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Evolve 77 ippv Review (Live Thoughts)

January 28, 2017 in San Antonio, TX

To open Chris Hero’s goodbye weekend Evolve 76 was a strong show despite unfortunate problems with the ring ropes. For his final show with the promotion Hero was set to main event against his most persistent rival.

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1) Barrett Brown vs Darby Allin

This never gets started as Ethan Page immediately interrupts, but it proves a distraction so the Gatekeepers can lay Allin out from behind. Brown takes exception to Page screwing with his shot, so Page levels him too. Page then cuts a scathing promo calling Allin worthless and the dirt on Page’s foot. He teases a match against Allin, but instead says the Gatekeepers will take on him and Brown.

Darby defiantly says Page is afraid of him and counters with an offer of 3 on 2.

Strong work all around, but this is kind of ridiculous given last night. Zack Sabre Jr gets a reversal DQ for not releasing a hold on Page after the match, but Page and company can attack these two (and everyone else) and be rewarded with a match.

1) Barrett Brown vs Darby Allin

1) Darby Allin & Barrett Brown vs Ethan Page & The Gatekeepers

So there’s no one in the back with an issue with Page to make this even odds? I understand Zack’s in the main, but Page’s rampage hasn’t pissed off ANYONE else?

The Gatekeepers still have no individual names for some reason, with Lenny referring to either as the/that Gatekeeper whenever one does something. I’ll use their Chikara names (Blaster McMassive & Flex Rumblecrunch) to tell them apart here.

Good action to start, with Allin and Brown trying to overcome the odds with high risk. The Gatekeepers are surprisingly game for that, with Blaster performing a great summersault dive to the outside (although he pretty much completely missed Allin and Brown).

Brown’s eventually dispatched on the outside, making the match 3 on 1 for a while. The Gatekeepers keep beating Allin down, then Page comes in, loses the advantage to a fired up Allin, and tags out. Repeat. Good formula/story and Allin plays the fiery underdog well.

Wait, Zack’s out!!! That’s better. Ref’s allowing him to join.

1) Darby Allin & Barrett Brown vs Ethan Page & The Gatekeepers

1) Darby Allin, Barrett Brown, & Zack Sabre Jr vs Ethan Page & The Gatekeepers

Zack’s in workout clothes instead of his gear too, which makes sense since he’s supposed to wrestle in main and explains why he wasn’t our sooner. Still wish something was said earlier to help with the logic, but this is awesome so I retract my most of previous gripes about the setup.

Zack takes over on the  Gatekeepers until a big spear from Blaster. Brown then missile dropkicks both Gatekeepers but Page Border Tosses him onto the pile outside.

All six men brawl all over crowd, where Allin climbs a pillar and does the Coffin Drop (trust fall) from the rafters onto the pile below. It’s jaw dropping, but also insane. The crowd love it gets will only make it worse, and I’m seriously worried for his long term well being.

Back in the ring a triangle choke by Zack on Page is teased (nice nod to the finish of their match on Evolve 76). Blaster takes over on Zack, leading to an incredible finish where Blaster tries to counter Zack’s triangle choke with a one arm powerbomb, but Zack converts to an octopus hammerlock instead for the win.

This turned into something really fun and well told. It keeps Allin/Page simmering, while giving the faces a needed victory. ***3/4 for the whole thing. Brown was largely in background, but got to show some of what he can do and looked good. Hope he comes back. Still don’t like the inconsistency of logic with Page running rampant, but the story’s compelling otherwise.

 

2) Loredo Kid vs Tracy Williams **1/2

This is the Evolve debut for Kid. Apparently we’re back to “Hot Sauce” tonight, as there was no mention of “Maltese Falcon.”

Mat wrestling early, with Williams logically getting the better of those exchanges in the end. But the as pace quickens Kid takes over. A simple, solid story. During this Kid hit a beautiful summersault to Williams on outside using ringpost as stepping stone.

Williams is at his best when going back and forth. Long periods of ground and pound offense from him and things get slow. This match was a mix. Williams picks up a emphatic win when Kid misses a Phoenix splash and Williams IMMEDIATELY hits diving forearm into the crossface for the tapout. Great finish. Ok match.

 

 3) Chris Dickinson & Jaka vs. Jason Kincaid & Sammy Guevara ***1/2

I don’t know Sammy, but the crowd certainly does. Lenny continuing his excellent job this weekend filling us in nicely on Sammy’s hometown status and how he appeared on other WWN umbrella shows. This tag should be fun given what I saw from the other three on Evolve 76.

