Stardom - Grow Up Stars 2017 (3/3/2017)

2. Konami vs. Zoe Lucas

One of Zoe's better showings, mostly thanks to Konami leading the way. Her strikes looked good and she worked well underneath, even though she dropped Konami on the top of her head King's Road style.

*3/4

3. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu & Kris Wolf) vs. Mayu Iwatani & Arisu Nanase

Tight Pants Wolf is an automatic *1/2 and I rate from there. Fun match. Arisu's selling is enthralling. Loved the outside brawl and the platform truck spot, and the never-ending high speed feud of Mayu and Kagetsu always yields greatness.

***3/4

4. Toni Storm & Yoko Bito vs. Shayna Baszler & Christi Jaynes

Toni's faults are hidden well in tags. She is best served in small segments. Christi takes kicks to the back and a hip attack to the face simultaneously! Kick! Hip attack! Kick! Hip attack! Kick! Hip attack! Kick! Hip attack! ...isn't that exciting!? 

**1/2

5. Kairi Hojo, Hiromi Mimura & Jungle Kyona vs. Queen’s Quest (Io Shirai, HZK & AZM)

Good trios match, as expected from Queen's Quest. I like the interactions between HZK and Hojo; their mini-feud is enjoyable with HZK always trying to get into Hojo's head. Hiromi has a heated exchange with HZK too! HZK brought the fire. Then there's AZM, who is a black leather-clad killer.

***1/4

Ice Ribbon - New Ice Ribbon #783 ~ Ryogoku KFC Hall (1/29/2017)

4. Triangle Ribbon Championship: Manami Toyota (c) vs. Kyuuri vs. Mochi Miyagi

Manami Toyota's renaissance continues.

***1/2

5. Aja Kong vs. Maya Yukihi

Aja Kong bullied Maya to bring out the fire and then extinguished it through sheer destruction.

***

6. Hamuko Hoshi & Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi)

An awesome main event. Hiroyo and Kurumi's segment was out of this world; two burly joshi being snug as hell with each other. And then Tsukushi and Hamuko had their moment to close the match with counters and near-falls.

****1/2

Azumi Hyuga vs. GAMI (JWP, 12/9/2001)

JWP (12/9/2001)

JWP Openweight Championship: Azumi Hyuga (c) vs. GAMI

GAMI had Azumi's number with savvy counters and unique submission holds that left the champion questioning the meaning of life. She's so graceful in her execution and her counters were cunning and top notch. I love her. Then there's Azumi who has a 1000 different ways to mess you up with DDTs and raw-looking elbows and knees. This was total class.

****1/2

DDT - Dramatic 2017 March Special ~ Road To SUPER ARENA ~ (3/5/2017)

3. KUDO vs. MAO

The ridiculously good-looking MAO did his flippy stuff, and KUDO punished him with strike combinations and kicks to the face. Brutal!

***3/4

7. Happy Motel (Antonio Honda & Konosuke Takeshita) vs. Smile Squash (HARASHIMA & Soma Takao)

Soma and Takeshita are two sides of the same coin. They both have the charisma of a washing board, but make up for it with their intensity. Both of them were awesome here, especially during the final act.

***3/4

Miyu Yamashita & Rika Tatsumi vs. SIN Biishiki-gun (Masa & Saki-sama) (Tokyo Joshi Pro, 1/21/2017)

Tokyo Joshi Pro - Girls Fight Out #1 (1/21/2017)

Miyu Yamashita & Rika Tatsumi vs. SIN Biishiki-gun (Masa & Saki-sama)

I didn't know what to expect from Masa's debut, but I ended up loving everything she did here. She's all gimmick, but she never overdid it and she compliments Saki's persona well. Yamashita and Saki traded gnarly kicks, and Rika hit her hip attacks and applied a wicked dragon sleeper on Saki.

***1/2

Kurumi vs. Tsukushi (Ice Ribbon, 9/16/2011)

Ice Ribbon - 19'O Clock Girls Pro Wrestling #87 (9/16/2011)

IW19 Championship (vacant): Kurumi vs. Tsukushi

Little Tsukushi powering out of Kurumi's Cattle Mutilation, sending her flipping out of the hold was so ridiculous it was great. This was a sprint that was built around Kurumi's German suplex, which Tsukushi tries to avoid at all costs. These two are very young and very tiny so you don't want them taking too many bumps so they instead focused on nifty submission work.

***1/4

Yoshiko Tamura vs. Emi Sakura (NEO, 5/3/2007)

NEO - May History 2007 (5/3/2007)

NWA Women's Pacific & NEO Championship: Yoshiko Tamura (c) vs. Emi Sakura

This was a lot of fun. Emi does everything from double arm maneuvers, a moonsault, a 450 splash, to hip-based offense, and it is all well placed. She worked on top, always a few steps ahead. Tamura just threw stiff, jarring strikes. One trope I love in her matches are the strike combinations/sequences. She pummels Sakura. Great match, sick finish.

***1/2

Meiko Satomura vs. Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls, 10/16/2016)

Sendai Girls - 10th Anniversary Show ~ Women's Wrestling Big Show In Sendai (10/16/2016)

Sendai Girls World Championship: Meiko Satomura (c) vs. Chihiro Hashimoto

Mesmerizing pacing, there's a sense of urgency and danger that makes every movement feel important, like a human chess game. You know when Chihiro starts hitting those Germans that this can end at any second, it's such a unique quality to Chihiro's big matches. Incredible generational struggle.

****3/4

Stardom - 5th Anniversary: Stardom vs. The World II (2/21/2016)

6. High Speed Championship: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Evie

This was a masturbatory indie-riffic move and counter fest, but that doesn't make it any less fun to watch. Mayu's lankiness made Evie's back work especially violent, she nearly breaks Mayu with those back breakers. Lovely high speed.

***1/2

7. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Santana Garrett (c) vs. Kairi Hojo

Credit where credit is due, Santana was on point here. Not often you see her do a suicide dive where she doesn't almost succeed in taking her life. There's some really good struggle here and Santana losing her boot was cute.

***3/4

8. World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. Viper

This match was good. Joshi puroresu take on 'the irresistible force vs. the immovable object'. I like how Viper bumps like Adrian Adonis. Obviously can't forget the spot where Io lifts the 220-pound Viper with a German suplex, nice. 

***1/2

Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Kyoko Kimura & Viper) vs. Queen's Quest (HZK, Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe) (Stardom, 1/8/2017)

Stardom - New Years Stars 2017 (1/8/2017)

Artist of Stardom Championship (decision): Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Kyoko Kimura & Viper) vs. Queen's Quest (HZK, Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe)

I like Viper as Oedo Tai's ultima weapon, she was an absolute tank. Momo's pop-up somato is a thing of beauty, and Kagetsu running wild with the gas canister was great. Kyoko puts over Io during her retirement run. Fun match.

***

Mariko Yoshida vs. Yumi Fukawa (ARSION, 9/26/1999)

ARSION (9/26/1999)

Mariko Yoshida vs. Yumi Fukawa

This was quite an amazing match, it was shot on a handheld which gave it a raw feel; just the sound of two joshi wrestlers grappling on the canvas. Yoshida comes into this cold and meditative, but her frustration builds as she struggles to put Fukawa away, and Fukawa's keeps pushing her, flashing this wicked smile when she applies a facelock and slapping her across the face during the finishing run. The selling, the escalation and the payoff were really good. 

****3/4