Hamuko Hoshi & Ibuki Hoshi vs. This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi) (Ice Ribbon, 6/11/2017)

Ice Ribbon - #809 ~ Sapporo Ribbon 2017 (6/11/2017)

International Ribbon Tag Team Championship (vacant): Hamuko Hoshi & Ibuki Hoshi vs. This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi)

This was Ibuki's debut and I thought she did great, especially for a 20-minute main event. Hamuko puts on an endearing performance, carrying the load of her team and guiding her daughter. Tsukushi & Kurumi were brilliant as always. Some damn fine tag team wrestling.

***3/4

Ice Ribbon - #817 ~ Yokohama Ribbon 2017 (7/17/2017)

1. Hiiragi Kurumi & Kyuuri vs. Matsuya Uno & Miyako Matsumoto

Amazing opener, where Matsumoto's awfulness was at a minimum. Kurumi is easily one of my favorites to watch on the Ice Ribbon roster, and Uno is too cute!

***1/2

2. Ibuki Hoshi vs. Karen DATE

Pretty good struggle between these youngins. I liked the urgency towards the finish, and the post-match heat.

***

3. Akane Fujita vs. Maika Ozaki

It's not often you see a heavyweight clash in Ice Ribbon. These two are chunkier than most of the roster, and they're capable of dishing out and taking impactful moves. Fujita displays as viciousness when she grabs Maika's hand away from the ropes while applying her new submission finisher, and the struggle looks brutal. Great match. 

****

4. Maya Yukihi & Takako Inoue vs. Risa Sera & Tsukushi

The sequences with Tsukushi were amazing, especially her strike exchange with Inoue. Sera had great moments as well, and clever counters. Yukihi probably has some of the best-looking strikes in all of Ice Ribbon. Everyone looked awesome.

***3/4

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Title #1 Contendership: Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto) vs. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi)

I feel like there has been too much Lovely Butchers at the top of Ice Ribbon cards lately; they're easily my least favorite joshi at the moment. But this fucking ruled. They brought an aggressive approach to this match, answering Arisa & Tsukasa's nastiness with some of their own. There's a backdrop here from Miyagi to Arisa that looked devastating, and Fujimoto executes one of the best Tsukadora's I've ever seen. The pacing is fast, and the heat keeps building.

****1/2

Ice Ribbon - ~ Yokohama Ribbon 2017 (6/25/2017)

1. Cherry, Miyako Matsumoto & Nao DATE vs. Kyuuri, Matsuya Uno & Tequila Saya

**

2. Hiiragi Kurumi & Karen DATE vs. Ibuki Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi

***

3. Rina Yamashita vs. Satsuki Totoro

***

4. Akane Fujita & Nori DATE vs. Azure Revolution (Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera)

**3/4

5. Hana DATE vs. Maruko Nagasaki

These two bring the intensity in their body language and facial expressions. They're going at it with haphazard offense that I thought fit the narrative of this heated rivalry. I enjoyed a lot of what Hana was doing here, and dug the ending where she kept pressing the advantage when she had Maruko down.

***1/2

6. Triangle Ribbon Championship: Manami Toyota (c) vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Tsukushi

***

Ice Ribbon - #805 ~ Ryogoku KFC Hall #2 (5/28/2017)

1. Maruko Nagasaki & Matsuya Uno vs. TeamDATE (Hana DATE & Nori DATE)

**1/4

2. 235 vs. Cherry

**1/2

3. Karen DATE vs. Miyako Matsumoto

*

4. Maya Yukihi & Nao DATE vs. Satsuki Totoro & Tequila Saya

**

5. Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto) vs. GEKOKUJyou (Kyuuri & Maika Ozaki)

Oh man, GEKOKU were getting the shit beaten out of them in this one. Arisa was a stampede, elbowing and kneeing and suplexing everything in her path. Tsukasa and Kyuuri have this submission exchange that I liked. Maika took some good bumps. Great match.

****

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi) (c) vs. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi)

***3/4

7. ICE×∞ Championship - Hardcore Match: Risa Sera (c) vs. Akane Fujita

no

Ice Ribbon - Yokohama Ribbon 2017 GW II (5/5/2017)

1. Elimination: Maruko Nagasaki, Matsuya Uno, Satsuki Totoro & Tequila Saya vs. Team DATE (Hana DATE, Karen DATE, Nao DATE & Nori DATE)

**1/4

2. Eiger vs. Hamuko Hoshi

**3/4

3. 235, Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera vs. Akane Fujita, Mochi Miyagi & Rina Yamashita

***

4. Miyako Matsumoto vs. Yoshiko

This turned out to be surprisingly competitive with Miyako getting clever counters and near-falls. Yoshiko kept this thing tight, and shows off her Y-shaped balance.