Kincaid starts out opposite Jaka, and he’s so smooth in everything he does as he employs hit and run tactics against his larger opponent. I’m still loving his zen gimmick, which he really executes well and keeps it from becoming campy.

Wholesale switches allows Sammy to show impressive agility against Dickinson. Character notes too, as Sammy gloats too long and Chris sneaks behind him and hits a nasty dragon suplex to take control. Catch Point then just grinds Sammy down for a while with pounding offense. The contrast in these teams is meshing well.

Highlights of the match include a neat stalling suplex by Jaka into a doubleteam suplex when Dickinson joins him, a sunset bomb to outside by Kincaid on Jaka, and a shooting star press by Sammy onto Catch Point on floor from the top rope. Towards the end Kincaid wows the crowd when he walks the ropes for a Van Terminator style missile dropkick after Jaka rolls into the far corner to try to avoid Kincaid.

Special mention to the ref doing a fantastic job of keeping track of who was legal during the chaos, as the wrestlers were losing track and covering the wrong people. That’s not a criticism of the wrestlers either – it fits the high speed action well and “in character” it makes sense that everyone would be going for a cover whenever they see a chance. Having the ref properly enforce the rules though adds credibility and aids suspension of disbelief.

Catch Point eventually win this competitive contest with a swank chokeslam Doomsday Device variation. Williams comes out to congratulate his teammates and praises the aerial wrestlers, but pushes the Catch Point style as superior over it.

Then “journalist” Larry Dallas makes an appearance (noting he’s outside talent now and threatening lawsuits if touched). To stir the pot he asks Williams if Jaka and Dickinson are going to get a tag title shot. Kincaid interrupts and cuts a zen promo that’s just the right side on incomprehensible, praising his opponents but poking at Dickinson’s ego. Catch Point needing to him down prevents Dallas from getting an answer, but he declares his involvement a success anyway and calls himself “the straw that stirs the drink.” This storyline direction makes sense and will be interesting to follow.

 

4) Fred Yehi vs ACH ***

Interesting matchup in the wake of ACH’s debut against Riddle, although after Yehi made Thatcher tap it feels like there’s no drama here.

Posturing early on and I’ll admit for me seeing ACH throwing Yehi’s stupid “you’re in trouble” cry back at him was great. On commentary Lenny recounts discussions he’s had with ACH about joining Evolve, which in effect ends up relating a lot of criticism of ROH without mentioning them by name. In a great little touch ACH also put over the opportunity to face Riddle and learning from the experience despite the loss.

Back to the action and Yehi applies a stump puller and says he’s going to make ACH kiss his knee, starting a “kiss your knee” chant. I can’t even. This is a standard Yehi match whenever he’s on offense: technically competent, but dull overall and silly in parts. I particularly can’t stand the stomp based offense. Crowd’s loud for both men though, and when ACH is on offense things are great. And towards the end Yehi gets serious and things in general pick up a lot, including a fantastic slap exchange.

In a bit of a shocker to me, ACH eventually hits the brainbuster and picks up the win! In retrospect Yehi still made the champ tap, so despite this loss he could leverage that into a title shot regardless. Doesn’t make him look like a strong challenger though. Regardless, what this DOES do is immediately establish ACH in Evolve. Hopefully they make a big deal of it, with perhaps a FIP title shot or him and a partner going after Catch Point’s Evolve tag titles. Yehi looks pissed afterwards, but offers a handshake. Good, consistent character work from Yehi.

Predictable when done right is fine (as we’ll see later) and surprises for surprises sake can get illogical, but unexpected results like this that still make sense add a lot to the product. Great call here.

 

4) No DQ: DUSTIN vs. Matt Riddle ****

The “Bro” chants start as soon as no-DQ match mentioned during Joanna’s introduction. DUSTIN’s out first with a chair as a nod to last night, and the crowd boos him mercilessly.

To open DUSTIN swings for fences with chair, but Riddle ducks and takes over with mat wrestling. His advantage continues until DUSTIN eventually connects with the chair. From there they have a crazy brawl that takes place mostly outside the ring. DUSTIN whips Riddle into fans’ chairs repeatedly, wiping out several rows, but Riddle reverses the third attempt to the crowd’s delight. He then has fans hold a chair up to DUSTIN’s head and hits a running kick to an even more gigantic ovation.

Later DUSTIN rushes Riddle to knock onto stack of chairs but gets caught with an exploder onto stack leading to a “Bro-ly Shit” chant. Amusing.

