Io Shirai vs. Natsumi Showzuki (Stardom, 1/22/2012)

Stardom - Season 5 ~ New Year Stars 2012 ~ 1st Anniversary (1/22/2012)

Io Shirai vs. Natsumi Showzuki

This was a solid debut for Showzuki where she looked very strong and showed off her kempo background with unique offense. She outclasses Io all throughout the opening sequence and this is just her first match!

***

Maki Narumiya & Sayaka Obihiro vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Tsukushi (Ice Ribbon, 2/3/2013)

Ice Ribbon - 19'O Clock Girls Pro Wrestling #103 (2/3/2012)

Maki Narumiya & Sayaka Obihiro vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Tsukushi

This was a sweet match, lots of interesting offense on display. Narumiya is always one of my favorites to watch, I like how she pays attention to detail.

***1/2

Ice Ribbon - 19'O Clock Girls Pro Wrestling #106 (2/24/2012)

1. Hikaru Shida & Kurumi vs. Hikari Minami & Tsukushi

This was a strong tag match. Hikari is peak lankiness and hits an impactful boot.

***1/4

2. 19 O'Clock Girls Tournament Semi Final: Dorami Nagano vs. Maki Narumiya

This was an interesting clash of styles. Narumiya does some neat submission work and Dorami is a fun explosive powerhouse.

***

Ice Ribbon - 19'O Clock Girls Pro Wrestling #74 ~ 1st Anniversary Show (6/1/2011)

1. International Ribbon Tag Team Championship: Emi Sakura & Ray (c) vs. Lovely Butchers (Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Miyagi)

Man, this was such an awesome match and then Mochi botched her top rope Styles Clash and things got horribly messy from there. YIKES.

***1/2

2. Exhibition: Hikaru Shida & Saki Akai vs. Makoto & Tsukasa Fujimoto

Saki Akai's one and only match in Ice Ribbon. She's portraying her character from Muscle Girl. I thought they worked a fun match, nice chemistry and heel work.

***3/4

3. IW19 Championship: Hikari Minami (c) vs. Chii Tomiya

I love this match, it's creative and high speed. Chii hitting a tornado DDT from the guardrail onto the timekeeper's bell and sounding the ring bell into Hikari's ear was super fun. I also liked the spot where Hikari is applying a surfboard and launches Chii into the air like a Chinese acrobat routine.

****

Benten-Musume vs. Dotomi Bolshoi vs. Fairy Nipponbashi vs. Hibiscus Mii vs. Kuro Benten-Musume vs. Kuroneko vs. Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru vs. Mei Lee vs. Misaki Glico #2 vs. Misaki Glico #3 vs. Mr. Misaki Glico vs. Nyanber vs. Police Wo~man vs. Rina Yamashita vs. Sawako Shimono (DAIJO, 2/12/2017)

DAIJO - Valentine Labyrinth (2/12/2017)

Hikake Bridge OSAKA G1 GP Rumble: Benten-Musume vs. Dotomi Bolshoi vs. Fairy Nipponbashi vs. Hibiscus Mii vs. Kuro Benten-Musume vs. Kuroneko vs. Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru vs. Mei Lee vs. Misaki Glico #2 vs. Misaki Glico #3 vs. Mr. Misaki Glico vs. Nyanber vs. Police Wo~man vs. Rina Yamashita vs. Sawako Shimono

***1/4

Ice Ribbon - 19'O Clock Girls Pro Wrestling #84 (8/26/2011)

1. Heisei YTR (Chii Tomiya & Hikari Minami) vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Sayaka Obihiro

This was another fun 19'O Clock tag, high speed and comedic. Hikari & Chii are an insanely cute team. I loved the "technical difficulties" spot that they did.

***3/4

Ice Ribbon - 19 O'Clock Girls Pro Wrestling #108 ~ 19 O'Clock Girl's Tournament (3/10/2012)

1. Tsukushi & Aoi Kizuki vs. Hikaru Shida & Sayaka Obihiro

Sayaka Obihiro has come a long way for sure. This was a fun match; the finish between Shida and Kizuki was exciting with Kizuki pulling off the upset.

***

2. 19 O'Clock Girls Tournament Final: Dorami Nagano vs. Kurumi

I'm not familiar with Dorami's moveset, but this match lets you know which move of hers Kurumi needs to look out for. Right out the gate, Dorami rushes Kurumi into an electric chair, but Kurumi is able to counter out of it. This is a 6-minute match wrestled with a sense of urgency, the action is flashy and flows well.

****

Stardom - Grow Up Stars 2017 (3/26/2017)

3. Mayu Iwatani vs. Tora Natsuko

Dickish Mayu is so much fun to watch squash rookies.

***1/2

4. Queen's Quest (Io Shirai, HZK & AZM) vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jungle Kyona & Hiromi Mimura

The desire for an Io-Hiroyo singles intensifies.

***1/2

5. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Kairi Hojo (c) vs. Konami

This was such an amazing sequel to their match at WILD HERO 2. Konami picks apart Hojo's limbs with kicks and submission holds. Hojo was in shambles by the end, she sold everything wonderfully, and her comebacks were hard-fought. It's so nice to see that signing with WWE hasn't stopped her from taking crazy bumps like the neck-drop she takes on the German suplex.

****1/2

Io Shirai & Mio Shirai vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Mayu Iwatani (Stardom, 7/26/2015)

Stardom - Stardom X Stardom 2015 (7/26/2015)

Io Shirai & Mio Shirai vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Mayu Iwatani

Io has two incredible segments with Hiroyo and Mayu that basically feel like matches within the match. Mio was uncooperative as a tag partner, but Mayu keeps getting in cheap shots which forces her to get involved in the action and reunite with her sister. Great relevos incredibles drama.

****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