DDT - KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND (6/2/2017)

2. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Daisuke Sasaki vs. Akito

An opener based around mutual limbwork, with Sasaki throwing in some scumbaggery. He hands the DDT Extreme belt to Akito after he's made to tap out, which means this isn't over just yet.

**3/4

3. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Masahiro Takanashi vs. Hirata Collection A.T.

DJ Nira makes a cameo.

*1/2

4. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: KUDO vs. Soma Takao

This escalated into a rather heated climax. The Gin and Tonic counter sequence was sweet. I'm not sure if Soma's new angle where he's taking himself seriously is the way to go. No one is buying him as this tough guy. He still feels like an 'incomplete' performer. Give him a khaki suit and have him portray a Battler Ushiromiya gimmick.

**3/4

5. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Tetsuya Endo vs. Mike Bailey

Something about this match wasn't clicking with me, and it didn't help that it goes for 16 minutes. Bailey's offense looked and sounded good, but Endo's performance wasn't engaging me. He needs to work on his character more, he looks way cooler than he actually is.

**1/4

6. ALL OUT (Diego & Konosuke Takeshita) vs. Kouki Iwasaki & MAO

**

7. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Shunma Katsumata vs. Yukio Sakaguchi

Yukio is cold and almost dismissive of Shunma, but Shunma keeps on fighting back with clever counters, and shows a fire towards the finish with open hand slaps. Shunma is one hell of a bumper too, and Yukio beats the shit out of him. Lots of hard smacks in this. Nice chemistry developed between these two.

***1/2

8. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Kazusada Higuchi vs. HARASHIMA

HARASHIMA works underneath here and it's one of the best singles performances I've seen from him in a while. The waist-lock/powerbomb reversal sequence was nuts, and I liked the urgency and pacing of the finish.

***3/4

9. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Danshoku Dino vs. Keisuke Ishii

Ishii does one of those Samoa Joe-Necro Butcher style exploder suplexes and drops Dino flat on his face. Dino is unmoving when Ishii tries to pick him up, so Ishii knees him as he's kneeling over; such an awesome moment. This was match a nice change of pace and the finish was brutal.

***3/4

10. KING OF DDT 2017 1st ROUND: Shigehiro Irie vs. Mad Paulie

No idea why this was the main event... Paulie is such a pathetic monster heel.

**

Shuji Ishikawa vs. Suwama (AJPW, 4/16/2017)

AJPW - Champion Carnival 2017 (4/16/2017)

Champion Carnival 2017 Block B: Shuji Ishikawa vs. Suwama

Suwama is bloodied after taking a stiff headbutt, and it added a lot to his comeback sequence, where he ends up taking a second headbutt! The timing, the explosiveness -- it's an amazing heroic second wind and the crowds explodes for it. This stuff is the height of pro grappling.

****1/4

Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hiroe Nagahama (WAVE, 4/17/2016)

WAVE - HAKATA WAVE～bari-chiro 4～ (4/17/2016)

Catch THE WAVE Italian Red Block: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Hiroe Nagahama

Cute orange chubster Nagahama does a hideous blade job and gushes all over the place. Ozaki targets the wound with her chains and grinds an elbow into it. This is vile shit. Nagahama's frustration when the official can't make the count due to being blinded by Ozaki's mist was awesome. Her best performance yet.

****

Stardom - Shining Stars 2017 (6/17/2017)

2. Hana Kimura vs. Rebel vs. Tora Natsuko

**

3. Shanna & Gabby Slays vs. Mayu Iwatani & Konami

**

4. Artist of Stardom Championship: Queen's Quest (Io Shirai, HZK & AZM) (c) vs. Team Jungle (Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jungle Kyona & Kaori Yoneyama)

***

Mayumi Ozaki vs. Yumi Ohka (WAVE, 5/3/2016)

WAVE - CATCH THE WAVE SCRAMBLE (5/3/2016)

Catch THE WAVE Italian Red Block: Mayumi Ozaki vs. Yumi Ohka

This was basically a blood-less version of their OZ match, with less weapon use and a clear babyface in Ohka. Still violent as hell, though. Ozaki's amazingly high wrestling IQ is on full display here, and she's making Ohka look incredible. This feels like a fight all the way through, and there isn't a dull moment.

