Category: Wrestling

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Japan Wrestling

Beautifully Bloomed: Farewell to Misaki Ohata

On December 29, 2018 one of my favorite wrestlers said goodbye to the ring after twelve years. Here I’d like to take a personal look back on the career of Misaki Ohata.

 

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My first exposure to Misaki was via Shimmer DVDs, starting with her debut for the company on Volume 29 in April 2010. She showed a high energy, exciting moveset that took advantage of her small size in interesting ways, like with her trademark crossbody to an opponent seated in the corner. Misaki had been wrestling a little under four years at the time, yet already wrestled and came across like a well established professional. It was extremely interesting to see both her ring style and character evolve over the years, from the exuberant babyface character she had at this point to the additional variety of personas she developed later on to use as needed depending on match, company, and story. Her time in Shimmer was highlighted by a tag team championship reign with fellow regular Hiroyo Matsumoto as 3S (the Seven Star Sisters).

 

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Misaki stopped coming to Shimmer before I started attending (in 2013), so I didn’t see her wrestle live for the first time until her special one weekend return for Tomoka Nakagawa’s retirement weekend in April 2015.  It was a nice spotlight weekend for Misaki with great singles matches against Nicole Savoy, Heidi Lovelace (now WWE’s Ruby Riot), and Lufisto, as well as being part of a fantastic Joshi 8-woman tag in Tomoka’s second to last match reforming 3S (with Hiroyo Matsumoto) and teaming with 3G (Kellie Skater and Tomoka herself) against Joshi legends Aja Kong, Dynamite Kansai, Kyoko Kimura, & Mayumi Ozaki.

 

 

As it turns out later that same year I’d make my first trip to Japan, and among all the excellent wrestling and promotions I experienced for the first time, I was thrilled to see Misaki and others I was familiar with from Shimmer wrestle in their home promotions (and in some cases against each other).

During that trip Misaki and her Avid Rival partner Ryo Mizunami challenged Best Friends (Tsukasa Fujimoto & Arisa Nakajima) for Ice Ribbon’s International Ribbon Tag Team Championships at Ribbonmania 2015 in what ended up one of one of my favorite matches of all time. All four were masters of their craft, and this and every subsequent time they faced each other was magic. A year and a half later I’d make a special trip to Japan planned largely around seeing two of the three fantastic rematches they had.

I truly believe Avid Rival was one of the best tag teams in the world, with incredible chemistry as partners and an enthralling, evolving moveset that they seamlessly integrated into well built, captivating matches.

 

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I was also lucky enough to see glimpses of some of Misaki’s championship runs and other accomplishments live, including being crowned Wave’s Zan-1 fan voted champion at the end of 2016, an excellent defense of her and Mizunami’s International Tag Ribbon Championships against the Lovely Butchers at Ribbonmania 2016 just days later (while they also held Wave’s tag team championships), and defending Wave’s top singles belt against Yumi Ohka at their biggest show of the year to end 2017.

 

 

There was a careful precision to everything Misaki did in the ring, with her incredible body control making her crossbodies, bridges, and numerous other key elements of her trademark moves particularly crisp and beautiful, greatly adding to the level of immersion of her matches. She was incredibly versatile, both in character and ring style. Misaki played comedy and intensity with equally adeptness, from hyper babyface to more crafty and controlled veteran, from a certain masked character in a certain promotion to often being the “straight man” of Avid Rival to Mizunami’s antics (or perhaps participating in said antics as need be), and so on.

 

 

It was really just a footnote in Misaki’s twelve year career, but a personal highlight for me as it wound down were her interactions with Ice Ribbon’s sub promotion P’s Party and specifically their rookie Asahi this year. Seeing what the newer generation can do in with an experienced wrestler can be quite interesting, and is also a great opportunity for them to learn and grow.

Asahi is an extremely promising young wrestler and Misaki clearly had fun in the both the singles contest I saw between them  in April and their teaming against Arisa Nakajima & Karen DATE in October. Misaki’s  final P’s Party appearance saw her face three opponents she had never previously wrestled in subsequent matches, and it was fun to see back to back matches with different styles from her against P’s Party’s producer Tequila Saya, Totoro Satsuki, and Maika Ozaki a little over a week before her career ended.

 

 

Misaki retired at Wave’s year end show for 2018 on December 29th. Her final match against regular partner Ryo Mizunami was phenomenal, as well as a bit different. Since it was for Mizunami’s recently won Regina di Wave title, it was (appropriately) a straight up, competitive title match missing a lot the “normal” retirement match touches (like non-participants splashing the retiree in the corner, for example). They clearly still had some fun with things though, such as when they brawled to the time keeper’s table and Misaki rang the bell directly in Ryo’s ear (ouch!). But it was all in the context of a match befitting the prestige of Wave’s top title.

As to be expected from two wrestlers of this caliber that know each other so well this was an excellent, hard hitting, back and forth encounter. Misaki eventually busted out a rolling variation of her Sky Blue Suplex (!!) and just wore the champion down until a final Sky Blue Suplex with bridge gave her the win and saw Misaki retire as Regina di Wave champion. Fantastic match and a well deserved honor Misaki on her way out.

 

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Misaki was in good spirits and joking around a bit during her retirement ceremony (even while her poor partner cried goodbye), a nice sign of her being satisfied with her career and ready to proceed to whatever’s next.

 

Misaki Ohata PSC by Juri H. Chinchilla.
Misaki Ohata by Shining Wizard Designs.
Custom Funko Pop made of/for Misaki.

 

This was the third retirement show for the year for me after Mika Iida’s in May and Aoi Kizuki’s in October, and although it was a bit sad to say goodbye to them all I was extremely lucky to be able to attend their farewells.

I wish Misaki all the best in whatever life holds for her after wrestling.

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Japan Trip Fall 2018: Top 10 Matches (Live)

This past Fall I was in Tokyo for a week and change in a visit largely planned around Aoi Kizuki’s retirement. I’d like to take one more look back and spotlight some of the matches that really stood out to me.

This time I saw 12 shows from 7 promotions (considering Aoi and Shida’s self produced shows on their own) with 53 matches featuring 96 different wrestlers. As usual the vast majority of what I saw was exceptional, and given the timing and impetuous for the trip there are trends and themes running throughout the list even more so than usual. So even there are still numerous of worthy wrestlers and matches that won’t be mentioned here, and the order is highly subject to change.

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

Here’s a breakdown of matches I saw by company: Aoi Kizuki’s Retirement Show: 5 matches, Gatoh Move: 13 matches,  Hikaru Shida’s 10th Anniversary Show: 5 matches,  Ice Ribbon (including P’s Party): 16 matches, Pro Wrestling Wave: 5 matches, Pure-J:  4 matches, and TJPW: 5 matches.

