawa was fantastic, and 3G were instant fan favorites and title contenders.

Their feud with then reigning Shimmer Tag Title Champions Nicole Matthews & Portia Perez (the Canadian Ninjas) spanned several volumes and culminated in a wild no-DQ, no-countout, no-time limit contest in which Skater and Nakagawa finally overcame the nefarious Ninjas to claim their spot atop Shimmer’s tag team division.

They’d keep ahold of that perch for two years making 13 successful title defenses in a reign that spanned 16 volumes. They didn’t relinquish the titles until Tomoka retired in April of 2015, when during her final weekend they lost the championships to the Kimber Bombs (Kimber Lee & Cherry Bomb). Their issues with the Ninjas would continue on and off during that time, including involvement in involvement in a great no-DQ, no-countout war that spilled through the crowd and all over the venue  alongside Madison Eagles & Jessica Havok against the Canadian Ninjas and the Kimber Bombs, as well as Tomoka choosing one last 3G vs Ninjas encounter for her final match.

Skater and Nakagawa had incredible chemistry as a team and produced several of the best tag team matches Shimmer’s ever had. Kellie’s style fit perfectly with that of Shimmer’s visiting Joshi in general, and my favorite matches of hers (which are also two of my favorite Shimmer matches of all time) were multi-woman tags involving numerous Joshi talent.

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On Volume 67 3G teamed with Mia Yim to face Tsukasa Fujimoto, Akino, and Kaori Yoneyama in an incredible contest that simply has to be seen. In the main event of  Volume 74, in Tomoka’s penultimate match, Kellie joined her alongside Misaki Ohata & Hiroyo Matsumoto to face legends Aja Kong, Dynamite Kansai, Kyoko Kimura, & Mayumi Ozaki in a dream match beyond anything I ever thought I’d see in Shimmer. I was lucky enough to attend both of these events / matches live and they represent everything I love about pro wrestling. Admitted in both there was a lot more going on than just Kellie’s involvement, but she shone just as bright as anyone else and played a major part in these amazing moments.

With her partner retired, Kellie focused on reestablishing the upward trajectory of her singles career, and got several huge wins over stars such as Sonoko Kato, Courtney Rush, Ryo Mizunami and others leading to a shot at Madison Eagles for the Shimmer title on Volume 84. A countout victory seemed to set up a rematch, but instead Kellie would be attacked before the match and Madison’s resulting open challenge saw Mercedes Martinez making a surprise return to Shimmer to take the title with help of her new proteges Nicole Savoy and Shayna Baszler.

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This all set up for what seemed like it could be a long feud between Kellie and the newly dubbed Trifecta. In the main event of the first show of the next set of tapings Kellie pinned Mercedes in a tag match, and was granted a title match on Volume 87. It seemed the epitome of foregone conclusions, with Mercedes getting an establishing win over a top contender to set up a quest for Kellie to finally get the elusive Shimmer championship she seemed destined for. Turns out she was destined sooner than I thought, and she won the title from Mercedes to the crowds shock and delight. As I’ve referred to Kellie’d grown into one of the (in not THE) most beloved wrestlers in Shimmer and the audience roared in support of the new champion.

Kellie would defend the belt in solid matches against Vanessa Kraven and Cat Power, then to end the weekend Mercedes received a rematch. Warning bells about a possible 3S style reign started going off, and sure enough at the end of a hard hitting match where Trifecta put on a master class in heel tactics Mercedes regained the belt to a chorus of boos. Kellie then cut the promo I talked about at the beginning, which gave no details but felt like “goodbye” and left me wondering if her weekend long reign was to make sure she received her well deserved time with the title in case that was her last appearance in Shimmer. And we now know it was.

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Like with Tomoka, the vast majority of my experience with Kellie’s work is via Shimmer, but I did see her wrestle on Shine ippv’s and was lucky enough to see her live at Stardom. She was clearly respected wherever she went and always gave 110%.

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Thanks to Kellie for a career’s worth of incredible devotion to her craft and everything she put into entertaining us. It’s greatly appreciated and you’ll be dearly missed. Best of luck in whatever the future holds.

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Japan Reviews Wrestling

Ice Ribbon 12/31/16 (RibbonMania) Live Thoughts

December 31, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan

The buzz for this year’s RibbonMania was firmly centered on the final rounds of the tournament to crown a new Ice Cross Infinity Champion after the title was held up due to a time limit draw during Tsukasa Fujimoto’s defense against Tsukushi in November.

The development was interesting, as Tsukka had successfully defended the championship against a majority of the roster and seemed on pace to be challenging her own previous record for most defenses during a reign right around the time she’d be facing the woman she defeated to win the title. Instead, a few matches short of that the title was held up and a tournament to crown a new champion begun.

 

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There were no surprises in the early rounds, so coming into Ribbonmania the remaining competitors were the vacated champ (Tsukka), the opponent that forced the vacating of the title (Tsukushi), the prior champion Tsukka had won the belt from (Risa Sera), and the wrestler who ended Tsukka’s prior reign (Kurumi).

 

1) Ice Cross Infinity Championship Tournament Semi-Finals: Risa Sera vs Kurumi Hiiragi 

 

The vacating of the title instead of continuing on course for Tsukka attempting to break her own record seemed to open significant potential for some sort of shake up. Kurumi in particular looked like a monster in the last dojo show before this event.

Which made it even more surprising that she never felt like threat to Risa here. This was a good match, but didn’t have the urgent edge it needed. Risa felt in control during throughout, when her surviving a dominant Kurumi would have been a much more suitable, better story.

In a nice touch Risa remained at announce table to watch the match unfold and see who her opponent would be in the main event.

 

2) Ice Cross Infinity Championship Tournament Semi-Finals: Tsukasa Fujimoto vs Tsukushi

Coming into Ribbonmania I found the semi-final matches being determined by random draw to be quite telling. I was certain it meant we’d get this match in the semis, and that it’s winner would fail to win the title in the finals. Otherwise the brackets should have been set up for a possible rematch of the bout that vacated the title to happen in the finals.

 

This was the spirited contest expected from these two, who know each other extremely well and have styles that mesh nicely. Tsukka winning with the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, a move inherited from the mentor of both competing wrestlers, seemed rather definitive. Unfortunate, as Tsukka solidly winning here begs the questions of why Tsukushi was the one to force the vacating of the belt in the first place.

