Nagisa Nozaki vs. Rina Yamashita (WAVE, 11/15/2017)

WAVE - Weekday WAVE Vol. 111.5 (11/15/2017)

Regina di WAVE Championship #1 Contendership Tournament - Semi-Finals: Nagisa Nozaki vs. Rina Yamashita

This is the most impressive Nozaki has looked since returning. She was going at it with Rina. Her movements and emotes are always striking to me, and she is very calculating with that sleeper hold. Yamashita held the match together, and they crafted a great story around Nozaki's dangerous sleeper.

***1/2

Stardom - Best of the Goddesses (11/19/2017)

2. Konami, Shiki Shibusawa & Starlight Kid vs. Team Jungle (Jungle Kyona, Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora)

***

3. Kris Wolf vs. Momo Watanabe

**

4. Chardonnay & Scarlett vs. Queen's Quest (AZM & HZK)

**1/4

5. Hiromi Mimura vs. Sumire Natsu

**

6. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kagetsu) (c) vs. Bea Priestley & Kelly Klein

I like the image of Hana & Kagetsu holding the gold, but I haven't been impressed by their reign so far. This match was a step in the right direction. Klein & Bea's workover session was good, and the crowd was strongly behind Oedo Tai (even though they were cheating!). Good match.

***

7. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Yoko Bito (c) vs. Io Shirai

Bito announced her retirement shortly after this match and you could see that she was very emotional, but I still felt her performance was lacking. Her strikes were great, Io sold them like crazy, but I didn't find her compelling. Io on the other hand was incredible, her counter to the B Driver was brilliant. I'm interested in her as White Belt champ again. Solid main event; nothing outstanding.

***

OZ Academy - Yokohama Undersea Unexplored Expedition (10/29/2017)

4. Hikaru Shida vs. Rina Yamashita

If Rina wins with the Splash Mountain, she will inherit the move from Dynamite Kansai (who was watching on commentary). Shida ambushes Rina at the start and tries to hit the move herself -- this was the highlight of the match. Shida's workover could have been better, and Rina's comeback felt completely empty. The pacing was off, too. Disappointing match. They had a much better one in WAVE last year.

bad

6. OZ Academy Tag Team Championship: MK4 (AKINO & Kaho Kobayashi) (c) vs. Maya Yukihi & Mayumi Ozaki

This the typical Sekigun match full of fuckery and violence. Mitsuhisa Sunabe running in to help Ozaki at the end was hilarious. Maya-obachan becomes a double champion, having won of the Ice Ribbon tag championship earlier in the day. Good moment.

**3/4

7. OZ Academy Openweight Championship: Hiroyo Matsumoto (c) vs. Yoshiko

Standard Hiroyo style main event with back and forth movez, but Yoshiko is an interesting enough opponent to make things feel fresh (for me, anyway). Hiroyo's trying everything to hold on to her belt, digging deeper within her moveset and going back to the drawing board a couple of times, but Yoshiko keeps returning fire. There's a strong sense of struggle; good selling too.

***1/2