Honorable mention

 Aoi Last Ribbon – Ice Ribbon 9/29/18

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Aoi’s last Ice Ribbon match was a gauntlet style contest they occasionally do for special events. Aoi wrestled everyone previously on the card (twelve opponents) in a series of 1-minute time limit encounters. In order, she faced Tsukushi, Karen DATE, Nao DATE, Tequila Saya, Kyuri, Giulia, Satsuki Totoro, Miyako Matsumoto, Mochi Miyagi, Hamuko Hoshi, Tsukasa Fujimoto, and Ibuki Hoshi.

This was a suitable send off and there were plenty of great little touches. Tsukushi came out in Aoi’s old costume, Guilia’s section consisted of a full minute of running dropkicks, Aoi got the best of Miyako at her own game and pinned the Dancing Queen with her own version of the Mama Mia, Aoi and Hammy spent half their time crying goodbye, etc. The end which saw Aoi just barely outlast the current champion’s assault and be laid out as time expired by the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex, then nearly picked off by rookie Ibuki in a frantic final period. Aoi survived though and ended with a record of 2-0-10 (she beat Miyako and Kyuri, and had time limit draws with everyone else). I love this type of special event match, and this was an emotional, engaging one.

Misaki Ohata, KAROU, & Sakura Hirota vs Yumi Ohka, Cherry, & Kaori Yoneyama Wave 10/1/18 

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This main event was focused around another upcoming retiree, in this case one of Wave’s top stars in Misaki Ohata. She’s engaged to DDT’s Makoto Oishi, and this match was a 6-woman tag that seemed to be a pro-marriage team of Ohata, Sakura Hirota, & KAROU against the anti-marriage team of Cherry, Yumi Ohka, & Kaori Yoneyama.

Now THIS was my type of comedy. Even without understanding the verbal exchanges the intent and attitudes of the participants came through and I was highly amused. There was also great action mixed in (particularly from Yumi & Misaki) to anchor the match and its humor. This was a blast.

Reika Saiki & Azusa Takigawa vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Tokyo Joshi Pro 9/29/18

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Azusa was winding down her career and back in her regular persona after her brainwashed “Azusa Christie” phase. Her opponents came out with signs apparently protesting Azusa’s retirement, and Reika joined in the protest for a bit. Seeing the tiny kaiju enthusiastically copying Misao was highly amusing. Azusa eventually attacked her opponents and slapped her partner upside the head to get things started.

This was really the best of both worlds of TJP’s match types. Reika and Shoko absolutely tore it down action-wise, then when things slowed down/stopped for the sake of the story it was well done. A lot of that was thanks to attention to detail and the wrestlers themselves being heavily invested, such as when Reika and Shoko got so caught up in Misao’s apparent selfless act in the ring that they stopped fighting on the outside and watched, as captivated as the audience.

Misao offered to take Azusa’s second rope elbow to end the match, giving the latter a win as a retirement gift. Then she kicked out instead. Reika, angered by Misao not following through on her word, got involved but Azusa begged off saying it was reflex and offered to do it again. This time Misao countered the elbow into a backslide for a close 2 to try and steal the match. At that point even Shoko’s pissed, and she joined her opponents in a series of finishers and a three person dogpile to put Misao away.

The way Azusa, Reika, and even the ref went ahead and celebrated with Shoko as if it was a 3 vs 1 all along and Shoko’s excitement at “winning” were fantastic. Everyone made up afterwards, Misao tearfully congratulated Azusa, and they all left together. Far and away the most I’ve ever enjoyed Misao’s antics, precisely because there was a strong framework for them and they were supported by an exciting match, with Reika and Shoko being their usual exceptional selves.  I talk a lot about Reika, Maki Itoh, and Yuka Sakazaki in terms of incredible presence and charisma, but Shoko is right up there too and is perhaps TJP’s most underrated performer. Loved this.

Top 10:

10. Asahi & Misaki Ohata vs Karen DATE & Arisa Nakajima – Ice Ribbon 10/8/18

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As Misaki Ohata’s career wound down this year I really enjoyed her involvement in P’s Party, particularly her matches / interactions with Asahi. So it was a real treat for me to see them team here against Arisa Nakajima & Karen DATE. I loved this, as beyond just great action it also had several interesting undercurrents being played off of throughout the match.

Arisa and Misaki’s mutual resentment was palpable, and Misaki’s strained patience with Asahi yet being rabidly protective when Arisa mocked the rookie was pitch perfect character work. Great stuff all around.

With all of the DATEs currently absent from Ice Ribbon’s shows this seems like it was my last time seeing Karen live for the foreseeable future (if ever). A high note to go out on at least.

9.  Tequila Saya vs Maya Yukihi – Ice Ribbon 10/6/18

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Maya vs Saya was incredibly well structured, with Saya fighting tooth and nail for her big move (a reverse pedigree) and Maya desperately countering several times before Saya finally hit it. Maya appropriately sold like it molten death. While I understand Saya was never winning this match, I wish they had at least done the foot on the rope escape for that. But Maya did kick out at the LAST possible second and made it look fearsome. This was top notch work from both, and a great example of how a simple focal point to build a story around can really enhance a match.

8.  Hikaru Shida vs Naomichi Marufuji – Hikaru Shida’s 10th Anniversary Show

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In the main event of Shida’s 10th Anniversary show she seemed to be setting out to exorcise a personal demon. She’d faced Marufuji had faced earlier in the year, with Shida getting knocked out in under two minutes. I could feel the pressure weighing on her as she looked to prove herself by at least putting up a better fight here. The right story, well worked, makes all the difference and they built off of that feeling of insecurity to craft an excellent match in both story and action.

Marufuji looked great, and it was nice to see him wrestle live again many years after seeing him in ROH. While testing Shida he certainly wasn’t holding back, and his onslaught of chops left Shida’s chest a painful to look at vivid red bruise.

This was really well done, and one of the best matches I’ve ever seen from Shida. She gave Marufuji a real challenge in a believable way and battled for eighteen minutes, but eventually came up short and Marufuji emerged victorious.

Marufuji looked great, and it was nice to see him wrestle live again many years after seeing him in ROH. While testing Shida he certainly wasn’t holding back, and his onslaught of chops left Shida’s chest a painful to look at vivid red bruise.

This was really well done, and one of the best matches I’ve ever seen from Shida. She gave Marufuji a real challenge in a believable way and battled for eighteen minutes, but eventually came up short and Marufuji emerged victorious.

7.  Kyuri & Satsuki Totoro vs Maika Ozaki & Nao DATE – Ice Ribbon 10/8/18

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Shortly before this show Maika had temporarily broken up her GEKOKU team with Kyuri in a case of tough love because she thought the latter wasn’t as upset by losing matches as she should be. Here they were pitted against each other in tag action, teaming with Nao DATE and Satsuki Totoro respectively.

