A SEAdLINNNG show with two title matches is always a must watch show. Nanae’s run has had some excellent matches so far, and this one in particular had a lot of hype before I saw it. The rest of the card looks like an excellent show as well, and the tag team match is almost guaranteed to be good.
Yuna Mizumori vs Maria: Maria is an insanely talented young rookie (19 years old, less than four months of in ring experience), and Yuna is fresh off breaking all our hearts when Nanae beat her and she sat in tears. What sadness. This is a fun opener, with Maria having a lot more fight than I expected, but Yuna winning with what I can only describe as a Superman rollup clutch pin? **1/2
Chikayo Nagashima & Rin Kadokura vs Mei Hoshizuki & Mei Suruga: The Meis are an amazing team, and are purpose built for these high speed matches, which I’m starting to really enjoy now I’ve figured out the rules. Chikayo Nagashima has been wrestling longer than either of the Meis have been alive, and she is the grumpy veteran tired of their shit. Mei Sugura is going to be huge.
There’s plenty of comedy spots, with Sugura being the centre of attention for most of it. Kadokura doesn’t get too involved, and you get the usual Hoshizuki dropkick spamming, the rolling pins from Sugura, and the inevitable rookie loss. Still, what a lot of fun it is. ***
Hiroyo Matsumoto vs Amazon: Amazon has a Predator mask which is pretty cool, but then you hear our Lady Destroyer’s music with the Godzilla roars and you know who the real monster is. It’s not often that Hiroyo is the smaller wrestler in the ring, but she shows no fear and batters Amazon around. There is no one like Amazon in joshi at all, so her slow, methodical power style is really different. She spent a bit of time in SEAdLINNNG last summer, but she meshes quite well with Hiroyo’s power game.
They slug at each other a bit, and Amazon powering out of the front choke was a cool spot, but Matsumoto beats her with a really nasty looking backdrop that drops Amazon right on her head. A bit slow and ponderous considering the rest of the card, but not terrible. **3/4
Arisa Nakajima & Sae vs Himekia Arita & Miyuki Takase: I’m here for this almost as much as the main event. The vacant tag titles are up for grabs here and the Actwres Girl’Z really want to show Arisa that they are on the same level.
The Pink and Black Attack (which I’m now dubbing this team until Ayame comes back) have a great combination of power and vicious speed, and that is matched in the power of Arita and the pure greatness of Takase. I love Sae and Himeki, but let’s be honest, we are all here to watch Arisa and Miyuki beat the piss out of each other, and they didn’t let us down. I need this singles match more than I realised. Arita hits some big power moves, and tries to pull Arisa’s leg out of the socket with a single leg crab, but Nakajima rolls out of a rack attempt and plants a double stomp into the gut. Ouch.
Arita gets kicked pretty hard in the face, and takes a German suplex for a surprise pin from Arisa. I’m not sure if this was meant to be the finish, as there was no real reaction and a bit of confusion afterwards. Himeki looked totally out of it, so not sure. Shame really because it had been a really hot match before that. Takase and Arisa are pulled apart after the match, and Arita is out of the ring with a lot of blood from her mouth, so I hope she’s alright. ***1/2
Mima Shinoda & Yoshiko vs Mikoto Shindo & Takumi Iroha: This was mainly the ‘watch Takumi and Yoshiko beat each other up’ show, which i’m fine with because it was really good. Mima Shimoda didn’t really have much to do, and Mikoto Shindo did even less but the story here seems to be set up one of these two to face Nanae.
Highlights included a beautiful Swanton from Takumi (but she missed, so it wasn’t that great, but it looked great), a ridiculous looking headbutt from Yoshiko, that Iroha then gave her a very tough elbow receipt for and the traditional ‘Marvelous rookie spamming dropkicks’ spot. Really enjoyable match, and Yoshiko wins after a big lariat. Afterwards, Saori Anou turns up and challenges Yoshiko (I think?). She looked raging about something at least. Man I need to learn Japanese. The Actwres Girlz are doing everything to demand respect on this show, and its great. ***1/2
Nanae Takahashi vs ASUKA: I had heard a lot of hype about this match before I saw it, but goddamn did it live up to it! ASUKA attacks Nanae at the bell, knocking her off the top rope and then attempts an insane moonsault into the streamers. Nanae moves and then flattens ASUKA with a big clothesline. Then ASUKA starts trying to murder Nanae’s head with chairs. This is crazy.
Then we brawl through the crowd and ASUKA adds her name to the list of people who have moonsaulted across the stairs in Korakuen. When the action returns to the ring, it remains at a great pace, with ASUKA trying to break Nanae’s arm while Nanae is trying to tear ASUKA’s leg out of place. The driver on the apron was sickening, while Nanae’s massive powerbombs on ASUKA look brutal as well. There’s even a ref bump, which happens so rarely in joshi you can actually buy it as a spot again. ASUKA’s kicks always look great, especially one superkick when both go down.
ASUKA is the next joshi megastar waiting to happen. Her deadlift German suplex was incredible, her moonsaults are crisp and on point almost every time, and she’s just exciting and different to watch. But Nanae’s experience wins through in the end; after ASUKA kicks out of the big splash, Nanae drops her with the One Second EX and gets the win. Absolutely fantastic match. Afterwards we get Takumi Iroha and Yoshiko out to determine the next challenger maybe? I wish I had subtitles for these parts. Ayway, give it to Iroha bcause she’s magic! ****1/2
Final thoughts: Really solid show, with a killer main event and a lot of good undercard stuff. It’s a shame about the tag team title match not going longer, but it was fantastic up to that point. Himeki was KO’d and it had to end. Definitely a show worth watching though, lots of variety and a frontrunner for MotY in the main event.
ASUKA/Makoto vs Mei Suruga/Mei Hoshizuki: This match will be fought under high speed rules, and a lot of it is ASUKA and Makoto showing disdain and disrespect to the rookies. ASUKA yawning at some of Hoshizuki’s dropkicks is really funny, and when Suruga finally gets the hot tag in, she is full of fire. Of course, they were never going to win but they looks great in defeat.
Takumi Iroha/Ryo Mizunami vs Himeki Arita/Miyuki Takase: this is Actwrez Girls vs Marvelous/WAVE which is always a reason to watch these shows. You alwasy get a great mix of joshi from all promotions. This is yet another super fun match, Ryo and Takumi working really well as a team, as do Arita and Takase. There’s nothing to dislike in this match, from Ryo’s dancing to Iroha’s perfect hair, to the mighty hoss that is Himeki to super talented and underrated Takase.
Nanae Takahashi vs Yuna Mizamori: Our main event is Nanae defending against Gatoh Move’s Yuna Mizamori. I have never seen any Gatoh Move so she is new to me. She has also only a year under her belt as a wrestler, so her performance here is a revelation.
Joshi's Valley 