They fight on fighting on a merch table, Riddle misses a senton and splats onto a pile of chairs, etc. It’s pandemonium in the best way.

DUSTIN hits a summersault senton onto Riddle through a table on outside and rolls him in for a doublestomp from top as followup… and Riddle kicks out at ONE! Crowd goes INSANE. Beautifully done. DUSTIN follows with a superkick and a DDT on a chair for 2. He then builds a tower of chairs, but Riddle catches him up top and hits a superplex through said chair tower. Bro’s done with this, and he just viciously slams his fists into DUSTIN’s head a few times in a ground and pound then cradles for the win.

Like last night, this was something different from Riddle and it really worked. Great, great brawl from these two. I want to see more of this DUSTIN going forward, and Riddle’s continuing to prove he can do it all.

 

5) EVOLVE Championship Match:  Timothy Thatcher (w/ Stokely Hathaway) (c) vs Jeff Cobb **3/4

Thatcher’s heel turn is taking full hold, as the crowd’s firmly behind Cobb here. Before the bell Cobb again talks to “Timmy” instead of Hathaway and dedicates match to their trainer Oliver John. Lenny’s really playing up Thatcher’s reign, listing who’s who list of names he’s beaten.

The story is Cobb’s power and perseverance against Thatcher’s surgical assault on Cobb’s arm. I’m more of a fan of Thatcher’s style than most nowadays, but as a heel Thatcher’s slowed things down too much and is too deliberate in pace. This was also much more one sided than I expected for most of the match (in Thatcher’s favor).

There were nice little touches though, like when he was fighting for the gutwrench on the bigger man and Cobb’s excellent selling of the arm (until the end when he forgot it to through suplexes). Cobb did a standing shooting star late that would have been awesome, but he landed nowhere near where Thatcher was laying even before Thatcher moved. Glaring error that broke immersion a bit.

Thatcher kept fighting for an arm bar, but then switched it up and leveraged into a pin for the win in a nice finish. The champ gave Cobb a fake clap afterwards and Hathaway taunted him with the belt. The audience gave an ovation for Cobb after Thatcher left.

 

Main Event: Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr. ****1/2

The atmosphere is incredible. Hero soaks it in and sings his song on the way to the ring. Despite the earlier love for Zack in the opener, the crowd’s all hero here and serenades Zack with “Hero’s gonna kill you”chants.

Small criticism of Lenny here (in an otherwise outstanding performance all night) as he way oversells the feud: “the one thing Zack Sabre Jr hasn’t done in this company: beat Hero.” Uhm, how about the fact that he hasn’t won ANY title in Evolve? This feud and Sabre’s quest to finally get a win against Hero is a big deal, but that statement was a bit ridiculous.

Hero somewhat hilariously (considering the buildup last night) offers a handshake to open, but Sabre lands a running headscissors into an arm bar attempt and Hero just barely escapes. Good fire and intensity from Zack showing what this means to him.

This was exactly the hard hitting, back and forth war that was expected and needed. Late match in what’s become the standard going to WWE tease, Hero hits a Pedegree and Zack kicks out at one to huge a reaction. Hero looked to destroy Zack and be done with with a short piledriver followed by a regular  piledriver followed by a Gotch version, but Zack reverses the Gotch piledriver into a hurricanrana, ties up Hero’s arms, adds a stretch muffler, then kicks the hell out of Hero’s head with him tied up like a pretzel and ZSJ finally beats Hero. Exactly what I expected from the result, but the journey here was the important part and it was a hell of a journey.

Afterwards Hero gives a classy goodbye speech putting over Zack, Evolve, and the fans. Someone shouts “I love you Hero!”and he responds with “pretty sure I love you too.” This was a long segment, with Hero talking about coming back to the indies, having a second chance in NXT, and about his friendship with Zack and thinking the latter should be champ. In the middle ACH comes out to thank Hero but also claim he should be mentioned alongside Zach in discussion of title contenders. Hathaway comes out, talks to Thatcher’s belt (yes, really. sigh.), and says “his baby” doesn’t think either of them are deserving. As he leaves though Thatcher comes out and simply points at Zack with a chuckle. Zack tells ACH after he beats Thatcher ACH can have the first shot at him.

 

Overall

Fantastic farewell for the “Greatest of All Time.” The main was incredible, there was great effort up and down the card, and Hero’s speech was genuine and emotional. Shame Keith Lee wasn’t on the show after the ring ropes hampering his debut at Evolve 76, but otherwise this delivered in spades and both shows from Evolve this weekend are well worth checking out.