Also, Tsukka’s victory unfortunately killed any remaining drama in the tournament. Risa vs Tsukka is the match that definitely should have headlined had the title never been held up, but as a payoff for a tournament that seemed to promised at least some unpredictability it was by far the least interesting way for things to turn out. The result of the main event instantly became a forgone conclusion, and I could feel a lot the energy go out of the crowd. The post match staredown between Risa and Tsukka got minimal reaction.

 

3) 7-way: Hiroe Nagahama vs Kyuri vs Maika Ozaki vs Mio Momono vs 235 vs Tequila Saya vs Uno Matsuya  

This was originally scheduled to be a six-woman tag match, but shortly before the event Mio Momono was added to the match and it became a 7-way contest where eliminations could happen by pin, submission, or being thrown over the top rope to the floor. I’d been at Mio’s pro wrestling debut in NYC as well as seeing her in a fantastic opening contest at Marvelous’ Christmas Eve show, so was quite excited for her Ice Ribbon debut.

 

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It was an extremely fortuitous change, as they really made the most of the format and this was much more interesting than IR’s traditional random 6-man would have been. EVERYONE got a chance to shine at various points, including Ozaki showing off her strength with a double torture rack, innovative multi-person moves and pin attempts, and an incredible sequence where Uno was thrown to the apron and went crazy trying to stay in the match running halfway around the ring on the apron while everyone inside tried to knock her off. The effort from all seven wrestlers was phenomenal, and they really got the crowd fired up for several sequences.

 

 

Excellent match overall, and one of my favorites of my trip. In the end Saya got to look strong somewhat surprisingly hanging in until the final two competitors, but the expected (and rightful) wrestler won when Kyuri pinned her with the Fisherman suplex. Great showings for all involved. Really hope to see Mio continue to wrestle in IR.

 

4) Triangle Ribbon Title: Ai Shimizu (c) vs Maruko Nagasaki vs Manami Toyota

This was a straight up slaughter, which made sense but also meant not much interesting was going on, particularly when the champion was one of the people being dominated. Adding to the awkwardness was an uncharacteristically botched move off the ropes from Toyota early on, but she acknowledged it and played it off to keep the match moving as smoothly as she could.

 

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Both defending champion Ai and challenger Maruko were just outmatched by Toyota, who powered through everything either tried on her and simultaneously pinned them both with a moonsault to win the Triangle title. Very short and effective for what it was, but Maruko in particular could have been made a star here by hanging in better against the legend.

 

 

It’ll be interesting to see what’s done with Toyota as champion. The very nature of the title means she’ll likely eventually lose the championship without being pinned for it, so the value to the roster of her reign will be in how her challengers in the meantime look in defeat.

 

5) Miyako & Jun Kasai vs Tank Nagai & Kengo Mashimo (w/ Mio Shirai)

Like last year, Miyako’s Ribbonmania match was a mixed tag affair. The action was quite strong until end, with Miyako being (perhaps unwisely) fearless in the face of her larger, male opponents. They brawled into the crowd early, then returned to the ring to trade some pretty high impact slams and strikes for a bit.

 

 

Unfortunately things veered into uncomfortable territory for the finish, with Miyako taking Mio Shirai hostage with a pair of scissors held to Mio’s throat. Ugh ugh ugh. It of course eventually backfired, Mio got free, and Miyako was chokeslammed to give her opponents the victory.

REALLY not a fan of realistic weapons being used (particularly with blurred levels of humor), even with Miyako’s usual ineffectiveness in using them.  Would much prefer Miyako stick to her comical weapons (beachballs, etc) instead of exaggerated ones (knife-like objects, guns, etc). Match was good until then though.

 

6) Maya Yukihi Trial Series Match 7 of 7: Maya Yukihi vs Nanae Takahashi  

Throughout 2016 Maya underwent a “trial series” of matches against high profile opponents. She’d previously faced Manami Toyota, Mayumi Ozaki, Dynamite Kansai, Kyoko Kimura, Hiroyo Matsumoto, and Risa (her regular tag partner and only victory of the series), leading to this final match against SEAdLINNNG’s Nanae Takahashi.

This was exactly what I expected: an ok match with Nanae dominating. Maya was never portrayed as having any real chance of pulling off the upset.

 

7) International Ribbon Tag Title Match: Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami) (c) vs The Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi)

I was a bit trepidatious headed into this match, as I generally don’t care for the Butchers’ gimmick, and signs seemed to be pointing towards them dethroning my current favorite tag team for IR’s tag team titles. Mizunami won Wave’s (her home promotion) singles title the night before, and Misaki was declared her #1 contender. Between the roll the Butchers had been on and the new status quo in Wave, it would have made sense for AR to begin dropping their tag titles here.

 

 

But I find Hamuko and Mochi vastly more entertaining when they get serious, which they did here to great benefit. They went toe-to-toe with Misaki and Ryo, leading to an excellent match.

A particular highlight was an intense lariat exchange between Hoshi and Mizunami, who both throw them with incredible force.

 

 

In a pleasant surprise for me, Avid Rival persevered and retained their International Ribbon titles when Misaki hit her beautiful Sky Blue Suplex (bridging half wrist clutcth tiger suplex) on Mochi. Kudos to all four here.

 

Main Event) Ice Cross Infinity Title Tournament Finals: Tsukasa Fujimoto vs Risa Sera

So as a result of winning the semi-finals earlier in the evening, Tsukka and Risa faced off here for IR’s top title.

 

 

Technically speaking, I thought this was a great match. The atmosphere and lack of crowd heat really hurt it though, as I thought it was pretty much the epitome of the “wrong match for the wrong crowd.” More specifically, it was the wrong match for the story they chose to tell.

It was instead exactly the match they should have had under the original trajectory of Tsukka’s title reign. This match would have been PERFECT as the end of Tsukka plowing through everyone else on a quest to best her own defense record just to run into a determined Risa dead set on proving she could reclaim her title from the woman who dethroned her.

 

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However without Tsukka’s streak still in tact to add drama and uncertainty not one person in arena bought a Tsukka win here. Now predictability can actually be an advantage when done well, as I praised Ice Ribbon for regarding their New Year’s Eve show.