***

5. Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

This was a good and well-paced timeout draw, full of neat set-ups and counters.

***1/2

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi) (c) vs. GEKOKUJyou (Kyuuri & Maika Ozaki)

Maika Ozaki looked awesome here, running through her opponents as the bulldozer of GEKOKU, but Kurumi has power herself and was quick to remind her opponents of that! Kyuuri gave a great performance as well. Obviously Tsukushi threw her wicked strikes. This was great.

***3/4

Ice Ribbon - #798 ~ Ribbon Fiesta 2017 (4/24/2017)

1. Akane Fujita & Nori DATE vs. Nao DATE & Satsuki Totoro

Great opener. Team DATE are such a breath of fresh air and a welcomed addition to the roster.

***

4. Best Friends (Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto) vs. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi)

Nakajima was beating hell out of Hamuko Hoshi. Kicking her in the head, stomping her nose, slapping her across the face, KNEE STRIKES. I loved it. A fun and fast-paced tag.

***1/2

5. Kyuuri vs. Mayumi Ozaki

Kyuuri unfortunately doesn't bring the fire in her comeback sequences, but she does hit a crazy Cutie Special. Not exactly a semi-main event quality performance.

**1/2

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi) (c) vs. Azure Revolution (Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera)

Maya and Tsukushi had a fun dynamic going here, I liked what they were doing together. Sera and Kurumi were here too!

***3/4

Ice Ribbon - MARCH 2017 (3/26/2017)

2. Command Bolshoi & Leon vs. Kyuuri & Maika Ozaki

Fun, energetic tag match. Bolshoi & Leon rule. Dug the Bolshoi-Kyuuri sequence where they traded submission counters. Kyuuri hits a gnarly Cutie Special.

***

4. Akane Fujita & Jaguar Yokota vs. 385 Myankie's (Jun Kasai & Miyako Matsumoto)

Fujita's return match from injury, so naturally she takes a table bump and a superplex from a ladder. This was decent, albeit slow-paced.

**

5. Arisa Nakajima vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

This was a brutal match. There's hair puling, strike exchanges, headbutts, kicks to the face, knees to the face, and plenty of surliness and disrespect. They work well towards the time limit, keeping the action fresh and dynamic, and the pacing hot. A level of ultra-violence that is rare in the Ice Ribbon ring.

****

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami) (c) vs. This is Ice Ribbon (Hiiragi Kurumi & Tsukushi)

Avid Rival are such a destructive, hard-hitting duo. Some of the bumps that Tsukushi took here were frightening. Kurumi's been looking especially good lately; loved that segment she had with Mizunami.

***3/4

7. ICE×∞ Championship: Risa Sera (c) vs. Rina Yamashita

Risa's weak offense and contrived set ups hurt this, but there's still some nice bumps and sequences to enjoy. An average match.

**1/2

JWP - Fly High in the 25th Anniversary (1/29/2017)

1. Sareee vs. Yako Fujigasaki

Sareee's violent streak and Yako's visual hunt are on a collision course. Great way to open a show. Possibly the best match of Yako Fujigasaki's career.

***1/2

2. Judo Rules: KAZUKI & Rydeen Hagane vs. Hiiragi Kurumi & Megumi Yabushita

JWP's version of YAWARA WAVE and its one of the cutest matches of the year.

***3/4

3. Command Bolshoi vs. Kagetsu

There's some was fluid and smooth grappling here, but it was a heatless affair. It's fun to watch Kagetsu evolve, she's been learning how to connect more with the crowd, thanks in part to her heel work in Oedo Tai.

**1/2

4. Hamuko Hoshi & Manami Katsu vs. Manami Toyota & Tsukushi

I dig this Hamuko-Katsu dream team, they wore matching leopard-print and did double hip attacks. This was a fine match, nothing special.

**1/2

5. JWP Openweight Championship: Hanako Nakamori (c) vs. Leon

The near-falls were effective, and the head drops and head-kicks were brutal. An awesome first defense for Hanako-san.

***3/4

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

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

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