Ayame Sasamura vs Maya Yukihi
Clipped match, with Yukihi looking really good. Really liked
her rolling through into a headscissors and using an actual whip to hit
Sasamura in the corner, which looked nasty. Yukihi halts a comeback by hiding
behind the ref and sneakily gets a roll up for two. Yukihi hits a roundhouse
kick to the head for three.
Misaki Ohata & Natsumi Maki vs Tsubasa Kuragaki &
Yumiko Hotta
Kuragaki and Hotta have a reasonable size advantage, so
Ohata and Maki decide to attack at the bell, culminating with Maki hitting a
big crossbody to the floor. They try to keep up the speed advantage before a
Maki top rope splash on Kuragaki hits feet. Love Hotta showing off a bit of raw
power, hoisting the other two to the top rope and locking in a double torture
match. Kuragaki picks up the win with a cross-arm powerbomb on Maki. This is
again clipped, but seemed good.
Aja Kong vs Sakura Hirota
This is basically all comedy, with Hirota starting off by
giving Kong a present of a signed photo. Hirota kisses Kong and for some reason
dances with a bin on her head. Kong hits a backfist and gets the three.
Mission K4 (AKINO & Sonoko Kato) & Ryo Mizunami vs
Ozaki-Gun (Mayumi Ozaki, Saori Anou & Yumi Ohka)
The first full match on the show, and this is really good.
Ozaki-Gun have a male guard at ringside, and he attacks Mizunami before her
partners get to the ring. This kicks off a big arena-wide brawl. There’s a lot
of momentum swings in the match, with neither side really getting a sustained
advantage. Nice spot with AKINO going to the top, getting the ropes shaken by
the bodyguard and Anou getting to hit a really nice top rope rana. Anou tries a
backslide on Mizunami, rolling over into a cradle, which looked really good.
There’s a longish sequence of no-selling between Ohka and Mizunami which is a
bit off, but there’s a lot of action crammed into this. Kato looks to have this
won with a sort-of musclebuster piledriver, but the bodyguard breaks the count.
Obviously there are no disqualifications as not only does the bout continue,
but we get some whips involved as weapons. Kato looks to gain an advantage by
using Ozaki as a shield from the whips, but all three members of Ozaki-Gun mist
their opponents, and Ozaki hits a big kick on Kato for the win.
Beast Friend (Hiroyo Matsumoto & Kaori Yoneyama) vs
Borderless (Rina Yamashita & Yoshiko)
This is for the tag titles, held by Yamashita and Yoshiko.
Really fun dynamic between Matsumoto and Yoneyama, with Matsumoto seemingly
keen to use her partner as a weapon. In the early stages, Yoneyama seems pretty
resistant to Matsumoto’s idea of using her as a missile to drop onto their
opponents at ringside. Shortly after, she tries a crossbody to the floor and
accidently only takes out her partner. This leaves her isolated, and Yamashita
and Yoshiko take full advantage. Big double facewash in the corner, then
Yoshiko downs her with a big flurry of blows capped off with a massive senton.
Loved the spot with Yamashita spinning Yoneyama with a giant swing, with
Yoshiko skipping over her, then deciding to hit a big stomp on the third
rotation. This especially works because Yoneyama is a very sympathetic
character. Eventually she gets a springboard armdrag to take both out and makes
the hot tag. Matsumoto runs riot, and I loved her stacking the two opponents in
the corner, with Yamashita placed horizontally between the ropes to lock
Yoshiko in place. Things break down with all four involved, and Yoshiko takes a
looooong run up to hit a senton on both opponents on the floor, with Yamashita
holding them in place until the last second. There’s a really neat twist on the
tower of doom spot, as Yoneyama is struggling to hit a superplex on Yoshiko
until Matsumoto helps by powerbombing her down, bringing Yoshiko with her.
Yoneyama returns the favour, powerbombing Matsumoto onto Yamashita, and the
match finishes with Matsumoto clotheslining her partner into a Code Red for the
titles. Really great stuff.
Hikaru Shida vs Kakeru Sekiguchi
Shida is the champion, and a bit taller than Sekiguchi, and
so Sekiguchi is portrayed as the underdog. However, this is done by Shida
no-selling most of her offence, shaking off a series of dropkicks and not
reacting to her forearms. It’s strange, because Shida isn’t THAT much bigger
than Sekiguchi, certainly not big enough to no-sell dropkicks. Shida controls
the match, working Sekiguchi on the mat and dominating when both are on their
feet. Shida works over the back, hitting a pair of big backbreakers and sinking
in a deep Boston Crab. Sekiguchi manages to hit a crossbody and begins to build
some momentum. Two missile dropkicks stagger Shida, meaning some running
dropkicks are now able to down her. However, a big knee to the face from Shida
puts her down for nearly a 10 count. Shida starts taking her lightly, hitting
some patronising slaps, only for Sekiguchi to down her with an armbar. She
maintains this arm focus, smashing it around the ringpost. I liked Sekiguchi
trying for pinfalls and grabbing the arm every time Shida lifting a shoulder to
break the fall. Sekiguchi keeps going for pins, but one more big knee to the
face takes her last bit of fight away, and a Falcon Arrow gives Shida the win.
This was neat, told a fun story and, though the execution was a bit odd, this
was largely enjoyable.
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