But here the tournament was sold on the possibility of the unexpected, which made a back and forth contest between determined rivals the wrong framework for the finals. Both competitors should have been conveying desperation here (or better yet someone else should have advanced to face Risa, or the whole tourney been skipped).

 

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Risa’s a great champion for Ice Ribbon, and she and Tsukka worked a strong match here. But the ringwork and stories must work together, and the booking let them down resulting in a lukewarm crowd for what should otherwise have been a huge moment.

 

 

As usual the Ice Ribbon roster spread among the fans after the show to thank everyone for coming. Always a nice touch.

Overall I enjoyed myself quite a bit, but some of the booking decisions worked against the action and as a result live Ribbonmania came across as a good show that should have been a great one. It’s very likely it will play better on DVD though.

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Japan Reviews Wrestling

Ice Ribbon 1/3/17 Live Thoughts

January 3, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan

Like last year, my last Ice Ribbon event during my trip was their New Year’s show. The show itself though this year was a bit different, as I was lucky enough to see one of IR’s most interesting themed shows.

 

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Photo op with the roster from this show. 🙂

 

The opening segment set up this show as Survival Ribbon (YAY!), with teams led by Tsukasa Fujimoto and Ice Cross Infinity Champion Risa Sera respectively. It was pointed out to me by a friend that the teams were divided by time in Ice Ribbon, with Tsukka heading up the veterans and Risa leading the less experienced competitors.

So it split up as Tsukasa Fujimoto, Miyako Matsumoto, Hamuko Hoshi, Mochi Miyagi, Tsukushi, & Kurumi on one team and Risa Sera, Uno Matsuya, Tequila Saya, Kyuri, Maruko Nagasaki, & Maya Yukihi.

The rules were as follows:

  1. There would be six matches between randomly paired opposing team members.
  2. All winners would advance to the main event, which would be a tag match between whoever won the preliminary matches to determine the overall winning team.

All the undercard matches had five minute time limits, leading to a quick pace and a sense of urgency.

 

The entirety of each team came out to start things out and remained at ringside to cheer each other on, leading to an incredible atmosphere for all six initial matches. Everyone on the outside was highly invested and constantly provided encouragement to those in the ring. It made such a difference and  showed how important it is the have competitors care about the stakes, even if it’s “only” bragging rights.

 

 

 

1) Uno Matsuya vs Mochi Miyagi

Good choice for an opener, with the least experienced member of the roster against a larger, formidable opponent. This match introduced the previously mentioned frantic pace and electric atmosphere, and both were kept up throughout the show. Uno plays a great underdog and looked good here, taking the fight to Mochi at times and persevering to force a time limit draw. Neither wrestler moves on to the main event.

 

 

2) Tequila Saya vs Kurumi

Saya was announced first, and she entered the ring enthusiastically until her opponent was announced, at which point she collapsed in the corner in realization of the task in front of her. Totally put Kurumi over as a monster in five seconds flat before any contact was even made.

The story was similar to the first match, yet the personalities and styles involved made this something distinctly different. Saya survives the assault long enough for time to run out, forcing another 5 minute draw.

 

 

3) Maya Yukihi vs Hamuko Hoshi

This is the point at which IR gives a master class in the theory that predictable is perfectly compelling when done right (as opposed to my complaints about how they handled Ribbonmania’s main). I had an inkling here, and by the end of this match I was 99% sure I knew where everything was going. But between good matchup choices, great action, and logical progression the ride was just as satisfying as if they’d pulled out surprises.

The story for this match was Maya being the equal to former IR champion Hammy, and while both had close calls neither was able to put the other away and once again time runs out without a winner. So halfway through and so far neither team has any representatives in the main event, with both captains left to compete.

 

 

4) Kyuri vs Tsukasa Fujimoto

So Kyuri is the one who draws the opposing team captain. I never get tired of this matchup, pitting IR’s biggest up and coming star against its ace. They have incredible chemistry, and they made the most of the available time to put on an a phenomenal contest. Kyuri matches Tsukka all the way and we have another time limit draw. The teams outside are getting desperate, again adding to the tension and conveying a real sense that these matches are important.

 

 

5) Risa Sera vs Tsukushi

So Tsukushi’s the one who gets to face the reigning champion, in a matchup of the title tournament winner against the one semi-finalist she didn’t have to go through. These are two of IR’s top stars at the moment and like the previous match they make the absolute most of their allotted time. Tsukushi hangs in with the champ and this ends in yet another 5 minute draw.

These preliminary matches needed to be action packed and show desire on the part of all competitors to push as hard as possible to get a win for all these time limit draws to avoid falling flat, and all of them definitely were.

 

 

6) Maruko Nagasaki vs Miyako Matsumoto

And it all comes down to Maruko and Miyako, with whoever wins this being the only person to advance to the finals and thus winning for her team by default. As such the wrestlers on the outside are going INSANE cheering their representative on. On one side is the perennially overmatched underdog Maruko, and on the other the overconfident and mistake prone Miyako. Wonderfully amusing choice for the all important final preliminary contest.

Playing off the urgency, theres a fun part in the middle that’s classic Miyako as she takes her sweet time firing up the crowd and slowly striking Maruko as her teammates flip out over the clock running down. This was a little off formula from the earlier matches, as Miyako just couldn’t stop being Miyako despite the time pressure. Good story to pull out at the end.

The crowd had been seriously engaged throughout each match and as things wound down here the anticipation was palpable. But this too ended in a time limit draw (to the exasperation of both team on the floor), and the ref announced no one had advanced and thus there would be no main event. Risa quickly decided this wasn’t acceptable, and set up a tag match involving the full teams against each other. Logical and well done.

 

As everyone had been at ringside or wrestling for the entirety of all six preliminary matches, they all needed time to go into the back and prepare for / take a momentary break before the “impromptu” main event. So the injured Akane Fujita came out an talked/stalled for a bit until it was time. The crowd seemed engaged with whatever Akane was saying, and it’s nice to see her involved with IR as much as she can be while she recovers.

 

Main Event) 12-Women Tag: Risa, Maya, Kyuri, Maruko, Uno, & Saya vs Tsukka, Hammy, Mochi, Miyako, Kurumi, & Tsukushi

To everyone’s credit, they managed to match the level of engagement and excitement of the earlier matches and provide a fun, fast paced main event. My memory wouldn’t do justice to the details of twelve wrestlers flying around. Was great though, and the champ’s team was victorious when Kyuri rolled up Miyako for the pin. Between wrestling Tsukka to a draw and getting the win for her team here Kyuri came out of this show looking like a million bucks, which makes me very happy.