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Reviews Wrestling

Evolve 76 ippv Live Thoughts

January 27, 2017 in San Antonio, TX

Evolve starts out 2017 in a big way with the return of their champion and a farewell weekend to Chris Hero, who has been on the roll of his life the last year and a rightful centerpiece in Evolve.

This was my first event on Floslam, and the stream was quite good. No buffering problems and a clear picture.

evolve76a

The new Catch Point comes out in force to start, with all five members (leader Tracy Williams, his tag team championship partner Fred Yehi, Matt Riddle, and the two new members Chris Dickinson & Jaka) present. Good way to start. Williams starts to talk about the Catch Point philosophy, but Jaka interrupts to say he’s ready to go NOW! Out comes Kaasa for the opening contest.

1) Peter Kaasa vs Jaka **3/4

I missed the late 12016 Evolve shows, so this was my first look at some of the newer roster members, including Jaka. He seems on par with Kaasa for power, which made for a nice matchup. The theme was Kaasa showing off agility and quickness in between matching power with Jaka, and the later just trying to steamroll his faster opponent.

This threatened to slow in the middle, but a vicious headbutt out of nowhere from Jaka picked things right back up. He seemed to have really good instincts for when to hit a hard strike to keep the crowd invested. I love it when Catch Point stays out as seconds, as it fits their gimmick really well. It also leads to greta moments like Riddle reacting and cheering for his stablemate’s successes.

Unfortunately just as the match seemed to be building to a crescendo Kaasa went to the second turnbuckle for a moonsault and the rope broke beneath him, leading to a nasty spill right on his head. Thankfully he was able to get up and seemed to mostly shake it off, and the two even finished the match. Jaka wins with the sitout powerbomb and  all of Catch Point show respect to Kaasa afterwards. Solid match before the accident, and they recovered nicely. It’s been confirmed that Kaasa’s ok, which is a huge relief considering how bad that fall looked. Had never seen anything like that rope breaking before (until that point…).

After a break for the ring to be fixed Catch Point came back out and Williams praised Jaka for demonstrating their philosophy so well. Chris Dickinson is chomping at the bit to prove himself as well and demands match immediately.

2) Chris Dickison vs Darby Allin **

This was a straight up formulaic power based bully against quicker, daredevil underdog match, and they used the formula fairly well. Allin’s style continues to be too reckless for my tastes, and I wish he would tone it down a bit. Allin gets a quick rollup on the more dominant Dickinson for the win, after which the latter snaps and pounds Allin after the bell. The rest of Catch Point pull him off and try to calm him down. Good booking there, as Allin needed the win and Dickinson’s temper and attitude contrasting with Catch Point’s core approach makes for a good story going forward.

Minor complaint: while Lenny was GREAT on commentary all night and added a lot to the in ring stories, if I never have to hear him say “Dirty Daddy” again it’ll be too soon.

 

 3) DUSTIN vs. Jason Kincaid **1/2

Another first look for me, and Kincaid certain has a unique look and gimmick. He made a good impression here with exciting, innovative offense and I’d like to see more of him. In particular things like him in wheelbarrow position climbing the ropes with his hands into a headscissors were wonderfully inventive. Unfortunately DUSTIN was rather boring on offense here, which he was for most of the match. Outside of an impressive delayed suplex, even the outside the ring brawling was bland. His heel character and the brawling approach isn’t clicking. Later on in the match he got more cocky and mocking, and it was great. That’s the direction he needs to go. I’m glad he’s resisting doing comedy as a heel (which hampered his previous heel run), but he still should be trying to show personality. They put on a very strong finish, and I would have liked the rest of the match to have been in similar vein. Kincaid gets a big win with his “Compassionate Release” submission, which is fantastic both in name and as a move. His zen gimmick goes to show just about anything can work if done properly and with effort and attention to detail.

 

 

4) Grudge match: Ethan Page (with The Gatekeepers) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. ***1/2  

Zack ambushes Page and company from behind during their entrance, takes out the Gatekeepers, and brawls all over ringside with Page. They really should’ve gone easy on the outside the ring brawling in the previous match given the direction here, where it was more appropriate. I like Zack’s aggressive edge here, carrying himself like someone with something to prove. And it really felt like a grudge match, with suitable intensity and moments of taunting and derision between the combatants. Zack having to really fight for the triangle choke victory was great too, as it played with the idea that past a certain amount of time in a hold the receiver would definitely get out.