****1/2

DDT - Road to Ryogoku 2017 ~ Dramatic Dream Tokasan ~ (6/17/2017)

1. Shunma Katsumata vs. Yukio Sakaguchi

***1/4

2. Kenshin Chikano, Lowther & Makoto Oishi vs. T2Hide (Hirata Collection A.T., Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi)

*

3. Mad Paulie vs. Soma Takao

**3/4

4. Antonio Honda & Saki Akai vs. Danshoku Dino & Rey Paloma

**1/4

5. DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo) vs. HARASHIMA & MAO

**1/2

6. YaroZ (Kazusada Higuchi & Shigehiro Irie) vs. Shuten-doji (KUDO & Masahiro Takanashi)

**

7. ALL OUT (Akito, Diego & Konosuke Takeshita) vs. Keisuke Ishii, Kouki Iwasaki & Mike Bailey

**1/4

「Kotori」& Riho vs. Buribato♡ (SAKI & MIZUKI) (Gatoh Move, 8/7/2014)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・119 ~ 7 Day War (8/7/2014)

「Kotori」& Riho vs. Buribato♡ (SAKI & MIZUKI)

Another good match from these teams. Some of the execution was rough, but still good. The「Kotori」and SAKI submission exchange was particularly great, as were all of the vicious wall slams.  

***3/4

Isami Kodaka vs. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi (BASARA, 5/14/2017)

BASARA - 36 ~ Oshu Hao ~ (5/14/2017)

Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block B: Isami Kodaka vs. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi

***1/4

BASARA - 35.5 (5/12/2017)

1. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block A: Best Stretchman V3 vs. Takato Nakano

DUD

2. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block B: Ryu Gouma vs. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi

Gouma worked the leg a bit, Hiroshi promptly made his comeback, match over. Gouma pulling out an iPad was interesting, I guess.

**

3. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block B: FUMA vs. SAGAT

Decent back and forth.

**1/2

4. Ryuichi Sekine & Takumi Tsukamoto vs. Fuminori Abe & Tatsuhiko Yoshino

*1/2

5. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block A: Trans-Am ★ Ryuichi vs. Yusuke Kubo

Yusuke Kubo moves like he's suffered a stroke these days... Ryuichi wasn't giving anything either. Another lifeless match.

*

6. Heaven Summit Itadaki 2017 Block B: Isami Kodaka vs. Ryota Nakatsu

Kodaka is the only wrestler who gave a damn on this show and he brings out the best in Nakatsu, who wasn't giving off the strongest performance in the early going. The strike exchanges were crisp and enjoyable. Kodaka has been disappointing me lately, but this was good. He is great when he sticks to what he's good at. MOTN, for what its worth.

***1/2

Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita vs. Yapper Man #1 & Yapper Man #2 (Michinoku Pro, 4/15/2017)

Michinoku Pro - Tokyo Conference 2017 Vol. 2 ~ Zenshin Zenrei ~ (4/15/2017)

MPW Tohoku Tag Team Championship / UWA World Tag Team Championship: Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita (c) vs. Yapper Man #1 & Yapper Man #2

Lots of ass and crotch exposure from the Yapper Men in this match, which made for an intriguing viewing experience. Hidaka is always an interesting wrestler to watch, and the Yapper dudes were chaining together awesome combos. A very fun indie grime tag match that starts slow and builds into a crazy climax.

****

Sendai Girls (6/10/2017)

1. Mika Shirahime vs. Mio Momono

Shirahime, man, she's so good at conveying her frustration! The hits looked great here. Monono was a crafty little pink rookie. Great opener.

***1/2

2. Aiger & Alex Lee vs. Aja Kong & Big Bang Nicole

*

3. Cassandra Miyagi, DASH Chisako & Heidi Katrina vs. Chikayo Nagashima, KAORU & Nyla Rose

**

4. Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship: Hikaru Shida & Syuri (c) vs. Hana Kimura & Meiko Satomura

Solid semi-main, highlighted by the awesome strike exchanges between Syuri and Satomura. Those two have such great strikes. Hana-chan was also a welcome addition to this match!

***1/2

5. Sendai Girls World Championship: Chihiro Hashimoto (c) vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto

Hiroyo works over Chihiro's neck throughout, hitting a gruesome Gin and Tonic, and it leads to an amazing finishing stretch where the champion can't maintain the bridge of her German suplex due to the damage done to her neck. The selling was good; the pacing of the match feels smooth with an organic escalation, and Chihiro is just a sight to behold! This was an awesome clash of titans! 

****1/2

Stardom - Shining Stars 2017 (6/11/2017)

3. Hiromi Mimura & Konami vs. Rebel & Shanna

**1/4

4. Hiroyo Matsumoto & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora

**1/2

5. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. Hana Kimura

***1/2

6. HZK vs. Io Shirai

***