 

 

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Just a fantastic show overall from IR. Loved the concept, execution, and energy they kept up from start to finish.

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Japan Reviews Wrestling

Gatoh Move 12/30/16, 12/31/16, and 1/3/17 Live Thoughts

December 30 and 31, 2016 and January 3, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan

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Awesome keychains featuring Gatoh Move’s core roster. Just missing Riho’s, as it was sold out before I got a chance to get one.

As I mentioned when discussing last year’s Ichigaya shows I was able to attend, these shows from Gatoh Move are unlike anything else I’ve been to, and a lot of fun. The unusual venue and unique atmosphere are something any wrestling fan should check out at least once (preferably more 😉 ).

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.

As usual for Gatoh Move all the shows opened and closed with a song/dance performed by Emi, Riho, Kotori, Aasa, and Obi.

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 of the great souvenirs I got).

12/30:

First was visiting veteran Kaori Yoneyama against Gatoh Move’s resident rising star in Kotori. Decent pairing, and the story of Kaori trying to dominate and Kotori fighting from underneath provided a nice showing for the developing youngster. Basic but solid. Kotori’s charisma, enthusiasm, and talent stood out during my last trip (as I spotlighted here) and she’s clearly continued to polish and expand her skills  in the intervening year.

Next up was a 3-way featuring Antonio Honda vs Sayaka Obihiro vs Jaki Numazawa. This was a comedy match where after every 2-count the winner got to make a joke using a box of props off to the side. Those that the audience applauded received a point. Most points after a set time won. Pretty much every move done led to a 2-count, as the jokes were squarely the focus here.

Although it’s fair to note that not speaking Japanese put me out of the target audience for this, between not understanding the spoken parts of the jokes and having seen these exact three wrestlers in a similar match last year this fell flat for me and honestly was my least favorite Gatoh Move match of the trip.

Speaking of similarities to last year, the main event of Emi Sakura & Masahiro Takanashi vs Riho & Aasa was amusingly close to the main event of the first show I ever saw at Ichigaya. It was the same except for having Kotori in Aasa’s place.

The rookie looked good here and fit in well among the more experienced competitors. Her pintsized powerhouse gimmick amuses me greatly and she already show flashes of brilliance in the way she uses it. Another solid match with exciting touches.

During the post show roundtable playing cards were drawn to determine teams for the next show’s main event, which ended up being tag team champions Riho & Kotori teaming with Aasa against Emi, Obi, & Mitsuru.

12/31:

Amusing side note: during the opening dance for this show Obi accidentally (and unknowingly) bopped Aasa on the head with her mic. She continued to dance unaware as Aasa rubbed her head and mock scowled for those of us in the window who could see her.

For this show I was sitting in front of the window most often used for jumping off of, etc, which ended up leading to quite a bit of ducking / moving out of the way as all three matches used the window heavily. Kept me on my toes. 😉

The undercard consisted of two mens matches, as all six of the core Gatoh Move roster were in the main event tag match. The opener of Madoka vs Toru Owashi vs Konaka Pehlwan was hard fought but with light touches of humor, mostly involving Toru. It was all kept in the context of everyone trying to win and everything clicked together pretty well. Case in point was the amusing finish. Toru was perched on windowsill (right above me) waiting for an opportunity to jump at one of his opponents who were fighting among themselves, but Madoka rolled Konaka up for the win and the match ended with Toru still in the window. Madoka and Konaka then left and a dumbfounded Toru eventually climbed down and headed out himself.

Masahiro Takanashi vs Cho-un Shiryu was a hard hitting match centered around the vicious strikes both men throw so well. Takanashi in particular thrives in this environment and knows how to make the most of it. Match went for the full ten minute time limit and ended in a draw, staying intense for the duration.

The main event of Emi Sakura, Sayaka Obihiro, & Mitsuru vs Riho, Kotori & Aasa was my favorite Gatoh Move dojo match this trip. Obviously they all know each other extremely well and have great chemistry together, which led to an thoroughly exciting contest with innovative multi person spots and use of the venue. Riho’s double knees to an opponent seated against the wall looks so vicious.

Towards the end Emi and Kotori tumbled out of the window into my (hastily vacated) seat. Kotori held Emi outside to prevent her from making a save as Riho pinned Misturu. Little things like that are excellent uses of the uniqueness of the environment.

This was a more serious show overall, as in contrast to all the other Ichigaya shows I’ve seen the middle match wasn’t a comedy match. I liked the variation, and actually would like to see this as the default rather than the exception.

1/3:

The final Gatoh Move show of my trip started with a singles contest between rookies Aasa and Mitsuru. This was a strong showing and overall I was extremely impressed with both during my trip (especially for their experience). They’re both developing individual styles that suit them and I’ve very interested in seeing them continue to evolve as performers going forward.

 

The formula of a competitive opener and main surrounding a comedy match was back for this show, and in some foreshadowing  Emi Sakura made comments about Antonio Honda and Kaori Yoneyama both being very hungry in her opening comments. This came into play in what I can only refer to as an “orange match,” where in addition to pinfall or submission one could win by placing an orange on a pedestal held by one of the audience members in the front row. Yes, really. There likely is significance I’m missing, but “mechanically” those were the effective rules.

Three oranges were tied up around the room. In between fighting  (which included the wrestlers selling getting hit with the oranges swinging on their ropes like getting punched straight in the face) the oranges were claimed one by one. But as either Yone or Honda went to place it on the pedestal to win, their hunger would get too great and they’d devour the orange instead.

About halfway into the match Aasa quietly came back out and crouched next to the front row, with a fourth orange tied to her head (and a hilariously neutral expression on her face). Later on Honda noticed and took that orange when Yone’s back was turned and stuffed it into his tights. With Yone thinking all the oranges were already eaten, she set Honda up for a splash and turned to get into the windowsill, at which point Honda pulled out the hidden orange and placed it on the pedestal for the win.

So this was BEYOND absurd, but somehow worked and ended up my favorite of all the matches I saw Honda in this trip. It wasn’t trying to be serious, and by embracing its own ridiculousness and being the only comedy match on the show it ended up quite amusing.

