Stardom - New Years Stars 2017 (1/29/2017)

2. Konami vs. Natsuko Tora

Good. Konami is such a breath of fresh air on these cards and Natsuko did an excellent job selling her offense.

**3/4

3. Christi Jaynes, Deonna Purrazzo & Shayna Baszler vs. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Kris Wolf & Viper)

Christi Jaynes wears her glasses while wrestling. Shayna looked good here, only problem I have with her is the thigh-slapping. It looks silly when a shooter does it.

**

4. ICW Women's Championship: Kay Lee Ray (c) vs. Jungle Kyona

This was Jungle Kyona's first singles belt opportunity and probably her best singles performance yet. She showed off more of her moveset and looked poised and confident. Kay Lee Ray looks like a sinewy, urban fantasy Wicked Witch of the West. Her speed is scary and her facial expressions even scarier.

**1/2

5. Mayu Iwatani, Yoko Bito & Hiromi Mimura vs. Queen's Quest (Io Shirai, HZK & Momo Watanabe)

Another great QQ trios match. I don't have much to say about this, but it was very good. I can't wait to see what Mayu and Momo do in Korakuen.

***1/2

6. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Kairi Hojo (c) vs. Nixon Newell

Hojo seemed inspired here, she was working the leg with hard kicks, taking a new approach to her offense with moves I haven't seen from her, but Nixon dragged this thing way down. Nixon sold the leg well, I'll give her that, but everything else was terrible on her part. That Shining Wizard is the worst I've seen.

*1/4

BASARA - VAJRA 25 ~SHIPPUJINRAI~ (12/25/2016)

3. Takumi Tsukamoto vs. Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi

I never thought much of Ryuichi Kawakami in Big Japan, he was another hard-hitting dude amongst hard-hitting dudes, but here in BASARA he's been allowed to show range and he's great. Match itself was mediocre.

**

4. IRON PRIEST (FUMA, Madoka & Yusuke Kubo) vs. Jun Kasai, MIKAMI & Tanomusaku Toba

Toba looks like something that blew in off the highway, but he throws gnarly punches. FUMA was getting nailed with hard hits left and right and selling amazingly. The veterans did a great job building up heat for the home team to make the comeback. FUMA's heavy metal heart refused to give in!

****

5. Jun Akiyama vs. SAGAT

SAGAT's selling was awesome in this, he's a freak show but the fans rallied behind him as bald, mean bully Akiyama had his way with him. I liked SAGAT reverting back to his crotch-chewing persona during the final sequence... only to get rocked by a big knee from Jun.

***

7. Union Pro MAX Championship (vacant): Isami Kodaka vs. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi

There was great legwork here that was neglected in the final act which is always a pet peeve of mine, but this was pretty good. Both guys were throwing meaty slugs, especially Trans-Am's lariats.

***1/4

WAVE - HAPPY NEW YEAR WAVE ‘17 (1/8/2017)

1. Battle Royal: Aoi Kizuki vs. Cherry vs. Fairy Nihonbashi vs. Hiroe Nagahama vs. Manami Toyota vs. Moeka Haruhi vs. Rina Yamashita vs. SAKI vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

Aoi Kizuki cosplayed as a chicken in this match. It was nice to see SAKI of the former Buribato make her return. Yamashita goes over Fujimoto in a dramatic finish. All is well.

**1/2

3. Yukihi Maya & Sumire Natsu vs. Syuri & Tsukushi

Definition of a fan-service match. Water guns, FEET, Maya-obachan, Sumire Natsu, Yuki Miyazaki's embarrassment hold.

*

4. Best 2/3 Falls: Hikaru Shida, Mika Iida, Yuki Miyazaki & Yumi Ohka vs. Las Aventureras (ASUKA, Kaori Yoneyama, Sawako Shimono & Yuu Yamagata)

his was an enjoyable match chock-full of comedy and neat double team spots.

***

5. WAVE Tag Team Championship: Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami) (c) vs. "Oedo Tai" (Kyoko Kimura & Kagetsu)

At 24 minutes, this is long, and there is definitely a sluggishness to it, but I liked a lot of what they did here and they build to a satisfying finish between Ohata and Kyoko. Avid Rival has some of the most devastating double team moves you will see in joshi puroresu. That counter Ohata did of Kyoko's Gory Bomb into the Blue Dhalia was wonderful. Lots of heat and big boots being throw.

***3/4

DDT - Road To Super Arena ~ Dramatic Dream Tonkotsu ~ (12/11/2016)

3. Maki Ito vs. Miyu Yamashita

This was the in-ring debut of idol group LinQ's Maki Ito. She's charismatic and has an expressive face. She could have a decent little career if she keeps at it. Yamashita knocks her down time and time again with punishing kicks, but Maki shows a lot of strength.