Zack held on to the triangle after the match, and Darby Allin neutralized the Gatekeepers with low blows for a bit of revenge and to make sure Page would pass out staring into Darby’s own eyes.

Referee reversed the decision and awarded the match to Page for Sabre refusing to break, which fell flat. No other refs came out to try to make him break, Zack had already broken voluntarily by the time the reversal was announced, and Page has done so many “horrible” things to Zack, Gragano, Allin, etc without repercussions that this just makes the refs seem incompetent/biased. Good, heated match though.

 

4) ACH vs. Matt Riddle ****

ACH was clearly hyped up to cut loose a bit and show what he could do post-ROH, and he had a great debut against Evolve golden boy. Riddle came to the ring wearing his Progress Atlus Championship belt, which is a nice touch (and would play into his post match interview). ACH shows some nice grappling skills early on, but Riddle’s Riddle so he eventually gets the advantage on the ground. They had a GREAT stalemate sequence shortly thereafter with incredible evasions and counters, and they’d keep that vibe going all match. This was off formula for Riddle, with him getting super serious (which I adored) and just trading hard strikes with ACH in glorious sequences. Bro to Sleep and Cradle Fisherman Buster combo eventually give the Kings of Bros the win. Unsurprisingly ACH is going to fit into Evolve just fine.

Riddle says 2017’s been good so far (referencing his Progress title and other successes), but he’s the only member of Catch Point without a title in WWN (I assume he’s just talking about Yehi & Williams) and pledges to change that by the end of 2017. DUSTIN attacks him from behind with a chair (which he actually grabbed on his way out of his earlier match in a nice bit of continuity) and taunts him to build up their no-DQ match the next day.

This is the drawback of Catch Point’s gimmick – where the hell were they while Riddle’s being attacked with a chair?! It makes them all look bad, although I understand the dramatic necessity of DUSTIN having to get an edge on Riddle here.

 

5) EVOLVE Tag Team Championship Match: Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi (c) vs. Evolve Champion Timothy Thatcher (w/ Stokely Hathaway) & Jeff Cobb ***1/2

Hathaway wears Thatcher’s belt down to the ring. The pairing still boggles my mind, but it was useful to set up the story with Jeff Cobb and their teaming here in exchange for Cobb getting a shot at Thatcher next show. Great to see Thatcher back in general. He starts with Yehi and weathers the storm for a while as Catch Point make quick tags while Thatcher just strikes at whoever’s within reach. I like what I’ve seen from Cobb as a power wrestler, and he played that up in his limited time in this match.

Honestly Yehi’s style and gimmick still doesn’t work for me. I don’t find it “unorthodox,” I find it odd and unconvincing. But he’s quite over, so something about it is working for the audience in general. I on the other hand enjoyed this match much more when Williams was in. Speaking of Williams, he’s apparently the “Maltese Falcon” now instead of “Hot Sauce.” Can’t decide if that’s an improvement.

Cobb and Thatcher don’t overtly clash, but they don’t team well either and Yehi eventually catches Thatcher while Cobb’s incapacitated outside and makes him tap to the Koji Clutch (an admittedly awesome finisher). Crowd’s thrilled. I honestly wish Williams was getting this push instead. Good story told with both teams though, and Hathaway ridiculously blaming Cobb for the loss after the match add fuel to Evolve 77’s title match.

 

 

Main Event: Chris Hero vs. Keith Lee ***

“Bask in my glory” is a fantastic catch phrase for Lee that immediately tells you something about the guy you’re about to watch. There was a lot of anticipation for his debut here, and getting the main event slot against a departing legend of Evolve like Hero just increased everyone’s curiosity. Lee’s is a big man, and this was looking like a monster battle of heavyweights. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite to be.

A bit into the match the top rope broke when Hero went to bounce of the ropes. That’s twice for the night. Unbelievable. Thankfully Hero caught himself and was fine, but he was also visibly pissed. He directed Lee and they took the top rope off completely and continued the match without it. After some tentative work in the ring Hero led them outside and they wrestled on the floor a bit. Hero amusingly told the ref “it’s my weekend -no countouts!” while they were fighting on the floor but then rolled back in and made the ref try to count Lee out. Hero’s delivery made it all work. Massive credit to both Hero and Lee, because while this wasn’t the match they wanted to have they did a great job improvising under difficult circumstances. They had some wicked strike exchanges in the center of the broken ring to keep the crowd fired up.