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The main event was Riho, Kotori & Madoka vs Emi, Obi & Guanchulo. The latter team was somewhat dismissive of their opponents as well as taking some cheap shots here and there. Guanchulo was a bit over the top, almost cackling with maniacal glee at joining in with the slight heel tendencies employed by Emi. It was a different dynamic than the other six person match with Emi & Obi opposite Riho & Kotori and helped set it apart. It did make the match feel a bit lighter in tone, but it was still suitably competitive and the touches of humor fit and didn’t detract from the action.

Particularly memorable about this match was its creative finish with Madoka and Kotori tying up their opponents in horizontal holds, who Riho then used as stepping stones for momentum to perform a jumping double knee drop on Obi for the win.

Issues between Emi and Kotori continued to build here, including Emi showing disrespect after the match. Their interactions in the two six person tags seems to be leading to a future one one one encounter.

During the post show roundtable Kotori and Riho filled in the eye on a large Daruma (I didn’t catch what goal was achieved), and Honda’s birthday was celebrated with a cake.

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These shows won’t be for everyone, and I understand some of the criticisms I’ve seen of these shows and their matches feeling “samey” due to format limitations and repeated opponents. But I continue to be impressed as to what the wrestlers can do within those restrictions of the venue / style, and for certain fans (like me) there will great appeal in the nuances of each match and strength of the performers to mitigate those potential downfalls and make repeated visits a joy.

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Wall display of some of my Gatoh Move souvenirs, including a sign board I won, polaroids with the wrestlers, signed pictures, and the previously shown keychains.
Categories
Japan Wrestling

The NXT Step for a Legend II: A Great Year for the Empress of Tomorrow

Last year I wrote about my favorite wrestler’s impending signing with WWE in NXT Step for a Legend. A year and a half later and I’m back to look back on her impressive initial period during this new phase of her career.

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At NXT Takeover Brooklyn in August 2015, somewhat in the shadow of the great Sasha vs Bayley NXT Women’s Title match that was about to start, the camera cut to show superstars in the front row and next to Ric Flair was the “World Famous” Kana.  There had been speculation that her announced “hiatus” from wrestling could be foreshadowing a move the the WWE, but surprisingly there had been no real information or clues, so seeing her on camera at a NXT/WWE event was a legitimate shock to most.

At the September 10 NXT tapings Kana made her debut (air date September 23), and took the name Asuka.  Interestingly while WWE announcers themselves have repeatedly pushed the fan speculated theory that the name is an homage to Lioness Asuka, Kana herself stated on Twitter that it wasn’t the case. She said she chose the name for its meaning of “tomorrow/future” and it had nothing to do with the legendary Crush Girl.

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Asuka’s trademark kabuki masks worn during her entrances have become a huge part of WWE’s merchandise efforts for her, with three worn so far and subsequently turned into plastic masks for the fans.

Dana Brooke and Emma crashed her initial interview,  leading to Asuka’s in ring debut for NXT against the former on October 7. She pretty well destroyed Brooke, with a surprising amount of her pre-WWE look, character, and style kept intact which allowed her to make an immediate strong impression on the crowd.

From that strong start Asuka’s continued to dominate and never looked back. About 50 matches and 6 months after her debut match the undefeated Asuka defeated likewise fan favorite Bayley to claim the NXT Women’s Championship. During her title reign she’s continued her string of impressive victories, including a rematch against Bayley and defenses against Nia Jax, Micke James, etc.

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She’s excellent at playing up her mystique, and the choice to keep her undefeated (at over 140 matches and counting) has amplified that advantage considerably. Long term some care will need to be taken to make sure she keeps getting her opponents over as well as herself. In that respect there has been talk among some fans of her as a “division killer,” but I personally haven’t felt that to be the case thus far. People don’t necessarily look bad getting dominated because she’s portrayed as such a insurmountable obstacle, and often her opponents get to hang in with her just enough to look impressive despite the defeat.

Also, there’s potential in varying the formula, such as when Mickie James returned to challenge Asuka at NXT Takeover Toronto and was portrayed as one of the first real threats to the champion to great effect. And whenever someone does finally get a pinfall on her an instant star will be made (as long as it’s not booked in a flukeish manner).

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A sample of the WWE trading and “relic” cards available featuring Asuka.

Having been a big fan of Kana before she signed with WWE (particularly in Shimmer, where among other accomplishments her match with Ayako Hamada was the best in the promotion’s history), it’s been intriguing to watch her evolution in NXT. From things like her improving English to the effect on her ring style.

In interviews and other public statements she’s shared significant insight into the challenges and personal growth that has come with it, such as needing to engage American crowds more fully faster when pacing a match than with Japanese crowds. She’s also talked about her initial reluctance to speak in Japanese at all during matches, only to later realize conveying emotion was more important and even if the crowd couldn’t understand her words yelling at her opponent in Japanese could still be a useful tool to connect with the crowd and tell the needed story.

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I was lucky enough to see her wrestle live at NXT Takeover Brooklyn II and later at an NXT show at Madison Square Garden. Takeover was almost two years after the last time I had seen her live at Shimmer, and in addition to just having the opportunity in general it was a treat to see how things have changed for her during her time in NXT.

It will be interesting to see what the future has in store for the Empress of Tomorrow, as the WWE’s eventual direction with her could go several ways. Her mastery of her craft and uniqueness as an attraction begs a spot on the main roster, but there are huge benefits to having her in NXT to expand the breadth of training of others in addition to the general advantages of having her on those shows.

Although whatever Asuka’s path holds going forward one thing’s for sure: for her opponents, “tomorrow brings danger.” 😉

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Merry Joshi Christmas! Part 3: Marvelous 12/25/16 Live Thoughts

December 25, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan

Between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I was lucky enough to see three Christmas shows, all with some celebratory elements. First was Gatoh Move at Itabashi Green Hall at 1 pm on Christmas Eve, and later that night was Ice Ribbon at the IR dojo in Warabi. On Christmas day I headed to Shin-Kiba First Ring for the last of the three, from Chigusa Nagayo’s Marvelous promotion.