I adore the fact that they were teaming with two wrestlers who were regular partners themselves (as Novel Tornado), as it created several interesting parallels between the team who was ok facing each other in a competitive environment and the team who was being torn apart by it. Kyuri wanted NO PART of fighting Maika, looking absolutely miserable during the ring entrances and only lightening up when in the ring against Nao. She wouldn’t even lock up with Maika at first, but later in the match when pushed far enough she completely went off on her usual partner in spectacular, crowd popping fashion.

Maika, perhaps partially proving her point about Kyuri’s priorities, eventually prevails and pins her regular partner with the Muscle Buster. A dejected, depressed Kyuri then slinks off with Totoro in tow as Maika desperately tries to call her back and explain. Great interweaving of stories in a great match. Between this and the ActWres feud Gekoku has been the center of some of the best storytelling Ice Ribbon did all year, and of course the story wasn’t over yet.

Like Karen, Nao has also apparently stopped wrestling for now (?) since I saw this show. She’s one of my absolute favorites among Ice’s rookies and I hope to see her back someday.

6.  Risa Sera & Hagane Shinnou vs Aja Kong & TARU – Hikaru Shida’s 10th Anniversary Show

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I swear I’ve seen Madoka (here Hagane Shinnou) announced under like five different names in various matches, and a quick search shows he has like ten. No illusions about what kind of match this would be, as Risa was bloody in under two minutes. They fought all over, inside and outside the ring and right by me a few times, spreading chaos all over the arena.

This was all about Risa & Madoka trying to survive the monsters, and as such it had a fire absent from some of the other hardcore matches I’ve seen recently. Easily the most compelling performance I’ve seen from Risa all year. Risa can be incredible in this kind of match, often in my opinion when she’s more the underdog, and was both here. This was a “the journey is as important as the destination” type of match, and going to a draw with the monsters made Risa & Madoka look like stars.

5. The Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi), Azure Revolution (Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera), & Ibuki Hoshi vs Tsukasa Fujimoto, This is Ice Ribbon (Tsukushi & Kurumi Hiragi), Asahi, & Miyako Matsumoto –  Aoi Kizuki’s Retirement Show

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Aoi spent the vast majority of her career in Ice Ribbon before going freelance in her last couple of years, so it was great to see a majority of the current IR roster wrestle on this show. This 10-woman tag was really fun, and Tsukka breaking out the “partners as steps” spot always make me wonderfully happy.  In a cap to the running joke of Aoi not letting Tsukka do her “Youth Pyramid” pose because of her age, Tsukka finally managed to do it uninterrupted here and Aoi even did it with her during the after show ceremony.

The two rookies in the match (Asahi and Ibuki) became the focal point towards the end, end despite Asahi desperately struggling to prove herself she eventually fell victim to a trio of Hamuko Rolls from the Butchers & Ibuki and pinned by the latter.

4. Aoi Kizuki vs Emi Sakura – Gatoh Move 10/4/18

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In what was originally supposed to be Aoi’s last Gatoh Move match, she faced her trainer and mentor Emi Sakura in the main event. This was another great match in Aoi’s goodbye tour, and at the time I would have been hard pressed to imagine a more appropriate way for Gatoh Move to say goodbye to her. Aoi defeated her mentor after thirteen minutes of back and forth, emotional, captivating wrestling with the Happy Clutch.

3. Aoi Kizuki vs Mei Suruga – Gatoh Move 10/5/18

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Aoi Kizuki facing her recent tag partner and protege of sorts in Gaoth Move’s newest rookie Mei Suruga in a match that was supposed to happen the previous Sunday at Gatoh’s cancelled Greenhall show was the main reason this show happened at all. In a bit of a parallel with Aoi’s mentor Emi putting her over in their final singles match the day prior, Aoi put Mei over here giving the rookie a huge win.

The match itself was excellent, and I certainly understand all the hype arising around Mei. As I mentioned about the very first time I saw her wrestle (at Pure-J days prior to this), she very clearly “gets it” and seems to have natural instincts for wrestling in terms of drawing the audience into her matches and making maximum use of her skills and charisma. This was just as fitting a Gatoh Move goodbye to Aoi as her match with Emi would have been, and was a wonderful “passing the torch” moment.

2. Aoi Kizuki, Mei Suruga, & Riho vs Emi Sakura, Makoto, & Hikaru Shida –  Aoi Kizuki’s Retirement Show

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It a perfect endcap to Aoi’s career, she teamed with Gatoh Move’s Riho, & Mei Suruga against Gatoh (and Ice Ribbon) founder Emi Sakura with freelancers Makoto & Hikaru Shida in the main event.  It was a nice tribute to her trainer (Sakura) and other wrestlers she had a long history with. The sole exception was Mei, a rookie who became Aoi’s tag partner and seemingly something of  protege since her debut this spring. Mei’s already incredible for her experience level and seems to have big things ahead of her. As mentioned in the previous entry the fact that Aoi ended up having her final singles match against Mei (and put the rookie over to boot) and included her in this main event illustrates how close they became.

In a particularly sweet gesture, Aoi gave Mei her rainbow “wings” from her entrance gear. Mei’s excitement about it as she wore them not only for this match but at Gatoh Move later in the day was clear and contagious. Aoi herself came out for this match in special white gear that included an incredible, light up version of her wings.

The match was fantastic and an appropriate goodbye to Aoi. The traditional spot with everyone one the show and more (including Aoi’s best friend Jenny Rose, who came to Japan to be ringside) splashing Aoi in the corner was of course a lot of fun.

Emi, bad back and all, gave 110% to give her former trainee a proper farewell throughout the match and busted out a freakin’ 450 to pin Aoi to end it. All of Aoi’s trademarks were also on display, including one more glimpse of her rare, incredible spinning top rope splash. Fun, emotional stuff from bell to bell, and an absolute privilege to be at live.

1. Emi Sakura vs Mei Suruga  – Gatoh Move 10/7/18

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In a bit of a completion thematically of the main events from 10/4 and 10/5 (as well as being appropriate for the day), Aoi’s two opponents from those days, her partner protege Mei and her trainer Emi, faced off here. This was incredible, with the fiery Mei rising to the challenge and giving Gatoh’s lynchpin everything she could handle until Emi weathered the storm long enough and experience won out. Fantastic.

Even more impressively, Sakura had to be helped out of the ring during Aoi’s show and limped into this one, but you’d never know it from her work during the matches. Her performances were amazing, and a admittedly a little worrisome as I really hope she’s not overdoing it. She’s one of the very best in the world.

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That does it for this time. Hope you enjoyed reading about these great matches. Everything I’ve mentioned is well worth seeking out if possible.

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Gatoh Move 1/1 & 1/2/19 Live Thoughts

January 1 and 2, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan

Third and fourth days in a row (and my fourth and fifth shows of the trip) for Gatoh Move at Ichigaya to ring in the new year (also see my thoughts on 12/30 and 12/31).