Unfortunately  fate wasn’t done with Evolve’s ring yet. Late in the match Lee went to the second rope (now effectively the top) for a moonsault and IT FREAKIN’ BROKE AGAIN, sending Lee tumbling backward into essentially a senton onto Hero. Hero looked like he had been starting to roll out of the way of the moonsault, so I was actually mostly worried for him being caught in an odd position under Lee on that fall. Thankfully they were both ok (again). Hero hammered on Lee with elbows until finally hitting a (very impressive) Gotch Piledriver on the big man for the win.

Hero praised Lee (and cursed the ring) afterwards, although he said LEe was missing a killer instinct he needed to achieve his potential. At that, Zack Sabre Jr. came out to interrupt and said Hero will see killer instinct tomorrow, and he’s not allowed to leave until Sabre finally beats him . Then “Chris Hero can stay and Kassius Ohno can piss off to Florida.” Great little promo from Zack leading into Hero’s final match.

 

 

Overall

It’s thankfully amazing that no one was hurt with the ring breaking three times in one night, and the talent did an amazing job of adapting. Add in solid performances throughout the card and an excellent ACH vs Riddle match and this is an easy recommendation despite being one of Evolve’s unluckiest nights. Shortly after the show it was tweeted that they already had a new ring for Evolve 77, so hopefully that aberration  is behind them.

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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
Wrestling

The Future is Now 4

In addition to excellent matches and an incredible number of highly talented wrestlers, I love watching independent wrestling to see people develop and grow and get a glimpse of tomorrow’s stars today. I’ve previously featured Timothy Thatcher, Dalton Castle, and Nicole Savoy in my first The Future is Now blog, Su Yung, Leah Vaughn (then Leah von Dutch) and Takumi Iroha in my second, and Courtney Rush, Matt Riddle, Shayna Baszler, and Rhia O’Reilly in my third.

This time I’m going to narrow the focus a bit, doing a feature on some of the young Joshi stars that made huge impressions on me during my trip to Japan at the beginning of this year.

Professional wrestlers can start (much) younger in Japan than the US, leading to some interesting situations with standout young talent already being established and accomplished veterans while still in their teens, in addition to young rookie talent getting an early chance to develop into fully rounded performers. All of the wrestlers in this column are 20 years old or younger.

This column is long overdue and in some ways outdated, but I decided it’s still worth it to share my impressions as they were when I saw these athletes live. I’ve added some further context where needed, but for the most part the following information and opinions are rooted in the beginning of 2016.

Kyuri

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It’s easy to tell that the (seemingly) diminutive Kyuri already has an extensive understanding of her craft. She’s an amazingly smooth, masterful submission wrestler who always seems the equal to her often larger and more experienced opponents. Even in her frilly, bright green gear (that reminds my niece of Tinkerbell) Kyuri conveys a sense of being a competent threat to her opponents in a way beyond several wrestlers I’ve seen with far more time in the business.  If she continues to acclimate and excel as much as she has so far in her 3 years in wrestling, this 18 year old is easily going to be a huge star by her mid-twenties despite her size. An ICE Cross Infinity Championship reign for her sooner rather than later would be entirely justified.

Yuuka

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Yuuka is another young star whose instincts far outshone her 2 years of experience and 17 years of age. She carried herself in a way that made an immediate impact, including a ring style that showcased hard strikes and fierce determination in a thoroughly compelling manner.

Unfortunately Yuuka has spent the latter half of this year on hiatus for undisclosed reasons. But is still listed as part of the Ice Ribbon roster on their webpage, so here’s hoping she will return at some point. Of the wrestlers I was previously unfamiliar with she left perhaps the greatest impression, and she certainly has the potential for a big career ahead of her if she continues.

Kotori

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Kotori is a 18 year old wrestler based in the Gatoh Move promotion who has an exuberance and enthusiasm to her wrestling that’s downright contagious. She’s a captivating performer and more than held her own in all the matches I saw, usually against opponents with a great deal more experience. Her unique charisma and already well honed skills and instincts will certainly only continue to develop and expand as her career goes on beyond its current 3 years.

Riho

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I’d like to finish this feature talking about two wrestlers who are on the other end of what I mentioned in the opening than those discussed so far. In contrast to showing poise and skill beyond their experience, these wrestlers already HAVE an incredible amount of experience at an extremely young age.