 

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The show started off in festive fashion, with Chigusa coming out dressed as Santa and her core roster joining her in various costumes. The highlight was Takumi Iroha as a Christmas Tree (which I sadly didn’t get a good pic of). My meager Japanese skills didn’t catch the meaning of the longish promo / exchanges between the wrestlers, but it seemed well received.

 

 

The opener, Mio Momono vs Mika Shirahime, was great, and if not the match of the night certainly neck and neck with the main event. Incredible instincts and craft shown by both rookies, who built drama expertly through the 15 minutes encounter and had the crowd going crazy at the end. There were a couple awkward spots, such as an instance from each where they essentially forgot to roll up their opponent, forcing the other to kind of roll herself up and wait for the other to get in proper position. But otherwise this was smooth and well executed. And even in the places I mentioned the ability of the other wrestler to adapt and keep things on track was impressive, particularly given their experience.

I was at Mio Momono’s debut in New York, and it’s wonderful to see her capitalizing on the potential she showed even then. Can’t wait to see what the future holds for this extremely talented youngster.

 

 

The show slowed down quite a bit from there. Another Marvelous rookie, Rin Kadokura, wrestled freelancer Konami in the second match. While Konami has a fair amount of experience from wrestling in several different promotions, she’s only been in the business a couple of years herself. Both were fine here, leading to the perhaps expected decent but basic match.

Aki Shizuku came to the ring festively attired to the crowd’s delight, which I unfortunately have to admit was probably the best thing about her match with Yuiga. I understand the style they were using, but there was just way too much stalling that made this match seem much longer than it was. While nothing was really wrong from a technical standpoint, the pacing was way off and it didn’t come together for me.

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Kaoru vs Yako Fujigasaki vs Chikayo Nagashima vs Hamuko Hoshi vs Mochi Miyagi was a reasonably fun match, with lighthearted taunting and antics early on giving way to more competitive sequences as the match progressed. Ice Ribbon’s Lovely Butchers looked good here, and mostly worked together despite the 5-way format. Yako was the target of the other combatants for most of the match, and a specific underlying rivalry between her and Kaoru got a strong focus towards the end. Kaoru’s favorite foreign object, the wooden board of doom, of course became involved. Felt like the underdog should have gone over here, but it appears the feud is still building / ongoing.

 

Tomoko Watanabe didn’t know quite what to make of the eccentric Cassandra Miyagi as their match began, and I don’t think things were any clearer for her by the end. This was my first time seeing Miyagi, who I’d heard a bit about, and she certainly has a unique and rather captivating charisma to her. The match was fine, but did feel like it could have been better and the structure led to an anticlimactic feeling when Miyagi lost.

 

I’d been extremely impressed with Takumi Iroha in her appearances at Marvelous USA’s New York shows, and was happy to see her get this main event opportunity against veteran Kyoko Kimura. I’d seen them interact before as part of an intergender tag team match at Marvelous USA’s third show, so this encounter was a nice followup to that.

This played out as would be expected, with Kimura largely dominating and Iroha toughing it out and fighting from behind. The formula worked well, and Iroha got to show some of her incredible power at points. Solid main and a nice spotlight for the up and comer.

 

 

Chigusa and the core roster came back out after the main to thank Kimura, talk some more, and raffle off a few things to the audience as part of the Christmas celebration.

Middle of the road show overall I think. It had a different feel from the rest of the promotions I saw, with a somewhat more traditional sense of build throughout the card and in the matches. It was great when it worked and cooled the crowd significantly when it didn’t. The things that didn’t excel here were more bland than bad, but it was half the card. That said, the high points were great and they started and ended with the best of the night.

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Merry Joshi Christmas! Part 2: Ice Ribbon 12/24/16 Live Thoughts

December 24, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan

Between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I was lucky enough to see three Christmas shows, all with some celebratory elements. First was Gatoh Move at Itabashi Green Hall at 1pm on Christmas Eve. That evening I headed over to the Ice Ribbon Dojo for their Christmas show.

 

During the opening Maya Yukihi sang a (rather spectacular) rendition of “All I Want For Christmas” before the usual welcoming comments by various roster members.

The first match was Uno Matsuya & Kyuri vs Tequila Saya & Maika Ozaki. Everyone except Kyuri was new to me here. As I wrote about in The Future is Now 4, Kyuri really impressed me last year and I’m hoping to see her get more chances to advance. Here she showed even more of the instincts and skill I noticed last year, along with clearly being the veteran lead of the match among the three relative rookies.

All of the newer wrestlers looked good, despite getting a little lost at times (which with Kyuri’s help they recovered from nicely). Uno and Saya are already showing disctinctive styles and personalities, and seemed to be solid additions to the roster. Ozaki showed great flashes of power and has a ton of potential as a wrecking ball style wrestler. She was made to look strong defeating Kyuri for the win.

 

 

On the first show I saw during last year’s trip I was introduced to Miyako Matsumoto by seeing her team unsuccessfully and hilariously with Maruko Nagasaki, so I was extremely amused to find them teaming again here on my first IR show of this trip. Given their opponents were International Tag Ribbon Championship #1 contenders The Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi), there seemed little chance of the former team’s record improving.

Sure enough this unfolded exactly as expected, with some self serving antics from the Dancing Queen and and eventual victory for Hoshi & Miyagi. Miyako predictably hit at her opponent in frustration after the loss. The Butchers looked good as a team, keep their own playing around to a minimum and focusing on hard hitting tag team wrestling (which is where I think their strength is). Their performance here definitely increased my excitement for their upcoming title match against my personal favorite team, Avid Rival.

 

 

Tsukasa Fujimoto & Maya Yuhiki vs Kurumi & 235 was an intense tag encounter built entirely around the undercurrents of ICE Cross Infinity Championship semi-finalists Tsukka and Kurumi facing off. Their tense staredowns, one upmanship games, etc all worked well to crank up anticipation for RibbonMania and actually seemed to be teasing a Tsukka vs Kurumi final. Kurumi got to look like a bit of a beast here, using her power to get the better of Tsukka on quite a few occasions. Maya and (the rather underrated) 235 were on here as well, leading to a strong, compelling tag match.

 

 

Rabbit Miu’s last match at Ice Ribbon was the main event, where she faced Tsukushi.  Decent main event and a fitting send off for Rabbit. She was clearly having fun out there wrestling a friend. Both are accomplished wrestlers so action was good too.

