Stardom (2/10/2018)

3. Chibis (Hiromi Mimura & Konami) vs. Shiki☆d (Starlight Kid & Shiki Shibusawa)

Cute match. It was nice to see SLK pick up a big win. 

**1/4

4. Mari Apache, Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano vs. Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura, Kagetsu & Sumire Natsu)

This match was a little too sloppy to be anything more than 'good'. I liked the focused assault on Tamu by Oedo Tai. Sumire was really great, of course.

**3/4

5. Queen's Quest (AZM & Io Shirai) vs. Queen's Quest (HZK & Momo Watanabe)

You can always count on QQ to deliver awesome tag matches. This was intense and heated even though the four are stablemates, and I enjoyed Momo & HZK's team dynamic where they're rivaling over who gets to fight Io.

****

MK4 (Sonoko Kato & AKINO) vs. Yoshiko & Hiroyo Matsumoto (OZ Academy, 2/12/2018)

OZ Academy - Advance (2/12/2018)

MK4 (Sonoko Kato & AKINO) vs. Yoshiko & Hiroyo Matsumoto

This felt like an ordinary house show main event when it started, but once they picked up the pace it became exciting. The things that MK4 was doing with Yoshiko made the match, incredible exchanges between those three.

***1/4

HARASHIMA vs. Kenny Omega (DDT, 7/20/2014)

DDT - Road To Ryogoku 2014 (7/20/2014)

KO-D Openweight Championship: HARASHIMA (c) vs. Kenny Omega

This was a great match, good physicality and selling, and the draw finish was done in a believable fashion. HARASHIMA hits a reverse frankensteiner from the apron to the floor (!) which takes its toll on both competitors and they're fighting back and forth until neither can continue. Great stuff.

***3/4

Misaki Ohata vs. Takumi Iroha (Marvelous, 12/11/2017)

Marvelous - Carnival (12/11/2017)

Misaki Ohata vs. Takumi Iroha

I decided to watch a random Marvelous show and it was this match. I totally forgot these two even faced each other. Ohata's initial control segment was good, but once she settled into her usual formula this got boring fast. It failed to keep up the excitement of the first half and the crowd was DEAD - they were barely reacting to anything.

bad

Marvelous - Saturday Fight Night (11/25/2017)

5. Takumi Iroha vs. Rin Kadokura

This only goes for about 3-mins or so, but it had some exciting sequences and counters. The action was smooth until Kadokura's botch in the corner, if it weren't for that I would have gone higher on this. Still an enjoyable sprint.

**3/4

6. Maruko Nagasaki vs. Mio Momono

These two tried hard to put together a good main event, but it peaked early for me. They started off with high speed sequences and chain wrestling, and then they slow down and it becomes a generic rookie match.

**1/4

Tokyo Joshi Pro - Let's Go! Go! If You Go! When You Go! If You Get Lost Just Go to Shinkiba! (2/18/2018)

4. Saki-sama vs. Marika Kobashi

I didn't expect this to be such an intense match. This was definitely Marika's best bout - she pulled through big time with a spectacular underdog performance, and Saki-sama was the perfect opponent. The action was captivating and the finish was highly dramatic. Incredible match.

****

6. Reika Saiki & Yuka Sakazaki vs. Ito Respect Army (Maki Ito & Mizuki)

This was a solid tag match, good back and forth action. The finishing stretch between Saiki and Ito was amazing.

***1/2

7. TOKYO Princess of Princess Championship: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Yuna Manase

A solid title defense for Miyu. I thought it got really good in the second half when Miyu was hitting high-impact strikes and Manase channelled Nonoko.

***

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Takumi Iroha (Marvelous, 12/25/2017)

Marvelous (12/25/2017)

Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Takumi Iroha

Good competitive bout where both wrestlers came across strong. Chihiro feels like a big deal everywhere she goes, she has a magnetic aura. The matwork in the beginning was good - Chihiro's cartwheel into the ankle lock was probably my favorite moment of the match. They kept the action exciting leading into the draw, and threw some great Germans towards the end. Great stuff.

***1/2