**1/2

4. Shuji Ishikawa vs. Yasu Urano

Yasu Urano takes a nasty bump when Ishikawa just slams him over the top rope to the outside. I thought this started out strong, but it kind of fizzled out during the final act. Oh well.

**1/2

5. Shigehiro Irie & Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Smile Squash (Akito & HARASHIMA)

This match built heat for HARASHIMA's title defense against Shigehiro Irie, with Taka-fucking-yama thrown in for the hell of it. Irie had just returned from his US excursion a month earlier and he's motivated, with a couple of new moves added to his destructive repertoire.

***3/4

6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship: DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki, Mad Paulie & Tetsuya Endo) (c) vs. Shuten-doji (KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Yukio Sakaguchi)

A decent trios matches; cute spots here and there. Nothing to write home about.

**1/2

7. KO-D Tag Team Championship: Konosuke Takeshita & Mike Bailey (c) vs. Danshoku Dino & Keisuke Ishii

Shit, this was amazing. Dino's grinding and humping and trying to get a piece of Mike Bailey, and Ishii is picking away at Takeshita's arm. They have an interesting team dynamic. Bailey does everything he can to avoid Dino's signature spots, but that only makes the degenerate hungrier. I loved every second of this.

****1/2

Ice Ribbon - New Ice Ribbon #779 ~ New Year Yokohama Ribbon 2017 (1/9/2017)

1. Maika Ozaki & Tequila Saya vs. Maruko Nagasaki & Matsuya Uno

Maruko started incorporating an evasive roll into her moveset and it has reshaped her as a performer, she's finding creative ways to implement it.

***

3. Manami Toyota vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Tsukushi

Cute match, you could tell that they were enjoying themselves and each other out there. Fujimoto takes a scary fall during an Ocean Cyclone-device dropkick. God bless this tiny woman.

**3/4

4. Hiiragi Kurumi vs. Kyuuri

This match was all Kurumi, she murders Kyuuri with a barrage of power moves. I don't think I've ever seen her hit the Go Flasher before so that was a first.

***1/4

Fuka Matsuri 4 (5/4/2008)

2. Sexy Purple Thunder Sisters (Mio Shirai & Io Shirai) vs. NEO Machine Guns (Tanny Mouse & Yuki Miyazaki)

The Shirai Sisters were wonderfully sleazy around this time and you want to see them get their asses kicked, and the Machine Guns are here to do that. Miyazaki's moonsault is a thing of beauty.

***

4. Nanae Takahashi & Fuka vs. Yumiko Hotta & Haruka Matsuo

Two small girls with big vets as their guardians. Lots of stiffness and fighting spirit on display. I'm not familiar with Haruka, but she seemed impressive. The finish was built up well and legit shocking.

***3/4

Stardom - Year-End Climax 2012 (12/24/2012)

5. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Kawasaki Katsushika Saikyou Densetsu (Natsuki☆Taiyo & Yoshiko) (c) vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yuhi

Yoshiko bears the Rising Sun flag on her gear. What a radical. There was significant heat here since Yoshiko and Natsuki like to dish it out as hard as they like to take it. This was good all around.

***3/4

6. World of Stardom Championship: Nanae Takahashi (c) vs. Yuzuki Aikawa

Classic Nanae big match-style sprint, nonstop hard-hits and hard bumps. Yuzupon was all raw emotion and fighting spirit, selling the dramatic kickouts like they took everything out of her, wearing a shell-shocked expression. Especially loved the moment where she tries to turn Nanae's head into mush with axe kicks.

****3/4

Stardom - Momoiro Christmas 2016!!

Stardom - Momoiro Christmas 2016 - Midsummer SUNSUN Summertime ~ (12/23/2016)

Queen's Quest (Io Shirai, HZK & Momo Watanabe) vs Kairi Hojo, Jungle Kyona & Hiromi Mimura

By the numbers trios match. Nothing to write home about, except for Hojo spinning like a maple key after taking a bicycle kick from HZK. 

**

Stardom - Momoiro Christmas 2016 - Midsummer SUNSUN Summertime ~ (12/24/2016)

Mayu Iwatani & Yoko Bito vs. Oedo-Tai (Kris Wolf & Hana Kimura)

Hana performs sexy dances in front of a crowd of excited Momoclo wota. This is modern joshi in its truest form. Mayu looked very happy to be performing at the festival of her favorite idol group and her happiness is infectious.

***1/2