 

 

After the matches there was an extended roundtable with Tsukushi giving a goodbye speech to Rabbit in addition to the usual promos/comments.

Seemed to be some bluster from the remaining tourney participants, and that along with the semi-main tag provided good build for RibbonMania. Although the absence of one of the four semifinalists due to Risa performing in a play did hamper that momentum a little.

 

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Overall this was one of the stronger top to bottom dojo shows I’ve seen, with great action and a lot of intriguing underlying stories.

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Merry Joshi Christmas! Part 1: Gatoh Move 12/24/16 Live Thoughts

December 24, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan

Between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I was lucky enough to see three Christmas shows, all with some celebratory elements.

 

First up on Christmas Eve was Gatoh Move at Itabashi Green Hall, where the first show of theirs I saw was at in 2015. Still one of my favorite venues. Unlike Gatoh Move’s home base shows their bigger events (like this one) are more traditional in some respect because they take place in a wrestling ring instead of the mats only environment at Ichigaya Chocolate Square. But Gatoh Move is still unique in it’s presentation, with opening and closing dance numbers by the core roster and a mix of comedy and competitive matches up and down the card. As appropriate for the holiday theme the wrestlers came out in different colored Christmas outfits for the dancing.

 

 

The opening match was a mixed tag pitting Hikaru Shida & Madoka against Kaori Yoneyama & Hikaru Sato. This was largely a straight up contest, although there were … “comedic” I guess …. overtones mixed in between Shida and Sato, with Sato creeping on Shida and her wanting nothing to do with him. He tried to refuse to tag in against Madoka but force tagged in whenever she entered the match, stalked around her and bent over to check out her behind instead of hitting her when Kaori held Shida for a double team, climbed on top of her instead of applying submission holds, etc. It did lead to a couple of funny moments, like Shida hitting Kaori with her flying butt attack, him asking for the same, then Shida kneeing him in the face instead. But mostly I personally found it creepy and unnecessary rather than funny. Also, Shida cowering away from him at points seemed really odd for her character, who I thought generally more likely to just haul off and knee him in the first place.

Past that the match was good. In particular when the men did actually face off they absolutely lit into each other with hard strike exchanges. Strong finishing exchanges as time expired too. The Sato / Shida stuff is obviously an ongoing angle, but not one I care for from what I saw here.

 

 

Next was a special stipulation “Drunk Match” between DJ Nira and Masahiro Takanashi, during which the competitors had to stop wrestling to imbibe at random times. Beverages escalated from beer to shochu to champagne. Gags included Nira sneaking more than he was required to drink, both wrestlers getting increasingly wobbly as time progressed, etc. Takanashi begging off from the required drink at one point while Nira ran up to down his was a great little touch. Near the end Takanashi kept trying for a superkick, but Nira couldn’t stand long enough to be hit with it. Nira eventually decided to call a bunch of people out from the back to form a human pyramid, and once he made his way to the top Takanashi finally had Nira in position to hit the superkick for the win. Absolutely ridiculous from start to finish, but that was the point here and it was amusing.

 

 

Team Reina (Makoto, Mari Sakamoto, & Hirori) faced Team Gatoh Move (Emi Sakura, Aasa, & Mitsuru)  in a 6-woman elimination tag (with over-the-top rules in addition to pin/submission). Interesting set up here, with Gatoh Move’s founder and two of her trainees against Reina’s reigning Champion (who also holds GM’s IWA Triple Crown Championship) and two of hers. I’d of course seen Emi and Makoto last trip, and also saw Mari when she came to New York with Syuuri last year. Hirori, Aasa, and Mitsuru were all new to me.

 

 

The story of the match was phenomenal, with both teams showing real desire to prevail in the inter-promotional contest. The seconds on the outside for each team were visibly engaged and cheering their promotion, which really added to the atmosphere and the sense of something important being at stake here, even if it was just bragging rights.

 

 

The action was great too, with everyone looking sharp, things going back and forth nicely, building drama around the eliminations, etc. Makoto’s presence and mannerisms as a cocky heel were several levels better than what I saw of her in a babyface role last year. Aasa got a nice spotlight at the end being the last member of her team left trying to topple Makoto before coming up just short, and her ring style as a pint-sized powerhouse suits her extremely well. I’d like to see more of Mitsuru too in the future, as she looked quite good in the little time she had before being the first elimination.

 

 

 

Antonio Honda, who I saw several times last year and is always good for a chuckle, had a special “Christmas Deathmatch” against Cho-un Shiryu.  This was VERY strange, surprisingly even more so than the drunk match, but still pretty humorous somehow. I do feel it ran long though and would have benefitted from a few less sequences/gags.

Santa made repeated appearances to bring Honda gifts such as a dirty magazine, nunchaku, and a coal miner’s glove, all of which factored into the match eventually. Kaori Yoneyama and DJ Nira were sitting near the “stage” seats and whenever Honda or Cho-un would go up to the top rope one of them had some sort of medical emergency they needed assistance with, forcing the combatant to nobly chose to give up his advantage over his opponent to leave the ring and assist the person in “jeopardy.” Nothing even remotely serious about this match, and the crowd ate it up.

 

 

The main event featured Riho & Kotori challenging Aoi Kizuki & Sayaka Obihiro for the Gatoh Move Tag Team Championships. Aoi is a personal favorite of mine, and this was unfortunately the only chance I’ll have to see her wrestle this trip. Thankfully though it was a main event match in with three other excellent wrestlers, and as such was great.

 

 

 

Both teams were sharp and this was exactly the quick paced, hard hitting main event it should have been. Kotori having a bit of a chip on her shoulder and something to prove was a nice undercurrent, and Riho and Aoi had some fantastic exchanges down the stretch.

It was a shame to see Aoi and Obi lose (I somehow only seem to get to see Aoi drop titles in big matches live) but it wasn’t a surprise the way the buildup was going and with Riho’s role as ace of Gatoh Move. Also, Riho and Kotori are a great team and deserving champions themselves.

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Afterwards there was another song and wrestlers went around the venue shaking hands with the fans and thanking everyone for coming.

 

 

I really liked the feel and flow staggering the comedy matches with the more serious ones gave the show, and when it was time for action everyone gave it their all. As I generally find in Gatoh Move I loved the humor in the straight up comedy matches, and found it fell flatter when they tried to integrate it into a regular contest. The fully competitive matches here (6-woman tag and main event) both had a fantastic sense of urgency and stakes and were simply great.