 

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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.

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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Gravure model An-cham had another decent showing in singles action to open against Yuna Mizumori until the latter’s size and power led her to victory. Yuna looks like a monster when she gets serious in the best way and combines it with an infectious charisma. She wrestles quite a bit beyond her experience level.

 

 

Next up was an amusing tag team match between Antonio Honda & Mei Suruga and Saki & Baliyan Akki. Mei trying to copy Honda’s mannerisms and moves was hilariously awesome, and watching  Aoi Kizuki’s protege of sorts team with Honda after enjoying “Happy Rhodes” as a team in 2018’s Go Go Green Curry Cup was fun. Saki & Akki complement each other well and it’s always nice to see them team.

 

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In the main event Riho & Mitsuru Konno faced Emi Sakura & Masahiro Takanashi. I adore the pairings involved as well as any chance to see Mitsuru in with Gatoh’s veterans, so was really excited for this one. In a great bit to start, Emi was dismissive of Mitsuru just before the bell rung, at which point a fired up Mitsuru beat Emi across the venue. Great intensity, and beyond the normal excellent tag work in Gatoh this had a good feel of varying things up a little to nice effect, including things like brawling through the crowd a bit. Loved it overall. Emi eventually isolated and pinned Mitsuru to give her and Takanashi the win.

 

1/2/19:

This show opened with Mitsuru Konno vs Baliyan Akki in Akki’s first ever intergender singles match (although the two had been on opposite sides of several tag matches). Good match with a well told story, with a steady stream of aggression from the smaller Mitsuru forcing the slightly overconfident Akki to dig a bit deep to pull out the win. While Akki has been wrestling longer overall, Mitsuru is his senior both in Gatoh Move and in experience in this kind of match, and they both played their roles well.

 

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Like Cho-un vs Takanashi on 12/31, another yearly tradition around this time has become seeing Antonio Honda v Sayaka Obihiro v Jaki in a comedy deathmatch. Every time someone gets a 2-count they get to perform a “comedy routine” using  provided box of props and are awarded a point by the referee if it’s funny. Most points at the end of the fifteen minute time limit wins.

I’ve seen this four years in a row now and between the language barrier, Obi doing intentional poor comedy for effect, and the “wrestling” sequences being pretty much just a bridge to the jokes, I personally find these really hit or miss. Honestly this year’s didn’t really connect with me, and was my least favorite of the four.

 

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The main event was a 6-person tag of Emi Sakura, Masahiro Takanashi, & Yuna Mizumori vs Mei Suruga & Gatoh Move’s reigning Tag Team Champions Riho & Makoto. At the beginning of the show Emi mentioned she was annoyed with Mei today, and tension between the two provided a strong undercurrent to build certain elements of the match around. This was yet another of Gatoh’s excellent 6-person tags in Ichigaya, with a ton of fun triple teams. Riho of course is a master of the environment, and had a particularly jaw dropping spot here from the window vaulting off other wrestlers to deliver her diving knees. Great work from all involved.

 

 

I always enjoy Gatoh Move at Ichigaya and its unique atmosphere and environment. But this time if possible I was even more impressed with what felt like an extra layer of creativity on display in a lot of the matches. The rookies are all coming along quickly and developing incredible instincts, and seeing Gatoh back at “full strength” so to speak with said rookies all mixing it up with Gatoh’s ring generals was a real treat. This was another pair of fantastic shows over all. 

 

Categories
Anime Art Cards Comics Manga Video Games Wrestling

Beautiful Dreams 3: More Art of Juri the Dreamer

It’s been a year and change since my last spotlight on the work of my favorite artist, and I’d like to share and talk about more of her incredible work and some of the inspirations behind the pieces. See Beautiful Dreams and Beautiful Dreams 2 for more about Juri H. Chinchilla’s art, including past pieces I’ll be mentioning in this write up.

 

Aoi Kizuki PSC by Juri H. Chinchilla.
Asuka PSC by Juri H. Chinchilla.
Dash Chisako PSC by Juri Chinchilla.

 

Juri’s Personal Sketch Cards (PSCs) have been a great opportunity to request particular subjects and design elements. One of the more unique requests I’ve made was a card featuring one of my favorite professional wrestlers, and I adored it so much that I’ve followed up with several more since. Juri’s done an AMAZING job depicting these previously unfamiliar to her subjects and these are in many ways the pride of my entire art collection. See Another Wonderful Way Pro-Wrestling is Art 2 for more about the above works featuring WWE’s reigning Smackdown Women’s Champion Asuka, Sendai Girls’ phenomenal high flyer Dash Chisako, and the recently retired Happy Maker Aoi Kizuki.

 

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Misaki Ohata PSC by Juri H. Chinchilla.

 

Another favorite of mine also retired in 2018, and Juri’s strikingly posed Misaki Ohata with a wonderful background of venue lights is a great keepsake.

 

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Reika Saiki PSC by Juri Chinchilla.

 

Tokyo Joshi Pro’s Reika Saiki is known as the “Muscle Idol,” and all aspects of her strength and charisma as a wrestler, idol, and body builder are gloriously highlighted in Juri’s drawing.

 

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Mitsuru Konno PSC by Juri Chinchilla.

 

The last wrestler in this batch was also the first of all. Juri’s first rendition of Mitsuru Konno from Gatoh Move for me featured a great action pose capturing and combining Mitsuru’s strength, determination, grace, and beauty in a remarkable rendition. Equally wonderful is Juri’s quite different recent depiction, featuring Mitsuru in her newer wrestling outfit with a palpable sense of celebration and excitement captured.

With the exception of Dash doing her trademark frog splash, I didn’t specify poses and the layouts, details, and way Juri captured each subject are just wonderful. I couldn’t be happier with how these all turned out.

 

 

Juri’s work have are as diverse in creation method as they can be in subject matter. I’ve added a pair of wonderful paintings of hers to my collection, including a striking abstract and an atmospheric, haunting image of night in Rainy Gotham.

Another unique piece is Aquatica, which shows off Juri’s wonderful use of color in a gorgeous image of an original character.

 

 

As always Juri’s work for Perna Studios‘ high quality card sets is pitch perfect for the subject matter. I was lucky enough to get some Artist Proofs (APs)  from her for their most recent sets. For Witchcraft, I requested a female grim reaper from several artists, and I adore the delicate yet powerful feel Juri brought to her version. In the past I got a witch from Juri with some amazing ravens, so loved the idea of getting Celtic goddess Morrigan for her Classic Mythology III metal AP. Rounding out this group is a graceful moonlight scene featuring my favorite Greek goddess, Artemis, with just a touch of lurking menace as she hunts.

