Cho-un Shiryu & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Riho & Mitsuru Konno (Gatoh Move, 10/22/2017)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・317 (10/22/2017)

Cho-un Shiryu & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Riho & Mitsuru Konno

"Nice" intergender violence. I like the moment where Masahiro blindsides Konno during her posedown with Shiryu. Riho & Konno's reprisals were strong, the assisted crossbody was an awesome spot. Shiryu finishes Konno with a unique hold that looked like a Gory special into a standing cloverleaf.

***1/4

AKINO, Mariko Yoshida & Ai Fujita vs. Lioness Asuka, Takako Inoue & Mima Shimoda (ARSION, 3/2/2003)

ARSION (3/2/2003)

Gauntlet: AKINO, Mariko Yoshida & Ai Fujita vs. Lioness Asuka, Takako Inoue & Mima Shimoda

This was a great gauntlet match, all of the match-ups were exciting. It dragged a bit during the final between AKINO and Asuka, but even then they created great moments. Inoue was the MVP, there's a sequence where she's desperately swinging her stun gun at an evading Mariko that was really cool.

***1/2

Stardom - Year-End Climax 2017 (12/24/2017)

2. Queen's Quest (AZM & Momo Watanabe) vs. Rachael Ellering & Scarlett

An alright match, inoffensive. I enjoyed Momo & AZM's teamwork.

**

3. Loser Can't Shout: Hiromi Mimura & Konami vs. Oedo Tai (Kris Wolf & Sumire Natsu)

Highstakes in this match, Hiromi's "shouto" gimmick is on the line. Like the one before it, it was alright, but nothing special. I think Oedo Tai should have scored some near-falls for added drama, they didn't really play up the stipulation.

**

4. High Speed Championship: Mari Apache (c) vs. Starlight Kid

I enjoyed the hell out of this -- it was awesome. Mari did an amazing job leading, making Kiddo look good while dealing out punishing offense. Kid's rallies were great and the crowd was into her perfomance from start to finish.

***1/2

5. Goddesses of Stardom Championship: Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kagetsu) (c) vs. Team Jungle (Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora)

Team Jungle put forth a strong effort with powerhouse offense and double teams, but Oedo Tai managed to put their in-fighting aside to get the win. This had drama and a lot of action, great work by everyone involved.

***3/4

6. Wonder of Stardom Championship: Io Shirai (c) vs. HZK

This is the third match between these two this year, and I thought it was the best of the three. This was an intense back and forth with amazing bumps and counters. Io has been doing a great job of keeping herself fresh lately, she has been finding new approaches to her matches and I thought she was interesting here. HZK's growth was full display.

***1/2

7. Meiko Satomura & Toni Storm vs. Takumi Iroha & Yoko Bito

Bito's last dance... :( This was an enjoyable main event, about what I expected from it, nothing blow-away, but a nice little match. The real main event is the retirement ceremony. I like how Iroha has been treated as a big time player and hope that continues in 2018.

**3/4

Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Masa Takanashi (DDT, 4/4/2010)

DDT (4/4/2010)

KO-D Openweight Championship: Daisuke Sekimoto (c) vs. Masa Takanashi

This was a star-making performance for Masa Takanashi at the time, critically acclaimed by Japanese smarks. I don't rate it quite as high as I did when I first watched it, but I still found enjoyment in it. The underdog performance from Masa was spectacular -- DDT is the best when it comes to unproven talent stepping their game up and delivering when they're given an opportunity.

***1/2

Masa Takanashi vs. Yasu Urano (DDT, 8/8/2008)

DDT - Belt HunterxHunter Production Beer Garden Pro Wrestling (8/8/2008)

Masa Takanashi vs. Yasu Urano

This match-up is the main event and its duration is just short of 30-minutes, I didn't know what to expect, but it was a solid match. The bulk of this match is a grueling workover by Yasu on Masa's neck, and I felt the move progression was well done. Masa's dramatic bumping added a lot. His selling of the neck could have been stronger, but the crowd was going wild when he made his comeback, it was an enthralling finish.

***

Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Mr. Pogo (W*ING, 3/8/1992)

W*ING - Who’s the Danger? (3/8/1992)

Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match: Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vs. Mr. Pogo

I had to skim through certain parts of this because there's only so much walking-and-brawling I can take. It's interesting that the only weapon used was a barbed wire bat, I feel they made this object feel important. The highlight here is when Pogo sets Matsunaga on fire. Matsunaga's head goes up in flames! Crazy! The crowd reaction for this was special, they were into everything these two did.

***

Emi Sakura vs. Kotori (Gatoh Move, 12/30/2012)

Gatoh Move - Japan Tour・15 (12/30/2012)

Exhibition: Emi Sakura vs. Kotori

Digging deep into "Kotori"'s catalog with this match, this is one of her pre-debut exhibition matches. A dark match. Worth noting that this was before she got the quotations around her name. An alright match, they kept things simple and focused and the crowd was having a lot of fun.

