Emi Sakura vs. Riho (Gatoh Move, 1/23/2016)

Gatoh Move - JAPAN EXPO THAILAND 2016 (1/23/2016)

Emi Sakura vs. Riho

Fun match in an interesting setting in front of a hype crowd. Emi is really fun when she plays the heel and there's also some weird/fun stuff involving guest referee Hayato Fujita.

***

SEAdLINNNG - LUCKIEST777 (3/16/2017)

1. Hiroe Nagahama vs. Kagetsu

Solid opener. Nagahama's always a fun squash.

**1/2

2. Rina Yamashita vs. Syuri

These two developed a nice flow, which was surprisingly because they're absolute opposites in wrestling style. Time out draw matches aren't easy to work, pacing issues, etc, but this was great.  Yamashita's SEAdLINNNG build continues.

***

3. Highspeed: Kaori Yoneyama vs. Maruko Nagasaki vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto

*1/4

4. Nanae Takahashi & Arisa Nakajima vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Ryo Mizunami

Nanae's segments with Hiroyo and Mizunami were spectacular, and some of the bumps she took were so hard they bounced her off of the canvas! The pacing was non-stop and momentum shifts felt like they could happen in an instant.

****1/2

5. Sareee vs. Yoshiko

This was Sareee's debut as an official member of SEAdLINNNG. The layout was simple, it's a competitive 50/50 type of match, but these two are bursting with charisma and fire. They definitely belong in the main event of Korakuen Hall. The flow is captivating and all of the moves looked great.

****3/4

DJ Nira & Riho vs.「Kotori」& Kazuhiro Tamura (Gatoh Move, 12/19/2015)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour.201 (12/19/2015)

DJ Nira & Riho vs.「Kotori」& Kazuhiro Tamura

This is a DJ Nira match so there are lots of fun shenanigans. I liked the struggle between「Kotori」and Nira in the end, Nira showed off his technical side.

***1/2

「Kotori」& Aasa Maika vs. Cho-un Shiryu & Masahiro Takanashi (Gatoh Move, 8/21/2016)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・243 (8/21/2016)

「Kotori」& Aasa Maika vs. Cho-un Shiryu & Masahiro Takanashi

This felt like one of those fast and furious lucha libre matches where the action is just going and going. The finish is glorious violence, Shiryu squashes Aasa against the wall with a Gory special and then drops her face-first into the canvas.

****3/4

Tokyo Joshi Pro - At this Time, Get Excited In Yokohoma! (3/25/2017)

1. Maho Kurone vs. Yuna Manase

Maho's offense is doing a better job incorporating those zombie mannerisms into her offense. Yuna puts Maho to rest with an axe kick that sounded vicious.

**

2. Mil Clown & Nodoka-oneesan vs. Maki Ito & Reika Saiki

Maki Ito has all of the tools to become a Sakura Hirota-level comedy performer. Reika looked the best she has ever looked in her hot tag sequence.

**3/4

3. Konkatsu-gun (Azusa Takigawa & Nonoko) vs. Yuu & Shoko Nakajima

Nonoko is a genus of the ring. How often do you see a wrestler block a 619 with their boobs? Yuu effortlessly dispatches #1 contender Azusa with a sleeper, which has me interested in how they'll work their title match.

***3/4

4. Rika Tatsumi vs. Saki-sama (w/ Masa)

Saki-sama whips Rika with red roses and uses a Paradise Lock to turn her into furniture. Fun match. I can't say enough about how great Bii-gun is.

***1/4

5. Akane Miura vs. Miyu Yamashita

This was Akane Miura's graduation so they were putting forth a lot of effort to make this special. Great arm work from Miyu, and I liked that sequence where Akane absorbs Miyu's strikes Ishii-style and roars back on the offensive. An awesome clash of power and technique.

***3/4

Hana Kimura vs. Kagetsu (WRESTLE-1, 2/25/2017)

WRESTLE-1 - ACE Vol. 3 (2/25/2017)

Hana Kimura vs. Kagetsu

This is an exhibition that lasts 5 minutes. Hana wears one of her mother's old attires, which shows off her physique. She gets bumped around and worked over for a good portion of the match before making her comeback as the clock runs out. Kagetsu worked very fast-paced yet so graceful.

***

Stardom - The Highest 2017 (3/20/2017)

1. Ruaka & Arisu Nanase vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Tora Natsuko

Natsuko's use of the Goto Shiki was cool.

**

3. High Speed Championship: Kris Wolf (c) vs. Hiromi Mimura

This had its moments with counters and dramatic near-falls and the crowd was into it, believe it or not. Wolf is constantly showing growth while Hiromi unfortunately hasn't made much progress.

**1/4

4. Mayu Iwatani vs. Hana Kimura

Hana showcases her amazing ability to control the crowd. They are entranced. I enjoyed the character work here even though it was pretty standard match from an in-ring perspective. The crowd participation makes it feel special.

***1/2

5. SWA World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Jungle Kyona

This was a surprisingly good match. Some strong building towards the finish.

***1/4

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

Great main event that played off of their previous matches via callbacks and counters. One of my favorite moments in the match is when Io's answer to Hojo's rapid-fire chops in the corner is simply walking out of the corner, that familiarity showed their growth as performers.

****1/4