 

A very different Morrigan was part of one of the Personal Sketch Cards I got previously from Juri, an incredible depiction of the Darkstalkers character with her “sister” Lilith. Morrigan’s an old favorite and one of my most played fighting game characters ever, so I was thrilled to add this larger, equally amazingly done drawing of her to my collection.

 

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Continuing the video game theme are three new PSCs from some of my favorite game series. Makoto from Persona 5 joins my previous PSC of Elizabeth from the third game in that series, with a bold red background complimenting the deep blues of the other card. The wonderful balance of a sense of motion while still posing is a wonderful touch not only in the two Persona cards, but also accentuates Juri’s drawings of Fire Emblem’s Tharja, and Valkyria Chronicles 4’s Riley, as well as the Bombshells version of DC’s Raven and Clare from the manga/anime Claymore. Finally for this time around is a beautiful depiction of two of Juri’s original characters. The cards are all excellent and unique works showcasing Juri’s attention to detail and mastery of color in their own different ways

 

 

More information about Juri’s art can be found on her artist page. I hope to continue to follow and collect her wonderous creations for a long time to come. 🙂

 

 

 

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Ice Ribbon 12/31/18 (RibbonMania) Live Thoughts

December 31, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan

As always for my holiday wrestling trips one of my most anticipated events was Ice Ribbon’s biggest of the year, and there were a lot of interesting things happening on this card.

 

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The opening contest saw an official debut for Suzu Suzuki against fellow rookie Asahi. Suzu’s debut had been delayed by a bicycle accident injury, and in a display of sheer, glorious chutzpah she rides one out for her entrance.

 

 

Really good showing for both here, with Suzu getting a strong start with a victory in her debut and Asahi getting more desperate in search of a win. They both have good instincts and bright futures ahead of them.

 

 

Teams This is Ice Ribbon (Hiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi), Saori Anou, & Tae Honma and Akane Fujita, Ibuki Hoshi, Satsuki Totoro, & Himeka Arita made the most of what could have been a throwaway 8 woman tag match for an exciting encounter. It had lots of cool little multi-person spots, and while the occasional one went a little off, most of this was clever, energetic, and flat out fun. Saori in particular looked like she was having a blast here.

 

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The Tequila Saya and Giulia feud I’d seen glimpses of two days prior at the 12/29 dojo show came to a head as they faced in mixed tag action with partners Hideki Suzuki and Shinya Aoki respectively.

 

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A year ago I was amused at the beginning of Hideki’s involvement in Ice Ribbon, but unfortunately it was all downhill from there, with constantly changing and forgotten stipulations and lackluster matches. But the building resentment of the Ice roster to him has been a lone bright spot, and the parts of this where everyone (often including his own partner Saya) swarmed him for revenge in and out of the ring were a lot of fun.

Also, the parts where Saya and Giulia faced off were nicely heated and really well worked. But honestly there wasn’t much bringing it all together and the match as a whole did feel a bit disjointed to me. Giulia eventually picked up the win on a shocked Saya, then the two reconciled as the men slinked off together.

 

 

Uno Matsuya’s shot at Triangle Ribbon Champion Cho-un Shiryu was derailed from the start when fellow challenger Miyako Matsumoto objected to referee Banny* Oikawa, and brought in a ringer in the form of Frank Atsushi. Everyone, including the President of Ice Ribbon sitting at the time keeper’s table, eventually agrees to Miyako’s ridiculous request and Banny leaves the ring.

 

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This match was all about Miyako, and unfortunately not in a particularly enjoyable way. They spent much too long belaboring the one note biased referee stuff, until Banny eventually gets tired of it and comes back out to neutralize Atsushi. She gets into it with Miyako too and crossbodies her, at which point a dazed Atsushi counts 3.  The decision stands, and Banny is new Triangle Ribbon champion.

It’s actually quite interesting where this ended up, and I’m intrigued at seeing Banny (who played her role here extremely well) eventually transition into wrestling. But the path taken to get there was a chore and poor Uno was a complete afterthought here, which is a shame. She deserves better.

 

 

Ex-Ice Ribbon roster member and now hated outsider Hikaru Shida returned to face her former trainee Risa Sera once more, in Risa’s preferred match type to boot. Given the story I wanted more fire out of this and there was a little too much “spots for spots sake” as opposed to a smooth, logically escalating match, but it still hit the right high notes and was decent overall. I have seen better hardcore matches out of both though. Risa prevailed and the two finally showed each other respect afterwards to presumably end Shida’s story with Ice Ribbon for now.

 

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Past their difficulties as a team Gekoku (Maika Ozaki & Kyuri) was reunited in their pursuit of the International Tag Ribbon Championships held by The Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi).

Extremely good match, capped off by a well deserved, long time coming reign for Kyuri & Maika. Beyond excited and happy for the two of them. In a nice touch their former enemies and now semi-regular teammates Saori and Tae celebrated with the new champions ringside post show.

 

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Last August Ice Cross Infinity Champion Tsukasa Fujimoto successfully defended against Maya Yukihi in a heralded match that would eventually win Ice Ribbon’s fan voted match of the year honors for 2018.

 

 

Maya won a tournament for another shot at Tsukka in this main event match, and it was fantastic. Maya has evolved into an extremely well rounded wrestler and has great chemistry with IR’s ace. She’s an excellent choice to dethrone Tsukka and this was the right time. Wonderful way to finish up the show and the year.

 

 

The vast majority of this time’s Ribbonmania was good to great, with strong action, good booking, and fresh faces holding their titles. Excellent and highly recommended show overall.

 

 

 

* I don’t generally (ever, really) footnote things in this blog, but wanted to talk for a minute about language and didn’t want to bring the discussion of the show itself to a screeching halt above. Banny’s name is based on the English word “bunny” and is supposed to have that connection. But when foreign words are brought into Japanese they are spelled with a particular phonetic alphabet. The adapted words are then sometimes reconverted into English letters (at least partially) based on romanization rules / how Japanese speakers would pronounce the sounds, as in this case. Regardless of the origin of the name and as much as I’d prefer to avoid the confusion, she spells her name as “Banny” when using English letters so that is the spelling I’ll be using.

 

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Wave 12/29/18 Live Thoughts

December 29, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan

Wave’s big year end show ended up even more significant than usual for the company. Not only was it Misaki Ohata’s retirement show, but also the final “phase 1” show for Wave as they prepared to go on hiatus for four months to then relaunch under new management.

 

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Hiroyo Matsumoto is a force of nature in the ring, and the formula of seeing how much an up and comer can withstand against Lady Godzilla is a good one. Hiroe Nagahama put up a good fight in this opener before Hiroyo’s relentless onslaught gave her the victory.

 

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Next up was a 9-woman battle royal, somewhat surprisingly unthemed since this was a retirement show. Cherry outlasted Fairy Nihonbashi, Hikaru Shida, Himeka Arita, Kaori Yoneyama, Miyuki Takase, Natsumi Maki, Rin Kadokura, and SAKI to win in about ten minutes.

