‘Let’s Get D!!’ is the name that will lead to the most LOLs on the internet about SEAdLINNNG but this looks to be a really interesting show. You have two title matches, plus a load of talent from across the joshi spectrum, from Ice Ribbon, Actwres girl’Z, WAVE, Marvelous and some freelancers too. The main event looks to be a killer, and the tag team title match is going to be awesome as well.
ASUKA vs Himeki Arita: A clash of styles here, as the powerhouse Himeki goes against the insanely athletic ASUKA. It’s not often that ASUKA comes across someone the same size as her, and I always like Himeki, who lights up ASUKA with a huge slap at the start. A pretty even back and forth match that ends with ASUKA pinning Arita after a chokeslam and then a moonsault. ***
Tsukushi vs Mei Hoshizuki vs Kaho Kobayashi: These high speed matches are still a bit of a mystery to me, but the pace is always insane so that’s a definitely plus. And we’ve got one of the super talented Marvelous rookies, AND Tsukushi in here, so it should be good. I don’t really know Kaho at all, so this’ll be fun.
Tsukushi and Mei work together on Kaho for a while, then Tsukushi takes over on Mei. It’s all very high paced and fun, with Kobayashi taking most of the punishment. Mei is just so so good for being only 16 years old, she’s gonna be a star. A big star. Kaho puts both Mei and Tsukushi in a single leg crab and they plead for referee Taiyo Natsuki to help, which she does and then shows off her insane speed in a scrap with Kaho. Tsukushi is so mean by the way, she keeps getting Mei to help her and then betrays her. That low dropkick through the ropes and also through Kaho is beyond mean as well. Jesus that looks sick every time.
Kobayashi puts a beatdown on Mei, but Tsukushi saves her from the missile dropkick, only to throw Kaho out of the ring and steal a roll up on Mei. The Mean Girl of Joshi wins! ***1/4
Tsukasa Fujimoto/Hamuko Hoshi/Makoto vs Ryo Mizunami/Sae/Hiroe Nagahama: Ice Ribbon vs WAVE? Man this is guaranteed to be a fun match.
And what a fun match it was. Mizunami is just overflowing with charisma, Fujimoto was great as always, and I really enjoyed the times Sae and Makoto were in the ring too. Really underrated pair I feel, and of course Hoshi is Hoshi. She’s not the greatest but she never sucks and her involvement is always good fun, particularly when she missed a big boot entirely and then just kept waving her foot in the air. I laughed out loud at that. I didn’t know of Nagahama at all before this match, but she seemed pretty decent as well, especially when almost murdering Hoshi with a low dropkick in the ropes.
The Ice Train rolling sentons spot was great, Hoshi and Ryo beating lumps out of each other was good, and the final stretch with Fujimoto and Sae was really good too, leading to Tsukasa tapping Sae out. ***1/2
Arisa Nakajima & Ayame Sasamura vs Yumiko Hotta & Miyuki Takase: Yumiko Hotta’s theme is boss, as is her jacket. Also, I watched her vs Aja Kong from the 90s recently, and have a massive new respect for her. This match should rule. Sasamura and Nakajima seem like an unlikely team but they rock.
Sasamura is absolutely great as the babyface in peril, and some of the exchanges between Nakajima and Takase are fiery to say the least. The best part really is the fact that Yumiko Hotta doesn’t feel out of place or a step behind here. She’s the cagey veteran, but slots in perfectly. This is a match that ebbs and flows brilliantly, crescendoing from the moment Arisa DDT’s Miyuki on the apron from the top. The strike exchange from Sasamura and Takase on the outside is brutal, while on the other side, there is loads of chair related violence from Arisa and Yumiko.
Back in the ring, Yumiko blasts the ref with a chair accidentally, then breaks it over Nakajima’s head. Ouch. This has turned into a brawl, with Hotta busting Sasamura with a chair too, and throwing Arisa around with a chain round her. Poor Ayame is bleeding heavily, and can barely stand but that doesn’t kill her fighting spirit. What a hero. Everything Arisa does looks like it hurts, and her and Takase wailing on each other is a single match I’d LOVE to see. Hotta breaking up a pinfall attempt by launching the chain across the ring was a great touch, as was Ayame then beating her with it. That allows Arisa to get the win with a beautiful Dragon Suplex. Awesome match, and the visual of the blood stained Sasamura afterwards standing defiantly in Hotta’s face was great ****
Nanae Takahashi vs Yoshiko: Teacher vs student for Nanae’s first defence of the Beyond the Sea title since she won it against Arisa Nakajima in November, and it is against her protege Yoshiko who slips beneath a lot of people’s radar as a hell of a worker.
The start is cagey, a feeling out process that leads to a nice bit of chain wrestling, and Yoshiko takes the advantage by going for Nanae’s right arm. Any time it looks like Takahashi is going to get free, Yoshiko takes her apart from another direction. This is as close as to a true hoss battle as you’ll probably get in all of joshi, and of course your enjoyment of such a match will depend entirely on your opinions of Yoshiko and indeed Nanae.
The thing is, I enjoy them both, and therefore I thought this match was really great. The two of them beat the crap out of each other, and the way they cleverly covered Yoshiko getting her foot caught on the rope into part of the match story was really good. Nanae keeps going back to the knee, Yoshiko working on the arm, and it is wrestled at a much more measured pace than a lot of joshi. There was a lot of stiff looking shots, and the wrestling on display here was top class. Nanae wins with her big top rope splash, and I believe this is one of the best matches this year. It’ll never get the credit it deserves due to the participants, but if you can separate the performance from the performers, this is an absolute must watch. ****1/4
FINAL THOUGHTS: A great show, with two must watch title matches and everything else underneath was entertaining as well. Both the tag team title match and the main event have jumped into my top ten matches for the year.
Joshi's Valley 