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

OZ Academy - Disorder (5/14/2017)

1. Aja Kong, Syuri & Yoshiko vs. Sekigun (Alex Lee, Maya Yukihi & Yumi Ohka)

**3/4

2. AKINO & Aoi Kizuki vs. MK4 (Kaho Kobayashi & Sonoko Kato)

***1/4

3. Manami Toyota vs. Mima Shimoda

no

4. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Rina Yamashita & Tsubasa Kuragaki

**1/2

5. OZ Academy Openweight Championship #1 Contendership (Special Referee: POLICE): Hikaru Shida vs. Mayumi Ozaki

***

NOAH - Navigation with Breeze 2017 (5/27/2017)

1. Rionne Fujiwara vs. Takashi Sugiura

49-second Sugiura squash. This is how you book Rionne Fujiwara.

***

2. Hi69, Hitoshi Kumano, Mohammed Yone & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. RATEL'S (Tadasuke & YO-HEY), Akitoshi Saito & Masa Kitamiya

**

3. Atsushi Kotoge vs. Kaito Kiyomiya

I'm not feeling Kotoge's new tights, the early 2000s CZW trainee gear was better. Decent showcase for both of these guys.

***

4. Kenou vs. Taiji Ishimori

Kenou does a crazy diving stomp off of the 'entrance gate' and wins via countout before things get going.

*

5. Daisuke Harada vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima

 Harada was a little prick here, getting the sucker punch as Nakajima is making his entrance and using the Heavyweight Champion's own signature turnbuckle punt against him. This was a great, fast-paced clash with some heat thrown in.

***1/2

6. Maybach Taniguchi vs. Randy Reign

This was an entertaining big man match, they did some stuff on the apron and had a chaotic brawl on the outside. This card has a lot of singles matches and this one did a good job standing out.

**1/2

7. Cody Hall vs. Naomichi Marufuji

It's hard to take Cody Hall seriously as threat when he was the recipient of a thousand Rainmakers during his New Japan run. There wasn't much to this, but Cody does an amazing sell job of Marufuji's kicks and jumping knee strikes, perhaps too amazing for a 6'9 monster.

**

8. Brian Cage vs. Go Shiozaki

This match did its job in establishing who the debuting Brian Cage is as a wrestler, and he showed a range of moves that set him apart from the other gaijin brutes on this card. Shiozaki put on a decent showing, but you could sense that his heart wasn't in it. Probably isn't happy doing the job to gaijin of the month.

***1/2

9. GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship: Hajime Ohara (c) vs. HAYATA

HAYATA was over in front of this Osaka crowd since he's an ex-Osaka Pro guy, and they were into his comebacks, but I couldn't help but feel that there was something missing. Ohara was playing the spoiler, aggressively working the back. This was fine; it never reached that next level.

***1/4

Stardom - Shining Stars 2017 - Kairi Hojo's Last Match - (6/4/2017)

2. Rebel vs. Hana Kimura

**

3. Mayu Iwatani & Hetzza vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora

***

4. Artist of Stardom Championship: Konami, Kairi Hojo, Hiromi Mimura vs Queen’s Quest (AZM, HZK & Io Shirai)

***3/4

5. Gauntlet Match: Kairi Hojo vs. Hanan, Ruaka, AZM, Tora Natsuko, Konami, Jungle Kyona, Mayu Iwatani, Io Shirai, HZK & Hiromi Mimura

***

HARASHIMA vs. Hikaru Sato (DDT, 11/14/2010)

DDT - Osaka Bay Blues Special (11/14/2010)

KO-D Openweight Championship: HARASHIMA (c) vs. Hikaru Sato

The dueling limbwork with HARASHIMA working the leg and Sato targeting the arm was sold brilliantly, and the slap exchanges were some of the best I have ever seen. HARASHIMA gives Sato a horrible beating, and Sato more than earns his comeback. There were also cruel shoot-style moments that gave the match a sense of danger. What an epic battle!

*****

Stardom - Gold May 2017 (5/20/2017)

3. Hana Kimura vs. Mayu Iwatani vs. Rebel

*

4. SWA World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Jessicka Havok

**

6. Kairi Hojo & Io Shirai vs. Konami & HZK 

**1/2

Stardom - Gold May 2017 (5/21/2017)

1. Hetzza vs. Kaori Yoneyama

**

2. AZM vs. Jessicka Havok

*

3. HZK vs. Toni Storm

**1/4

4. Io Shirai vs. Rebel

**1/2

5. Artist of Stardom Championship: Hiromi Mimura, Kairi Hojo & Konami (c) vs. Jungle Kyona, Mayu Iwatani & Natsuko Tora

***3/4

AJPW - Super Power! 2017 Super Power Series (5/21/2017)

4. GAORA TV Championship: Jun Akiyama (c) vs. Mitsuya Nagai

Nagai beats up Akiyama with a camera, a steel chain and chairs. He's the orc of Dark Nightmare, and he manhandles Nikkan Lee! What an asshole! The old man fighting spirit sequence was gold.

**

5. World Junior Heavyweight Championship: Hikaru Sato (c) vs. Black Tiger VII

Sato's entrance theme fucking rules! Dragon screw followed by a Shining Wizard from Black Tiger right out the gate, so NOSAWA is still wrestling like NOSAWA in this gimmick. I guess putting him in a mask and a full body suit makes him more aesthetically-pleasing for All Japan viewers.

**1/2

6. AJPW World Tag Team Championship: The Big Guns (The Bodyguard & Zeus) (c) vs. KAI & Kengo Mashimo

Sprint semi-main with Big Guns tossing motherfuckers left and right. KAI & Mashimo are an odd couple tag team who can't get on the same page. KAI did the heavy lifting. Mashimo looked like a doofus, but at least he gets the fall!

***

7. Triple Crown Championship: Kento Miyahara (c) vs. Shuji Ishikawa

This was a great match, worked at a 'brisk' pace. Miyahara took every chance he could to strike with the blackout, and every single one of them looked awesome. Shuji was Shuji. Miyahara's selling of the backwork was practically nonexistent, but he had some great emotes and bumps, especially for the finish.

****

Keisuke Ishii vs. Hikaru Sato (AJPW, 4/28/2017)

AJPW - Champion Carnival 2017 (4/28/2017)

World Junior Heavyweight Championship: Keisuke Ishii (c) vs. Hikaru Sato

Armwork, neckwork, armwork, neckwork -- isn't that exciting!? Sato's goes after the arm with surgical kicks and arm bars. Ishii brought the explosive stuff with a neckbreaker on the apron and a DDT onto the turnbuckle. Ishii was giving it his all, but Sato was a semi-shoot machine. It was great to see Sato win the belt again, especially in his hometown of Okayama.

***1/2