 

 

 

Considering the talent level and interesting names involved, some of the early eliminations and the spotlight coming down to Cherry and Fairy at the end was a bit underwhelming. Still there were a number of amusing spots (including a rather well done slow motion sequence), it didn’t overstay its welcome, and this was reasonably entertaining overall.

 

 

 

In my review of Hikaru Shida’s 10th Anniversary show I remarked how well Wave’s Rina Yamashita and her partner that night Mio Momono executed the resentful tag partners story and won without making their opponents look weak. Men’s Wave featuring Keisuke Goto & Kenichiro Arai vs Koju Takeda & Onryo was pretty much the opposite.

Goto & Arai (opponents in the  previous year’s Men’s Wave tag) were at each others throats all match, leading to occasional advantages for their opponents, but in the end Goto tired of Arai, shoved his partner away, did his own thing, and won the match single handedly. Which earned him Arai’s respect after the match. Basic ringwork and meh story here (and I don’t quite get the point/appeal of Onryo’s gimmick of coming to the ring saturated with powder and essentially being a human dust cloud to the point the ring needed cleaning before the next match).

 

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In what I considered a rather surprising upset, Nagisa Nozaki defeated a former Regina di Wave champion in Marvelous’ Takumi Iroha in singles competition.  This was a well worked, exciting little match and a huge yet believable win for Nagisa.

 

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After a preview seeing them on opposite sides of a tag encounter the night before at SEAdLINNNG, that company’s estranged former tag team champions Rina Yamishita and Yoshiko continued their feud in singles competition. The two waged war and beat the hell out of each other for a full 15 minutes, going to a time limit draw. There was silliness around Rina’s insistence in covering *herself* in a trash can for a couple of (failed) attacks, but in general this heated brawl was intense and relentless. Great match for what it was.

 

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Speaking of SEAdLINNNG, their founder and current champion Nanae Takahashi, defeated ASUKA (a former Regina di Wave champion in her own right) next in a match with a few nice flourishes that was a bit paint-by-numbers otherwise.

 

 

 

So with Mio Momono pulled from every other show leading up to this due to impending knee surgery she rightfully took it easy here and … BWAHAHAHAHA. Yeah, no. While I really hope she didn’t push herself too hard the self proclaimed BOSS as always gave everything she had (including a dive to the floor minutes into the match O_o), with her WAVE Tag Team champion partner Yumi Ohka and opponents Sakura Hirota & Yuki Miyazaki doing a remarkable job of protecting Mio without anyone ever making it look obviously like they were protecting Mio.

Boss to Mammy would eventually drop those titles to the Hirota & Miyazaki after a near twenty minute battle that was much better than I honestly expected with Mio injured and the challengers largely a comedy team. Sakura busted out the working boots in a major way here, reminding everyone how much skill actually goes into her type of comedy by transcending it at points with spot on technical displays. She even hit the dive to the outside (well, after two failed attempts of course 😉 )!!! She’s still Sakura Hirota of course though, and won by collapsing into a pin on Ohka after a collision.

Mio has since had her knee surgery, and I wish her a speedy recovery and return.

 

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In the main event Misaki Ohata challenged her Avid Rival tag team partner Ryo Mizunami for the Regina di Wave Title in Ohata’s final match.

This was a different kind of retirement match than I’ve seen for others. Since it was a championship match they had a straight up contest befitting the prestige of the title and traditional “retirement spots” were completely absent. They clearly still had some fun with things though, such as when they brawled to the time keeper’s table and Misaki rang the bell directly in Ryo’s ear (ouch!).

 

 

 

As to be expected from two wrestlers of this caliber that know each other so well this was an excellent, hard hitting, back and forth encounter. Misaki eventually busted out a rolling variation of her Sky Blue Suplex (!!) and just wore the champion down until a final Sky Blue Suplex with bridge gave her the win and saw Misaki retire as Regina di Wave champion. Fantastic match and a well deserved honor for the twelve year veteran.

 

 

 

Misaki was in good spirits and joking around a bit during her retirement ceremony (even while her poor partner cried goodbye), a nice sign of her being satisfied with her career and ready to proceed to whatever’s next.  I’ll miss her but wish her well.

Likely because of Wave’s hiatus, there was no Zan-1 champion crowned this year. To end the night a video hyping Wave’s return in April was played, hinting at Hirota signing with Wave among other things.

 

 

 

Wave’s year (and “phase 1”) end show was missing some of the elements I’d usually associate with a retirement show, but it still felt a fitting and suitable goodbye for Misaki. The matches were mostly decent with a few exceptional ones, making the show enjoyable even beyond it’s significance and emotional notes.

Categories
Japan Wrestling

Hikaru Shida’s 10th Anniversary Show 10/9/18

I’ve been long familiar with Hikaru Shida from Shimmer, as well as here and there after I started coming to Japan. When I was planning my Fall trip (largely around Aoi Kizuki’s retirement show, which featured Shida in the main event), I noticed I could catch this special anniversary show the night before I returned, and decided to check it out. Looked decent on paper, with a variety of match types and surrounding intrigue featuring wrestlers from various promotions, although I honesty wasn’t 100% sure exactly how well it would all come together.

 

 

Things started out interesting right away with a pairing of two incredible wrestlers who clearly weren’t entirely thrilled to be teaming together. Mio Momono & Rina Yamashita walked the fine line of maintaining a certain level of disrespect for each other throughout their match against Kaori Yoneyama & Koharu Hinata while still remaining competitive and properly recognizing their opponents as a threat.

Mio continues to be particularly fantastic, and I hope she recovers quickly and completely from her recent knee surgery and is able to return to wrestling. Great spots like Mio playing jump rope with their opponent during a Rina giant swing and her “helping” Rina during a submission hold by pulling Rina’s hair for “leverage” were made even better by the charisma and ttitude she brings to them. Really well done overall, with Mio & Rina staying serious enough despite their egos and issues that their eventual victory was still believable and didn’t make their opponents look weak.

 

 

So Misaki Ohata, Hiroyo Matsumoto, & Buffalo vs Yako Fujigasaki, Gabai Ji-chan, Toru Owashi was that good balance of ridiculousness and action that I desperately look for in most of my comedy matches. While not all of the humor was to my personal tastes (I tend to find Ji-chan amusing and annoying in equal measure), this turned out quite fun overall.

The foil cone “weapon” being aimed at people’s backsides was a focal point several times, as was Misaki’s engagement. Her partners sacrificed themselves to an attack with it to protect her at one point, and later when Misaki herself stole and wielded the weapon Toru put on a mask of Misaki’s fiance Makoto Oishi to dissuade her from attacking. Toru’s strategy was unsurprisingly unsuccessful.

