Arisa Nakajima vs. Haruka Kato (REINA, 10/30/2014)

REINA - Syuri Festival (10/30/2014)

Arisa Nakajima vs. Haruka Kato

Love a good Arisa sprint. Here she's giving rough treatment to Haruka Kato, whose moveset is built entirely around the arm bar. She never strays from that strategy. Haruka was awkward during certain spots, but Nakajima did her part in keeping this together while making Kato's arm bar look like a real threat.

***1/2

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

Stardom - 6th Anniversary (1/15/2017)

3. Saori Anou vs. Hiromi Mimura

This is the match where Saori Anou establishes herself as the Ultimate Girlfriend by giving Hiromi Mimura the second best match of her career. Simple yet effective story from Fukustu Two.

***

4. Momo Watanabe vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Jungle Kyona

Fun triple threat and a showcase of what Shayna Baszler can do. Kyona's selling of Baszler's sleeper was priceless.

**3/4

5. Goddess of Stardom Championship: BY Ho (Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito) (c) vs FTW (Kay Lee Ray & Nixon Newell)

FTW are every indyriffic tag you've seen, so if that isn't your thing this match is not for you. Bito had a nice segment with KLR, but I felt like she didn't do a whole lot in this match. BY Ho still needs to develop more chemistry as a tag team.

**3/4

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

Another Stardom main event where Io Shirai trades move after move with her opponent. Some variety would be nice. The spots are big and the spots are plenty. Watch if you're into fat bodies being toppled and bumped hard.

***

Saori Anou: The Ultimate Girlfriend Experience (3/6/2016~10/30/2016) (Stardom)

Stardom - Grows Up Stars 2016 (3/6/2016)

Saori Anou stArt Challenge Match #1: Saori Anou vs. Kairi Hojo

This was Saori's first high-profile singles match in Stardom. It's a struggle for the rookie against the veteran. She uses her height advantage well, but the Real Pirate is just on a another level.

**

Stardom - Stardom Grows Up Stars 2016 (3/12/2016)

Saori Anou stArt Challenge Match #2: Saori Anou vs. Io Shirai

Bully Io is my favorite Io. The flipping Muta lock transitioned into a sidewalk slam was a cool move from Saori. Step above the performance against Hojo.

**1/2

Stardom - Premium Star Wars 2016 (6/16/2016)

Saori Anou stArt Challenge Match #3: Saori Anou vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto

Another big match for Anou. There's some heat that stemmed from Hiroyo not taking Anou seriously at the presser. Saori shows off more of her flexibility with a figure-eight leg lock and nearly getting folded in half by a backbreaker.

**1/2

Stardom - Stardom X Stardom 2016: Osaka Summer Solstice Celebration (7/24/2016)

Saori Anou stArt Challenge Match #4: Saori Anou vs. Yoko Bito

This match had some damn fine slugging between two ladies in blue. I like what Saori does with the figure-four and the way she goes into a bridge to add pressure as Bito tries to crawl for the ropes was great. Good match, sick ending.

***1/2

Stardom - October Showdown (10/30/2016)

Saori Anou stArt Challenge Match #5: Saori Anou vs. Mayu Iwatani

Bully Mayu puts a beating on Saori in this match. There's an urgency and desperation to Saori's movements that I liked here. There's also a nice spot where Anou counters a head-scissors into a slidewalk slam.

***1/2

Sendai Girls (1/9/2017)

1. Konami & Mio Momono vs. Mika Shirahime & Syuri

***

2. Cassandra Miyagi vs. Hikaru Shida

Miyagi is like a slim Dump Matsumoto. She's beginning to understand what works for her persona. Shida wasn't called the "Comical Ace" in WAVE for nothing. She plays off of gimmick wrestlers to perfection (the match with Eiger being another good example). This was loads of fun and the crowd was really into it.

***1/4

4. Command Bolshoi & Kyoko Kimura vs. DASH Chisako & KAORU

There's some really good, methodical and aggressive heel work from Kyoko in this match, she can be really good in control segments where she's dominating. DASH's bra becomes exposed during a cattle mutilation! The eventual comeback felt hard fought and well-deserved.

***3/4

5. Sendai Girls World Championship: Chihiro Hashimoto (c) vs. Aja Kong

This was a great main event. Hashimoto establishes her dominance with her grappling ability at the start, so Aja has to lull the champion into her domain with outside brawling. This sets the tone of the match. It's all about Aja using her craft to escape Hashimoto's superior grappling and 25-inch thighs.

****

WAVE - 1st Crazy - Ryo Mizunami Produced: "It's summer! Hot! ! LOVE & PORK" (8/26/2012)

1. Yuu Yamagata vs. Ayumi Kurihara

Both competitors wear grey t-shirts and see who can accumulate the most sweat over the course of 7 minutes. No pinfall or submission victory. SWEAT.

***1/2

2. Ryo Mizunami & Yoshihito Sasaki vs. Hamuko Hoshi & Adbullah Kobayashi

Whatever happened to Yoshihito? This exceeded my expectations. Solid work from four heavyweights. Mizunami beat the shit outta Adbullah. 

***

Stardom - 5★STAR GP2016 FINALS (9/22/2016)

3. Kairi Hojo vs. Hiromi Mimura

Hojo's return after getting eggplanted by Io. She cosplayed as Tessa Blanchard for some reason. Maybe she forgot her attire at home. Obviously Hiromi is no threat for the holder of the White Belt, but she managed a very believable near-fall.

**1/4

4. Momo Watanabe, Jungle Kyona, Mayu Iwatani vs. Oedo-Tai (Kyoko Kimura, Kagetsu & X)

Kyoko Kimura's daughter Hana is revealed as Oedo-Tai's mystery member. She wears a ninja-style jumpsuit. I like it. Kagetsu looked like a beast.

***

5. SWA World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Blue Nikita

"what a terrible match without selling moves." - Renown joshi journalist Dedy Silveria

no

6. World of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. Kay Lee Ray

KLR lost her final match in the GP, but gets a title opportunity anyway because Rossy booking. This was an enjoyable spotfest; they did some neat things and didn't insult my intelligence.

***

7. 5★STAR GP Finals: Yoko Bito vs. Tessa Blanchard

Tessa is main eventing in the legendary Koraken Hall. She has made it as a wrestler by all accounts, and she does a brilliant job heeling it up on Bito, sort of... the crowd is unfortunately not into it, but I was. There were some sloppy moments, but overall I thought this was solid.

**3/4

Ice Ribbon - YOKOHAMA RIBBON ~AUTUMN~ (9/19/2016)

4. Hardcore Ribbon: Abdullah Kobayashi vs. Risa Sera

This was a fun match. You could tell that Sera was having fun even as Abdullah ripped the skin off of her forehead with a fork. A good time.

***1/4

5. Triangle Ribbon Championship: Ai Shimizu (c) vs. Maruko Nagasaki vs. Miyako Matsumoto

Fun as these Triangle Ribbon matches usually are. Shimizu fits well in Ice Ribbon ring, and Maruko is rapidly improving.

**1/2

6. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: Best Friends (Tsukasa Fujimoto & Arisa Nakajima) (c) vs. This is Ice Ribbon (Tsukushi & Hiiragi Kurumi)

Best Friends have been on a killer run since their formation. That said, this match wasn't my favorite match from them and certainly did not live up to my expectations, but it did have its moments. The finishing stretch between Fujimoto and Tsukushi was hot and rad.

***