Stardom - New Years Stars 2018 (1/6/2018)

2. Kay Lee Ray & Xia Brookside vs. Queen's Quest (HZK & Momo Watanabe)

Pretty sweet match, all four competitors looked good. HZK hits an awesome heel kick - great addition to her moveset.

**1/2

4. AZM vs. Kagetsu

What a great match, easily the best AZM singles performance so far. Kagetsu doesn't take AZM seriously, until AZM shows that she can be a threat. AZM' selling and offense were top notch - I didn't see that corner springboard coming! The juji gatame finish was unexpected too. Good stuff.

***

5. Io Shirai vs. Sumire Natsu

 A solid house show match event. Sumire wasn't presented as a threat, relying mostly on outside interference from her stablemates; her use of Io's photobook was great heelwork. Io hits an awesome wrist-clutch knee strike (similar to the kamigoye) before she sets up the moonsault for the win.

**3/4

Stardom - New Years Stars 2018 (1/3/2018)

2. Hiromi Mimura vs. Kaori Yoneyama

This was boring during Yoneyama's control segment, per usual with Yoneyama matches, but once they start getting into the shouto stuff it gets really good.

**1/4

5. Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura, Kagetsu, Kris Wolf & Sumire Natsu) vs. Queen's Quest (AZM, HZK, Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe)

This was enjoyable, a lot of fun. Nothing in joshi puroresu comes close to the intimacy of Stardom's 1stRING shows.

***

Stardom - Goddesses of Stars 2017 (12/3/2017)

1. Hiromi Mimura vs. Ruaka

Hiromi's shouto gimmick is the best. Early in the year, I wondered if she would ever find what she needs and here it is. Her growth is what joshi puroresu is all about. Solid stuff here. Ruaka's a solid worker, I was impressed with what I saw.

**1/2

2. Hanan vs. Konami

It's been a while since Konami has had a singles match. Hana has bandages on her lower back, I hope she's doing okay. Hanan hit her throws. Konami worked the leg, her offense looked crisp and painful. She wins with a vicious knee bar. Couple of awkward spots, but this was a decent little match.

**

3. Mari Apache vs. Shiki Shibusawa vs. Starlight Kid

**1/4

4. Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura, Kagetsu & Sumire Natsu) vs. Team Jungle (Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora) & Yoko Bito

Oedo Tai are on such a great run right now, loved this.

***1/2

5. Elimination: Bea Priestley, Chardonnay, Kelly Klein & Scarlett vs. Queen's Quest (AZM, HZK, Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe)

This was an enjoyable main event. Momo was the last survivor on her team and got a good spotlight. The ending was super awkward, there seemed to be timing issues between Momo and Kelly. It's unfortunate because Kelly was supposed to be put over like a monster here heading into her match with Io, but the awkwardness made her look like a goof. Fun match overall, though.

**3/4

Stardom - Goddesses of Stars 2017 (11/26/2017)

2. Sumire Natsu vs. Shiki Shibusawa

This is the first time Shiki has shown an edge against an opponent, she uses a chokehold and smudges Sumire's make up with a dirty cloth. Sumire was talking a lot of trash and drawing so much heat in this match, she's a wonderful heel.

**3/4

3. Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Hana Kimura & Kris Wolf) vs. Hiromi Mimura, Konami & Starlight Kid

**1/4

4. Queen's Quest (HZK, Momo Watanabe & AZM) vs. Kelly Klein, Bea Priestley & Scarlett Bordeaux

**1/4

6. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. Chardonnay

I thought this was fine. Io was good, she sold the leg work well, Chardonnay stuck to the basics which made her side of things not so interesting. There is a moment towards the end where Chardonnay's going hold-to-hold with leg-targeting submissions that was nice, if only she had worked that way from the start.

**1/4

Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura, Kagetsu, Kris Wolf & Natsu Sumire) vs. Queen's Quest (AZM, HZK, Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe) (Stardom, 11/25/2017)

Stardom - Best of the Goddesses (11/25/2017)

Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura, Kagetsu, Kris Wolf & Sumire Natsu) vs. Queen's Quest (AZM, HZK, Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe)

The Oedo Tai in-fighting is super fun and has added an interesting dynamic to their matches. All of the pairings here were great and everyone did their thing -- there's a hard-hitting segment between Hana and HZK that I was especially into. Great main event for an otherwise weak show.

***1/4

Stardom - Goddesses of Stardom Tag League 2017 (11/12/2017)

2. Shiki Shibusawa vs. Starlight Kid

What you'd expect from this match-up, but maybe a little bit better. Shiki was blasting the hell out of Starlight Kid with those dropkicks. There were a couple of awkward moments, but I thought this was a fine junior match.

**

4. New Chibis (Hiromi Mimura & Konami) & Team Jungle (Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora) vs. Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura, Kagetsu, Kris Wolf & Sumire Natsu)

This was a fantastic debut for Sumire, she fits so well alongside the colorful characters in Oedo Tai. Hiromi is a perfect target for her, their heat-building was brilliant. Hana and Tamu are not getting along with the newest addition to the stable so there was also a relevos increibles element to this match that was amusing. Hot crowd, quality brawling and comedy.

***1/4

5. Four on Three Handicap Match: Bea Priestley, Kelly Klein & Yoko Bito vs. Queen's Quest (AZM, HZK, Io Shirai & Momo Watanabe)

Man, this turned out to be really great. Mari had some travel issues so it was made a 3-on-4 handicap match. Bito's team was at a disadvantage, but they were putting up one hell of a fight. The Bito-Io segments were smashing; Io's answer to the B Driver was neat. Fantastic main event.