It was really nice to see 3S together one last time before Misaki retired, and I enjoyed a lot of this. Also, seeing Misaki absolutely SPIKE Ji-chan with her crucifix bomb for the win was really satisfying.

 

 

In what may have been my personal most anticipated match of the night, Ice Ribbon regular Maika Ozaki got a chance to face reigning Sendai Girls’ champion  Chihiro Hashimoto (in non-title competition of course). It’s not a pairing that would normally be likely given the lack of crossover between the two companies at the moment, and one I was extremely excited to see. This was a great showcase for Maika against one of the very best power wrestlers in the world, and she pushed the beast that is Chihiro to the limit before Sendai’s champ finally put down the upstart.

 

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I swear I’ve seen Madoka announced under like five different names in various matches, and a quick search shows he has like ten. Here, as Hagane Shinnou, he teamed with Risa Sera against Aja Kong & TARU. No illusions about what kind of match this would be, as Risa was bloody in under two minutes. They fought all over, inside and outside the ring and right by me a few times, spreading chaos all over the arena.

This was all about Risa & Madoka trying to survive the monsters, and as such it had a fire absent from some of the other hardcore matches I’ve seen recently. Easily the most compelling performance I’ve seen from Risa all year. Risa can be incredible in this kind of match, often in my opinion when she’s more the underdog, and was both here. This was a “the journey is as important as the destination” type of match, and going to a draw with the monsters made Risa & Madoka look like stars.

 

 

In the main event Hikaru Shida seemed to be setting out to exorcise a personal demon against Naomichi Marufuji. They had faced earlier in the year, with Shida getting knocked out in under two minutes. I could feel the pressure weighing on Shida as she looked to prove herself by at least putting up a better fight here. The right story, well worked, makes all the difference and they built off of that feeling of insecurity to craft an excellent match in both story and action.

 

 

Marufuji looked great, and it was nice to see him wrestle live again many years after seeing him in ROH. While testing Shida he certainly wasn’t holding back, and his onslaught of chops left Shida’s chest a painful to look at vivid red bruise.

This was really well done, and one of the best matches I’ve ever seen from Shida. She gave Marufuji a real challenge in a believable way and battled for eighteen minutes, but eventually came up short and Marufuji emerged victorious.

 

 

I’m honestly kind of surprised how great this was from top to bottom. Everything clicked, being really well booked an executed in terms of stories and action within each individual situation and avoiding potential pitfalls. Generally everyone just made the most of their opportunities, and this was a high note to end this particular trip on.

 

 

 

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Ninja Mio sees you…

 

 

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

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

December 30 and 31, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan

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

 

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

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

 

12/30/18:

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

12/31/18:

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Ice Ribbon 10/8/18 Live Thoughts

October 8, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan

Stepping back a little to look at one of the last two shows I have to write up from my September-October trip. Big Korakuen show for Ice Ribbon here, the day after most of the roster appeared at Aoi Kizuki’s retirement show.

 

 

The show opened with a non-title 2 out of 3 falls contest with unspecified other stipulations between reigning Ice Cross Infinity Champion Tsukasa Fujimoto and Risa Sera.

If any in story reason for this being the opener was given, I missed it. I generally dislike it when things happen unexplained because of how the match is going to play out and had that sinking feeling here, and sure enough this started the show so it could continue throughout the event.

First fall was a regular match, which seemed there to placate the live audience and be able to say that those who paid to attend the show live got to see some of Risa vs Tsukka. While it involving these two meant it was still decent, it wasn’t enough honestly. Eight and half minutes of them hitting their signature spots before they disappeared to wrestle elsewhere for hours.

To be clear I don’t blame them at all for pacing themselves, but given the majority wouldn’t be happening at the arena I would’ve liked to see something… more compelling at least from this first fall. The biggest problem with the angle they’re running of Risa’s character being much more effective/interested in hardcore matches than regular matches is it seems to be bleeding over into her work and her regular matches feel less interesting/engaging than her hardcore stuff now.

Tsukka won this clean as a whistle center of the ring (more on that later). Then the second fall was announced as falls count anywhere and they brawled through the crowd … and out of the arena, leaving the live audience behind. A referee and camera was sent after them, and the show moved on.

 

 

In a somewhat tough spot of being overshadowed by the match that just vacated the arena, Miyako Matsumoto, Tae Honma, & Uno Matsuya vs Tequila Saya, Giulia, & Makoto was a decent way to keep the energy in the arena up. Good match overall, and I really liked Tae’s increasing frustration with her own partner Uno as things went on. Little touches are so important.

On a side note, I think this was my first time seeing Saya’s entrance gear that riffs on Giulia’s militant look, with Saya’s version having a bandolier of shot glasses and a glass tequila bottle shaped like a gun. Fantastic.

 

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As Misaki Ohata’s career wound down this year I really enjoyed her involvement in P’s Party, particularly her matches / interactions with Asahi. So it was a real treat for me to see them team here against Arisa Nakajima & Karen DATE. I loved this, as beyond just great action it also had several interesting undercurrents being played off of throughout the match.

Arisa and Misaki’s mutual resentment was palpable, and Misaki’s strained patience with Asahi yet being rabidly protective when Arisa mocked the rookie was pitch perfect character work. Great stuff all around.

With all of the DATES currently absent from Ice Ribbon’s shows this seems like it was my last time seeing Karen live for the foreseeable future (if ever). A high note to go out on at least.

 

 

A year and change into her career, Ibuki Hoshi got the… opportunity… to face legend Aja Kong. Exactly as expected and warranted, as the defiant Ibuki fought her heart out but still eventually got wrecked by the veteran monster. Ibuki’s really solid in her storytelling, and this was quite good for this formula.

 

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Shortly before this show Maika Ozaki had temporarily broken up her GEKOKU team with Kyuri in a case of tough love because she thought the latter wasn’t as upset by losing matches as she should be. Here they were pitted against each other in tag action, teaming with Nao DATE and Totoro Satsuki respectively.

I adore the fact that they were teaming with two wrestlers who were regular partners themselves (as Novel Tornado), as it created several interesting parallels between the team who was ok facing each other in a competitive environment and the team who was being torn apart by it. Kyuri wanted NO PART of fighting Maika, looking absolutely miserable during the ring entrances and only lightening up when in the ring against Nao. She wouldn’t even lock up with Maika at first, but later in the match when pushed far enough she completely went off on her usual partner in spectacular, crowd popping fashion.

 

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Maika, perhaps partially proving her point about Kyuri’s priorities, eventually prevails and pins her regular partner with the Muscle Buster. A dejected, depressed Kyuri then slinks off with Totoro in tow as Maika desperately tries to call her back and explain. Great interweaving of stories in a great match. Between this and the ActWres feud Gekoku has been the center of some of the best storytelling Ice Ribbon did all year, and of course the story wasn’t over yet.