**

WAVE - Topaz (11/26/2017)

4. ASUKA vs. Chihiro Hashimoto

Fine display of mat skills and athleticism from both performers. The opening sequence was so amazing, the way Chihiro maneuvers on the mat (!). It begins to lose steam as it goes on, unfortunately, and there are two timeout draws here.

**

5. Hardcore: Ayako Hamada & Yuki Miyazaki vs. Ryo Mizunami & Rina Yamashita

Miyazaki has started a hardcore match trend in WAVE. This was chaotic, there's a piledriver through a table in the first couple of minutes! Yamashita does a diving head butt while wearing a trash can, Mizunami hits a lariat with soda cans, I was entertained from start to finish by the glorious violence.

***3/4

6. WAVE Tag Team Championship: NEW-TRA (Rin Kadokura & Takumi Iroha) (c) vs. BOSS to Mammy (Mio Momono & Yumi Ohka)

The WAVE Tag Team division has been disappointing me lately, but this was really good, great teamwork and dramatic near-falls. Momono was the worst little troll in this match, it was satisfying to see Kadokura beat her.

***3/4

7. Regina di WAVE Championship: Misaki Ohata (c) vs. Nagisa Nozaki

Nozaki's sleeper hold has been built up as a powerful maneuver for the past couple of months, and right out the gate she suckers Ohata into it with a handshake. Ohata escapes, but Nozaki never let's up the pressure, she takes any opportunity to go for the sleeper. The suspense and sense of danger was incredible. Ohata gave a stronger ace performance in her bumping and rallies. Some of the best storytelling I've seen in joshi puroresu this year.

****1/2

DDT - New Year Lottery Special! Every Ticket 2000 Yen Show! 2017 (1/3/2017)

4. Shuten-doji (KUDO, Masahiro Takanashi & Yukio Sakaguchi) vs. Dick Togo, Guanchulo & Yoshihiro Takayama

I would have liked to have seen a more frantic pacing for this match-up, but it was slow moving and boring. Guanchulo for most obvious fallman of the year.

*

5. DDT Extreme Championship - IPPON Light Tube Death Match: Jun Kasai (c) vs. Akito

The stipulation here is that whoever breaks the light tube loses (this is why they didn't bash the tube on their opponent, 411mania!), and it is one of the most creative matches I've ever seen. There are a lot of tense moments. Kasai bringing out a fake light tube was brilliant. A battle of wrestling wits.

***1/2

6. Candice LeRae vs. Daisuke Sasaki

This was a solid showcase for Candice, and the storytelling was amusing.

**3/4

7. DAMNATION (Mad Paulie, Shuji Ishikawa & Tetsuya Endo) vs. Happy Motel (Antonio Honda & Konosuke Takeshita) & Kazusada Higuchi

An alright match, nothing exciting happening here. 

**

8. KO-D Openweight Championship: HARASHIMA (c) vs. Mike Bailey

HARASHIMA goes unmatched in DDT when it comes to gradually building towards a heated finish, my goodness. This was a great main event. HARASHIMA's legwork was marvelous, it's oppressive and he starts stomping all over the limb like he's throwing a temper tantrum. Bailey's performance was solid, his selling was good and the stiff kick exchanges were the highlight.

***3/4

Kazusada Higuchi vs. Konosuke Takeshita (DDT, 1/7/2017)

DDT - Saitama Slam! Vol. 18 (1/7/2017)

KO-D Openweight Championship #1 Contender Tournament - Semi Final: Kazusada Higuchi vs. Konosuke Takeshita

This was a battle of fighting spirits, sheer physicality from start to finish. Takeshita does a hellish workover of the neck, borrowing some methods that Omega unleashed Okada a couple of days prior. Higuchi is a hard-hitter, but he's also really good at selling -- I loved how he stumbled around whenever he took a big blow. The finishing run was straight out of 80s All Japan.

****1/4

Stardom - Goddesses of Stars 2017 (12/22/2017)

1. Konami vs. Shiki Shibusawa

Another solid Konami singles match. It feels like they are building her up for something, probably a High Speed title shot.

**1/4

2. AZM vs. Hiromi Mimura vs. Mari Apache

Great high speed match, probably one of the best of the year. Mari may not be the most exciting performer, but she is technically savvy, AZM's hit-and-run tactics were great, and of course you have Hiromi's shout.

***

3. Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura, Kagetsu & Natsu Sumire) vs. Team Jungle (Hiroyo Matsumoto, Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora)

**

4. AWS Women's Championship: Kris Wolf (c) vs. Scarlett

This was actually fairly cohesive. It drags a bit towards the finish and I thought Wolf kicking out of two of Scarlett's finishers was unnecessary, but this was surprisingly solid.

**1/4

5. HZK & Jungle Kyona vs. Io Shirai & Yoko Bito

This is the first time that Io & Bito are teaming up as a duo (they've teamed in multi-mans in the past), and they made this team-up feel special with a great main event. Io and HZK are feuding for the white belt, but Kyona and Bito also have their own feud going on, both pairings were great.

***1/2