First is Riho, who like Kotori currently works for the Gatoh Move promotion. She began wrestling an the age of 9 and thus has an astonishing 10+ years in the business at only 19. A natural, likable underdog, Riho effortlessly rallies the crowd behind her with a bright personality and expert timing and execution in her wrestling. She is so masterful at her role I actually get the impression branching out a bit in terms of style and opponents would be good for her, as she comes across as someone who has all the tools to succeed at anything she wanted to.

Tsukushi

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Finally we have Tsukushi , another example of the unique situations in which a very young wrestler can already be a long established veteran. At 19 years old she’s already been wrestling for over 6 years, and it shows in her instincts, polish, and overall performance.

Tsukushi’s extremely smooth in the ring and knows how to make her offense look believable, even though she’s usually smaller than her opponents (often quite significantly). Her ring style is generally strike and high-flying based, so she approaches the size disadvantage in a distinctly different way than what I mentioned about Kyuri. She comes across as a threat even when at first glance it seems she should be horribly outmatched, which is both a result of and a testament to her experience and devotion to her craft.

She’s always a stone’s throw from Ice Ribbon’s main title and is an invaluable utility player that can help the less experienced wrestlers, elevate others into title contention, or challenge the reigning champion herself to establish their worthiness. Tsukasa Fujimoto is the ace of Ice Ribbon, but Tsukushi is just as important to the promotion at present. And given her age they could build the promotion around her (and others mentioned here) for a long time to come.

Honorable mentions: 

Narrowing this list was tough, as I saw numerous young talents with bright futures.

Maruko Nagasaki might have been the most surprisingly impressive wrestler I saw relative to her experience. She was clearly still “earning her stripes” so to speak, but was solid in the ring and held up her end of matches so well I was shocked to learn she had debuted only 3 months prior to my seeing her wrestle. Also, Kurumi was recovering from injury during my trip, so I haven’t seen her wrestle yet. From what I understand if I had she would have been a certain inclusion in this list.

There are some excellent young wrestlers outside of my favorite promotions that I didn’t get to see as much of as I would have liked, so hopefully my path will cross more with wrestlers such as Sareee, Meiko Tanaka, etc going forward.

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That all for now. Hope I’ve brought a new wrestler or two to attention, and everyone mentioned is well worth checking out.

Categories
Reviews Wrestling

NXT Takeover Toronto IPPV Live Thoughts

November 19, 2016 in Toronto, Canada

Lot of anticipation going into this one, with DIY’s last shot at the Rivial and the NXT Tag Team Championships, Mickie James’ return to WWE to face Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship, and a huge rematch between Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT Championship.

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Bobby Roode continues to get amazing entrances (that aren’t exactly discouraging the crowd from cheering him, at least on the way to the ring) and a here a full choir sings along with his theme (and the crowd) live. Once the song ends about half the crowd remembers he’s a heel and is firmly behind “The Perfect 10” Tye Dillinger as he comes out for his grudge match with Roode.

Crowd’s certainly hot, as Tye and Bobby get an “this is awesome” chant for their opening staredown. Roode circles Dillinger as the latter just stares a hole through the Glorious one. Finally Roode approaches and Dillinger unloads on him, getting the better of an exchange of punches and taking things outside the ring. Tye showing an appropriate edge here given the story and totally controls the match in the early going.

Roode eventually takes advantage of Tye’s aggressiveness and catches him charging with a backdrop to the outside, and then just grinds at him for a while. Towards the end they go back and forth until Roode decides to mock his opponent too much (like a good heel) leading to a surge for Dillinger. Lots of teases of a Tye victory – ref catching Roode’s feet on the ropes during a pin, Tye with a superkick, finisher teases, a Sharpshooter spot, small package exchange, etc.

Solid win for Bobby after sending Tye into a ringpost and then hitting an implant DDT (nice change from pump handle slam – still no nonsense finisher & appropriate for heel, but has more oomph).

This went much longer than I expected, to good effect. It dragged only a little during Bobby’s initial heat segment, and overall was a great opener and elevated Tye to where he looked like he was on Bobby’s level even in defeat.

 

In the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament, TM61 (Shane Thorne & Nick Miller)faced The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar). The old school stipulation of having AoP’s manager suspended in a cage above the ring is mixed with a strange supporting scaffolding in one corner of the ring (which has already been revealed as a new toy inspiration). The scaffolding seemed to be there primarily for someone to dive off of, and sure enough TM61 made use of it for that purpose.