Like Karen, Nao has also apparently stopped wrestling for now (?) since I saw this show. She’s one of my absolute favorites among Ice’s rookies and I hope to see her back someday.

 

 

Next up former Ice Ribbon wrestler and unwelcome invader Hikaru Shida faced Akane Fujita. Fine, if a bit perfunctory. Long for what it was as Akane never had a chance here and they didn’t do a great job of ever making it feel like she did. Tae Homna being the only corner person for Shida (since all of Ice Ribbon hates her in story) was a nice little touch. Shida was confronted by the entire batch of Ice Ribbon “rookies” afterwards, which led to nothing.

 

 

So an hour an ten minutes later we get the finish of fall 2 of Tsukka vs Risa, relayed via video clip on a screen directly behind me. Yay live wrestling. Risa wins, and they hop on a train to continue for fall 3. How is “falls count anywhere” and “falls count anywhere (WE’RE ON A TRAIN NOW!)” any logically different as a stipulation? No idea. And on to the next match we went.

 

In the supposed semi-main event Maya Yukihi faced Wave’s Rina Yamishita. Really good showing for Maya against tough competition in a hard hitting fifteen minute battle before coming up short. She’s gradually and continually improved over the three years I’ve been watching her wrestle and is at the level for the position they’ve been building her towards. Rina’s great and it’s always nice to see her come to Ice Ribbon in the few appearances she makes.

 

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It seemed possible that Tsukushi’s journey since her redebut would culminate here and lead to the vacated International Ribbon Tag Team Champions of This is Ice Ribbon (Tsukushi & Kurumi Hiiragi) reclaiming the belts. But instead the team that claimed the belts in their absence, the Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi), had their reign legitimized in a decisive win. Solid match, with Mochi and Tsukushi’s simmering animosity that bubbled over in at the dojo show days before providing a strong central emotional core to build around. But once the dust settled in the aftermath of the heated battled all was forgiven.

 

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But of course that wasn’t really the main event, because we still have a fall left of our “opener” to check in on. Risa wins the train battle, and thus the “match.” This makes her the #1 contender to Tsukka’s title, and then they throw to another video which is an announcement/commercial for a variety show TV special Ice Ribbon had coming up.

I was really torn on this, because I like that Ice Ribbon does unusual promotional things exactly like having a match spill all over Tokyo. On the other hand, as a member of the live, paying audience having the majority of this, including both the falls that actually mattered in the end, happen away from the venue and relayed on a video screen directly behind me quite honestly sucked. And progressing throughout the show the way it did meant it became the focal point, and the wrestling actually happening in the building was in some sense second fiddle to off site action. Another smaller frustration is that as a result the champion and number 1 contender, arguably the company’s two biggest stars, ended up hours away from the venue and missing for post show photo ops, etc.

On top of that Tsukka, the champion facing her rival who’s being set up to challenge her mind you, won center of the ring in the non-stipulation fall. Why does Risa then winning gimmicked, brawling falls make her number one contender in the exact type of match she just lost clean in short order?

This should be fine and enjoyable on dvd, but from my personal perspective as a live audience member as well as how it was presented / booked I was honestly disappointed.

 

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Overall this show was clearly a mixed bag for me live, but the primary issues I had won’t be a problem on tape and there’s some really great gems hiding in the undercard, so this still gets a recommendation from me to check out.

Categories
Japan Reviews Wrestling

Gatoh Move 12/21 & 12/22/18 Live Thoughts

December 21 and 22, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan

 

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Michinoku Pro 12/21/18:

Ok, this clearly wasn’t a Gatoh Move show, but at the risk of sacrilege the Gatoh Move 6-person tag was the reason I went. To be perfectly honest the rest of the card was incidental to me outside of the main event, and that’s a whole other story all together. So for now as I work through my significant backlog of shows I’d like to focus solely on the Gatoh match from this show.

 

 

The way this trip (and many of my others for that matter) fell I only saw Gatoh Move shows at Ichigaya, missing their larger, more traditional offers at places like Shinkiba 1st Ring that took place shortly before and after my visit. I adore Ichigaya and its unique environment (much more on that to come), but working and thriving in that space adds depth and versatility to their wrestling as a whole, not only what they can do there. So it’s also a treat to see them let loose in a traditional ring in general, let alone in a rare appearance at Korakuen Hall.

 

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Emi Sakura, Masahiro Takanashi, & Baliyan Akki vs Riho, Mei Suruga, & Greg Glorious was fantastic. Just non-stop, energetic fun for a straight eleven and a half minutes. It was my first look at Greg, who fit right in with the Gatoh crew and had a great showing in a victorious effort alongside Riho & Mei.

 

 

It was so cool to see rookies Mei and Akki’s Korakuen debuts, and of course any opportunity to see ring masters like Emi, Riho, and Masahiro let loose is to be cherished. Call me overenthusiastic if you like, but this was fantastic and is will certainly be in the discussion when I put together my best of the trip list.

 

 

Gatoh Move 12/22/18:

A day later and I was had my first show of the trip in Gatoh’s home base.

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

Pictures are not allowed during the show but can be taken afterward, so my pics for this 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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Kazuhiro Tamura is a familiar guest at Gatoh, and provided a strong test for Yuna Mizumori to open the show. As I’ve noticed and remarked often about Sakura’s trainees, Yuna has a very distinct personality and energy that’s worked well into her ring style. In her specific case, the impression is that of a friendly, hyper wrecking ball and I adore watching her wrestle. Tamura was victorious here, but it was a fight.

 

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I really love when Masahiro Takanashi teams with Gatoh’s rookies, and Mei Suruga’s exuberance is a particularly great compliment to his straight ahead style. It was absolutely wonderful to see Sayaka Obihiro, recovered from injury and fully back, across the mat from them teaming with another regular guest in Saki. Fun back and forth contest, with Mei managing to be just a more on the same page with her veteran teammate than Obi and Saki managed as time wore on, opening the door for Takanashi to pickup the win. Nice story underlying a good match.

 

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I adore the Riho & Mitsuru Konno pairing (and honestly wish Riho had won the tag belts with Mitsuru instead of Makoto, but I suppose it’s possible that’s my bias speaking), so seeing them main event against Emi Sakura & Baliyan Akki was great.

Akki has come so far in the year since he came to Gatoh Move, and he had already been pretty impressive in my first exposure to his work. He’s making the most of the unique and rewarding experience of training and wrestling at Gatoh Move, and seems really comfortable with his wrestling and as a result can push himself in new directions.

Mitsuru’s showing a nice aggressive streak as frustration with her losses builds, and of course with Gatoh’s ace and founder anchoring this everything came together in an engaging contest that had several nice layers lurking beneath the surface.

 

 

I always enjoy Gatoh Move a lot, but something clicked even more so than the already high usual standard throughout the batch of shows I saw this trip, and it was immediately noticeable starting right here.