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Stardom 12/22/16 Live Thoughts

December 22, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan

I was lucky enough to also be at Stardom’s big year end show in 2015, which was quite unique as it featured Act Yasukawa’s retirement. I was curious to see how this year’s would be different being perhaps a more “typical” year end show for them.

The show started just a couple hours after my arrival in Japan, so while I made decent time from the airport I still unfortunately missed the first two matches of Azumi vs Arisu Nanase vs Ruaka and Konami vs Hiromi Mimura.

So the first match I saw was a three way tag between Oedo Tai (Kris Wolf & Hana Kimura), Jungle Kyouna & Natsuko Tora, and Kaori Yoneyama & Saori Anou. One member of each team (Hana, Tora, and Saori) was new to me.

There was some comedy early on as the teams taunted each other, then things progressed into back and forth between the three teams and some multiple person spots. Wolf is so charismatic the crowd popped for her surprise win despite her heel status.They kept it short and energetic here, leading to a decent, if unremarkable, triple tag.

The NWA Western States Tag Team Titles were on the line next as Twisted Sisterz (Thunder Rosa and Holidead) (c) defended against Queens Quest (HZK and Momo Watanabe). With Queen’s Quest being a new big heel faction associated with Io, I was honestly was hoping for more from them. All four wrestlers were clearly giving good effort and there were some bright spots, but the chemistry between the teams as opponents just generally seemed poor and there was a lot of awkwardness and things not connecting / coming across quite right. I feel like these teams are capable of more. The heel vs heel dynamic also kept the crowd rather tepid, and QQ’s puzzling loss seems to cut off the relatively new team’s momentum.

A pair of dark matches featuring models/actresses against career professional wrestlers were next.

In her debut match Nana Suzuki got to get in the ring against one of Stardom’s aces, Kairi Hojo, in a singles contest. Nana actually played her role as an overmatched but determined underdog quite well and the match was good. Kairi rightly dominated most of this, but the story was well told and Nana got the crowd behind her comeback spots. Nana seems like she could make the transition and wrestle regularly if she wants to.

Stardom’s reigning champion Io Shirai teamed with the other visitor, Mariko Seyama,to face Hiroyo Matsumoto & Jungle Kyouna. To be honest, Mariko did not come across nearly as good as Nana did, seeming awkward in the ring. The vets held it together well enough, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the previous match. Also, dark match or not, it was odd seeing Io try to play face here and her normal heel character later. The result was the crowd just cheered her in both matches, which perhaps took a little away from the story she was telling with Mayu.

In the semi-main Oedo Tai (Kyoko Kimura & Kagetsu) defended their Goddesses of Stardom Titles against former champions Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito. There was a lot of interference from the Oedo Tai entourage outside the ring, which generated quite the conquering hero reception for Hojo & Bito when they finally overcame it all and took their belts back. Really good match.

In the main event of last year’s Climax Io Shirai claimed the World of Stardom title from  Meiko Satomura in one of the top five matches I saw my entire trip. In this year’s main she defended that same title against her former Thunder Rock partner Mayu Iwatani.

This was a great, pedal-to-the-floor main event with tons of jaw dropping exchanges from two pros extremely familiar with one another. Highlights include Mayu hitting dragon suplexes on the apron and floor (ouch!), trying for one from the top rope only to have Io flip out and LAND ON HER FEET, and a trio of rolling Germans from Io that has to be seen to be believed. Strong back and forth contest and an excellent main event.

I was slightly surprised at the outcome, as once Queen’s Quest lost earlier in the evening I figured we’d get Mayu victorious here to culminate her redemption / revenge story before the heels regrouped and established dominance at a later date. Of course, cocky Io seeming unbeatable is also a compelling story hook.

 

This was an interesting show for Stardom. There were some issues with storytelling, blurry face-heel dynamics, and occasional missed spots and clunky ringwork. Yet there was also some excellent action and overall things came together and I found the show fun and entertaining despite those weaknesses, which is what really matters. Top two matches in particular are well worth seeking out.

Categories
Art Japan Reviews

Holiday Celebration with Glimpses of Past and Future Art Exhibitions

In addition to Tenri Cultural Institute‘s language school and numerous cultural events,  it hosts an art gallery that is always home to a variety of wonderful exhibitions ranging from traditional Japanese techniques to innovative multinational displays of modern art. I previously shared my thoughts on the June 2016 exhibit, the multinational Ink Imagists exhibition, and Chika MacDonald’s Mugen exhibit.

The exhibitions themselves are of course incredible, but Tenri usually also has an opening reception attended by the artists and sometimes featuring extra attractions such as live demonstrations or musical performances. The December 15th opening for Tenri’s Holiday Art Show (which ran from December 10th to the 22nd) was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

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A special treat at the reception was a fantastic assortment of hand made chocolate by Kanami Chocolate Brooklyn. As impressive visually as in taste and nicely diverse in flavor and texture, the treats were absolutely delicious.

 

 

The exhibition was a great collection of work from a mix of both artists who have had previous shows at Tenri and ones with upcoming exhibitions.

 

 

It was a wonderful snapshot of the diversity of artistic styles featured at the gallery, with numerous different techniques and styles on display. From more traditional art to three dimensional work and even a enclosed relaxation “retreat” there was a multitude of interesting things to see and experience.

 

 

 

Several of the artists were in attendance and happily interacting with visitors. I was happy to have the opportunity to catch up with my friend Chika MacDonald, who in addition to provding two gorgeous pieces for the show in the similar to those showcased in her Mugen exhibit wore a shawl with an beautiful image in the same vein on the back.

 

 

It was also great to meet Alex Kukai Shinohara and discuss his work a bit, which told parallel stories of a gallery exhibit with text elements and striking three dimensional frames forming art pieces within his art pieces.

 

 

Near the end of the reception there was a short shamisen and vocal  performance by Sumie Kaneko. Her music is lovely and I recommend checking out the longer performances she has at Tenri and other venues, such as her Dec 23rd show at Club Bonafide on 52nd street.

 

As always I highly recommend checking out the wonderful art that Tenri Gallery showcases, but in addition if you are able to attend the receptions you’ll enjoy a wonderfully relaxed and fun social event as well.