Both teams tried and there were some nice moments, like TM61’s dual headscissors counter out of AoP’s double powerbomb, but these were two of the more bland teams in the tournament and the crowd was tepid for this outside of the big spots. I wonder if the ending was botched. The heels tried to cheat in the classic, expected fashion given the stip (with Elering dropping a chain to help them from the very cage meant to prevent his interference), but the chain went flying into crowd on the first attempted hit. It looked like it might have been planned, but if so it was an unnecessary and pointless swerve with the heels winning cleanly with their finish moments later.

The AoP victory was unsurprising, but did make me second guess my expectation of DIY losing and imploding during the tag title match.

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Speaking of which, next we would find out if DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tomaso Ciampa) finally unseat The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) for the NXT Tag Team Championships in a 2 out of 3 falls match or if they’d come up short leading to Ciampa going nuts and turning on Gargano in emphatic fashion.

Nice showcase here for DIY in the early going, until Revival cheats for the advantage. Classic formulas are classic for a reason. Speaking of classic formulas, the heels get the first fall with their finisher (Shatter Machine in a beautiful reversal of Gargano’s slingshot spear) to put faces behind the 8-ball.

During the second fall Johnny and the Revival just played the crowd like a fiddle building up to a false tag that had the arena ready to riot.  Later a smooth back and forth sequence lead to a Heart Attack and a believable “Revival could sweep” moment.

After Ciampa finally got the hot tag he fought the Revival off by himself for an extended time, further teasing a possible DIY loss at the end with him blaming Gargano. Eventually DIY hit their double strike combo to even things up.

The third fall was just a non-stop parade of believable false finishes and callbacks to the two teams’ previous encounter. The excellent work from all four throughout the match combined with a few totally plausible reasons for the match going either way led to a dramatic finish with the crowd ERUPTING for DIY’s win. Two of the best teams in the business putting on an instant classic. Seek this one out right away.

 

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Asuka’s a favorite of mine and after seeing Mickie James wrestle in Shimmer the previous weekend I was quite excited to see how her return against NXT’s wrecking ball for the NXT Women’s Title would turn out.

During the introductions Mickie did a good job of selling confidence mixed with caution in her expressions. The pace built nicely, with some mind games and Mickie actually putting Asuka on the defensive a bit in the early going. James’ matches at Shimmer certainly helped her eliminate any potential ring rust issues. There were some great exchanges of both holds and explosive strikes early on, a great choice to help re-engage the crowd after the roller coaster ride of the Tag Title match.

It felt more even than I expected to start, which I thought was a good way to portray James as a legitimate threat before Asuka destroyed her. The longer the match went however, it became more and more clear Mickie was being shown as Asuka’s equal and challenging her in ways the Empress of Tomorrow hadn’t been during her time in NXT.

Both wrestlers are extremely charismatic and the match was structured to play to Mickie’s strengths. They kept this reasonably brisk and exciting, and after Mickie having Asuka on the ropes a few times and having unexpected answers to a lot of the champ’s offense, Asuka persevered in fighting for the Asukalock and forcing Mickie to tap.

Asuka’s building delight in dominating opponents is a nice direction to allow her to take the character. She’s always at her best when allowing almost heelish, bullying mannerisms into her ringwork. The taunting refusal of Mickie’s handshake offer after the match not only continues in that vein nicely, but also gives Mickie a storyline reason of disrespect to stick around if that’s what she decides to do.

 

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Several live violins for NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura’s entrance for his defense against Samoa Joe, which was awesome. This was built as a bitter grudge match, and both combatants sold it perfectly. Each brought great intensity during the staredown, and really conveyed the idea that they just wanted to get their hands on each other.

Joe was unexpectedly dominant early on, and I adored the psychology of him going after Nakamura’s knee. They really laid into each other as things built up throughout the match. Great match for Joe to pull out the tope, and on the other side of things seeing someone give Joe a German is always amazing. The STRAIGHTJACKET GERMAN made me pop big time, although I do question Joe starting to make regular use of it now considering Akira Tozawa’s in talks and it’s his centerpiece finisher.

Joe’s cheapshot low blow and subsequent Muscle Buster to retake the title just STUNNED the crowd. No one was really expecting the invasion of 50-50 booking here, but it does make a certain amount of sense in that Nakamura’s first loss is now out of the way, meaning they aren’t telling the same undefeated champion story with both him and Asuka, and it seems they’re setting up for a big win and retaking of the title for him in Japan.

 

Overall

Great show, with everything really being exceptional outside the tourney finals, and a tag title match that could be a match of the year contender.