***1/2

WAVE - Weekday WAVE Vol. 108 (6/22/2017)

1. ASUKA vs. Mika Iida

Damn, this was good. IIda was either legimately hurting or doing a great job selling -- in any case, she did a fantastic job putting over ASUKA. They were roughhousing and stiffing the hell out of each other.

***3/4

2. Aoi Kizuki, Hiroe Nagahama & Moeka Haruhi vs. Cherry, Kaori Yoneyama & Misaki Ohata

**3/4

3. Isami Kodaka vs. Keisuke Goto

Goto's turning into a solid wrestler, and he seems easy to work off of. He actually had Kodaka's number towards the end, but the veteran caught him lacking.

***

5. Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Rina Yamashita

Solid heavyweight showdown. I didn't think it reached that 'next level', but they were trading some hard smacks.

***

6. 2 out of 3 Falls: Kyuuri & Mio Momono vs. Over Sun (Yuki Miyazaki & Yumi Ohka)

Enjoyed this a lot, Over Sun are such a fun team.

***1/4

7. Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami

What an awesome match, it breezes through those 20 minutes. Shida was working over Mizunami in brutal fashion -- seriously, the outside brawl was one of the best I've seen this year. Those chair-punts to the face of Mizunami were wicked. I really like how Shida has been utilizing those knee strikes lately, they look and sound amazing. Mizunami was struggling to survive, picking her spots when she could and making it count. Fantastic match.

****1/2

WAVE - Young OH! OH! Vol. 37 (10/3/2017)

1. Mabudachi❤Chu2byo卍卍 (Maruko Nagasaki & Mio Momono) vs. Satsuki Totoro & Yako Fujigasaki

Mabudachi is already one of my favorite tag teams on the scene, they were super fun to watch here, they're such sneaky little shits. Yako seems to have mastered the art of the hip attack. Totoro is starting to understand how to work with her body type, she looked impressive; cute too. Great opener.

***1/2 

2. Hiroe Nagahama & Miyuki Takase vs. Miki Tanaka & Natsumi Maki

This was alright. Tanaka and Takase had an interesting segment. I'm looking forward to seeing how those two grow.

**

3. Fairy Nipponbashi vs. Natsu Sumire

This was Sumire's second-to-last WAVE match (as a member of the roster, anyway), and it's against Fairy Nipponbashi, so you know what to expect. Just a fun comedy match between two friends.

**

4. Kaho Kobayashi & Rina Yamashita vs. NEW-TRA (Rin Kadokura & Takumi Iroha)

I expected something more from this match-up, so this was a bit of disappointment. The Iroha-Rina stuff in the closer was good, albeit sloppy. 

**1/2

WAVE - Weekday WAVE Vol. 105 (1/18/2017)

1. Hiroe Nagahama vs. ASUKA

***1/2

2. Avid Rival (Misaki Ohata & Ryo Mizunami) vs. Sumire Natsu & Yako Fujigasaki

***3/4

3. WAVE Tag Team Championship #1 Contendership: Over Sun (Yuki Miyazaki & Yumi Ohka) vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Mika Iida

There's a lot of crazy stuff happening here. Loved Iida's matwork and those European uppercuts, and I liked the NEO nostalgia with the closer against Miyazaki.

****1/2

4. Five on One Gauntlet: Kyoko Kimura vs. Kagetsu, Moeka Haruhi, Rina Yamashita, Rin Kadokura & Yukio Sakaguchi

A 40+ minute Kyoko match probably doesn't sound attractive to many people, but I thought this was a great gauntlet where each opponent brought something fresh.

****1/4

WAVE - JOSHIPRO Festival ~ Love and Kindness and Strong Heart ~ (3/21/2017)

1. Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Ryo Mizunami

***1/4

2. 48 Count Match: Cherry vs. Maya Yukihi

**1/4

3. ERINA vs. Kagetsu

**1/2

4. Hiroe Nagahama vs. Natsumi Maki

**

5. Fairy Nipponbashi vs. Mika Shirahime

**1/4

6. SAKI vs. Sareee

***

7. Rin Kadokura vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

***

8. Misaki Ohata vs. Yoshiko

****

9. Sumire Natsu vs. Takumi Iroha

***3/4

10. Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Rina Yamashita

***3/4

WAVE - White Breath (2/11/2017)

1. Fairy Nipponbashi & Rina Yamashita vs. Kagetsu & Sawako

***

3. Elimination: ASUKA & Yuu Yamagata vs. Hikaru Shida & Mika Iida vs. Hiroe Nagahama & Moeka Haruhi

**3/4

4. Natsu Sumire vs. SAKI

**

5. WAVE Tag Team Championship: Over Sun (Yuki Miyazaki & Yumi Ohka) (c) vs. Azure Revolution (Maya Yukihi & Risa Sera)

**3/4

6. Regina di WAVE Championship: Ryo Mizunami (c) vs. Misaki Ohata

****1/2

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

WAVE/JWP - Battles Without Honor and Humanity - Yako vs. Natsu (12/20/2016)

1. Yako Fujigasaki vs. Sumire Natsu

Yako has developed a visual hunter gimmick where she feuds with attractive wrestlers, and Sumire is good at playing the sexy heel. They played off of each other really well in a wacky series of challenges/matches.

***3/4